Hi John,

I think many of the commentators are right - if you are not familiar with what software to select for music production computers, it'll be very risky business to go with a stock computer. Many things can go wrong, and you risk spending more time on compatibility problems and breakdowns, instead of making music. You definitely need to find either people who can assist you with selecting the components, or a company who specializes in setting up daw computers for musicians.

If you need to work with synchronization of music to film, I think you should go Mac with Digital Performer, as Digital Peformer is a lot better at that. For example does Sonar 8 not have options for sync point. But again it depends on how you work, cause you might not need sync point, if you write everything and don't work directly on top of a scene. Still, I would think you'd want to keep your options open, and probably get a lot faster workflow with Digital Performer as well. Check what the Daw's can do in this industry standard comparison:

http://www.digitalmusicdoctor.com/s...PSESSID=76e3377bba06a66d4e75ade2a8185038

If you decide on windows, you should ask for Windows XP, wait to see how Windows 7 evolves, and upgrade when it's safe. It'll most likely be two full years before that option is valid.

Check out the workflow with Digital Performer in this Utube session:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGBfgaesP-4

Sound quality wise Mac/PC is equal, and you're right Pc is a little cheaper overall. If you go Pc make sure you get a core 2 quad processor or the new i7 processor, as they really will improve the speed on your computer. Don't think much of the Ram's, as Windows XP can only make use of 4Gb of Ram's, so anything more than that will be useless - processor speed is therefore a lot more important. If you go Mac, you need to go up to the powerbook standard to get the equal performance, and it is a lot more expensive. But I would think Mac suits you better, if you are already familiar with them.

I also think you should get the suggested specs from the company, and take it to a post in here, so you can get proper feedback before you make fatal decisions, John. They probably know what they are doing if they are used to work with musicians and studios, allthough sales people seldom impress me, but make sure that they also know what you are to be doing (with music)..

I think you would also need a decent daw controller, as this is crucial to get a decent workflow while recording. Sound quality is not an issue with contollers, as they just work for you to get hands on the digital pot and pans in the daw, so if money is not an issue you could go with the Mackies, but the cheap ones work just fine but beaware that the Behringer's are not compatible with Mac, and are perhaps more handy to use in front of your computer. 'Handiness' is definitely something you want from a daw controller.

See here for a product options list: http://www.thomann.de/gb/daw_controllers.html?ls=100

Good luck, John..