HI ALL,COULD ANYONE GIVE ME A BREAKDOWN ON THE BEST APPLE MAC PRODUCTION SETUP(PLUS COST I'M LOOKIN AT IF POSS!)I'LL NEED TO GET GOING.ALREADY USING TOP END PC SET UP BUT LOOKIN TO EXPAND WITH A MAC.

CHEERS FOR ALL ...J.V

Hi mate... You'll be pretty much set with an iMac and Logic Studio 8 right now apple.com Will you be recording much audio (mic recording) or will you just need a simple left and right output? If not, you can do without a soundcard as the built in card is great.

Minimum I'd recommend is the 20" at £929 but if you can stretch to the higher models, they'll still be good to go in years to come.

I'd also recommend just getting the basic mac and not adding any tempting upgrades (hard drive space/RAM etc.). RAM is really easy to install yourself and is much much cheaper from crucial.com and you're better off buying cheaper external hard drives to backup/store samples as well.

Thats brilliant mate ,nice one.I know absolutely nothing about macs having spent years wearing blinkers and strictly producing on pcs.I'm not even sure why I'm thinkin' about a mac.Its just that I'm lookin for something that will give me different(or better!) results.
Do you use a mac yourself?
Which would you recommend? If I buy a mac I'll have the option to choose which i use having both,but am I likely to get better results than on pc.I've got about 2 grand burnin a hole right now and rather than spend it on a machine I'll be disappointed with it could be put to much better use spent wisely on wine,women,w/end pleasures and new pc equipment.
Thanks for all Alex anymore info you have would be priceless

before splashing out on a mac go try one at a mates house or something and see if it suits your method of working. I know that me and macs don't get on at all, neither do I like using logic. No point asking what other people think as it may not suit your style of working.

and remember that if you change to a mac and logic you will spend the first month + learning the new OS and sequencer so you won't be improving your production skills in that time so don't expect things to be able to do things just as well as before for a while.


what sequencer are you using at the moment? if you want things different why not try a different PC based sequencer rather than a whole new type of OS as well

Ive always used the sequencer in reason along with cubase for the plug ins.Could never get my head around the cubase sequencer.Same when trying to use Ableton,lack of patience maybe if anything.So the month or so to find my feet with a mac would probably kill me.
Its just that I've so many rave reviews about the mac it seemed so tempting.
Nice 1 for your input Ben much appreciated.Like you say try bfore you buy so I'm going to investigate further!
cheers lads

It's definitely worth considering Ben's points. I use both Mac and PC and teach using Cubase, Acid and Logic and to be honest you can get the same results. It's all about the techniques you use (and prefer to use) and your own ideas.

Personally, Logic is my favourite sequencer, hosts a great set of plugins and is one of the most simple to use but Cubase/Ableton can do very similar stuff especially with VST plugs. I also prefer the Mac OS, which is very quick and easy to get used to...

When people ask, I usually recommend Macs, as from a composing point of view it really helped me but if you're looking to get going quickly and save £s, then PC would be the one for you.

Feel free to drop me an email (16steps@gmail) and I'll send you my mobile number if you want some advice over the phone. There's too much to write on a thread ;-)