# Help a lifelong Mac guy switch to PC?



## benmrx (Jan 3, 2019)

OK...., so..., I can't believe I'm saying this, but I 'think' it's time for me to switch to a PC. I've used Mac's all my life, starting with OS8 and now currently running Sierra and El Capitan depending on which machine I'm on. I'm turning 40 next week..., yeah.. 40 and what nerdier thing to buy myself then a new computer. Travel to some exotic distant land, go on some wild adventure..., no... I'm a geek, and I want a new computer....haha. 

What I'm hoping to get is a computer I can use for my audio work as a sound designer, my composition work as a composer, and my new found love for game audio/music and game development in general. 

The software I use is as follows:

Pro Tools HD 12.7
Cubase Pro 9.5
Ableton 10
Unity 2017 - 2018
Audiokinetic Wwise
FMod
Visual Studio
Blender

Main Plugins I use are as follows:

Waves Diamond Bundle
Kontakt
The occasional synth plugin..., but I usually just use Kontakt or bust out a hardware synth.

Basically, I want at least 8 cores at around 4Ghz, minimum of 64GB of ram, a ripping video card with plenty of vram, a system SSD around 500GB, (x2) 1TB SSD, at least one standard 3-4TB spinning HD at 7200RPM, and a nice monitor (doesn't have to be too nice). 

I would love to keep the budget around $3k, but could go up to $4k if needed..., but then it starts eating into other funds for new mics, monitors, etc. 

I don't know jack shit about building a custom PC. Like I said, I've always bought Macs. I'm fairly nervous about the notion of building my own, and sourcing the parts myself. I've been looking into companies like 'MainGear', 'Origin', and 'Digital Storm'.

Any thoughts......, opinions..., am I gonna be super bummed on Windows 10 after using Macs my whole life? For instance, I've literally never once installed any kind of virus protection software, and I've never gotten a virus.


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## chimuelo (Jan 3, 2019)

Why do this to yourself?

I’ve used the same host and audio interface for 9 years, before that 9 years on the other audio interface, made by the same folks.
I’m so fast with my apps the idea of changing things around seems counter productive.

I’m tripping for a week now just from going to Windows 10.
But switching over to Apple, aw Hell no.
I would love a nice Micro$oft version of App£€’s ESX 24 sampler.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jan 3, 2019)

I built my first PC this year after using Macs for pro work for 8-10 years and so far it's been pretty stable and the satisfaction of making the thing turn on beats any Apple unboxing I've ever done. Windows is still uglier than MacOS by a long shot and Pro Tools especially looks like total ass on PC (Avid's fault), but I bought some software called WindowBlinds that let me skin my system to be more Mac-like which is nice for Pro Tools especially. Cubase runs great on Windows, super stable and according to many it is coded more efficiently for PC. I've had more problems with Pro Tools than with Cubase on this system (shocking right), particularly with my Waves plugins not being recognized as valid AAX 64 plugins, and Waves support hasn't been able to solve it yet after many friendly emails. But overall Pro Tools is pretty stable on Windows 10, and I have to remind myself that it was a pain in the ass when I ran it on Mac too. The crashes I get in PT are related to elastic audio mostly which might be a cross platform bug. They really need to update that feature. I'm using Kaspersky for antivirus which is easy to disable when I run Pro Tools, which doesn't seem to play nice with AV programs. I was mostly using Cubase for the past year and never had any issues with the build in Windows Defender but after switching back to PT for the most part I wanted a program I can easily disable.

I'm running the new i9 processor with 8 cores, 16 threads, 5Ghz turbo boost. It's awesome. And a hell of a lot cheaper than that iMac Pro which is the closest I could come from Apple. It's an ongoing experiment but so far it's been working out pretty well. But I like tinkering around with computers and trying to breathe some life into machines, if you don't, I might stick with Mac. Good luck!


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## leon chevalier (Jan 3, 2019)

Welcome to wonderland my friend !


