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Macbook air 13'' with logic pro x or power full pc with another audio program?

L

lynaris0

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 21, 2015
13
0
Hello there, im new to this forum, so i hope i do everything correctly.

Im thinking about grabbing a macbook air, for working with logic pro x. I know that an desktop mac would suit me way better, but i have really no intention buying one since i already have a powerfull pc with 2 external monitors. Also, i could use a portable device for the university anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggL03JzCkCo&list=PLBRXBUV774UMrlHa3kGkVP6RRUMubMKpK&index=1

This is the kind of music i want to make. Im a singer, and i really want to get into the r&b / soul genre. (if you cant open the link because of GEMA issues like me, just google Tyler Carter.) As an audio set up i got myself as an interface the Steinberg ur28m and as a mic i got an audio technica at4040.

Since i am an absolut beginner with working with audio programms, my question is, is it really woth investing money into a new mac, or should i stay with windows and get another programm?
The thing is no matter who i talk to, everybody said, that especially since i start from scratch i should get into logic pro, since it is really user friendly and comes with a lot of sounds and effects.
The problem is that, atm i can only afford a macbook air, and i am not sure if it is enough for what i am intending to do :(

My options are now the following:
1. stay with windows, and get into another programm
2. Get macbook air 13'' and logic pro x
3. Wait and safe up for rMBP

I hope you guys can help me out :)
(english is not my native language so bare with me :) )
 
lynaris0 said:
Since i am an absolut beginner with working with audio programms, my question is, is it really woth investing money into a new mac, or should i stay with windows and get another programm?
Click to expand...
Whatever you do stay the **** away from windows!
 
I think you would be better served by a MacBook Pro (rather than the Air).

More CPU power, more connectivity...

(my opinion only, others' may differ)
 
Meister said:
Whatever you do stay the **** away from windows!
Click to expand...

may I ask why ?
I mean sure this is a mac forum so I guess I will mostly get positive suggestions towards the mac, but may I ask why windows is such a bad platform? just curious :)

and since I kinda depend on portability aswell I would rather go with the air then with the pro, since I am short on money aswell :/
the rMBP would be a last resort option
 
lynaris0 said:
may I ask why ?
I mean sure this is a mac forum so I guess I will mostly get positive suggestions towards the mac, but may I ask why windows is such a bad platform? just curious :)
Click to expand...
Most people, me included, find Windows horrible to work with for a variety of reasons. Macs just work - no nonsense.

----------
lynaris0 said:
and since I kinda depend on portability aswell I would rather go with the air then with the pro, since I am short on money aswell :/
Click to expand...
The macbook air is widely considered the best laptop ever made. I think it will work perfectly for your needs. The rmbp is not bad either and also has pretty good battery life (9 hours). Windows laptops, especially in your price class, have much, much less battery life. I think you are a bit caught up in overthinking specs. The base macbook air is worlds better than any windows machine.

Take a look here: http://www.saturn.de/mcs/product/AP...A-13-Zoll,48352,325521,1429960.html?langId=-3
 
Well, i guess since everyone is confirming that the air is enoigh for working with logics i will definetly get one as soon as possible :)
(except someone confirms that the speccs for the air are 100% not enough^^)
 
I would also add that if you're an absolute beginner with production, that you don't really need Logic X right now. The Mac already comes with an excellent DAW for beginners in GarageBand. I made the mistake of buying Logic Express when I was a beginner and the whole process of learning it overwhelmed me. GarageBand really is the best thing for you to use in your current position.

And when you decide to move to Logic, the workflow will still be somewhat familiar. In the meantime you can save a little money or put it towards interfaces/mics/monitor speakers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CmdrLaForge
So I'm a huge Logic Pro X fanboy - I'd definitely recommend it if you want a sensible DAW that will work fairly reliably.

With that said, if you've got a decent PC that you like, do you really need to rush to buy a MacBook Pro to make music on? I really do enjoy working with Logic Pro X but there's certainly viable options for Windows as well.

I'm actually currently using Ableton Live as my DAW of choice and I'm very happy with it.

Definitely try some Windows applications as well - many of them (Live included) have free trials available.
 
I have a 13" MBA, and with Logic X it works great. I've had no issues, and that's with audio and instruments as well. It's a really solid performer.
 
lynaris0 said:
Well, i guess since everyone is confirming that the air is enoigh for working with logics i will definetly get one as soon as possible :)
(except someone confirms that the speccs for the air are 100% not enough^^)
Click to expand...

I work with Logic X with my ancient iMac, so in a recent Air it will run flawlessly. And if the size of the screen is a problem, just buy a cheap external screen.
 
Coming from using DAWs on PC for nigh-on 20 years on and off, I´d like to say that if you are just starting out, you can do this quite cheap to get the ball rolling. If your PC is stable, there´s no reason you can´t use it to record.
I never had stability issues with my PCs, but I built them myself which may or may not have helped.

For instance the Reaper DAW for PC is quite popular, and there are loads of free plugins you can use. This way you can get familiar with the concept of computer recording.
Whenever you reach a point where your PC and (for instance) Reaper won´t cut it anymore, you´ll be able to pinpoint what your needs actually are and make a more qualified decision.

Moving from PC to a Mac with Logic is quite easy, as all DAWs work pretty much the same. Pretty much.
Personally I wouldn´t buy an Air to run Logic, but this also depends on project size, plugins and whatnot. If you´ll just be recording vocals and an acoustic guitar or two, you could use pretty much anything. But these things have a way of expanding when you get creative.

