Phil from DigitalDJTips.com provides his opinion on the polarizing “MAC or PC for your DJ computer” debate.
So, should you use a MAC or Windows PC for DJing?
To sum it up Phil’s take in the video above – it really doesn’t matter.
DEX 3 and DEX 3 RE mixing software are designed for use on MAC or Windows and while MAC’s may have better hardware components and less adware (overhead) out of the box, if you know how to prepare your DJ computer for live performance either option should work equally well (with the exception of HD video mixing, which we’ll touch on more below).
Providing the machine already meets or exceeds the DJ software’s minimum recommended requirements, preparing your DJ computer for live performance simply means shutting off any and all other running applications and reducing background processes to the bare minimum. Run the machine as bare-bones as possible so the DJ mixing software has the CPU and GPU power it needs, when it needs it.
With MAC, DJs run Core Audio with their DJ controller. With Windows PC’s DJs typically run ASIO drivers with their DJ controller. Both Core Audio and ASIO provide snappy, very low latency control over features and functions of DEX 3 or DEX 3 RE. Both are a ‘win’ for DJs.
As Phil also mentions in the video, if your DJ machine is struggling to perform properly with your mixing software than you can adjust latency (buffer size) to compensate. The lower the latency the snappier the control but the more taxing it will be on the CPU. The higher the latency/buffer the less quickly the software will react to commands but the less CPU will be used. The ‘Latency Slider” is located in DEX 3/DEX 3 RE options under the “Audio Routing” tab.
If you plan on mixing HD-quality music videos the +1 goes to Windows PC’s.
Windows PC’s can be equipped with higher-end and better overall quality graphics cards that are required for HD music video mixing (so DEX 3 can use the GPU for all graphics related tasks, freeing up memory and the GPU for all other tasks). You can purchase a very high-end MAC with a decent dedicated graphics card but you will pay a small fortune. A MAC is just not worth the extra 1-2K without any improvement in performance.
Bottom line, if you just plan on mixing music you can’t really go wrong with MAC or PC if you know how to properly care for your DJ computer. Phil offers a few good ‘care’ tips, including keeping the laptop on a stand to prevent a spill or similar show-stopping debacle. Give the video a watch!
Have questions on if you should purchase a MAC or PC for your DJ computer? Please leave them in the comments section below!
