

- #Stereo for music production mac or pc Pc
- #Stereo for music production mac or pc series
- #Stereo for music production mac or pc windows
If you are planning to make synthesizer-heavy music, get as powerful CPU as you can afford (within reason).Here are a few considerations for making computer spec decisions: And, more importantly, different scenarios demand higher investments in some areas and not as much in others. The parts and the prices change faster than I can type. The magic specsĮveryone wants to be given the magic spec-sheet that would make buying or building the ultimate (but not too expensive!) music computer a breeze. At least for the time being.īut if you can’t get a desktop based on your circumstances, just try to stay away from the ultra-thin category of laptops. I got a relative beast of a computer for just around $1,000 and my music-related performance issues were over with no extra optimizations. And when it became clear that I won’t be traveling much, I decided to go for a desktop. Maybe even a gaming laptop (even though I don’t game). I was contemplating buying a more powerful and less thin laptop. In the end I discovered that once the heat management subsystem on the laptop kicks in the CPU clock drops substantially and just can’t keep up with the task at hand. And a bunch of workarounds that work but ultimately are annoying distractions. I tried all kinds of optimizations - didn’t do much. One second my track would play just fine and the next it’s glitching and choking.

When I put it under pressure the fans would start hissing like it was a snake but other than that I didn’t notice any other issues. While it wasn’t a performance monster it was good-enough for my development and office tasks and had an adequate Intel i7 CPU (albeit of the U variety).

It could be bearable in small amounts, but it gets out of hand fairly quickly.Įvery DAW has all kinds of workarounds for these issues, but the ultimate workaround is getting a more powerful computer or just one with a better heat dissemination.įor a couple of years my main computer was an Asus Zenbook Flip ultrabook. But when you are making music, your track starts choking. If you, say, render a video it may take twice as long as before but at the end of the day the result will be the same. For your development tasks it means that something may compile a bit slower - not a big deal. The main approach to handle overheating in a laptop is to throttle the CPU so it naturally runs cooler. Laptops are powerful enough for most general music production scenarios these days, but one important and quite unique aspect of music production is performance consistency.

If your circumstances permit, get a desktop PC.
#Stereo for music production mac or pc windows
So, unless it’s a matter of principle, I’d recommend you stick to either Windows or Mac for your music production machine. Only a handful of DAWs support Linux and only a small percentage of plugins (virtual instruments and effects) have Linux versions. It all comes down to personal preferences and either choice would work fine for you. Other than that, you can be as productive and prolific on either macOS or Windows. So, if you want to share your computer between your development work and your music hobby, make sure that your OS version preferences and requirements are aligned between the two. This can definitely change version-to-version but in a couple of years I’ve seen this issue come up way more often on the Mac side (and I’m not even talking about Apple Silicon) than on the PC. Mac wins here.Īnother weird aspect that comes up more often on the Mac side than Windows is wariness of upgrading to the current OS version or even having to stay one (or more) versions behind. And then predictability can be important for those who are on the road often or just don’t want to think about computer choices too much. Then there are price and configurability factors that are obviously in PCs favor. There are several DAWs that are Mac or Windows only (more on this later). Mac or PC? Or maybe Linux?Īt this day and age, the pros and cons of going Mac vs. But in case you want to buy or build a dedicated computer for your hobby, let’s cover some high-level considerations. Provided you are OK with sharing it between your developer and musician selves.
#Stereo for music production mac or pc Pc
Good news! Your development PC is most likely good enough to get started with music production.
#Stereo for music production mac or pc series
Check the previous post in the “ Music-Making for Developers and Other Techies ” series
