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Topic: Apple's Logic Studio (Logic 8) just released |
Brad Sarno
From: St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 12 Sep 2007 5:28 pm
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Apple just radically upgraded and simplified Logic Pro, and they included a whole bunch of new stuff too. Even better is they slashed the price of Logic in half. Now it's $499 (was $999), and it includes Waveburner Pro, one of the best CD mastering and creation programs. I'm one of the sorry suckers who paid nearly double this price for Logic 7 about a year ago. Doh! Anyway, it appears as though Apple has made Logic far more easy and intuitive. Now that the price is slashed, they're really gonna give MOTU's Digital Performer a run for their money, and not to mention putting a new dent in Pro-Tools market.
http://www.apple.com/logicstudio/
Brad |
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Jerry Gleason
From: Eugene, Oregon, USA
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Posted 13 Sep 2007 11:16 am
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I like Digital Performer, but with this upgrade, Logic just offers so much more. Logic 8 address all the things that I found awkward in previous versions. The "environment" is changed to something more intuitive, you can now edit audio in the arrange window easily, keep track of multiple takes within a track, and much more.
I still need to keep DP for previous projects, but I have been gravitating to Logic even before this revision. Apple is offering a free upgrade to those who bought Logic pro after August 1, and luckily I bought mine after that (mostly to get the current version of Waveburner).
Most of the other stuff that comes with the new Logic Studio are video or live-performance specific, but it does add value to the package.
Also, Logic Express 8 now has about 80 percent of Logic Pro's features for a very reasonable price, and I'd definitely recommend it for any Mac user that wants a very comprehensive and capable audio-midi package. |
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Brad Sarno
From: St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 14 Sep 2007 5:59 am
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Hey Jerry,
I'm kind of a die-hard Digital Performer user, and I know it well. But with this new price-cut and radical update for Logic, it's looking like I'll be giving it a full test drive. I also bought Logic for the Waveburner component. This new update also has an update for Waveburner from 1.2 to 1.5. I'm supposed to get my new Logic update today from Fedex. I'll chime back in after I've had a chance to get inside it a bit. I feel loyal to DP for some reason, but I'm also a Mac freak, so I'm excited to see what Apple has done to what was a very difficult program to learn. The previous version of Logic were so non-intuitive and cumbersome, but it looks like they've made it now extremely intuitive and streamlined. Have you seen the new comping feature? Man, that looks incredibly useful.
http://www.apple.com/logicstudio/logicpro/#new
go there and click on the "quick swipe comping" button.
Brad |
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Tommy Detamore
From: Floresville, Texas
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Posted 14 Sep 2007 7:00 am
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This is exciting news to me! I was a Logic user for years (since 2.5). I switched to DP a couple years ago, and while I like it a lot, I am still a Logic guy at heart I think.
The quick-swipe comping feature looks very cool. It seems somewhat similar to a feature I have come to rely on in my Paris software, and have been unable to find in any other DAW to date.
And I too have used Waveburner on OS 9 for years. With the price drop I may get Logic Studio just for that alone!
Please keep us posted on your experiences guys! _________________ Tommy Detamore
Quilter Labs, Goodrich Sound, Source Audio, Neunaber Audio, and Stringjoy Authorized Dealer
www.cherryridgestudio.com
www.steelguitartracksonline.com |
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Jerry Gleason
From: Eugene, Oregon, USA
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Posted 14 Sep 2007 10:07 am
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Going from DP 5 to Logic 7 didn't really require a steep learning curve, partially because I've use Logic in the past, but I was able to set it up pretty quickly in the same way I work in DP. I have an arrange (sequencer) window open showing me all the tracks with waveforms (Logic 8 now has scalable waveform display; yay...), and another window with the mixer as channel strips with inserts and sends, showing all tracks and aux tracks or busses. That's pretty much all I need to see at once. One useful feature that Logic has that DP lacks, is that when clipping occurs, Logic displays the amount over zero right there in the channel strip fader, whereas with DP, you kind of have to guess.
