Which operating system do you use when producing music? Do you care?
Each Tuesday we open our mic to readers and lurkers alike to come out of the woodwork and tell us your thoughts and opinion, your experiences and mistakes, what you love and what you hate. We want to hear from you, and here’s your chance.
Which operating system do you use when producing music? Windows? Mac? Something else? Which version? Do you use the latest and greatest, or stick with what you’re comfortable with?
Is this something you feel strongly about, or do you just use what’s on your computer? Do you honestly believe that your choice of OS improves the quality of your music, or the ease with which you make it? Why or why not?
Do any of you use a variety of operating systems in your work? Do you notice the difference? Do you have any observations you’d like to share?
Finally, if you have a funny or sad story of how an operating system affected you, feel free to share. We’d love to share your laughter or tears.
Enjoyed this Post?
Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!
By Adrian Try
How to Record Great Music
If you've been thinking about recording music or dabbling in audio engineering, then kick-start the process by grabbing a copy of Björgvin's book and start learning how you can record great music with whatever equipment you've got!
Join our newsletter!
Live My Life only $14.00 
Clouds only $14.00 Audio Basix
Just getting started? Start with our basix tutorials on the fundamentals. View All Basix Tutorials
Create a Tutorial, Get Paid!
Have something to teach the world? Want to earn money doing it? Tutorials, screencasts, and articles published here on Audiotuts+ are largely contributed by readers just like you! We'll pay you great money for good content. Find Out More
When recording vocals I prefer to use the mac, either OS w/pro tools. The flow of PT 6, 7, or 8 is better than anything else especially w/the right processors. Midi production is done on the mac w/hardware & some soft synths. But if/when I wanna go overboard with the soft synths I’ll jump on FL studio bcuz It’s probably the most flexible program out there if you know how to set up your diff systems.
OS X. I have been doing live performance for 6 years and while I had many problems with windows (XP and Vista) I have never had OS X crash or even glitch once live.
And I use Logic Studio. So OS X is a no brainer.
Logic Studio FTW
umm mac
I started out using a free open source digital recorder for windows. But now I use hands down OX 10.
I’ve got OS X 10.5.8 on my MacPro that I use for the majority of my work. I’m running 10.6.2 on the MacBook that I use for live recording work.
10.6.2 imac. works perfect for me
I started out on Windows 95 using Cakewalk back in the day. Over the years I’ve totally become a Mac person. Whether it’s truly better or not— hard to say. Many a flame war begins and ends with the Mac vs PC argument. Currently using Mac OS X on a G5 PPC with 4 GB of RAM running Digital Performer and Ableton Live. Not had a problem ever. The programs smooth as silk.
(it’s tempting to get a windows machine however, just based on sheer number of freeware and open source plugins available for the platform, or perhaps a linux machine).
OS X 10.6.2 is now what i’m been using although 10.5.8 was way better!
I sketch ideas and perform mainly using Ableton Live on my MacBook Pro running 10.6.2. When it comes to production however, I do them on my PC running Windows XP just because of the VSTs that I have collected over the years that are unavailable on the Mac.
When iwas ready to put my hearth in a MAC Pro, Because of the Logic and Apple OSs, Microsoft releases the Windows 7 and Presonus launches Studio One.
So, i put that hearth in a Core i7 processor, 6 giga ram ddr3, 2 SATA HDs and a nVidia Geforce 9800GT by a half cost of that MAC Pro…
Snow Leopard and run Mainstage 2 live… works a treat and most importantly it is very stable. It was the main reason I bought a Mac sick of lack of stability and pain in the kneck driver issues that Windows seems to be plagued by. V happy camper
OS X 10.6.2, Logic Pro Studio 9, nuff said.
windows 7 x64. used them all and i choose w7x64, no contest
damn right
im gonna have to agree here. Win 7 is hands down the best OS i have used to produce. Granted, i have not used linux, but who does? Ive used mac, the biggest problems with mac, is the lack of software and the over-protective OS. Windows 7 is running much better than vista ever dreamed of, and smoother than ever. I believe alot of the problems from Windows OS’s originate from the Users lack of knowledge in configuring/computing. and those users, are quick to blame MS because they have no clue of the effect thier own actions. Then they find the soft padded rooms of the mac OS to be more simple, and rightly so. simple ppl need simple things. but i dont wanna offend any fanboys here… I just find Windows to be better in the way that you can do what ou want to it, upgrade sound easily, upgrade parts easily, and nearly everything works on it. (when you know how to do it correctly)
OS X
I grew up with Windows and Cakewalk, so that’s what I use. I write my music primarily with a heavy emphasis on VSTs and MIDI, so that setup seems to work best for me. Also, I can build a killer new system for a few hundred bucks, as opposed to a couple of thousand.
