Advice?! High spec PC- sod it and get a Mac?

[claypigeon101]

Hi guys,
I really need some help. I am a musician and have got a high spec PC at the moment (see my signature) and am running Cubase 5 and Reason 4 along with a Midi Keyboard and Alesis Multimix 12 Firewire mixer, if that means anything to anyone. If not dont worry, my point is I wanted to get my mixer to work as windows' main sound deely so it would handle all the system sound as well as work as a Cubase interface.
But it isnt working and win7 with firewire stuff just doesnt happen and im seriously considering sodding it all to get a Mac.
I already want a Macbook Pro (13" 2.66ghz got a good deal) for audio/music creation on the move but I would happily get a Mac as my main home system too (in a bit of time when i can afford it)
BUT

my main question is
Obviously i've spent cash on this system, AMD Phenom2 965 watercooled, antec p183 case, 4gb OCZ RAM, ga-ma790fx-dq6 mobo, ATI HD5870 1GB etc etc, and I want to know is any of this transferrable or worth transferring to a Mac?

I want it to work 100% for audio creation, which i know it will... but id also like to run bootcamp windows 7 64bit pro (which i have) for all my games which i dont want to go to waste, so for example could i use my HD5870 from my current PC in a new Mac with say a quad core chip and 6 or 8gb ram and it would make a decent gaming rig too?

Gaming is spare time stuff but I'd like the Mac to equal the performance of my rig, which is basically everything 1080res full settings, delish.

But yeah any advice or words of wisdom gratefully received, I basically am sick of PCs not working as they should and as much as Ive never been into Apple, i may be a convert...

sorry for such an essay. thanks guys

 

[Fr0dders]

trouble is if you want serious 5870 graphics power. You're going to need a mac pro. And they're 2k base spec before you start upgrading memory and cpu etc.. or even adding a monitor. You're not going to get everything back from your PC system now that you've built it and unboxed it all.

If you've got the cash to splash on a top spec £3k mac pro then go for it. You'll love it.

But by heck do you pay a premium for it.

Your other alternative is to compromise on the graphics ability, and to get a 27" imac with the 5750 graphics which will be a fair bit cheaper, but won't be as powerful as your current system.

 

[Deku]

It does sound like you have made up your mind already tbh.

The only thing negative people tend to say about Macs is the price, so if you can afford it and don't mind paying for it then go for it.

Pretty sure you could sell all the parts you've accumulated in your old pc.

Good luck

 

[Spit]

I went from a similar spec PC to my iMac in my sig.

Love it and will never go back.

 

[arctine]

I just kept my pc and got the 27" iMac as well. I got rid of my monitor and plug my pc into the iMac instead for when I want to play games.

 

[SiriusB]

If you feel a Mac will suit your needs better, just sell your PC. You will get a nice bit of cash for your PC parts, which you can put towards a tasty Mac pro.

 

[apple_man77]

I don't think your going to get the best of both worlds unless you spend a good bit more. Why not buy one of the 17" mbp i7's which would be perfect for taking out with you and also using at home.

It would suit your needs perfectly as a musician. It would play games pretty well but you could always buy a ps3/xbox 360 for gaming??

 

[claypigeon101]

I don't think your going to get the best of both worlds unless you spend a good bit more. Why not buy one of the 17" mbp i7's which would be perfect for taking out with you and also using at home.

It would suit your needs perfectly as a musician. It would play games pretty well but you could always buy a ps3/xbox 360 for gaming??

Hey there. Thanks for the advice and excellent point. However, problem with me is I like a laptop to be portable, and many musician/producer friends of mine have said the 17" is a dog for music simply because it's SO big. But it would be the best of both worlds I suppose..
I just love the little 13" MBP's though, they are so smart and to be honest would look very cool just whipping it out in town or on the train or at a gig to record or work/show some tracks.

I could probably sell my system as is do you reckon and take out the 5870 and also flog the GPU that comes with the mac pro? My monitor is awesome I wouldn't want a new one so thats a bit saved too. I think for now I'ma go with the MBP and see how that goes... I wont be surprised if it changes me completely hahaha

Thanks all so much for the advice, any more please keep it coming!

 

[Fr0dders]

I bought a 13" macbook pro thinking it would be enough.

I had a 27" imac within 18 months

Once you go mac ....

Start off with the MBP and see how you like it. You can always get most of it back when you sell it if you don't like it.

