Audiobus: Use your music apps together.

What is Audiobus?Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.

Download on the App Store

Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Bite the Mac Bullet, Or Just A Distraction From The Love Of Music?

I'm thinking of getting a Mac. I have a few iPads (chock full of great music apps, thank you Audiobus Forum!) but I've always been a PC guy for larger machines.

My thinking is that my iPads may integrate more seamlessly with Mac than with PC, plus Logic Pro X is hopefully more complete and integrated than Reaper or Cakewalk. Note that I have not spent much time with either Reaper or Cakewalk, so no great loss if I do not use them any more. Note that I also have Band In The Box and Ableton Live for Windows, so I'll still be using my PC's with those two at least.

Now, maybe it’s not worth the time and hassle to buy more annoyingly proprietary Apple hardware, plus deal with Apple's insufferable iTunes, or it's equally invasive replacement Apple Music, plus learn the non-Windows operating system macOS Catalina, all just to hopefully have more seamless integration between iPads and laptop, plus hopefully a more complete and integrated DAW with Logic Pro X (versus Reaper or Cakewalk or Band In The Box or Ableton Live), plus hopefully have lower audio latency (some say a Mac's better than a PC in this regard).

I know I am a hapless victim of the "paradox of choice", but am I missing much if I stick with what I've already got and ignore the Mac with Logic Pro X?

Basically my question is, if starting with the assumption that you did not know any particular DAW all that well, and you had a few iPads loaded with lots of cool music apps (thank you Audiobus Forum!) and funds were not a big issue, and you had lots of PC's and Windows experience, and you had Reaper, Cakewalk, Band In The Box and Ableton Live (but did not know any of them well), would you still be able to benefit much by adding a Mac with Logic Pro X, or would the Mac with Logic Pro X more than likely end up just being more hardware / software to learn / maintain, just that much more of a distraction from the love of music?

Note #1 : It's true (more or less) that you can setup most any modern DAW to do most anything with the right configuration and VST's etc. but it’s also true that most DAW's right out of the box tend to lend themselves to certain workflows, recording styles, requirements for add-ons, hardware requirements, etc. It's also true (more or less) that the best DAW is the one that you know the best, use the most, and have most customized for your purposes.

Note #2 : I used to gig regularly years ago (usually as a solo act) but unsurprisingly those days are gone (for us all now due to the global pandemic) and my age is creeping up on me in any case, so here I am at home alone, with lots of gear, and lots of time, and a budget permitting such purchases (if indeed they would be meaningful) plus I can take advantage of the Apple educational discount given I am a teacher.

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Comments

  • Mac mini late 12 full upgraded (16gb ram and ssd) runs Mojave and logic x properly.

    Garageband iOS can host everything and record into Live Loops so you can airdrop/icloud sync and open that inside Logic very easy and fast.

    Then you have all you need to finish songs... and if Mainstage gets the same update (sooner or later) then you can go even on stage with Live Loops. Hardware like launchpads are supported out of the box and obviously logic remote. If some day Mainstage or Logic comes to iPad pro even better for live probably...

    What else you will need?

  • anything you don't already know you're going to have to learn, there is no way around that, logic might or might not be more fun to learn than the other daws that you already have but the only way to know is too give it a try, and before that watch as many videos as you can on the subject but still you've got to demo it to know for certain. Logic is certainly an outstanding daw but so are the daws that you already have. Mac or PC is not that big of a deal imho, I use both and the difference doesn't mean that much to me.

  • edited May 2020

    Absolutely no reason to do so unless you want to. The only thing it gets you - and this may be considerable or not - is pretty easily aggregating devices and using the iPad more as an outboard synth or effect... digitally. Asio4all can do that, too, but doubtfully with as low of latency (if that matters).

    If you already have a pc, there’s plenty of things (hardware or software) to spend money on to improve the experience of making music.

