PC vs MAC
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Thread: PC vs MAC

  1. #1
    Tech Wizard DJBBWB's Avatar
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    Default PC vs MAC

    Team,

    I've been a PC user all my life. I am DJing and I'm finding that my laptop has random audio dropouts at the most inconvenient times. Sometimes Traktor is just idling and the load will redline. It doesn't make sense so I'm down to change. I see the majority of DJ's use Macs so I'm looking to convert.

    Next obvious question is which MAC should I get for DJing? I use Traktor, KA6, Kontrol X1, Z1, F1, S2, and an external hardrive so I want to make sure that USB connections will not be a problem as well. (I do have a pluggable powered USB port).

    I will only be using this for DJing so please send me something with enough, RAM, HD Space, processing power...whatever lingo is used for MAC.

    Please and thank you!

  2. #2
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    I use a 15 inch Macbook Pro, I've never had an issue with audio drop outs. I would think any of the base model Macbook Pro's available (13 or 15 inch) would be fine.

  3. #3
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    Yeah, you'll be fine with any of the macbook pros.

  4. #4

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    MacBooks, as long as you don't get a 2010 one (bad batch of GPUs), are quite solid and reliable machines hardware wise. My 2009 one is modded to hell and covered in dents and still works great. It outlived 2 dell XPSs I had before it that each cost more. The software has low latency audio built in, and is quite stable. The downside is if it does start acting weird there are less resources out there to fix it. Some VSTs only work on Windows. It also has a very different UI which takes some getting used to if you have only known Windows but it is fairly straightforward to pick up. It's basically a different way of working.

    Whether you decide to use it is up to you. I suspect the random audio dropouts you are having is something fixable and you might want to follow that path first before dropping coin on a new laptop,regardless of whether it has a fruit on the lid or not.

  5. #5
    Tech Guru Patch's Avatar
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    Win audio drop-outs are almost always fixable.

    Optimise your OS.
    Remove any software you don't use.
    Check that your display settings are optimised for PERFORMANCE, and NOT appearance.
    DJ'ing: 2x1200MK2, DJM 850, Dicers, F1, Zomo MC-1000, Sony MDR-v700, i7 Win 10 HP Envy
    Production: Ableton Live 8 and a mouse, Sennheiser HD400, Sony VAIO

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  6. #6
    Tech Guru deevey's Avatar
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    If you remove the external hard drive from the equation do you still get dropouts ?

    next question : Is the port dedicated ?

  7. #7
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    Also, if you're playing out, disable WiFi. Back in the day, before I made the switch to Mac, I had an issue where I would get pops and clicks while playing out. Turns out this was Windows searching for wireless networks. Apparently this is a common issue.

    What Patch said is sound advice. Somewhere under the System control panel (windows key+break will pull up the right one) there's an option where you can set your computer's performance settings. Turn off all of the animations, etc, and also, there's a setting that says "optimize for background services or applications." I think it was 'background services' that offered better performance for audio stuffs, but it's been a while since I've been on Windows, so try both and see what happens.

    I definitely suggest going Mac, but it's expensive, and you can probably fix your issue for free.

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