OK. Today is the last day of my student discounts.

Inspired by this deadline, I've been researching, demoing, and reading up on DAWs for the past month. Unfortunately there is no demo for Logic so I've had to go by what people say in forums.

Here's a summary of my Logic impressions:
* Express might be nice but you'll always be hungry for Pro (esp. with no compressor included); just get Pro
* It's a big, Apple-owned company, so it's going to be around for a while to provide support and patches, especially for OS upgrades and whatnot, and you can be assured of best-in-class performance on a Mac
* It includes lots of cool stuff that you can't get in other sequencers for the same price (notation, film sync); the bundled FX are hard to beat and the instruments are good quality
* It's "legacy code" -- an app that was designed and built years ago and overdue for an overhaul
* It's difficult to learn and can be stifling to the creative workflow; too much right-clicking, menus, and limiting hardware analogies

Because of the last two points, I had decided to skip it and go with younger, more streamlined and "forward-thinking" apps, like Tracktion or Live 4. In fact I ordered academic Live 3 yesterday ($170 USD) to upgrade it to 4 when it's released for the new MIDI capabilities.

But now, on this last day, I'm reconsidering. Ease of use and workflow are important, but good sound is important too. No matter how nice the interface, I won't have much fun if I can't get anything out of it that doesn't sound completely amateurish. I'm not sure that Tracktion has the quality/stability I'd like, and I wonder if Live makes audio compromises to achieve its real-time performance (great for live, not so great for studio). I program computers for a living so perhaps learning a cryptic interface isn't really a big deal for me.

I'm looking for a software workstation; I want to record electric & acoustic guitar and vocals, mix it with samplers, synths and drums, with styles ranging from rock to trance to industrial. And possibly even some orchestral composing at some point (with GPO or the likes) as I've a bit of training in it.

Given all these thoughts, am I crazy to pass up Logic Pro 6 for $500 (academic)? And please respond from the described point of view instead of just "well I've been using Logic for years and love it" because obviously you'll be biased then. What about for someone new to the scene and just getting into things? If you're not already attached to it, is Logic old school and due to be superceded by some of these newer apps?

(Obviously if cash wasn't an issue I'd just get it and be done with it; I just have to justify plunking down that much $$.)

All info is appreciated... thanks!!

If that's the Logic 6 that includes all of the plugin instruments and their convolution reverb, then I say definitely go for it. That is a great deal! Logic 6 is not old school by any stretch of the imagination, I'm sure you'd get many years of use out of it.
Last edited by Joxer the Mighty on Fri Jun 11, 2004 8:59 am; edited 1 time in total

almost 10 years a go, I thought like this about Cubase. I then spent few weeks force-learning logic. I'm now unable to move to another host because of logic's workflow. Even from the very beginning it beat anything else by miles.

I've have (since the switch 10 years a go) tried most DAWs, like SX2, nuendo, tracktion, even samplitude now. Unfortunately for me, none of those can touch the basic workflow paradigm of logic.

But hey, I'm also a creature of habit with my logic.

Even worse, I'm still on logic PC, and it's slowly, but surely getting outdated. (not too much yet)
Last edited by Kingston on Fri Jun 11, 2004 9:17 am; edited 2 times in total

and yes, given all these thoughts, you are absolutely crazy to pass up Logic Pro 6 for $500 (academic)!!

1) You'd be nuts to pass up Logic 6 Pro for $500.
2) I used Logic for about 5 years, and switched to Cubase SX2 because I'm on a PC, and I'm STILL telling you you'd be nuts to pass up buying it for $500.
3) Did I mention you should grab it for $500?

There are some things to like about each and every host. I'll use what's at my disposal, obviously having preferenced for one or another, but still, all the hosts work, just depends what you like and WHAT YOU GET USED TO! If most people got past this 'fear' of learning a new host, and if hosts were all dirt cheap, we'd all probably use them all for different functions, features, and workflows.

Flame away brothers, but the 'workflow' excuse doens't hold water to me.

Oh, did I mention you shouldn't pass up Logic for $500? The synths are amazing, the sampler is amazing, the effects are the best in the biz for native, what's not to love? The learning curve is a bit weird, but it's worth it in the end once you got it down.

Devon

For that purpose, I think Logic is more suitable than Live. You need to buy a super overpriced computer (aka Mac) to use Logic, though... So in the end, Logic might cost you a kidney or two. But anyway, Logic is great. Get it if you can afford it.

I'll back that 100%. I still use logic on the pc cuz I think it's downright easy to set-up once you are used to it(contrary to popular belief) and with the screensets, everything is a breeze. The midi editing is really powerful, not just in terms of what you can do but how you do it. The onboard effects are real good and you can also do sidechaining with them. You have everything under the hood to do everything from start to finish. Samplers (exsmkii), freeze function(mac), synths.


Sometimes I'd wish I'd have a mac just to get logic 6 but perhaps another time.

I thought the Logic Pro 6 review in EM was great. Basically it said "While the experienced users scoff that Logic is hard to use, the beginner scoffs and the scoffers." That pretty much sums it up! Once you're used to it, you're fine, BUT it does take getting used to.

Devon

If you want to work on a Mac, you have no choice !
It is LogicAudio.
It's is difficult to evaluate if you will or not like it,use it etc.
It really depends what you want to achieve.
Even at a good price, take you time too choose, in the rush you can make a mistake, even buying Logic or Cubase or whatever !

m2coins

Yes you are right Devonb. The first time I used it, I didn't get much done the whole day. Pretty swearing all the time. Lots of stuff hidden under the hood. Still learning new things with it also.

[bump]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Unfortunately, it's as I feared: I have to figure out how to convince my wife unit to let me increase our debt this afternoon by $500.

Of course, then I see posts about Garritan Personal Orchestra and it's only $249, and I think, hmm... maybe I could get by with that and Tracktion!

Augh

Ah yes, but you won't be able to get Pro for half off after your academic discount goes away either. GPO will still be around at around the same price when you go for it. Logic just gives you SOOOO much to work with, esp ES-2. What a fabulous softsynth, one of the best, period, out there.

Devon

$999. too much... $500. good deal... The synths/plugs alone are worth that. Do you have a fast Mac? because not just any old MAC will do... and therein lies the problem! Lot of power in Logic Pro, but you need some serious horsepower to really use it... And Freeze isn't the answer!

Oh please! Any of us that use hardware have to use 'freeze' essentially to write anyway. Yes, having a dual 2.0ghz G5 is pretty much going to give anyone what they need... but it's far from 'needed' to get some work done.

Devon

I have a G4 1.25ghz iMac with 512 RAM.
Will that be enough? (Hardware upgrades are out of the question since we just bought the iMac a couple months ago.)

I also have a G3 600mhz iBook with 384 RAM. I know I probably won't be able to use Logic on that...

That's another thing I like about Tracktion and Live, is that they'll run on my iBook (not blazingly by any means, but enough for doodling while the SO uses the main comp).

And thinking more about it, I guess I'm kinda torn. Part of me wants to keep it simple -- focus on the music, focus on playing and songwriting, instead of focusing on effects and technology. But then, another part of me wants to have whatever tools available that I need to explore my imagination. But perhaps my ambition exceeds my ability. I'd hate to spend all my money on something that ends up being way more than I need.