[linux-audio-user] Re: Mac? Linux PC?

[Carlo Capocasa]

Hi Renato! Sure :)

I say if you wanna do loop-based composing, go for either Mac OS X or
Windows and use some proprietary software. I don't do that myself so I
cannot really recommend anything but I hear that Ableton Live and
FruityLoops are quite good (automatic time/pitch adjustment for loops, etc.)

Linux's real strength is softsynths. Linux softsynths (ZynAddSubFX, Om,
PureData) are absolutely amazing. Not to mention you can play them live!

I tend to have a simplicity-based philosophy and have recently dropped
the jaws of a few of my loop-based friends with the type of sounds I can
synth, even though I am using two one-megabyte programs and don't filter
the results.

I tend to think that all that extra jazz that Mac and Windows have got
are mainly used to compensate for their complexity and the end result
can be similar but will always be more 'mudded' with proprietary tools,
simply because there is a complexity-based philosophy.

For example, my friend has a Win plugin that has measured, as audio
files, the reverb characteristics of all major concert halls of the
world. It's a three-hundred megabyte monster that takes ages to install
and costs a fortune (Okay the dude Kazaas the stuff but that's probably
also the only reason he can afford to even think about stuff like this).

So you have a lot of ooos and aahs there when you hear all those fancy
concert-hall names, but I would doubt that the end result will be worth
much. It's NOT a concert hall, it's a friggin' simulation... And even
if, WTF do you give a damn if Schubert and Schubinskiy played there?
They're the past, the future is now.

If you will excuse the mini-Rant :)

So it's really a matter of what you want... If you don't mind doing a
little technical work and end up with a fully-customized, extremely
simple and effective powerhouse you can also use to play live
(note/typesetting software is available but I haven't tried it... I
don't write notes :)... Go for linux. For recording I say linux is just
as good and all the 'extras' you get for Windows go into the category I
mentioned above... Trying to stroke your ego, charge a lot, no real
benefit for your LISTENERS.

If you want things to be more streamlined at the price of flexiblity, a
Mac or Windows box will be fine. You do however have to deal with a
hoard of flatterers, combat spyware/malware/viruses/security glitches,
deal with Mac/Win company politics (if they don't want you to have a
certain effect because their friends in Hollywood are profiling
themselves with it, you WILL NOT have it), bloat and pressurized
(=error-prone, humorless) programming.

Well, to me the choice is obvious, but I am a tad cyberpunkish! In case
you haven't heard enough after this long-ass post, please do ask away.

Carlo