  • edited May 2020

    @puppychumful said:
    I'm thinking of getting a Mac. I have a few iPads (chock full of great music apps, thank you Audiobus Forum!) but I've always been a PC guy for larger machines.

    My thinking is that my iPads may integrate more seamlessly with Mac than with PC, plus Logic Pro X is hopefully more complete and integrated than Reaper or Cakewalk. Note that I have not spent much time with either Reaper or Cakewalk, so no great loss if I do not use them any more. Note that I also have Band In The Box and Ableton Live for Wondows, so I'll still be using my PC's with those two at least.

    Now, maybe it’s not worth the time and hassle to buy more annoyingly proprietary Apple hardware, plus deal with Apple's insufferable iTunes, or it's equally invasive replacement Apple Music, plus learn the non-Windows operating system macOS Catalina, all just to hopefully have more seamless integration between iPads and laptop, plus hopefully a more complete and integrated DAW with Logic Pro X (versus Reaper or Cakewalk or Band In The Box or Ableton Live), plus hopefully have lower audio latency (some say a Mac's better than a PC in this regard).

    I know I am a hapless victim of the "paradox of choice", but am I missing much if I stick with what I've already got and ignore the Mac with Logic X?

    Basically my question is, if starting with the assumption that you did not know any particular DAW all that well, and you had a few iPads loaded with lots of cool music apps (thank you Audiobus Forum!) and funds were not a big issue, and you had lots of PC's and Windows experience, and you had Reaper, Cakewalk, Band In The Box and Ableton Live (but did not know any of them well), would you still be able to benefit much by adding a Mac with Logic Pro X, or would the Mac with Logic Pro X more than likely end up just being more hardware / software to learn / maintain, just that much more of a distraction from the love of music?

    Note #1: It's true (more or less) that you can setup most any modern DAW to do most anything with the right configuration and VST's etc. but it’s also true that most DAW's right out of the box tend to lend themselves to certain workflows, recording styles, requirements for add-ons, hardware requirements, etc. It's also true (more or less) that the best DAW is the one that you know the best, use the most, and have most customized for your purposes.

    Note #2: I used to gig regularly years ago (usually as a solo act) but unsurprisingly those days are gone (for us all now due to the global pandemic) and my age is creeping up on me in any case, so here I am at home alone, with lots of gear, and lots of time, and a budget permitting such purchases (if indeed they would be meaningful) plus I can take advantage of the Apple educational discount given I am a teacher.

    I think like most of us PC people are watching to see if LogicX comes to the iPad (or some variation of it), Well, I can’t see myself investing time and money into a Mac.. as sweet as LogicX seems to be.. Hopefully probability (as in LogicX) would be standard for all DAW and programs like Maschine.. I think Desktop developers are slow in implementing features like that..

  • I used PCs for years for music making. Now I use Mac. For me, PCs are for excel and work and Macs are for Reason and Ableton and fun.

    btw - I used Cakewalk for a long time. Then when switched to Mac I had to get Logic. It didn’t take. Go figure. If I’m honest, most music happens on iOS for me now.

  • Reason now integrates seamlessly w lpx

  • wimwim
    edited May 2020

    Mmmmk, I think I may just be you @puppychumful a few months from now. Almost exclusively a Windows user for as long as there has been such a thing. I was always happy enough with it, though in some measure because have always been capable of fixing anything, and I mean anything that goes wrong with Windows, and also because my first DAW, FL Studio, was perfect for me.

    Then came iOS some time after I reached creative paralysis on desktop. It set me free to make music again. I didn't feel the need to get a Mac as I and wouldn't spend that much just for music anyway.

    A few months ago I made the decision to learn to develop iOS music apps. There's no sense going down that road without a Mac, so I picked up a 2015 MacBook Pro.

    The thing is bloody wonderful. Really, it is. Am I now anti-windows? Nope! Do I even think one is superior to the other? Nope! I just like it. A lot. I straight away installed Catalina because of Xcode. I have had no issues (knock wood...), and the learning curve to transition hasn't been hard except for some wtf head scratching over a few things that are second nature in Windows but obtuse in MacOS. Those quickly faded though.