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## OleJoergensen (Jan 3, 2019)

I build a PC 4 years ago and use it in a setup with my Mac.
I watched many youtube videos doing 2 weeks to prepare myself, it was exciting to build the Pc.
It is a powerhorse and works, with Ve-pro, great together with my Mac. After being used to Mac OS for many years it is a jungel with Microsoft but YouTube is your friend here .
Im not sure I would like to use PC as my main computer but man, I would have saved a lot of money!


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jan 3, 2019)




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## Killiard (Jan 4, 2019)

I switched to PC earlier last year and it was pretty painless to be honest. I built the whole thing myself and even that didn't take very long. PCs are pretty easy to put together nowadays and since I used an M.2 NVMe drive for the OS, windows 10 installed in about 5 mins. 

After you spend 30 mins turning off all the crap you don't need running in windows and sorting out the auto updates (buy W10 pro), then it runs fine. It's not as pretty or clean as OSX, but once you start actually working you don't even notice it. You could be super adventurous and head over to tonymacx86.com and research building a Hackintosh, if you'd like to install OSX.

Jeremy is right though, Pro Tools looks like crap on PC! Thanks Jeremy for the WindowBlinds tip - though I'd be concerned with it messing up something. Does it run quite happily without adding any CPU hit?


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## iggyigoe (Jan 4, 2019)

I'm building a PC at the moment after nearly 15 years on Mac, I'm nervous but have watched so many videos of peoples setup with a Mac & PC and think this is the way to go.. 

Had loads of help from this forum which is great!

Spec/Components are as follows...

*CPU* - Intel Core i9-9900X X-Series Processor = £1153.95
https://www.ebuyer.com/864655-intel-core-i9-9900x-x-series-processor-bx80673i99900x

*CPU Cooler* - Corsair Hydro Series H150i PRO (360mm) RGB All-in-One Liquid CPU Cooler = £139.98
https://www.cclonline.com/product/2...mm-RGB-All-in-One-Liquid-CPU-Cooler-/CLR1653/

*Motherboard* - ASUS PRIME X299-DELUXE II Intel Socket 2066 = £452.31
https://www.cclonline.com/product/2...et-2066-X299-Chipset-ATX-Motherboard/MBD2585/

*Memory* - HyperX Predator 64GB (4x 16GB) 3000MHz DDR4 RAM = £522.16
https://www.cclonline.com/product/2...GB-Memory-Kit-PC4-24000-3000MHz-DDR4/RAM3259/

*Storage* - Samsung 970 EVO V-NAND M.2 500GB SSD = £109.98
https://www.ebuyer.com/836854-samsung-970-evo-v-nand-m-2-500gb-ssd-mz-v7e500bw

*Video Card* - Gigabyte Radeon RX 550 2GB Graphics Card = £111.97
https://www.cclonline.com/product/2...DR5-Dual-link-DVI-D/HDMI/DisplayPort/VGA3806/

*Case* - Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C Case - Gunmetal = £126.00
https://www.cclonline.com/product/2...ine-R6-USB-C-Gunmetal-Mid-Tower-Case/CAS3487/

*Power Supply* - Corsair HX750- 750 Watt Fully Modular PSU = £114.98
https://www.ebuyer.com/788619-corsair-hx750-750-watt-fully-modular-psu-cp-9020137-uk


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## dzilizzi (Jan 4, 2019)

I built a music pc about 2 years ago. Still working great. My big advice is to go to https://pcpartpicker.com set up an account and pick your parts making sure to click "only show compatible parts" You do not have buy through them. But it will make sure you don't buy something that won't work. You can also filter by what you are looking for. And it tracks the wattage so you know how much power you need. 

Also, Gearslutz has a great build your pc thread if you run into problems. There's at least 2 pc builders who hang out there and are really helpful.


