New Mac Pro or PC with Liquid Sapphire 56 and Cubase 6.5?

[Masaaki]

Since you know PC very well (and seems to be able to build stable rig), and you use Cubase (works better in PC, relatively speaking, ---check DAWbench.com), it makes more sense to stay with PC for the new rig.

I would seek for single CPU machine with 32GB RAM (Socket 2011 motherboard, 3960X six core i7) if I am in your situation. Then, equip with good quality PSU and cooling system, and quiet case. I believe it would be still cheaper than your budget, and I would use the rest of the budget to replace the UAD card.

New system will require PCI/PCIe FW card with TI chip, but that's just $30-50. Also, upgrade Cubase, 64bit, and plug in (if some of yours are native 64bit supported) as well.

[adrianww]

As Masaaki says, if you already know Windows well and can build yourself a stable platform, then there's probably little reason to go down the Mac Pro route. Yes, the Mac Pro might be slightly more stable out of the box, but you can almost certainly get the same performance and stability out of a Windows 7 box given that you know what you're doing. You can also probably achieve what you want for less than your budget if you go down the PC route. (You might even be able to build two machines on that budget and share the processing load across them if your software, samplers, etc. support it.)

In terms of the interface, I'm running a Liquid Saffire 56 on a Win 7 64-bit PC with no problems at all. It's a quad-core i7 machine with 16G RAM and three 7200rpm hard drives (one system, one audio, one extra). Although I'm not putting it under the kind of load you're talking about, I did a test with a little project running Cubase 6 rewired to Reason 6 with two or three VST instruments in Cubase, two or three Reason instruments and about half a dozen stereo audio tracks, plus VST effects on most tracks (44.1k, 16-bit). With that project, I could run the Saffire at its lowest possible latency setting (64 samples with Firewire Driver Latency set to "short"). That gave me something between 3 and 5ms round-trip latency with no glitches, clicks, pops or other troubles. I don't tend to run it like that all the time though - I just did it to see how it coped. I usually run it with the Driver Latency set to short or medium and the buffer set to 128-256 samples. Round-trip latency at those settings is around 10-15ms and performance is absolutely rock solid.

[JNHS]

Yes the PC would be my preferred route but I don't want to go down that road if the Mac is a better option and if the system is going to be around the same money:

From a Windows POV I would possible look at (as it would save me hours reading through forums to make sure there were no show stoppers):

Carillon Tower Core X - customise

Which is a little better RAM wise than an equiv Mac Pro.

Thanks to Adrianww for running that test and sharing his findings, much appreciated.

Any more for any more?

[Ironmalk]

Just my thoughts -

Having worked on both I switched from PC to Mac a few years back. Glad I did. It is purely personal preference and Im sure there are valid arguments for both.

Had a mac pro (still have mac pro) for 7 years and only thing that went wrong was I had to change a fan about a month ago, and that is 7 years of daily use. There is also the argument of Windows constant hotfixes and updates etc. Mac does have updates obviously I just found it to be a lot smoother.

There is also the issue surrounding viruses. Correct me if I am wrong but I have never had a problem with my Mac and viruses and have never had a firewall or anti virus program on my mac. PC is a different story as you know. I guess it depends if your studio machine will be connected to the internet or not.

Yes the learning curve from Sonar to Logic appeared a little daunting at first to me but in time as with everything else it comes with practice.

I would never go back to a PC and that is not because I hate PC's, I dont, I love em. built one myself. I just enjoy the solidity of a Mac system and not having to worry about upgrading every six months. I also found the Mac's to be quieter but then my PC is a monster 8 fan gaming rig lol. So will be different for you.

Its just personal preference. But I have never had any problems with the stability of the Mac - apart from that bloody 7 year old fan ofc

Whatever you choose Im sure it will be a good system. The important thing is when you have your system is not to regret not choosing the other. Each system has its merits. Guaranteed if you pick a PC you will think of something that tells you "wish I had got the Mac". Also if you get a Mac you will feel the same about a PC.

Enjoy your new system...whatever it will be. Both will have the ability to create music. The only limitations will be your imagination

Enjoy