    As for value, the thing that strikes me is: this 2015 piece of hardware runs just fine. It doesn't feel anything like something reaching its end of life. And as it turns out, a Mac (even a new one) seems like actually a pretty good deal when you consider that it comes with free equivalents (at least for my purposes) of the full Microsoft Office suite, that you need to pay for on a PC. A wonderful development environment, that you need to pay for on a PC, and doesn't have shit everywhere built into the operating system trying to get you to buy more, more, more Microsoft crap. It's been extremely refreshing and quite a bit different than I expected from Apple given how greedy people characterize them as being. What can I say? It just suits me.

    Then there's the nifty-difty integration with iOS. Handoff is really cool. I keep it off most times because I feel like it drains my iPad battery, but when I have use for it, it's super useful. There is the iCloud integration. When my ass gets too sore sitting at the dining room table on the MacBook, I can just seamlessly switch over to the iPad on the couch without missing a beat. I can edit Mozaic scripts about 100 times faster on the MacBook and then just copy/paste them right into Mozaic on the iPad. Write an overly long forum post (like I'm doing now) on the MBP, then go grab a screenshot on the iPad and add it to the post without even interrupting my thought.

    Garageband on the Mac is pretty nifty. Stronger than on the iPad in some areas, weaker in others, but free from the fluff I hate on the iOS interface. FL Studio runs great on it. I'm sure Ableton does too, I just haven't gotten that far, and only have a Lite license anyway. IDAM is way slicker than trying to do the same with StudioMux on the PC. Too bad audio is only one-direction though.

    Anyway ... sorry for the long post. It's been a great ride for me. I don't know if I'd feel the same if I had popped for a new model. I'd definitely say that the roughly $1,000 I paid is the most effective $1,000 I've ever spent on computer hardware (and I've probably spent $5 Million to $10 Million of other people's money over my career).

    So yeh, if you're anything like me, I'd say you won't be looking back with regret.

  • One thing I'm not sure of is whether you need to re-buy Ableton Live if you own it on the PC and want it for the Mac. Been wondering about that one.

  • edited May 2020

    I thought perhaps there was something overwhelmingly compelling about buying a Mac solely for running Logic Pro X that would make such a combination a no-brainer i.e. I could not accomplish similarly with what I have with Windows hardware / software plus my iPads.

    Correct me if I am wrong then, but as cool as Logic Pro X may be, I can get to a happy place with the Windows hardware / software I have already plus my iPads, and that buying a Mac solely for running Logic Pro X does not really add up.

  • wimwim
    edited May 2020

    @puppychumful said:
    I thought perhaps there was something overwhelmingly compelling about buying a Mac solely for running Logic Pro X that would make such a combination a no-brainer i.e. I could not accomplish similarly with what I have with Windows hardware / software plus my iPads.

    Correct me if I am wrong then, but as cool as Logic Pro X may be, I can get to a happy place with the Windows hardware / software I have already plus my iPads, and that buying a Mac solely for running Logic Pro X does not really add up.

    I wouldn't just for Logic Pro if you're happy with other DAWs. There'd have to be something seriously wrong with the ones I use (FL Studio, Reaper and Ableton Live Lite) to convince me to shell out a couple' grand just so I could run Logic Pro. No DAW is worth that much, IMO.

  • As far as I know, you can transfer your Ableton Live license to Mac.

    I am a Mac convert, did the lap in 2012 and I never will go back. Logic's last version is wonderful and if you have the time and the money, why not?

    After that you'll begin to think about going computer-less - iPad only.

    Good luck.

  • edited May 2020

    Struggled with Windows PC’s for years trying to make music. Always having problems, and even with Asio4all it was a faff, as it’d drop out or things would freeze up. Lots would disagree, so my experience is obviously a personal one.

