In stead of reviewing just Logic Pro X I'd like to give you my personal opinion comparing the DAW's I have been using over the years. I started out in 1996 on Cakewalk 5 and later Logic 5 on PC. Than switched to Mac in 2004 with Reason 2.5, Logic 7, 8 and 9. Then I switched back to PC in 2015 and used Reaper, Studio One 4, and Ableton Live 9. I also spent some years as a Live Sound engineer for a small venue, so I learned mixing bands on hardware consoles, which certainly has influenced the way I look at routing and mixing.
So here's my comparison of Logic vs Live vs Studio One vs Reaper! (I left Reason out, it's simply to long ago I used it.).
Workflow
Sound design is a big part of my workflow. Therefore the routing possibilities of the DAW are of great importance to me.
Logic Pro X
There is a enormous amount of functions in the different menu's available, but in the key commands window there are even more. It means you can do anything, but you will have a hard time memorising key commands. Many key-commands use more than one modifier. How about Ctrl + Alt + CMD + Backspace for resetting track zoom!? So in practice I find myself using only a few of them and using Apple Notes to create a list of my favorites.
Routing in logic is simple and easy to work with if you're used to hardware mixing consoles. It is probably also the most restricted compared to the other DAW's.
Ableton Live
Live has only a few functions compared to Logic, but I found this simplicity to be very user friendly and powerful. Assigning key-commands and MIDI controllers works the same in Live and I love that, but some functions simply can not be accessed via Key-Commands and that will slow you down.
Live's Instrument Rack is simple to use and insanely powerful. I really love how you can use them to create paralel effects chains without creating extra sends and returns. That's great for sounddesign.
Live's tracks can take their input from anywhere and send their output anywhere. It's powerful and you suddenly wonder why other DAW's place so many restrictions on routing. You could say Live is less a virtual hardware studio than Logic and Studio One, which allows Live to use different and in the software domain sometimes more simple solutions.
If you like Push, which personally did not win me over, then nothing beats Ableton Live. This degree of integration between software and hardware is only equaled by Native Instruments' Maschine, as far as I know.
Studio One
Like Logic, there are many functions and many key commands to memorise, they are fewer and easier, though.
Studio One surprised me with the way tracks, instruments and mixer channels are managed more separately than they are in other DAW's. I found that confusing, but I love how you can create complex instrument and effects routings within the track. this allows for paralel processing without creating extra sends and return tracks, much like Live's Instruments Rack, although it works quite differently.
Studio One has a unique Project Page where you master your tracks. It has a nice workflow that is is very useful even when you're not using Studio One to record and mix your tracks. It is a bit like the now abolished Waveburner application that used to be part of Logic Studio.
Reaper
This software has so many commands an so many options for customising I found myself constantly getting lost and wasting hours configuring Reaper instead of making music.
The mixer has extensive routing possibilities, but I had a hard time understanding them, though. To me it did not feel intuitive.
The winner in this category is Ableton Live.
Plugins
Logic Pro X
In my opinion, the are the best of the DAW's I compare here. Great sounding and easy to use. If you don't own a bunch of plugins already and will be depending heavily on software instruments then I'd say Logic is the way to go. But you just might want to check out Reason as well...
I do not like the redesigned UI's (user interface; layout of buttons, sliders etc on the screen) of the older plugins, though: their default sizes differ too much and Apple has chosen to emulate hardware UI's. In my opinion a hardware like interface does not always work well on screen. The more abstract version 9 UI of the compressor felt easier to use to me.
Ableton Live
The instrument plugins sound okay, but I never find the presets inspiring. I also think they are presented to small, making them fiddly to operate. The effects are great. Easy to operate and easy to chain up fro creative sound design.
Studio One
The build in effects plugins sound nice and they look really nice. Quite simple but very easy to use. I did not like the instruments that come with Studio One.
The winner in this category is Logic Pro X for instruments, but Ableton Live for effects.
Sounds/Library
Logic Pro X
Logic has an awesome sound library. Both amount and Quality are simply stunning.
Ableton Live
I personally don't like the Ableton factory sounds, but I find the browser very nice.
Studio One
There are some nice vengeance sound samples, but most presets are just not very good. I hardly ever used the build in instruments.