That being said, at the moment I´m using a 13" and 15" MBPr with a Universal Audio interface with built in signal processing plus Logic Pro. It is very smooth and efficient. But fairly expensive. :)
 
Meister said:
Most people, me included, find Windows horrible to work with for a variety of reasons. Macs just work - no nonsense.
Click to expand...


I'm a mac user but Windows 8 is far more stable and reliable than Yosemite.

I used PT on windows previous to OSX and it's really much of a muchness really.

If you want to use logic obviously you're stuck with OSX.

I'm not sure about logic but pro tools benefits a lot from a quad core processor but it depends on how big your sessions are, how many plugins you're using etc.

I'm running on a 15" rMBP.

trondelond said:
That being said, at the moment I´m using a 13" and 15" MBPr with a Universal Audio interface with built in signal processing plus Logic Pro. It is very smooth and efficient. But fairly expensive. :)
Click to expand...

Just about to order my Apollo twin. :)
 
Cheap solution for you is to buy a ''decent'' not a monster pc laptop and reaper software for 60 bucks, and a decent audio interface.

I would use the laptop on the go and mix/edit audio with your already good tower at home.

If you have loads of money, a macbook pro 15' is a nice solution as well...

I personally had an old macbook pro 15' 2007 that just died a week ago, and had a firewire audio interface and a legit licence of logic pro 9, so I did recently buy a 2014 mb air when it was with a discount at bestbuy.

I personally have the 256 G hard drive and wouldn't go less than that. Projects get heavy and 100G of audio is not too hard to achieve if working on a couple of different projects at the same time...

I would have wanted to have the 8 gb ram upgrade, but life is a bitch and I am poor... So far it does the job for the projects I want to do. (my logical choice would be MB pro 15 inches cause I record on another local, and the 15' have quad cores processors)

however money talks and I will be ok for a while with the new MB air. I love the fact that it is so portable and easy to take to the practice local. I leave my main audio interface there (motu 8 pre) and have a steinberg ur22 at home for playback.

I would take more CPU power and ram, but fact is it works fine for multitrack recording.
 
I would personally save up for the Skylake MacBook Pros. More power, better screen, 10 hour battery.

Meister said:
Whatever you do stay the **** away from windows!
Click to expand...

While I vastly prefer OS X, you shouldn't discount Windows' recent strides. Windows 10 is a fine OS.
 
I have used Logic on a 2010 Macbook without any problems. Get as much ram as you can afford. It's nice to have an external monitor, though, just for a bit of extra screen space. FWIW, consider a 2-3 year old used 15" rMBP, which may allow you to have a bit more memory, and to use the native screen.
 
I would 2nd Ableton Live. https://www.ableton.com/en/live/new-in-9/


There are a wealth of video tutorials and guides to learn it. It is rock solid in terms of stability. You can perform with it. You can remix on the fly with it. You can download a free trial. If you are a student there are discounts available. There are also plenty of free plugins and library sounds the site regularly updates with. And if you lean towards an inbox approach to production then you are in strong and capable hands with Ableton.

I'm sure you could find something cheaper as others have suggested but there is a wealth of resources around Ableton that you may not find with other software and over time you can grow into Ableton eventually getting into Push, Max etc. This is not the same for other platforms.
 
lynaris0 said:
Hello there, im new to this forum, so i hope i do everything correctly.

Im thinking about grabbing a macbook air, for working with logic pro x. I know that an desktop mac would suit me way better, but i have really no intention buying one since i already have a powerfull pc with 2 external monitors. Also, i could use a portable device for the university anyway.


This is the kind of music i want to make. Im a singer, and i really want to get into the r&b / soul genre. (if you cant open the link because of GEMA issues like me, just google Tyler Carter.) As an audio set up i got myself as an interface the Steinberg ur28m and as a mic i got an audio technica at4040.

Since i am an absolut beginner with working with audio programms, my question is, is it really woth investing money into a new mac, or should i stay with windows and get another programm?
The thing is no matter who i talk to, everybody said, that especially since i start from scratch i should get into logic pro, since it is really user friendly and comes with a lot of sounds and effects.
The problem is that, atm i can only afford a macbook air, and i am not sure if it is enough for what i am intending to do :(

My options are now the following:
1. stay with windows, and get into another programm
2. Get macbook air 13'' and logic pro x
3. Wait and safe up for rMBP

I hope you guys can help me out :)
(english is not my native language so bare with me :) )
Click to expand...

Hi lynaris,

Same dilemma i am in. I hope you would have solved your problem and decided the one mac to produce music. I request you to guide me on what macbook you opted and is that working fine with Logic Pro X?

Many thanks!
 
CmdrLaForge said:
Depends on what you want to do with it. Mainly # of tracks plugins and so on. I would start with garage band.
Click to expand...

Thanks to reply!

My requirements are like.. 30-40 tracks, one track at a time, in built plugins.. Can air with given configuration handle it smoothly on Logic Pro X?
 
Pankaj Mishra said:
Thanks to reply!

My requirements are like.. 30-40 tracks, one track at a time, in built plugins.. Can air with given configuration handle it smoothly on Logic Pro X?
Click to expand...
I'd guess you'd need a little more CPU power for it not to stutter. On my old MacBook Pro (2014 base model) logic would being stuttering if I had around 10 audio recording tracks with about 10-15 plug ins. With the EQ you can't set the decay to anything higher than 20 dB/s. That might work fine for what you're doing as long as you're not doing a ton of metering, but if you are, you could definitely get some lag
 
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