I’d love to move my music production over to linux, but there still seems to be quite a bit lacking as far as VST and MIDI sequencing is concerned.
i’m like telebrandi above. MAC OS X. i was cakewalk / fruity loops in the PC world, but once i switched to mac / logic 9 theres no looking back. no lock ups, no crashes. logic is awesome (in the literal sense of the word, as eddie izzard would say), powerful and i stack on multiple AU(s), Kontakt, Tassman, Ultrabeat, guitar rig, you name it. i often have tracks into the hundreds on one song. i layer and build and push the systems as hard as i can because my overriding philosophy is that: ‘with a computer, if you can think it, you can do it’. i find MAC forgiving , flexible and intuitive and fun.
I used windows XP up until a month ago when a virus destroyed it… switched to ubuntu to try & save my files but so far I haven’t had any desire to do so, so much open source software… LMMS is just like fruity loops & theres a ton of cool instruments like a spot-on DX7 emulator…
For me, it’s been OSX all the way from the beginning. However, I’ve been exploring soft synth technology a LOT lately, and I’ve forced myself to branch into the Windows realm. If nothing else, then for the sake of using FL Studio. There are a few other audio software items that are Windows-only that I’d love to look into, but I’ve yet to run into a Windows-only synth or DAW that does something my OSX counterparts can’t do. I’ll remain loyal to the Mac OS (through many trials and tribulations, I can attest to the stability differences in Mac & PC), but I won’t be so narrow-sighted as to stunt my musical growth just because something awesome is PC-only!
I prefer using the Mac, but my go-to weapon is Acid Pro which is only for Windows. All my design, vfx, motion graphics work is done on Mac. I would have no need for Windows if it wasn’t for Acid Pro.
These are some of my works with Acid Pro:
http://davadrian.com/2008/10/03/vol-1-the-remixes-bobby-v/
http://davadrian.com/2008/10/31/vol-1-the-remixes-making-of-icebox-remix/
http://davadrian.com/2008/10/05/casanova-harus-bagaimana/
Throughout the years, I’ve made plenty of switches.
Acid to Fl Studio back to Acid
Acid to Sonar back to Acid
Cubase
Pro Tools
Logic Pro…
But for whatever reason I’m just quicker and more efficient with Acid in terms of music production (when I’m mixing and mastering, I prefer Pro Tools). I just love the loop-based workflow.
I realized that the only reason I switch is because my (insert current favorite producer/artist) uses (insert program). Now I’m of the opinion that you can make hit music no matter what the program. It solely rests on your creativity…
Sooo, to recap.. I do everything on my Mac, except for Acid Pro which I use Windows. Oh, and I do it by running Windows on my Mac.
Ja! ACID Pro! The Few the Proud, the Acid users.
I’ve been using it for almost 8 years now.
Its just great.
OSX for too many reasons to even begin to mention
I have used windows XP and Cubase from version 3sx, switched to Pro Tools on my PC, and had alot of difficulties so i finally bought a G5 PPC.
Everything worked out fine but the G5 did not have the power i needed and my wallet did not contain the money so i sold my G5, did alot of research about the PC i would put together for a Pro Tools system.
I read about it on duc.digidesign.com and finally i got a system that was almost 100% stable with Pro Tools. I just love that program and want to work with it.
If i could afford a Mac Pro i would probably get it, but for now i have a good PC. The new iMac seems like a nice one too, the one with the Quad processor.
Fl Studio has been my main power house for the past 9 years, but since getting a mac, i now run ableton live 8 on the mac and PC.
On the PC FL Studio is by far the best choice of music software at the moment, nothing comes close to its workflow speed.
However it lacks huge amounts of live ability, so now i use the 2 programs in conjunction!
for my music production i use an HD24 one of my 3 mixing desks and some analogue outboard.
If I NEED to do anything in the computer I have a mac, but I prefer not to.
I switched to Mac in late 2004 when I got myself an iBook G4 for christmas. I have never looked back to Microsoft-land since then! That goes for all my creative projects including audio production! It’s just so much easier to spend time with your computer when you are working within a stable, intuitive and beautifully designed environment!
At the present time I’m using a MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM running Snow Leopard (10.6.2). I’m going back and forth between Ableton Live and Logic as my main DAWs. Also, I’m saving for an Apogee Duet sound card to complete my audio setup.
Since life is to short to master more than one DAW I’m contemplating making a decisive switch to Logic! I love Ableton Live’s layout and workflow, but there’s so many great learning resources on the internet that are primarily geared towards Logic!
I am a big fan of Acid Pro / SoundForge so it’s Windows for me. I also use Adobe’s SoundBooth [which I guess can run on Macs as well].
It seems like a couple people like to think that quality music comes from the OS you’re using but it’s talent, ’nuff said.
Mac OS X on a G5 at home (Pro Tools, DP, Reason, Peak, others).
I mentor at a school with 3 PCs running PT 8 on XP. Each year it has become harder and harder to keep the PCs working; the current computers were new last year and ended up working fairly well at the end of the last school year. So far it has taken more than 12 weeks to get all 3 computers working at the same time. Of course, once we had Pro Tools working smoothly, one of the M-Box 2 Pros died and has had to be replaced temporarily with an M-Box Micro for playback.
