Hey Jim. To answer your question, it's a little of both. Mac users tend to
be a bit shortsighted about their world view of computers, thus making
comments like Macs are better in every way. I own both, and I can tell you
this. Apple have really gone the distance when it comes to their core
audio
drivers. In a sense, they've made it possible for almost 24 tracks of
playback on an internal soundcard. And the realtech ones at that. However,
it seems like Microsoft has really stepped up their game with vista audio
as
well. I haven't looked at it, but from what people say, it's amazing.
Apple
has been in the audio business longer than Microsoft. Sound was added to
computers as an afterthought in windows, while apple has made sound as an
integral part of their machines since the late 80's. Logically then, they
have a bit of a head start. But windows has caught up in a major way. I
run
soft synths and tons of tracks of audio with no problems on my windows
box.
If it weren't any good, Digidesign would never approve a PC for recording
with Pro Tools in the windows environment. And as of about 4 years ago,
they
have.
Software.
Currently, no recording apps are really accessible with voiceover. Sonar
is
your best bet, unless you want to buy a used g4 and 10 year-old pro tools
rig. That's how far behind you'd be if you went that route at this point.
Build quality. I will say this about macs. I love buying them because I
know
what I'm getting the minute I unbox it. The worentee plans are amazing,
and
when you go to an apple store to get assistance, you are treated like
Elvis.
It truly is a grand experience. Whenever possible, I will always try and
buy
macs for the house, whether for media center machines or office boxes.
Even
if I'm running windows on them, they are a pleasure to use. And OS 10 is
such an awesome OS as well, that it's just plain fun.
Price.
The fact that Macs caust more than PC's is both myth and truth. The myth
is
that all macs are more expensive than PC's. The truth is that the lower
end
macs are incredibly competitive. You can get a Mac Mini, which is a duel
core 2.0 ghz tiny little box, with about a gig of ram for 699 bucks.
They've
just come out with an iMac for 899 bucks, which is the mac that has the
CPU
and all it's components built right into the monitor. For about 14 hundred
or so, you could get a middle of the road iMac, which would be decent for
recording if you're not planning on recording with a billion huge
orchestral
softsynths. Truth is, you'd get along fine, as long as you upgraded the
ram
to 4 gigs. Here's the gocha part of this whole thing.
If you want to slip into a real professional model, a machine that has
tons
of horse power, you're jumping up to about 26 hundred bucks, and that's at
the bottom of the totem pole. So indeed there is some truth to the above
statement about macs costing more. Entry level macs are competitively
priced, while high end macs are in the stratosphere. The reason for this
is
that they literally are using the best parts the market has to offer. The
procs are xeon server grade chips, not really necessary for recording, but
if you've got the money, go for it. And there are 8 of them, which windows
can't see them all anyway, so you're looking at tons of stuff you won't
use
right now. I thought about saving for one, but once I crunched the
numbers,
I realized I could build something closer to my needs for almost a third
of
the price. You could get a macbook or macbook pro laptop, which varies in
price from screen size and speed. My 1200 dollar macbook has served me
well
for my needs. It's all about what you're trying to accomplish. I'll
definitely grab a mac minie in the next few months as an office computer
that can run both windows and the Mac OS. The price is right. But for pro
recording, I just spent 800 bucks on a shuttle box. That will last me for
a
while. I can't justify a 3000 dollar price tag for a Mac Pro. Not yet any
way.
Hope this gives you some insight.
Reeves
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