Logic Pro X or Cubase Pro 10

[NeoKortex88]

Hey,

so i started out with Logic (because iam on mac) and i love it but since two of my friends who work on windows have Cubase i got the crossgrade for Cubase pro 10. Its pretty nice so far. Iam still kind of new to the whole music production thing so iam still digging deep and everything is new. Which of the two DAWs should i learn first and like buy manuals/courses for? Like the noob iam i overbought once in the biz and got like a million vsts so missing alchemy wont be that much of a problem. How do the stock plugins compare?

Logic:
+ very efficient
+ runs well on mac
Cubase Pro X:
+ 2 friends use it
+ I can learn something i could buy a windows pc for

Thanks very much!

[pdxindy]

I think Cubase is overall the better DAW... but they are both amazing.

Logic is an unmatched deal... It keeps getting significant updates and I haven't had to pay an upgrade price in years. Over the same span since I purchased Logic Pro X, to have keep current with Cubase would have been something like 7 times the price.

I don't have Cubase cause I don't want the dongle. Logic is easy that way plus I can have it on multiple computers at the same time.

I love Sculpture... one of my favorite synths. And of course there is Alchemy and lots of other great plugins plus a ton of content.

I find Logic remote on my iPad useful... but maybe Cubase has the same sort of thing... don't know.

[Passing Bye]

Also think that Cubase is better DAW overall, but if you are going to use mac in the end, than Logic is more stable and better experience, but again personal preference and workflow, they both kinda cater to same crowd, can't go wrong with either.

Personally prefer Macbook's for mobile rig's, so no dongle convenience and better overall performance gives Logic quite an advantage there, another thing is price of ownership over time, another is amazing stock stuff that comes with Logic.

If you have no aspirations towards recording, editing or scoring, than Cubase just might loose that edge there, sense that Logic will cater more and more towards artist's and musician's and right now IMO feels like it's used more by them overall.

Try using both and see what suits you the most, you really can't go wrong with either, they are basically two apples (pun intended), same like Live vs Bitwig, use what feels better to you.

Edit: Having said all this, personally I would go for Cubase.

[Forgotten]

It's really going to be down to personal preference. Try both and see which you prefer.

[Bombadil]

Jury's still out on this one, though my first impressions of Cubase Pro 10 are generally critical in comparison to Logic, which I've used for 12 years, now. The defining issue is Logic's better and more stable CPU efficiency, imo. The rest is just experience.

[Lostinthamusic]

Logic.. trust me on this one

[jancivil]

trust you on a mere blank assertion and no context?
yeah, no.

Cubase is stable on a Mac, I've used it on a Mac since 2006. It was less stable on my Pentium 4 box at that time, but there will be some pilot error there probably.

I bought Logic in late 2009 because the Cubase 5 latency was such a drag then. VE Pro came out shortly thereafter, which got rid of quite a bit of it. Due the difference between VST3 and AU (and AU3 as it stands today), Logic was a major hassle for that; due to the architecture of Logic with that kind of multitimbral instrument connection (multiple aux setup vs the ease of simply establishing them in the VST Rack) alone it was. People do it, but life's too short for that for me,

I write with multiple control lanes fully showing; there is now a way to see them in Logic but through a transparency of more than one Hyperedit windows in the same space. I tried to capture that but got tired. Here he's switching about.
https://youtu.be/1iYKD3umO9U

This individual appears very comfortable with it, I just can't. I had Logic 8 and I don't think it did this but still.
So if you work with a lot of control and need to compare lanes independently, you may think as I do here.

[jancivil]

Stock plugins, matter of opinion. I use like two of Cubase's, Frequency (somewhat new) and Magneto 2. I think the instruments in Logic are far more convenient or friendly. I think Logic's convolution reverb is much better than whatchmacallit in Cubase, personally. None of which matters to me at all.

[W23]

The Crossgrade price for Cubase is pretty cheap still. I’m still working thru some quirks with my dongle (the $30 one) and it’s driving me nuts, but Cubase is really straightforward and streamlined. I love Logic (having migrated over from Ableton Live), but in some ways it’s kind of a mess compared to Cubase. I won’t elaborate too much, it’s just that some of Logic’s older instruments really need an update, and Alchemy could really use better integration into Logic’s workflow. FWIW I may be going back to logic quickly if I can’t sort thru the e-license issues (sometimes the USB port doesn’t communicate with the dongle, and I have to switch to another port...I have no idea why this is the case) but I am not sure if it’s the dongle, or my MacBook Pro, or Mojave, or what. There are almost no mentions of it being an issue, so it may be my dongle, or the USB ports, which are fine with everything else...go figure. It may be my Apple USB C to USB/HDMI adapter too...the $70 one. Grrrrrr.