The school is all PC but are considering adding a Mac computer lab. Can’t happen soon enough for me…
Mac
Mac ALL THE WAY!!
OS X + Logic Studio 8.
Used to use Windows XP + FL Studio Producer Edition 7
COMPARISON:
OS X + Logic is a much stabler combination, tho I admit that if the makers of FL Studio made a version for OS X I would consider going there.
Ableton on PC (now with Windows 7). I love the ease of finding even small offshoot programs or plugins on a PC.
For recording on the go and for live, I trust a Macbook over any PC, again, using Ableton Live.
I know it is an unpopular choice
but I have always used Linux, and currently using the free Ubuntu Studio distribution enhanced by a few custom additions which include Finale(2007) run under the Windows emulator, although I find I still need Rosegarden to finish up a score.
yes it is sub-optimal, yes there are gaps in what can be done, but it does what I need it to do and as someone once said, computers are really excellent only at doing those things we don’t actually need done, and I spend the piles of $$ I’ve saved on other, more important music things
Windows7 x64 running Cubase 5 with mostly VST and midi. Tried Mac OS X, but could not justify the cost, went back to PC. Built a knocking system for very little that runs rather efficiently.
I’m torn. I started off on Atari ST…loved Dr. T’s software, and then moved over to Windows because Atari just couldn’t keep up and I couldn’t afford a Mac…much later now and after suffering years of abuse from Cubase (VST 3-5 and SX 1.06, not to mention a flirtation with 4 LE), I’ve decided that I really like the overall workflow and ease of configuration of Reaper on the Windows OS. So, I’m in Windows, but I’ve picked up a penchant for Linux, which in so many ways gives me the value I get from Reaper.
Still…the Mac is always calling…I’ll probably stay on Windows for awhile, but I will move to Mac eventually. For overall artistic endeavors, it just feels better, the workflows are generally easier and it looks good. Sometimes, that helps the decision.
Long story longer…I don’t think there’s necessarily a better OS (by any huge degree)…it’s what you know, and what you can produce with…isn’t that why we have these types of discussions? If there was a quantum leap from one to another (e.g., one could support MIDI, but not digital audio), then we would jump to that OS. I still hope Reaper puts out there software for Linux someday in the near future as they’ve done for Mac OS X.
Used ProTools Free 3.4 (yes v 3.4) ofor a short time on the Power Mac 7100 (the one Digi said was not supported on NuBus Macs). Starting using Logic 7.2 Express 4 years back, and currently using Logic Pro 8…no brainer for sure. Excellent software.
I use Windows 7. It’s the replacement for XP I’ve been looking for. OSX is good but it crashes just as much or more than my very well maintained windows system.
OS x 10.6 Logic Pro 8, will upgrade when i finish my current project (and get some dollar!)
Windows 7 (32bits for now). Don’t crash so far …
I wouldn’t mind using OSX, but I just don’t like Apple’s philosophy and price politic toward hardware.
Mac OS X / Mac Pro 8-core / Logic Studio 8
Linux here (Ubuntu, specifically) — between Ardour, Hydrogen, and Qtractor, I’ve got what I feel is a pretty good workflow going. Through JACK, those three apps can be seamlessly linked and synchronised. I’m sure it’s not as feature-packed as Logic et al, but it covers the features I need, and the money I save using free software is money I can invest in hardware.
I’m with Windows XP Pro SP3 / Fruity Studio 9.
If you don’t know how to use a PC properly then it has to be overspending and going with a Mac. For me, though, either a bootstrapped and custom version of XP (stripped to the gills, about 350mb all told) running a myriad of different DAWs (depends what my client expects me to work with) or the new Windows 7 64-bit. When all the drivers and VSTs get updated to work with x64 properly then I will move over totally, however usually I just have a partition for doing music on that doesn’t have any of the bloat of a proper installation and runs smooth as silk.
People complain about XP because they don’t know how to get the best out of it. Unfortunately, a lot of people are also slaves to Logic now.
I really don’t need endless issues getting in the way of my creative process. I get what I pay for from my Mac. I launch Logic and I create.
My experience with Windows and third party hardware was fraught with issues that stood in the way of creativity.
I learned a lot about Windows. I did conquer every hurdle that arose, but I always knew there was another waiting for me around the next corner. Pushing myself creatively often meant pushing the limits of my patience. My experience in the PC world was ultimately so much less rewarding than that with my Mac.
If never search for a new driver again it’ll be too soon.
XP for now on my Pc, vista on my laptop (soon Windows 7 )
Soft : FL Studio 9, Live Suite 7, Podium
OS X + Logic Studio
Update to my OS: just ordered a new computer which’ll have Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Win7x64 on studio’s PC. WinXP on my laptop and other machines (family, home studio PC etc)