    2012 MacBook Pro - zero latency, no need for Asio. Plug the iPad straight in for digital audio or MIDI, or do it wirelessly, and use Remote to play Logic. Other apps to control Ableton. Easy. Plus there’s been a big Logic update.

    Another Mac advantage - you can boot from an external drive, so keep all your music stuff separate.

    Only music related thing I use the PC for is running Soundforge, as I haven’t got that on the Mac, and it’s great for final edits.

  • @wim said:
    One thing I'm not sure of is whether you need to re-buy Ableton Live if you own it on the PC and want it for the Mac. Been wondering about that one.

    With you license, you get 2 authorizations for 2 computers. Mac or PC - doesn't matter
    Unofficially, it's more than 2 :) Unless they've changed it lately

  • Don't forget you can Boot a Mac into Windows with Bootcamp. PC+Mac in one device if you need a PC too.

    I don't think I'd want to run audio software in Virtual PC but you can also run windows in a window on the Mac too if there are any PC only apps you have you will still need.

  • @puppychumful said:
    I thought perhaps there was something overwhelmingly compelling about buying a Mac solely for running Logic Pro X that would make such a combination a no-brainer ...

    There is one feature (funnily reversed in general public regard):
    Windows 10 is an entirely closed system of Microsoft's machine generated code which needs constant connection (at least temporarily once per day) to the mothership to self-update.
    MacOS contains a lot of custom code, but in the end remains a plain Unix under the hood.
    It's not easy to mess with it's details, but at least you can... ;)

    Imho the conceptual part of the code base in OSX is way superior than in any version of Windows, but that's stuff under the hood and may not matter to you.
    My main developement system was a custom environment, but I've used both Visual Studio and XCode on a similiar degree for side projects. Bottomline: clumpsy and bloated versus slim and lean.

  • @Telefunky said:

    Windows 10 is an entirely closed system of Microsoft's machine generated code which needs constant connection (at least temporarily once per day) to the mothership to self-update.

    That's the main reason I switched fully to Macs a few months back. My Windows 7 work machine died, which meant the next one would be a Windows 10 thing - they've stopped security patches for 7 anyway.

    Every so often I'll hear Mrs Monzo shouting downstairs when she gets locked out of her Windows laptop desperate to get on with her work, courtesy of the auto updater kicking in and taking an hour to install new updates.

  • edited May 2020

    If you do timing critical stuff (which digital audio is by nature), you have to connect the machine to the internet, even if there's nothing to update.
    This does not only apply to Microsoft, but also (most) 3rd party drivers will try to connect to check for news. If you pulled the plug, they will repeat such attempts over and over again and reliably interupt DAW audio streams ;)
    (not my wisdom, but from a reliable service person who supports Windoze systems for decades)

  • This is a very expensive youth club to be a member of...

  • @wim said:
    One thing I'm not sure of is whether you need to re-buy Ableton Live if you own it on the PC and want it for the Mac. Been wondering about that one.

    Nope, you can choose to download Mac or pc versions from your account, it's all the same license.

  • Pay once.

  • @wim said:
    Mmmmk, I think I may just be you @puppychumful a few months from now. Almost exclusively a Windows user for as long as there has been such a thing. I was always happy enough with it, though in some measure because have always been capable of fixing anything, and I mean anything that goes wrong with Windows, and also because my first DAW, FL Studio, was perfect for me.

    Then came iOS some time after I reached creative paralysis on desktop. It set me free to make music again. I didn't feel the need to get a Mac as I and wouldn't spend that much just for music anyway.

    A few months ago I made the decision to learn to develop iOS music apps. There's no sense going down that road without a Mac, so I picked up a 2015 MacBook Pro.

    The thing is bloody wonderful. Really, it is. Am I now anti-windows? Nope! Do I even think one is superior to the other? Nope! I just like it. A lot. I straight away installed Catalina because of Xcode. I have had no issues (knock wood...), and the learning curve to transition hasn't been hard except for some wtf head scratching over a few things that are second nature in Windows but obtuse in MacOS. Those quickly faded though.

