The only difference between using a Mac versus a Windows computer is that with a Mac you can run Apple OS X which is required for a very few pieces of software that some musicians really like, and Windows is required for a few other packages and Windows is more affordable when purchased with a Windows computer. Given how scarce it is in non-Apple devices, getting one might be your only choice for using some of the hardware as well.
#WHAT IS MAC CORE AUDIO DRIVER#
There are people who had success working on Windows with multiple devices just fine, and there are cases where a device refused to work with the Aggregate Device driver on OSX as well (one case I remember was when the producer didn't choose to support it because it would mean a drop in quality IIRC).Īnother thing that comes to mind is that a lot of vendors see the potential in the Thunderbolt interface. This still depends on your choice of hardware, though, so don't make a decision based just on that. Hardware producers also have a much easier job targetting a very limited Mac spectrum, which in general seems to make it all more stable. OSX on the other hand comes straight out of the box with "Aggregate Device" driver which allows you to easily combine multiple devices into one that can be fed to your DAW.
#WHAT IS MAC CORE AUDIO DRIVERS#
On Windows, to get multiple audio drivers you either need to use the windows driver, which in general doesn't work very well with DAWs, has more latency and limited multi-device options, or use ASIO4ALL which allows you to combine the inputs into one device and work with low-latency, at the cost of sporadic stability issues and hardware incompatibilites One thing that no one has mentioned yet (I think) is the audio driver. If there is a program that you want to use that only works on one platform, that could also be a deciding factor. It really boils down to personal preference and which platform you are more comfortable with. Today, the distinction is not so significant. In the old days, there were some compelling arguments favoring a Mac for music production. So capability and software availability are no longer the primary consideration when trying to choose. There are a few proprietary programs that will only run on a Mac, but there are competing programs for PC that pretty much do the same thing. Many who were indoctrinated in the beginning, are still very brand loyal today and continue to spread the mantra that Mac is better for music production.īut nowadays, the PC has evolved and caught up with the Mac in terms of both hardware and available software. For many years it seemed that most of the software geared towards serious professional music production was developed for the Mac OS. It was not just the hardware that favored the artsy users.
In the beginning, Macs targeted the creative artsy types and the platform had features and benefits specifically geared to favor musicians and photographers and graphic artist. There has been a healthy competition between the two platforms in an effort to corner a large segment of the market share.
This has been a raging debate for the past 30 years or so.