What's the current thinking on small format macs? I'm a windows user through and through, at home and at work - but I'm getting to the point where I don't want to spend anxious hours tweaking and fiddling to avoid glitches, especially on a machine that I also want to use as a general music player. Separately I'm looking at a new console, but that's a different discussion.
Looking back at my history on the forum I see that I was asking about Windows PCs about 10 years ago. Eventually I bought a custom desktop to use with my console, but it recently suffered terminal BSOD and demanded a rebuild. Fortunately all the MP3s I spent hours ripping survived, but the HW installation was lost. I've since installed v5 on this laptop, and have started playing much more during lockdown that I have at home for years - a high-pressure job and a long commute aren't good for practice time. But an 8GB i5 laptop doesn't quite cut the mustard, even with a relatively modest sample set like the beautiful (and not just because it's not free) Giubiasco.
Incidentally, I am hugely impressed by v5. I'm running it through a basic presonus USB external sound card, the amplifier I was given as a post-A-level present some *mumble* 30+ years ago and a pair of floor-standing speakers from Richer Sounds. Whereas previous versions have always got tiring to listen to quite quickly, this one hasn't. I can spend a couple of hours playing without noticing that I'm playing electronically - testament to the hard work in the development.
Looking back at my history on the forum I see that I was asking about Windows PCs about 10 years ago. Eventually I bought a custom desktop to use with my console, but it recently suffered terminal BSOD and demanded a rebuild. Fortunately all the MP3s I spent hours ripping survived, but the HW installation was lost. I've since installed v5 on this laptop, and have started playing much more during lockdown that I have at home for years - a high-pressure job and a long commute aren't good for practice time. But an 8GB i5 laptop doesn't quite cut the mustard, even with a relatively modest sample set like the beautiful (and not just because it's not free) Giubiasco.
Incidentally, I am hugely impressed by v5. I'm running it through a basic presonus USB external sound card, the amplifier I was given as a post-A-level present some *mumble* 30+ years ago and a pair of floor-standing speakers from Richer Sounds. Whereas previous versions have always got tiring to listen to quite quickly, this one hasn't. I can spend a couple of hours playing without noticing that I'm playing electronically - testament to the hard work in the development.