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## dzilizzi (Jan 4, 2019)

Oh, and make sure you buy stuff that is upgradeable. I built to upgrade to 32GB RAM never thinking I'd want more. My motherboard won't go past 64GB. And more power is good because you will probably want more drives or fans.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jan 4, 2019)

Killiard said:


> Jeremy is right though, Pro Tools looks like crap on PC! Thanks Jeremy for the WindowBlinds tip - though I'd be concerned with it messing up something. Does it run quite happily without adding any CPU hit?



It seems to be pretty seamless with PT at least. It doesn't play nice with some other apps though, but you can set exceptions so that it won't skin certain apps.


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## brek (Jan 4, 2019)

I switched to a PC for my home rig, but still use a Mac in my work studio. Probably the biggest pain point has been: the lack of a 3rd modifier key (option) on the qwerty keyboard. So a lot of my custom key commands had to be reworked/rethought. Then I have to adapt my muscle memory based on what rig I'm on. This is on Cubase. Somehow ProTools commandeers the "Win" key for itself so you do have 3 modifiers there. Would be great if Cubase could do the same...??

I also prefer the Mac keyboard layout, so did a registry hack to swap the CTRL and ALT keys. But... that really screws up Pro Tools so I have to revert it back normal every time I use it then switch it again when I go back to Cubase.
(...and that pretty much sums up the Windows experience.)


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jan 4, 2019)

brek said:


> I also prefer the Mac keyboard layout, so did a registry hack to swap the CTRL and ALT keys. But... that really screws up Pro Tools so I have to revert it back normal every time I use it then switch it again when I go back to Cubase.
> (...and that pretty much sums up the Windows experience.)



I use an Apple keyboard and I remapped the command and control keys using SharpKeys so that the key commands are in the same finger position as on the Mac. I also swapped the physical keys on the keyboard so that it's visually correct (the command key becomes the Windows key when you plug a Mac keyboard into a PC). Using this method in Pro Tools the shortcuts are almost entirely the same as on the Mac. Also works great for Cubase, Photoshop etc. No need to remap when going between programs.


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## Symfoniq (Jan 4, 2019)

benmrx said:


> OK...., so..., I can't believe I'm saying this, but I 'think' it's time for me to switch to a PC. I've used Mac's all my life, starting with OS8 and now currently running Sierra and El Capitan depending on which machine I'm on. I'm turning 40 next week..., yeah.. 40 and what nerdier thing to buy myself then a new computer. Travel to some exotic distant land, go on some wild adventure..., no... I'm a geek, and I want a new computer....haha.
> 
> What I'm hoping to get is a computer I can use for my audio work as a sound designer, my composition work as a composer, and my new found love for game audio/music and game development in general.
> 
> ...



I became a Mac user in the late 1980s (System 6!), but own and use computers running macOS, Windows, and Linux on a daily basis. Here's my opinion, which might not be worth more than it cost you <grin>:

(1) I switched from macOS to a custom-built Windows workstation for my audio work a few years ago. The Windows workstation has been cheaper, quieter, more easily upgradable, and at least as reliable (no BSODs, not once) as anything Apple has released in the last half-decade. I'm running a 7820X CPU (8 cores/16 threads) with 64 GB of RAM (upgradable to 128 GB) and about 6 TB of SSD storage (mix of NVMe and SATA). Simply put, if you are a media composer needing a lot of cores and storage, nothing Apple currently makes is as cost-effective as a custom-built PC.

(2) There are *many* things about Windows that I still find clunky or downright annoying (Macs still have better font rendering; Macs still handle high-DPI displays better; I could go on...) However, Windows 10 has been a big step forward, and it does some things better than macOS (looking at you, window snapping). Which OS I prefer depends on what I'm doing, but macOS is increasingly relegated to development work where I need a UNIX environment (Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux isn't there yet, IMO). For audio and video production, the Mac's historical advantages have waned (again, IMO). Unless you *really* need Logic Pro or you *really* need Final Cut Pro, the Mac is becoming a harder sell. Most of the video producers I know moved on a few years ago. I think the Mac is still more relevant in the audio world, but only because the less demanding nature of the work has allowed musicians, composers, and producers to hold onto their older Macs longer. As time forces them to upgrade, I expect more of them to end up in the Windows world, too. Again, just my opinion, based on anecdotal experience.