[ShawnG]

If you have and use a Mac, its hard to argue against Logic Pro X. Cubase is more feature rich, and superior on a number of fronts, but I liked working in logic way more. Unfortunately, I’m not a Mac fan, and have abandoned the Mac and my copy of LPX, which still sits forlornly on my Apple account... if you do like to use the Apple ecosystem, and already have a mac, Logic Pro for 200 bucks is close to a no brainer for power/features/price ratio. Subjectively as I mentioned above, I prefer the workflow in Logic to most other DAWs of its type (cubase/PT/s1/reaper) but Cubase is great as well, and is what I use now as my “serious” daw, but if I still had a Mac, I’d use Logic still.

[jancivil]

about the dongle: by far the likely suspect is the USB hub, unless you paid real money for it, you know

I use two other of that adapter and there is never a disconnect while the dongle in my USB hub turns off pretty frequently.

[samsam]

Toss a coin, choose one and make music.

However, if you absolutely need a dongle for an unused port that's annoying you, Cubase is the clear winner.

[andypryce]

I am kind of in the same boat. Using primarily Studio One but having problems with timing (freely played parts does not sound as they are played compared to Logic or Cubase and when a session is crowded I feel it is not tight enough.
Also the UI is not easy on my eyes. Especially the colors. But it is the easiest to go from A to B. Very well thought out workflow. Great and fast basic Sampler and Drum Machine.

Given all that I love the UI of Logic the most. Very sleek and easy on the eyes with soft colors. Also great performance. My gripe with it is, it does not have a simple sample track or a Drum Machine like Cubase, Ableton etc. EXS looks too arcane and it is unreadable when enlarged. Ultrabeat is a chaos. No Plugin sorting, browsing or searching.
As for Cubase I think it is much better feature wise. And for me the UI much better than previous versions. But it feels slow and requires too much clicking and menu diving . Plus a lot of audio cut outs.
Right now I am doing a different project on each and will see how things go.

[fgimian]

I own Cubase Pro 9.5 and Logic Pro X along with a MacBook Pro (running Mojave) and a PC (running Windows 10). I've been using Cubase for a very long time (since the VST days) and Logic occasionally since around Logic 9.

Here's the summary of my personal pros for each over the other (take with a grain of salt).

Cubase
* Extremely intuitive sampler which is much faster and more direct to use than EXS24. It is generaly less capable but much more functional, and also has very fine control over envelopes which EXS24 lacks.
* Generally better audio editing; there's a sense of precision that I've never felt with Logic in the audio department. I also love the gain handles on clips, advanced fades .etc .etc
* Runs better on Windows than macOS
* Previewing audio is more intuitive in Cubase; Logic doesn't autoplay audio files after the previous one has finished playing which is really awful for short one-shots like drums
* Generally better MIDI editing than Logic, piano roll is very functional and shows multiple controllers at once
* Automation is miles ahead of Logic, you can easily type values for points, warp curves .etc

Logic
* Really love Logic's ability to stack instruments and create macro controls
* Logic is significantly more stable on macOS than Cubase in my experience (since El Capitain, I've found Cubase very unstable on macOS)
* Logic is generally less buggy on macOS (currently, double clicking in Cubase since Sierra seems to be a hit or miss, insanely frustrating bug)
* Logic has significantly better included instruments and effects (I rarely use the stuff in Cubase, not a fan), Chroma is such a great reverb, I love the electric piano, the compressor, the tape delay ... everything really!
* No USB dongle to carry around (although I haven't had an issue with eLicenser, it's always something that makes me a bit nervous)

You honestly can't go wrong with either, but let's just say that I built this PC specifically to move back to a stable Cubase setup, and it just feels right to me. I'm definitely biased due to my longer history with Cubase though.

I work with many producers that swear by Logic or Ableton Live, and they're all just as happy as me on their chosen DAW, so it really just depends on your needs, workflow, budget, operating system .etc.

I personally wouldn't recommend Cubase on macOS (I know this is controversial to say, but it's just my experience).

[Bombadil]

Thing is, for me, unless I find some feature in Cubase that I absolutely love and can't do in Logic, I'll stay with Logic, at least until I have to make a decision on a new computer. I may find Cubase's performance a little underwhelming in comparison to Logic, but I didn't buy Cubase 10 Pro to be my second DAW on my Mac: I bought it to future-proof myself in the case that Apple finally annoys me enough, after 30+ years, to move to a PC for a DAW.

Aesthetically, I also find Cubase very Windows-y, which is not my favourite layout. Practically, I find the interface a bit clunky in comparison to Logic, which is pretty sleek at this point. I expect that is, in large part, due to relative inexperience. The EXS definitely needs a makeover, I would expect that to be a possibility in 10.5.