    As for value, the thing that strikes me is: this 2015 piece of hardware runs just fine. It doesn't feel anything like something reaching its end of life. And as it turns out, a Mac (even a new one) seems like actually a pretty good deal when you consider that it comes with free equivalents (at least for my purposes) of the full Microsoft Office suite, that you need to pay for on a PC. A wonderful development environment, that you need to pay for on a PC, and doesn't have shit everywhere built into the operating system trying to get you to buy more, more, more Microsoft crap. It's been extremely refreshing and quite a bit different than I expected from Apple given how greedy people characterize them as being. What can I say? It just suits me.

    Then there's the nifty-difty integration with iOS. Handoff is really cool. I keep it off most times because I feel like it drains my iPad battery, but when I have use for it, it's super useful. There is the iCloud integration. When my ass gets too sore sitting at the dining room table on the MacBook, I can just seamlessly switch over to the iPad on the couch without missing a beat. I can edit Mozaic scripts about 100 times faster on the MacBook and then just copy/paste them right into Mozaic on the iPad. Write an overly long forum post (like I'm doing now) on the MBP, then go grab a screenshot on the iPad and add it to the post without even interrupting my thought.

    Garageband on the Mac is pretty nifty. Stronger than on the iPad in some areas, weaker in others, but free from the fluff I hate on the iOS interface. FL Studio runs great on it. I'm sure Ableton does too, I just haven't gotten that far, and only have a Lite license anyway. IDAM is way slicker than trying to do the same with StudioMux on the PC. Too bad audio is only one-direction though.

    Anyway ... sorry for the long post. It's been a great ride for me. I don't know if I'd feel the same if I had popped for a new model. I'd definitely say that the roughly $1,000 I paid is the most effective $1,000 I've ever spent on computer hardware (and I've probably spent $5 Million to $10 Million of other people's money over my career).

    So yeh, if you're anything like me, I'd say you won't be looking back with regret.

    I wish I had not read this.

  • edited May 2020

    Thank you so much again everyone! I've been wondering why I would on occasion hear Mrs Puppy calling "downstairs when she gets locked out of her Windows laptop desperate to get on with her work, courtesy of the auto updater kicking in and taking an hour to install new updates."

    Well, well well...and I thought it was simply an excuse to see if my nose was wet (as a pup's must be to be healthy). In that case I may change my mind and consider a Mac.

    Does anyone know the official name of this requirement "for constant connection (at least temporarily once per day) to the mothership to self-update"? I don't suppose it's simply Windows Update because AFAICT it can be defeated (but I might guess that brings its own set of problems?) see here https://www.easeus.com/todo-backup-resource/how-to-stop-windows-10-from-automatically-update.html

  • edited May 2020

    It wasn’t he’s, > @MonzoPro said:

    @Telefunky said:

    Windows 10 is an entirely closed system of Microsoft's machine generated code which needs constant connection (at least temporarily once per day) to the mothership to self-update.

    That's the main reason I switched fully to Macs a few months back. My Windows 7 work machine died, which meant the next one would be a Windows 10 thing - they've stopped security patches for 7 anyway.

    Every so often I'll hear Mrs Monzo shouting downstairs when she gets locked out of her Windows laptop desperate to get on with her work, courtesy of the auto updater kicking in and taking an hour to install new updates.

    You realize you can change that, right? That's NEVER happened to me at home in all the time it's been since using Windows 3.11 - only at work a long time ago due to the IT staff. In every day use, there's no difference to me between Mac and PC. I use both every day. If anything, I get more frustrated by the Mac than the PC, though it's rare in either case.

    Buying a computer out of hope rather than factual, specific features is something I'd never do. If a Mac does one or more things you really want or need, get it. I would say that, out of the box for people who know nothing about computers - and simply don't have the time or the care to dig deeper to manage them, a Mac is more of an appliance. Otherwise, there are some differences here and there, but they largely do the same thing, each with their own idiosyncrasies and flaws (and delights).