(3) It's going to be unpopular to say this, but I don't run anti-virus software on my Windows 10 system. I didn't run it on Windows 8.1, 8, or 7, either. I've never had a virus on any of those operating systems. However, I'm careful about what I install, and I tend to run things I'm uncertain about in a virtual machine (this is good practice anyway).

(4) Are you going to be bummed going from macOS to Windows 10? I have no idea, and you won't either, until you try it. I will say that I don't consider either OS to be ideal for everything, and I feel fortunate to have *both* at my disposal. But I'm increasingly finding the flexibility of the Windows ecosystem to be more conducive to workflows that require a lot of CPU cores, memory, storage, and GPU performance. On the other hand, macOS still wins if I just need a really nice terminal (iTerm 2) and awesome battery life in a POSIX-compliant OS, which is why I still prefer that my laptop computer be a Mac. But for me, the heavy lifting happens on Windows and Linux now.


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## EvilDragon (Jan 4, 2019)

brek said:


> This is on Cubase. Somehow ProTools commandeers the "Win" key for itself so you do have 3 modifiers there. Would be great if Cubase could do the same...??



Reaper also supports using Win key for mouse modifiers and assigning keys to actions. However if a certain Win+key combination has been reserved by the OS, it cannot be used in other programs. But there's a way around it, simple tweak in Group Policy Editor (needs W10 Pro):

1. Press Win+R to get the Run dialog and type gpedit.msc, then hit OK
2. Now navigate to the *User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer *in the left pane. In the right pane, locate and double click *Turn off Windows Key hotkeys* option.
3. Select Enabled, press Apply and OK to save.
4. Sign out then log back in. Or just reboot.

Now stuff like Win+E to open Explorer or Win+D to instantly show desktop, and other such shortcuts are not going to be used by the OS, freeing the Win+key combos to be assignable in other programs.


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## MartinH. (Jan 4, 2019)

Don't have much to contribute but I just wanted to welcome all the Mac refugees in PC-land! Enjoy your new freedom. I've heard even a hardcore apple fan say he felt more connected to the first PC he built himself than to any Mac he ever owned.

I've built my own PCs in the past, but if I'd buy a new one tomorrow, there is a chance I'd buy a "pre-assembled" one from handpicked hardware. Some big online stores offer that service for way less money than the opportunity cost I'd have from doing it myself. Not sure if transport damage is an issue though...


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## Pictus (Jan 5, 2019)

Good Stuff for Windows:

https://processhacker.sourceforge.io
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
https://www.binisoft.org/wfc
https://doublecmd.sourceforge.io
https://www.bleachbit.org/
https://www.libreoffice.org/
https://www.hwinfo.com/
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/imgburn.html
http://m.majorgeeks.com/files/details/dx_installer.html
https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/repack-visual-c-redistributable-runtimes-2018-06-28.76588/]
https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3841-add-take-ownership-context-menu-windows-10-a.html
https://www.howtogeek.com/266621/how-to-make-windows-10-accept-file-paths-over-260-characters/
https://superuser.com/questions/120...rshell-to-open-with-command-prompt-when-shift
https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/nsudo-a-powerful-system-administration-tool.59268/
https://forums.mydigitallife.net/forums/windows-10.54/

Windows Update Manager
https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/windows-update-manager.77736/

Optimize Windows 10 PC for music production:
https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/pc-optimization-guide-for-windows-10/

The best browser + good add-ons/stuff
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/groupspeeddial/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/
http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/


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## benmrx (Jan 7, 2019)

Thanks everyone for all the great info. Did some research over the weekend and I gotta say I'm getting cold feet now on making this switch. From looking around, it seems that Pro Tools on the PC is EXTREMELY picky about what hardware you're using, various configurations, etc. It is starting to feel like a massive risk.