Reaper
Forget it. You'll need to get your hands on some serious software instruments, unless of course, you're using reaper as an audio recorder.
The winner in this category is Logic Pro X.
Value for Money / Who is it for?
Logic Pro X
Logic is really is ridiculously cheap, considering all it has to offer. The Alchemy synth alone is worth the asking price, so for me value for money is the best. If you do have a Mac, but don't own any plugins? It's a no brainer.
Logic is great for producers, songwriters, bands and film score composers. But DJ's really need to check out Live as well.
Ableton Live
Ableton Live may be what you need if you're a DJ / producer, but I can not say it's cheap. I always have been using the Studio version because I did not find the extra devices and sounds you get with Suite that compelling, but even the Studio edition is almost twice as expensive as Logic.
Studio One
More geared to the songwriter / recording type it's the alternative to Logic on the PC, I think. But on PC I'd surely would suggest looking at Steinberg's Cubase as well.
Reaper
If you already own a bunch of great plugins, reaper is a cheap and powerful solution. Also, not getting any sounds with it that you don't need might be an advantage. It has by far the smallest footprint (meaning the application files don't take up much space on your drive and in memory) so it's the fastest to start up and I must say it is rock solid. If you want to record on location on a laptop with a small SSD or a slow HDD drive than you might even buy Reaper just for the one occasion.
There's no winner in this category, it just depends on your personal preferences too much.
Conclusion
After working for some months with Logic Pro X I have found myself slowly replacing the bundled plugins with 3rd party stuff. Like Fabfilters' eq, compression and reverb plugins, or Arturia's V Collection, or Samples from Mars' drum libraries. The quality of Logic's bundled stuff seems not to have been progressing with time as it should. Maybe my tastes are changing, I dunno.
I started using Ableton Live again. I still think it's the fastest to work with. It's easy. The routing is amazingly flexible. I still don't like the instruments, but the drumrack and simpler are nice. The effects are simple but flexible. The automation system is great.
To me, in the end, Ableton Live is the winner. I just hope that with version 11 everything becomes too complicated all of a sudden...
Advice
If you did not make your choice of DAW yet, demo everything. That will be a problem with Logic because there is no demo version, but you can try Garageband. Read the manuals. Figure out what stuff does and watch all the lovely youtubers...
When you've made up your mind to buy a certain DAW keep this in mind: most studio hardware like audio Interfaces and MIDI controllers come with light versions of at least one DAW, so if you're starting out you might find a good deal that way. You might also look out for a crossgrade deal, these are often not advertised as much as normal discounts, so dig around the webstore and compair prices. Last but not least, if money's tight, signup for newsletters and keep an eye out for end-of-year sales.
Read Review
Nobody has anything to say about Apple Logic Pro? I'm incredulous. For $199.99, there's a LOT of stuff here. You have a pro-level DAW, with a full suite of effects including a convolution reverb, custom amps and roll-your-own guitar pedals. You get a sampler with gigabytes of content (EXS-24). You get a very nice jack-of-all-trades synth, ES-2. You get a physically modelled synth, electric piano and clav. There's a drum machine (Ultrabeat), and more loops than you'll want to sort through. There are only two things that I don't like about Logic. (1) It doesn't import General MIDI files well. (2) You don't have all the fun freeware VST instruments that are available for Windows.
There are various VST-in-an-AU Audio Units.
https://www.fxpansion.com/products/vst-au-adapter/.
They all cost about $100 or so.
Conslaw, I agree with your 2 complaints about Logic. However, I have found some good workarounds:
1. I use energyXT on a PC to get samples, loops, etc. from certain PC VSTs, then convert those audio files into things Logic can use (EXS24, Apple Loops, etc.).
2. ReWire seems to be a good option for running Logic along with other DAWs at the same time.
Tim Waters
Love Logic, have used it since v6 after moving from Nuendo when that studio closed.
I also recommend Reason to be used alongside Logic. Low on CPU usage and great sound design possibilities.
