Logic X - Transient Detection in Flex is just terrible... ?!

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So I've been using the new 10.2 Logic X, and this is just stumping me -- the transient detection just flat out sucks! When I switch audio regions to Flex mode and select the algorithm to use -- and I've tried this on audio loops from random libraries, plus recorded guitar that was recorded with plenty of signal and obvious chord hit transients -- so far it NEVER actually selects all the transients, and the "+" button in the File editor is ALWAYS grayed out, meaning I can only remove but never add new flex markers without having to manually draw them in. It usually selects some obvious transients, misses some other obvious ones, and completely misses the more 'subtle' ones.

Yeah, sure, I can manually do it, but that's a huge time-sink and meanwhile in Studio One, I just hit the "Q" key on a a region of audio and every single transient is automatically selected immediately, and it gets it right 99% of the time -- no freaking joke.

So, is Logic just really this cruddy at automatically detecting transients? Or am I missing something major / obvious ? Can you really not ever ADD transients (e.g. Sensitivity sliders in other programs) automatically? (the + button only becomes active if you remove some of the of selected flex markers).

There is a lot I love about Logic and want to use it for some specific projects, but at the moment I can't get past this!

-M

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first of all, when you press Q on an audio region in studio one you arent just enabling view bend markers you are also quantizing your bend markers. Just a slight fyi there.. so maybe in studio one your noticing the transients better cause its lined up on the grid when you press Q..

honestly, as a studio one user, who collabs in logic a lot, I dont tend to notice any difference besides I like logics flex gui more than studio ones bend gui. (the darkened region with bend markers, things need to brighten up esp with dark background in studio one 3) However, studio one has a bend threshold setting for finding transients, which I don't believe logic has.

In the end, they dont have the exact same algos... logic doesnt use elastic audio algo and studio one does.. so there will be differences

i mean if you go to logic and use the proper flex time mode, and you insert all the transients, you can quantize that (not a logic user so i forget how) and see if because you were quantizing in studio one if it is comparable in detectability to logic.

If you upload a project to splice and put the link here, a piece of material you were having issues selecting transients, I will take a look at it to see if you are indeed having issues or if your not doing something.

*Slightly on/off topic response*
I do agree though, 10.2 is certainly a stimulating update being a logic 9 user who honestly thought apple was going to slowly abandon pro apps to see where they've come now is a complete full turn. There is no question Apple cares about their pro apps, esp garageband, mainstage, and logic. Its crazy though because when you spend time away from logic its like youve never even used it before. It also has the advantages of, hey a lot of people use this DAW so its easy to collaborate with a lot of people without having to bounce out every track.
• Logic Pro 10.8.1
• MacBook Pro 2023 - M2 MAX - 96 GB RAM
• Focusrite Red 8Line + UAD Satellite

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this is interesting to me as i find flex time's transient detection especially *good*, in that I have never needed to adjust it myself. I guess it must work much better with 4/4 emd stuff than other stuff..may i ask what source you are trying it on?

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Update: well, good news, I slightly altered how I was doing this and am now obtaining much better results. For some reason, if simply choose "quantize" first before enabling the Flex button on the track, it automatically enables flex -but does a much crappier job choosing transients before than quantizing it- . Whereas if I just enable flex first, it finds all the relevant transients, and -then- i can quantize it. The only reason my brain went to Quantize first is because that's how I work in Studio One -- hitting Q, as qthearranger pointed out, which I already knew, both adds bend markers and also quantizes it.

Anyway, I have no idea why that little change makes such a difference -- but the issue is resolved, so I'm happy! Thanks for the responses.

-M

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phew.. yeah i have never tried to just quantize without enabling flex slicing mode first.. that explains everything. Cheers, glad you got it sorted!

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I think flexing in LogicX works really well, I used it on hundreds of live played percussion and drum loops over the last months and the results were perfect, sometimes with odd time signatures one has to add/remove markers and it's important how much you let the quantizing apply (40 - 80% is the range I mostly use, I hardly ever quantize to 100%). Also choosing the right mode is important, as this is very much program dependent, the “Rhythmical“ mode sometime produces heavy artifacts whereas the “Slicing“ algo works in most cases. With complex tonal stuff “Polyphonic“ mode works best, but then you loose some of the transients/punchy-ness at high quantization levels.
Last edited by Sampleconstruct on Wed Sep 02, 2015 5:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

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yeah simon that's where i was at too. I tried every daw and logic's had the best auto results with slicing drums..!

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TheoM wrote:yeah simon that's where i was at too. I tried every daw and logic's had the best auto results with slicing drums..!
I used to do things manually before Flex, as I never achieved satisfying results, but thankfully those days are over now.

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