For anyone here running PTHD 12.7 (or newer) on Windows 10, I'd love to hear what processor and graphics card you're using. I found a number of threads where people had to 'dumb down' their video card in order to get PT working, which causes some concern as the main reason I'm wanting to switch to PC is to delve deeper into game development and audio/music for games.


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## Killiard (Jan 8, 2019)

Oh and the other annoying thing about PT on PC is that it exists in one main app window. So if you use multiple displays you have to have the main Pro tools window start on the left screen and stretch the entire bloody window across your multiple displays. And god help you if you run displays at different resolutions! I've got a whacking great 43" display so I just keep everything on one screen. 

Whoever ported Pro Tools to Windows needs a clip around the head!!

I'm actually about to use an old SSD to make a Hackintosh drive, just for giggles. If it runs well I might use it just for Pro tools!!


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## Loïc D (Jan 8, 2019)

benmrx said:


> Travel to some exotic distant land, go on some wild adventure...,


Changing platform sounds sometimes like this though


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## MartinH. (Jan 8, 2019)

benmrx said:


> Did some research over the weekend and I gotta say I'm getting cold feet now on making this switch. From looking around, it seems that Pro Tools on the PC is EXTREMELY picky about what hardware you're using, various configurations, etc. It is starting to feel like a massive risk.



Maybe also switch your DAW to Reaper? You can test it first on your Mac to see if there's a chance to get used to it.


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## Craig Duke (Jan 8, 2019)

I've built several PC. But for my current PC I decided to let someone who does it for a living choose the components (so many choices), do the build, and tweak the BIOS and WIN10. There are several to choose from. I used: https://studiocat.com Give Jim a call. He's very helpful.


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## benmrx (Jan 8, 2019)

MartinH. said:


> Maybe also switch your DAW to Reaper? You can test it first on your Mac to see if there's a chance to get used to it.


I'm too entrenched in the world of post to use anything other than PT... We have 3 PTHDX rooms, and 2 standard PT rooms where I work. We get/send PT sessions all the time, etc. FWIW, I've tried Reaper a few times for asset creation type work and I just can't get along with it. 



Craig Duke said:


> I've built several PC. But for my current PC I decided to let someone who does it for a living choose the components (so many choices), do the build, and tweak the BIOS and WIN10. There are several to choose from. I used: https://studiocat.com Give Jim a call. He's very helpful.



Nice! Thanks for the link!


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## benmrx (Jan 8, 2019)

Alright..., any thoughts on this build? Again, I have no idea what I’m doing here. Not sure about power supplies, coolers, fans, etc. I’m pretty sure I did set this up so I can eventually upgrade to 96GB ram in the future. 

Also, just to reiterate. I want to use this machine as a main composing rig running Cubase 9.5 (or 10) mainly using Kontakt (spitfire, orchestratools, the usual suspects). No Play. No VSL. I do have VEPro. 

Also as a Pro Tools 12.7HD rig for post work. And for game development/audio/music implementation using mainly Unity + WWise with Visual Studio. Hopefully getting into the Unreal Engine later this year.


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## benatural (Jan 8, 2019)

benmrx said:


> OK...., so..., I can't believe I'm saying this, but I 'think' it's time for me to switch to a PC. I've used Mac's all my life, starting with OS8 and now currently running Sierra and El Capitan depending on which machine I'm on. I'm turning 40 next week..., yeah.. 40 and what nerdier thing to buy myself then a new computer. Travel to some exotic distant land, go on some wild adventure..., no... I'm a geek, and I want a new computer....haha.
> 
> What I'm hoping to get is a computer I can use for my audio work as a sound designer, my composition work as a composer, and my new found love for game audio/music and game development in general.
> 
> ...



You'll be fine, better in fact. Honestly, PCs are fine. I used to be a Mac user - G3 and early Intel Mac Pro. Switched to PC and never looked back. My PCs are way more stable than my Macs ever were. No spinning beach balls of death. I've never gotten a virus, you won't get one either as long as you don't install pirated software. 