    For music, again, the main thing the Mac has is more flexibility to connect to an iOS device and use it as outboard without first converting to analog and back via an interface. Aggregation. It can have issues, but less than in Windows, for sure.

    Right now isn't the best time to switch, either, because Apple is on a roll breaking things with their OS and Logic updates. I'd wait for that dust to settle. Shouldn't take too much longer as that happened weeks ago and most plugin makers have updated since.

    As the saying goes, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. It's still just grass.

  • @JohnnyGoodyear said:
    This is a very expensive youth club to be a member of...

    Ah, but consider the resale value of your membership…

  • edited May 2020

    @vitocorleone123 said:
    It wasn’t he’s, > @MonzoPro said:

    @Telefunky said:

    Windows 10 is an entirely closed system of Microsoft's machine generated code which needs constant connection (at least temporarily once per day) to the mothership to self-update.

    That's the main reason I switched fully to Macs a few months back. My Windows 7 work machine died, which meant the next one would be a Windows 10 thing - they've stopped security patches for 7 anyway.

    Every so often I'll hear Mrs Monzo shouting downstairs when she gets locked out of her Windows laptop desperate to get on with her work, courtesy of the auto updater kicking in and taking an hour to install new updates.

    You realize you can change that, right? That's NEVER happened to me at home in all the time it's been since using Windows 3.11 - only at work a long time ago due to the IT staff. In every day use, there's no difference to me between Mac and PC. I use both every day. If anything, I get more frustrated by the Mac than the PC, though it's rare in either case.

    Buying a computer out of hope rather than factual, specific features is something I'd never do. If a Mac does one or more things you really want or need, get it. I would say that, out of the box for people who know nothing about computers, a Mac is more of an appliance. Otherwise, there are some differences here and there, but they largely do the same thing, each with their own idiosyncrasies and flaws (and delights).

    For music, again, the main thing the Mac has is more flexibility to connect to an iOS device and use it as outboard without first converting to analog and back via an interface. Aggregation. It can have issues, but less than in Windows, for sure.

    Right now isn't the best time to switch, either, because Apple is on a roll breaking things with their OS and Logic updates. I'd wait for that dust to settle. Shouldn't take too much longer as that happened weeks ago and most plugin makers have updated since.

    As the saying goes, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. It's still just grass.

    I can only relate to my own experience - 25 years on a range of Windows machines, and (concurrently) nearly 30 on Macs. I've never used Win 10, but everyone I've spoken to, including IT guys don't rate it. The Mrs, and her friends are always complaining about updates kicking in when they're not welcome.

    Ten years ago I bought my top spec Win 7 desktop - for work, but also in the hope I could use it for music too. And it's generally been a struggle. In contrast the Mac 2012 base model laptop has had zero issues.

    That's all I can go on really, my own experience.

    I'm on a new 16" Macbook Pro now. It wasn't meant for music, just work, but I sneaked Logic on it the other day. Runs like butter off a shovel. Two noted issues - I was getting some slight buzzing from the speakers via a bass synth (could be T2 related), and I had one Logic crash - but that was probably my fault as I'd unplugged an interface without quitting.

    I'm no fanboy - I hate Microsoft and Appl equally, but I have to get stuff done, and the Mac has turned out to be the best option for me in their current incarnations.

  • edited May 2020

    Hi vitocorleone123,

    Ah yes the grass is still grass, but I do like the simplicity of connection to iOS devices. I certainly understand the difference between hope as an unsubstantiated belief and empiricism. It might be worth me buying a Mac for ease of connection to iOS devices (plus any other perceived or actual benefits that might come along for the ride). As to your suggestion to wait for that dust to settle, it's always seemed to me dust never settles with these damn machines, but I was thinking around Christmas / New Year that prices should be more competitive.

