2. pc-audio
  3. 139511-120636

Mac vs PC... Is Mac really better? & better audio experience out of your PC???????

I understand that Mac's generally have less issues than PC, but as a tech person that works far better on PC, I push towards DJing with a PC. I don't do it professionally yet, neither do I perform, so I am by no means in a hurry.

My only question is is Mac really better? My main argument about why most people seem to think Macs are better is because they don't look at PC specs. I'm going to make an honest assumption and say that most DJs probably aren't super tech-savvy people. With that being said, are most DJs perhaps under the misconception Macs are better than PCs just because they get PCs with specs that aren't ideal? Meanwhile, I'm almost certain all MacBooks have ideal specs.

For example, an easy mess up could be getting a PC with an AMD processor while running Serato. Serato does not support AMD. I think Apple products only use Intel.


This is technically a repost, as the original was removed by the mods, as it was "citing rumours and anecdotes as fact". I have revised the post to ensure all subjective opinions are clearly mentioned as such.

The two worst parts of PC audio are unfortunately also the very entities used by most PC enthusiasts: a (standard) motherboard's sound card, and "gaming" headphones (by this I mean headsets that have more budget spent on marketing than on R&D, like most Razr / Turtle Beach types). This is intended to remedy that, by distilling aspects of my own humbly frugal journey from laptop and earplugs to an (almost) audiophile-grade setup and the corresponding mind-numbing increase in audio quality.


kuldeepm
3 responses Add your response
jeenam
131 posts
 
Neither platform is inherently better than the other. Mac hardware is tightly controlled by Apple and the Mac platform itself has generally catered to multimedia professionals, whereas PC’s are generally viewed as a more generic platform for computer work. Out of the box, Windows 10 takes significantly more tweaking to sound optimal as the default configuration is again, geared toward general purpose computing. With Macs, due to the limited variance in hardware configuration, there are less variables to deal with. One manufacturer’s PC hardware may be 100% different than another. You can’t say that about a Mac. Due to the tight vertical integration of the hardware and software platform, software development on Mac presents less unknown variables because you can be damn sure the hardware is going to be the same _EVERY_ time if you’re purchasing the same model.

glennewdick commented on audio formats, and honestly that has *nothing* to do with PC or Mac. The formats he listed are supported on both PC and Mac, with the ability to playback the formats limited by your software choice. AIFF is an Apple standard audio format, but it is available for use on ALL platforms (Mac/Win/Linux).

If you’re just playing Serato and want to save some bucks, then go with a PC laptop. Paying a premium for a Mac laptop is stupid unless you have $$$ to spare or have some ridiculously strong desire to be perceived as ’cool’.

My opinion is biased as I build enterprise IT systems. When someone shows me their shiny new Mac it’s like someone showing off their Mustang GT 5.0 to a F1 race car driver. It’s a toy compared to the systems that run mission critical platforms. Mac is great for usability and they’ve made the OS pretty dumb simple to use, which is what has led to their popularity. I could care less about being perceived as ’cool’ because well, toys don’t make people cool.

“You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your f***ing khakis. You are all singing, all dancing crap of the world.” - Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
kuldeepm OP
1 posts
 

Neither is better then the other. the biggest issues is what format will either play here Mac’s seem to lag slightly behind, being tied to Apple’s software.

It boils down to what are you comfortable using and what level of quality do you want. AFF (apple Lossless) for Apple, FLAC-WAV-ECT for PC ( that’s not getting into the High rez formats). there is a better potential ability of a PC to play the higher Rez Files then Apple. But in the end its what more people have already used and are familiar with.

NAS and a dedicated Streamer-Player is always going to be better then Computer due to all the noise a computer makes in its power supplies.

Don’t even consider using the internal sound card. get a outboard DAC minimal. You don’t have to go expencive here something like an Audioquest dragonfly ($150-$300) is a substantial step up from most if not all internal sound cards. Better yet get a DAC that runs off a separate power supply Shiit audio comes to mind there for a good starting point.

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@ glennewdick---------Ty my issue has been solved.

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glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,667 posts
 

Neither is better then the other. the biggest issues is what format will either play here Mac’s seem to lag slightly behind, being tied to Apple’s software.

It boils down to what are you comfortable using and what level of quality do you want. AFF (apple Lossless) for Apple, FLAC-WAV-ECT for PC ( that’s not getting into the High rez formats). there is a better potential ability of a PC to play the higher Rez Files then Apple. But in the end its what more people have already used and are familiar with.

NAS and a dedicated Streamer-Player is always going to be better then Computer due to all the noise a computer makes in its power supplies.

Don't even consider using the internal sound card. get a outboard DAC minimal. You don't have to go expencive here something like an Audioquest dragonfly ($150-$300) is a substantial step up from most if not all internal sound cards. Better yet get a DAC that runs off a separate power supply Shiit audio comes to mind there for a good starting point.

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