Your wallet will thank you, and you will thank your new incredibly powerful computer. Macs offer no discernable advantage over PCs. None.


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## Wunderhorn (Jan 8, 2019)

I will give Apple one more chance. If their next Mac Pro is to my liking OK, if not I will switch to Windows, and I would have one of those silent workstation without any fans, more cores than Apple has ever dreamt of (well, the sad thing, they don't dream hence no vision any more in that company) and option to add even more RAM.
For the time being I have the Mac Pro (2013) maxed out with 128GB which will buy me a bit of time until they will reveal what is to be the next Mac Pro.


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## WorshipMaestro (Jan 17, 2019)

benmrx said:


> Alright..., any thoughts on this build? Again, I have no idea what I’m doing here. Not sure about power supplies, coolers, fans, etc. I’m pretty sure I did set this up so I can eventually upgrade to 96GB ram in the future.
> 
> Also, just to reiterate. I want to use this machine as a main composing rig running Cubase 9.5 (or 10) mainly using Kontakt (spitfire, orchestratools, the usual suspects). No Play. No VSL. I do have VEPro.
> 
> Also as a Pro Tools 12.7HD rig for post work. And for game development/audio/music implementation using mainly Unity + WWise with Visual Studio. Hopefully getting into the Unreal Engine later this year.


This build looks strong. If VI's in an orchestral style are a significant portion of your production workflow you will find yourself filling up that 64GB RAM quickly.


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## gjelul (Jan 17, 2019)

Don't do it


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## WorshipMaestro (Jan 17, 2019)

benmrx said:


> Alright..., any thoughts on this build? Again, I have no idea what I’m doing here. Not sure about power supplies, coolers, fans, etc. I’m pretty sure I did set this up so I can eventually upgrade to 96GB ram in the future.
> 
> Also, just to reiterate. I want to use this machine as a main composing rig running Cubase 9.5 (or 10) mainly using Kontakt (spitfire, orchestratools, the usual suspects). No Play. No VSL. I do have VEPro.
> 
> Also as a Pro Tools 12.7HD rig for post work. And for game development/audio/music implementation using mainly Unity + WWise with Visual Studio. Hopefully getting into the Unreal Engine later this year.


And another thought: for sample storage consider going with some lower priced, high capacity SSD drives. 2TB drives can be had for increasingly reasonable prices and you don't need to go with high end (e.g. Samsung) drives because you don't need necessarily fast WRITE speeds, and they all read towards the high end of the speed train. And, because you are not constantly erasing and writing to the drive like you would a system drive the wear and tear is drastically minimized and you can be confident the lower tier drives will hold up without errors appearing.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jan 17, 2019)

I turned my PC into a Hackintosh because running Pro Tools on PC was so frustrating. Little crashes and errors were really adding up. It's really stunning how much nicer MacOS still is compared to Windows, especially in Pro Tools land.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Mar 21, 2019)

Sorry to revive this thread, but just wanted some feedback from anyone who went back to using Windows. I've been on Mac since 2013, which is when I first bought a 2013 MacBook Pro. Honestly, it has been a real slice working on Mac (with PC slave occasionally) and I run both Cubase and Logic. That being said, I'm looking at scrapping the slave setup altogether; and with the Ram limit on the MacBook, an upgrade is inevitable this year. I have hopes for the new Mac Pro, but I'm sure it will come with a hefty price tag, probably the $6000-$10,000 range for what I'm after (not interested in iMac, mini, or MacBook). That is, quite frankly, hard to swallow. I can have a powerful, loaded PC built for well under $3000. That would mean leaving Logic in the dust....which is fine since I also love Cubase. Has anyone here made that switch with regrets?


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## composerguy78 (Mar 21, 2019)

I have been a Mac guy for the past 20 years and I have just made the switch to windows 10 for the same reasons you mentioned. I was using logic and I’ve now switched to Reaper. I can honestly say that I am amazed at how much I actually like windows 10. I am loving reaper also but there was a bit of a learning curve I would say. however it is so customizable and so efficient that that I feel has been well worth the effort. 

