Article:		The Ultimate Portable Studio
Subject:		Religion
Date:		2005-08-01 17:30:09
From:		JimAikin
It's interesting, but perhaps not surprising, that this article has stirred up so much controversy. If we take the article as one person's opinion, then there's really nothing to debate. I'd have to say, though, that Gina's understandable enthusiasm for the doubtless wonderful gear she uses has led her to make some sweeping generalizations that aren't too well supported by the facts. The PC vs. Mac debate is ultimately about as productive of insight as a debate between a Christian and a Muslim. I happen to be a PC lover myself, for reasons I won't bore you with. I find the Mac balky and obtuse, but that's because I don't use it every day. YMMV. More than anything else, I think, it bothered me that Gina said a keyboard player should only consider some other DAW than Pro Tools if he or she "doesn't need a lot of audio tracks." Cubase will do TONS of audio tracks, as will most other DAWs. If there were any rational way to compare Cubase's (or Digital Performer's) ability to handle audio with Pro Tools' ability to handle MIDI tracks ... well, I don't know. I'm not a Pro Tools user. I just think it's a question that should be addressed in a thoughtful manner, with research, which would include, naturally, a clear statement of the research methodology and the reasoning behind it. Defensiveness and innuendo are not helpful. Them's mah two cents' worth. --Jim Aikin

Showing messages 1 through 2 of 2.

• Religion
  2005-08-02 02:56:15  gfantsaez [Reply | View]
  
  
  Jim,
  
  What an incredible honor to have your feedback in any form, positive or negative. I have such deep respect for your work and have learned so much from you over the years. So, thank you.
  
  I apologize if I seemed defensive in my, sometimes not so, humble opionions. I do base my opinions on experience and research. I own 2 PC's and 6 Macs. Both PC's running Windows XP, one in my studio and a new Sony Vaio laptop that I use primarily for Quickbooks since the Mac version of Quickbooks doesn't allow for built-in payroll, online payments, etc etc - Though I do have Ableton Live and Pro Tools on both PC's. I still prefer doing my music on macs...
  
  I started doing music on PC's back in 1984 with a program you may remember, Roger Powell's Texture. From there I moved to Sequencer Plus, Acid, Master Tracks Pro, Cubase, Gigasampler (I wrote the original demo music back when Gigasampler belonged to Nemesys) and my PC experience goes to the present from music software to music software. I try to keep as current on both platforms as I possibly can. I do admit my expertise is on the mac...
  
  My article was primarily written for newbies, for someone just taking the plunge into portable recording. I find the Mac far more intuiive and less technical than the PC. I also state very clearly, numerous times now, that the Mac is the clear choice of music professionals. Go into any major recording studio, what do they have? They ALL have macs. Would major studios base their income and cleintele on a system that was "obtuse and balky"? I have to strongly disagree with that statement...
  
  Lets take a mental screen shot of Windows 95 and the Mac OS 9 from 6 - 7 years ago - now put them side by side with screen shots of Windows XP and Mac OS X. Which one, aesthetically, has matured? I personally, see very little difference in my XP PC as opposed to my old, long gone, Window's 95. I still have icons crowding my desktop, I still have to go to the Start Menu and then to My Computer to do any kind of file management. I still get no bells and whistles from Microsoft.
  
  Meanwhile, OSX keeps getting better and better. My mac has my Dock that holds all my icons. I can see my hard drive(s) directly on my desktop and drag files to and from anywhere without right clicking and going to a menu to move things around. My Powerbook came with iChat, iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie, Address Book, iCal etc. When I bought my Canon digital camera, I simply plugged it in and iPhoto recognized it. When I arrived at my hotel yesteday that had an HP fax printer, I simpy plugged it in and my Mac recognized it.
  
  Meanwhile on my PC, I have had to download and install drivers for absolutely everything I want to do. If I want an application, I have to buy it.
  
  And again, I'd like to re-itterate, I find it astounding and disappointing that my PC desktop looks almost exactly like it looked 10 years ago. It functions exactly the same. No major improvements for me...
  
  Everytime I upgrade from OS 9 to OS X Jaguar to Panther to Tiger, I have visible improvements and more features that make the upgrade worth my time and money.
  
  David Battino was correct in his defense of my "doesn't need lots of audio tracks" statement. (Thanks David) I wasn't talking about Pro Tool's or the Mac's limitation with audio tracks at all. I was simply stating that IF a user was going to be doing more sequencing and less recording of audio tracks, then perhaps they should an application that was geared more towards MIDI sequencing like Logic or Cubase. I find Pro Tools best for folks who do mostly audio tracks with fewer MIDI tracks as opposed to someone using an app like Logic which tends to be used for mostly MIDI tracks with a vocal or guitar track added in here and there. Few people are tracking a full band with these apps... That's not to say Logic or Cubase or DP4 or whatever cannot handle audio tracks... I still say Pro Tools does it best and it's the standard DAW for professional audio recording for a reason... I also say the Mac is the clear choice for audio...
  
  Again, I have the deepese respect for your work and I appreciate the feedback.
  
  Warm regards,
  
  Gina
  
  

• Religion
  2005-08-01 22:43:59  David Battino [Reply | View]
  
  
  Thanks, Jim. We should have made it clear that it was one (albeit very accomplished) person’s opinion and qualified the contentions. (“For me, the Mac is the ultimate creative machine,” etc.)
  
  I understood the line “if you don’t plan to be recording many audio tracks” to mean how often someone records audio tracks, not the number of simultaneous tracks. In other words, Gina was, I believe, highlighting the difference in “flow” between using a multitrack audio editor and a sequencer. MIDI keyboardists produce discrete note events that can be more easily shaped in a sequencer, whereas guitarists will likely be recording complete phrases at a time, not tweaking individual notes. —David Battino