  • My own experience is much the same @MonzoPro . I worked for a long time on windows for music. There was always, always some thing that needed tweaking. Finally, in the last couple of years of windows use I got a stable setup with Cakewalk by simply not upgrading the software. Then the whole fiasco happened with them and I said, now is the time - the software investment was what was keeping me from jumping to mac.

    Literally, I plugged in the mac, installed some software and things just worked. An experience I never ever had with my windows music making. I remember telling my wife, "Why did I wait so long to do this?!?"

    Again, this is my experience only.

  • edited May 2020

    Thanks again everyone and yes, being a long term Windows guy I am used to and expect hardware / software fiddling and Google has certainly been of use in that regard. If I get a Mac, and if it turns out to be less fiddly, that certainly would be nice, as would iOS compatibility. I guess I'll curl up in my dog bed and snooze on it for a spell. And woof to the whole Cakewalk disaster thing, what an annoyance (not that it couldn't happen on any other platform with any other DAW).

  • edited May 2020

    @kinkujin said:
    My own experience is much the same @MonzoPro . I worked for a long time on windows for music. There was always, always some thing that needed tweaking. Finally, in the last couple of years of windows use I got a stable setup with Cakewalk by simply not upgrading the software. Then the whole fiasco happened with them and I said, now is the time - the software investment was what was keeping me from jumping to mac.

    Literally, I plugged in the mac, installed some software and things just worked. An experience I never ever had with my windows music making. I remember telling my wife, "Why did I wait so long to do this?!?"

    Again, this is my experience only.

    The biggest thing for me was zero latency. I gave up trying to record my guitar into the PC - even with Asio, it was like playing through a delay pedal.

    @puppychumful said:
    Thanks again everyone and yes, being a long term Windows guy I am used to and expect hardware / software fiddling and Google has certainly been of use in that regard. If I get a Mac, and if it turns out to be less fiddly, that certainly would be nice, as would iOS compatibility. I guess I'll curl up in my dog bed and snooze on it for a spell. And woof to the whole Cakewalk disaster thing, what an annoyance (not that it couldn't happen on any other platform with any other DAW).

    I literally just downloaded Logic, and switched it on.

    On my old laptop I have everything installed on a separate bootable drive, to avoid messing up work stuff. Again I just installed the software, plugged in my interface, made connections in the DAW, and off I went. Haven’t tweaked a thing.

  • @MonzoPro said:

    @kinkujin said:
    My own experience is much the same @MonzoPro . I worked for a long time on windows for music. There was always, always some thing that needed tweaking. Finally, in the last couple of years of windows use I got a stable setup with Cakewalk by simply not upgrading the software. Then the whole fiasco happened with them and I said, now is the time - the software investment was what was keeping me from jumping to mac.

    Literally, I plugged in the mac, installed some software and things just worked. An experience I never ever had with my windows music making. I remember telling my wife, "Why did I wait so long to do this?!?"

    Again, this is my experience only.

    The biggest thing for me was zero latency. I gave up trying to record my guitar into the PC - even with Asio, it was like playing through a delay pedal.

    @puppychumful said:
    Thanks again everyone and yes, being a long term Windows guy I am used to and expect hardware / software fiddling and Google has certainly been of use in that regard. If I get a Mac, and if it turns out to be less fiddly, that certainly would be nice, as would iOS compatibility. I guess I'll curl up in my dog bed and snooze on it for a spell. And woof to the whole Cakewalk disaster thing, what an annoyance (not that it couldn't happen on any other platform with any other DAW).

    I literally just downloaded Logic, and switched it on.

    On my old laptop I have everything installed on a separate bootable drive, to avoid messing up work stuff. Again I just installed the software, plugged in my interface, made connections in the DAW, and off I went. Haven’t tweaked a thing.

    Congrats. I love it when a plan works out.

    Funny, the most fun I had with software on Windows was using Synapse Orion. And that was using the piano roll to enter all my notes. Great software and has made me a lifelong fan of Richard from Synapse.

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