With all the installation apps that developers like Izotope and Toontrack and native instruments have now, it really made the installation process so much easier than it would have been in the past to install hundreds of different plug-ins etc. 

I don’t expect Apple to be leading the way in terms of professional applications or or computer systems in the future which was a large part of my reason to switch to Windows. To be honest it really doesn’t feel all that different from the Mac. I used to use windows back about 20 years ago running Logic 3.5 and that was a very different experience.


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## José Herring (Mar 21, 2019)

Wolfie2112 said:


> Sorry to revive this thread, but just wanted some feedback from anyone who went back to using Windows. I've been on Mac since 2013, which is when I first bought a 2013 MacBook Pro. Honestly, it has been a real slice working on Mac (with PC slave occasionally) and I run both Cubase and Logic. That being said, I'm looking at scrapping the slave setup altogether; and with the Ram limit on the MacBook, an upgrade is inevitable this year. I have hopes for the new Mac Pro, but I'm sure it will come with a hefty price tag, probably the $6000-$10,000 range for what I'm after (not interested in iMac, mini, or MacBook). That is, quite frankly, hard to swallow. I can have a powerful, loaded PC built for well under $3000. That would mean leaving Logic in the dust....which is fine since I also love Cubase. Has anyone here made that switch with regrets?


I can only speak generally having made the switch to PC many years ago.

Like you I found that Mac Hardware was too expensive and limited. But, there are advantages to that.

Pc on the other hand is limitless but there are disadvantages to that.

A few years ago I set out to find out the "why" of both platforms. Believe it or not I found the answer in a nature museum that had a book from the 70's on computers. While my son was going around playing with the exhibits after our nature hike, I spent time reading the old computer book.

Computers when they switched from the old IBM mainframe to personal computing in the late 70's was centered around 2 camps. First was a dedicated system that was closed and geared towards one task. Computers that would run copy machines, ect... I deduced that expanding on this became the inspiration for the Apple computers. The second camp was a general purpose computing that could be configured in an infinite number of ways. I deduced that the PC came from this camp.

Brief history lesson aside. The Apple based products do what they do, they do what they do very well. It's hard to get in there and "tweak" it without destabilizing the whole system. That being said they are very powerful and much easier to use. But doing performance enhancements, optimizing for audio, things like that are nowhere near as indepth as you can have with a PC.

But.....PC's generally aren't ready for primetime out of the box. My first PC it took me a whole year to figure out how to really use it for Audio before I was ready to dump my Mac. PC has come a long way since then but there are still somethings that will drive you around the bend (drive you crazy) if you're not really careful in setting up a PC especially when you start to really load the system and really have a lot of things going.

So make sure you look at a lot of articles on optimizing your PC for audio. Look for hardware compatibility issues. Look for OS tweaks that minimizing the interference of audio. Things like automatic updates, background processes, ect.. are audio killers that act like bugs as far as I'm concerned and even years later I'm finding new ones here and there that I have to turn off. Windows 10 is the worst at that. If I recall I had to dig through 2 or 3 submenues to turn off things like "sleep mode" and I still have on both my W10 and 7 machines harddrives that go into sleep mode after an hour or so which I haven't bothered to figure out what to do about that other than one day I'll just switch to all SSD drives.

Also, a PC begs for overclocking. It's simple but there is a lot of bad information out there on how to do it.

If you need any help there are a lot of us on the forum that have suffered through the worst of the PC days to so that others won't have to. 

Not to scare you away once configured and tweak overclocked and optimized I find that PC's are far more stable and far more powerful. I still work on mac on occasion and I'm still fairly amazed at how sluggish the GUI can get and how generally slow feeling Macs can be even to my old, old single core computer that i retired 10 years ago. PC's generally tend to be very crisp and responsive. Not a huge difference but I do notice it. Also, you can get some killer parts for a PC that just in general can't be matched on even the most expensively configured Mac.