 

["andy"]

i dont see why your pc cant do what you want it to do ? the mixer should work just as well as it does on OSX. if by deely you mean delay then you may need to check it is all setup correctly or look at latency settings . edit - think i read that wrong , remove any other soundcards you dont use , disable the onboard in your bios and system manager etc

and i cant see what advantage the mac will give to your productions unless of course you want/need to use logic ? , a macbook will give portability but will you actually use it on the move ? i can count the amount of times ive used my macbook on the move to produce on one hand because you end up needing the rest of your gear with you

to match your PC's performance like you want you are going to have to spend a hell of a lot of cash. you even may need to buy your software again depending on the licenses ?

for someone who wants to game at 5870 levels , who wants to keep the highest performance and who uses cubase/reason which are both great on windows i really cant recommend the mac as much as i usually would

 

[claypigeon101]

"andy"
thanks so much that is a brilliant comment.
Firstly sorry by 'deely' I meant main sound card/output/interface, not delay, I just couldnt think of the word, sorry about that.
And yes I agree, I couldnt afford a Mac at the moment that would equal my PCs performance in games, media etc... however
I do NEED a portable music station, that's why I'm eyeing up the Macbook Pros, I will definitely use it plenty. And what Im thinking is it will probably become my main music system, the problem with my PC is that I cant get my firewire mixer (alesis multimix12 firewire) to work as a main audio interface, or in fact talk to the PC properly at all without bugging out totally. Now my method of rectifying this isnt just buy a macbook pro, but
1. i need a portable music station
2. i WANT a portable music station...and for me that plays a huge part in buying 'gadge'
3. my firewire mixer along with any other interfaces i want will communicate with the macbook good and proper like it should, none of this 'windows 7 doesnt handle firewire devices properly' garbage cos its true, win7 really doesnt handle them properly.
4. everyone i have read about basically says the multimix works fine with macbook pro.
5. I'm going to Logic Pro 9 soon as another DAW to add to my collection. Most people use Logic and I dont think Im going to invest in Cubase 6 that can save as a generic file to open in Logic, ProTools, Ableton etc. I will probably swap and change projects between cubase 5 and logic pro 9, I know cubase well so if i start things off in that and can swap to logic at a later date. VST only projects that I do a lot, I will probably stick with cubase cos it rewires with reason and i get a million synths.

thanks for all your help guys it's great to hear so many differing opinions and also excellent advice from experience. however I've got this good deal on this macbook pro, in case i havent mentioned, It's the 2010 model brand new, 2.66ghz core 2 duo, 4gb ddr3 1066 RAM, 320gb HDD, and a beautiful firewire 800 port (which i need a converter for) that should make sweet, component-on-component love with my mixer

any more advice guys keep it coming, you are brilliant.
thanks again

 

[claypigeon101]

plus, dont wanna start a Mac v Windows war but

ALMOST EVERYTHING WINDOWS I HAVE BOUGHT/INSTALLED/USED IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS HAS NOT WORKED AS IT SHOULD IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

so my personal allegiance with microsoft is vastly declining.

and I have 2 ferrets and they advise me to get a Mac, so im afraid it's 3-0 to Jobs

 

[claypigeon101]

also "andy" i should be able to get hold of an Apogee Duet...the pinnacle of audio-to-computer communication...a perfect collaboration of design, engineering and shiny, shiny white metal... should my mixer not work properly...

 

[claypigeon101]

failing that i'm thinking 8-track reel-to-reel and a lot of cider

 

[visibleman]

Used a Multimix a few days ago and had similar issues; found out that you need to update to the latest firmware and use the latest Win7 drivers. It DOES work on Win7 though.

Edit - link i used, http://homerecording.com/bbs/user-f...ix-12-firewire-windows-7-bad-firmware-297280/

 

[MikeHunt79]

Give Logic a go, you'll soon want a Mac...

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Agreed. Even using ProTools I've found Logic just feels "nicer".

 

[claypigeon101]

I've used Logic plenty, Cubase is my favourite but I will probably shift to Logic with my MBP. visibleman Im checking that out, thanks

 

[claypigeon101]

Used a Multimix a few days ago and had similar issues; found out that you need to update to the latest firmware and use the latest Win7 drivers. It DOES work on Win7 though.

Edit - link i used, http://homerecording.com/bbs/user-f...ix-12-firewire-windows-7-bad-firmware-297280/

YES that's EXACTLY my problem, I saw this forum before, should I keep going to service pack 2 or 3 or whatever it is on win7 at the moment and then try?

Exactly as that forum talks about, I can't get the firmware updater to work

 

[SiriusB]

If you mean OS service pack, 7 only has one!