The download queue's will probably be pretty slow for a few days. I remember upgrading Mainstage to v.2 was multi-gigabyte, counting the 'Additional Software" - which was well worth it! Does anyone know if Logic X requires OS 10.8.4 minimum, like Apple says (the new) Mainstage 3 does? I'm a big fan of Mainstage 2.2. But I'm still running 10.6.8 OS X because of compatibility with other apps I use occasionally. I just upgraded MOTU's Flagship DAW, Digital Performer, which gives you great control, less instruments for sure though.. . and now works on PC's too, to v. 8. So I need Logic even less. DP has had pitch correction for a long time, and it works great. Not automatically like Auto-Tune. You draw it in. There are plenty of ways to make music these days. Is one best? Maybe...but it depends on which feature set you use most, and what you've already built your workflow and rig around. Different for everyone. Enjoy.
Just a quick question. Is it possible to develop your own MIDI FXs to Logic Pro X, such as an arpeggiator that can export MIDI to the track?
Yes by scripting, but someone has already done it so why "invent the wheel a second time"? It is an AU MIDI plugin called "MIDI FX Freeze" from the company Audio CR. http://www.audiocr.com/index.php
You just slap it on the MIDI signal path where you want to record MIDI and then you run the piece and drag the captured MIDI onto a new MIDI arrange track. I'm finding it super easy and it actually stopped me wishing for that function in Logic.
I'd like to add to my last post about Mainstage 2 vs. Mainstage 3. I have heard that, while in Mainstage 2 you can hold keys down making a sound, then switch the Patch to a different sound, and the sound of the previous Patch keeps sounding, in Mainstage 3, this very useful feature doesn't work. Is that true? Thanks.
best daw for $ 200.
0 of 10 from me because it's not available on Win. :-P.
Actually, the problem is your PC hardware. If you had a Mac, you could run Windows on it, and you could also run Logic Pro in OS X. I'm not saying anything negative about Windows, so this isn't about that. It's simply a question of what hardware gives you the option to run both Windows and Mac software. So far, the Mac is it.
The problem is not the PC Hardware since you can hackintosh it this is obvious. The problem is Apple they don't want that people run OS X on a windows PC. You don't seem to get that many people running OS X on PC hardware by installing OS X (as hackintosh). So there you goes your theory about the hardware.
Let me see if I've got this straight. Your first post whined because you couldn't run Logic on Windows, and then you claim it's not a problem after all because you can hack OS X. So which is it?
It didn't occur to me that I was dealing with someone who would openly admit to violating the user agreement and hack (steal) OS X. I stand corrected. Thanks for making that clear to everyone.
0 of 10 for Windows, because it can't run Logic Pro X.
Yeah it can't run Logic because Apple don't want it. Smart reply..
THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED
I've tried to use Logic 5.5.3 for years, but it has not showed the functionality it presents as the Original, about those times I was not able to buy those kind of software. So it only has caused errors to my expectations, but the possibilities was so big and the future was so possible. But I lost all the challenge when eMagic got out of the line from PC to be only available in Mac. Macintosh seems to be a great promise to the great response it have in Hardware, but PC still are the Joy for Windows, and I am believing in a better future since them for what I have lost many times before and today just the faith.
I'm not believing anymore that will be available for PC again, and I'm not inquired to Install OS X emulated for PC. But they say that is a great Idea! I see that as a dangerous way only, who knows about a MAC Laptop/desktop in the future for the additional, but that is the way. Maybe the future will can bring OS X to PC also, but in that is another cause which costs for the Ideas I have as own.
That's the best post I've read on KVR in a long time.
It's very clearly been google translated.
I use Logic since the 90's Atari time. since the manager became Apple the evolution is incredible, but through the years, I also noticed less and less attention from Apple about the health of the composers/customers... The last update of the OS is a giant mess (my Logic is quite sick now). Between the updates of the OS and updates of Logic each year my time to fix the backhand, bug, instabilities, plugins troubles growing up. Also the difficulty to secure a session through the years is more and more difficult and short viability. Yes Logic is not so expensive but please remind the money we spend to follow with the Apple computers and devices. I know that's not only the responsibility of Apple, there is also the delay between updates and third parties dev' and updates BUT, because Logic is at the highest point of the pyramid it's its responsibility to make all this universe working, efficient and secure.
Don't forget too the actual sade state of the music market too. Less and less money in the musician's pockets. I think a brainstorming in the Apple office about its philosophy could be welcome for the future of everybody.
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