With all that though. If I could afford to get the $16,000 Mac of my dreams I probably would and use my PC's just a slaves again. Mac still holds some magic that the PC still hasn't touched. Like everything on the Mac is just so much easier. I still struggle and have seen people struggling to handle networking on a PC. And networking between my 2 PC's one windows 7 and another W10 is just not good. My windows 7 machine just doesn't recognize my W10 machine easily so I had to rework the network and it has taken me a long time to learn to do that. But, VEPro is such a fine product that it worked and recognized the network even when my operating system didn't. Which is remarkable.

There are a million little things like that on Windows and it takes some time to work it well. So if you do get a windows machine and you don't have time then it is best to buy one from a dedicated PC audio dealer of really good repute. Don't go to a cheap one because you will regret that up until you finally toss it out the window and pony up some more cash for a PC that really works.

This has been a long post that I rattled off in 10 minutes so please forgive any of the grammar and spelling errors that I'm sure I've made. I hope the information is at least useful.

One last thing, on Overclocking a PC. It comes with all this crap automatic overclocking software like Turbo Boost if they still have that or other similar crap. Even in the Bios there's "auto" settings for overlclocking that are just pure garbage. Also, some Mobo's have built in virus protection schemes that are just pure evil inspire garbage. All the "extra" shit they put on the PC needs to be turned off. If you roll your own PC then you need to build everything up manually. Overclock manually, turning off things like CStepping I think they call it and Turbo Boost and a host of other poorly thought out crap to run a stable system.


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## cmillar (Mar 21, 2019)

composerguy78 said:


> I have been a Mac guy for the past 20 years ......



Same here, having been an Apple-crazed 'fanboy' ever since the late '90's.

But...I'm pretty much done with the Apple "one-corporation-to-create-all" approach, especially since Apple is insisting on trying to mesmerize and ruin the minds of our youth by trying to get iPads into every school in the world and getting them hooked on staring at screens. 

It's insidious and actually anti-creative.

So, I'd rather make some free-will choices of hardware, get some hardware that I can update and mess around on without having to go to the "Apple Genius" bar (very funny name).

I love my 2009 MacPro and 2011 MacBook Pro (....after I had to fork out hundreds more in order to get the notorius video problem/mother board fixed...it's great now.

All my money will now go to PC products/hardware. for music use now.

I can port my MOTU DP projects over to Windows, and still use Sibelius, Omnisphere, Kontakt, etc. etc. etc.... maybe even switch out something there.

Life's too short to give Apple any more control over my life.

Anyways.... keeps things interesting!


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## benmrx (Mar 21, 2019)

OP here...., well..., sorry/happy to say that after all my research I ended up sticking with Apple and got myself an iMac Pro 10 core w/64GB of ram. The 'business class' discount through Apple really sealed the deal as I was able to save around $800. Absolutely nothing wrong in my book with PC/Windows. It just made more sense for how I wanted to build my system, the apps I use, etc.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Mar 24, 2019)

Thanks for the feedback! I went to my computer guy that I've used for years, just to get a price on a new build. If I use my existing drives, he can build an i9 with 64GB Ram, and water cooled, for $1900 cdn. This is definitely a tempting direction to take, as a 32GB Mac mini would cost me a little more than that.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Mar 24, 2019)

cmillar said:


> Life's too short to give Apple any more control over my life.



Well, as much as I love Apple (which has been wonderful), I just can't get my head around the $$ anymore.


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## WaveRider (Mar 24, 2019)

Well I've been using Macs for about 20 years now and I've never once had to take one into a shop because it broke down (knock-on-wood). And there's never been any weird OS or software bugs that I wasn't able to solve.

If a PC breaks down or goes haywire, good luck. I wouldn't have a clue what to do. If I have to exit to DOS and re-confiugure some .bat file to get something to work, that doesn't interest me. I'd rather stick with Mac.


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