I remixed a couple of DP projects in Logic, and I actually liked the sound better, but maybe that has to do with having some different plug-ins and eq's.
One thing I like in DP is the way you can easily and precisely correct the pitch of individual notes with the graphical interface. I couldn't find anything like that in Logic 7, only an automatic pitch correction for the entire track. I could have missed something, though.
Where Logic seems more intuituve than DP, for me, is MIDI editing. I haven't done all that much intense MIDI work in DP, but the Logic interface and tools just seem to make more sense, and I felt like I could be productive quickly.
It's funny about WaveBurner. It's a killer app, but Apple has always treated it like a bastard stepchild left over from Emagic. Hardly any mention of it on their website until recently. It's like "Oh, by the way, here's a little CD mastering app we'll throw in with it". I do like the OS X version of WB, and the fact that you can now use AU plug-ins. One slight inconvenience is that you can no longer record directly into WB. I used to use that feature for dubbing analog recordings like vinyl or Mini-Disc to CD.
Brad, please give us a report on Logic 8 and WaveBurner when you get it going. |
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James Quackenbush
From: Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 14 Sep 2007 11:49 am
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Smart move on Apples part !!....Make Logic more intuative, and cut the price in 1/2 !!....What's not to like !!.... Jim |
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Brad Sarno
From: St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 16 Sep 2007 6:10 am
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So far after a bit of dabbling in the new Logic 8, I can say that Apple has really put their "Apple" touch on it. It seems that Logic is still all there, but with some tremendous retouching and new features that make it truly easy and intuitive.
Jerry, I agree, that pitch control that DP5 has is the greatest when it comes to dealing with that kind of thing. Nothing like that in Logic, not yet, just a pitch correcting plug-in. DP's manual pitch correction looks to be derived from the Melodyne software. Maybe Melodyne licenced DP or something like that. Just a guess. That's about the only feature that currently stands out for me where DP still shines.
I'll have to dive in and do what you did and mix a session I had in DP in Logic. I'd really like to compare the sound of Logic with others like DP and ProTools. They all sound a little different.
But generally, I'm feeling pretty enthusiastic about this new Logic 8 and the studio stuff that comes with it. I think it's WAY closer to something that many more audio novices could dive into. There's a quick start guide, and really, unlike in previous verisons of Logic, you can just install it and dive right in.
Also it's cool to see Apple and Apogee hooking up on creating hardware for Logic. That's a classy move to offer such good quality interfacing.
Brad |
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Brad Sarno
From: St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 16 Sep 2007 6:19 am
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Logic Express 8 is only $199. It seems to have nearly all the features of the Pro version that most people would want. It's quite loaded. Man, for $199 I just don't know what can touch it.
Brad |
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Glenn Austin
From: Montreal, Canada
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Posted 4 Oct 2007 9:20 am
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Brad, I don't know a lot about Logic, but the Apogee Ensemble interface that goes with it looks like a real nice piece of gear to have.
Having just finished a project on a Protools HD3 system, I can't say that there was a whole lot of difference between it and the old TDM Mixplus Protools. More bells and whistles, and faster, but really the same old thing.
I've always liked Apple's way of thinking outside the box. I'm shopping for an a/v system to produce corporate vids and advertising, so I will look into this. Thanks for your post |
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Brad Sarno
From: St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 5 Oct 2007 1:08 pm
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Yea, this whole pro-tools thing is seeming to get turned on its head. For years, computers weren't powerful enough to handle all the dsp needed to process a bunch of audio tracks. But now with these super-fast mac's and PC's, you can let the computer do all the processing. This makes the need for all that ProTools hardware less and less necessary in a lot of situations. The newest Mac Tower is so incredibly powerful, that really most people could probably get away with simply good interfaces and good plug-ins.
The Apogee Ensemble does look pretty nice. I've worked with Apogee's converters for years, and I still like the sound. There are other good flavors of converters too, some better for certain musical styles, but generally Apogee is a tremendous step up from most of the ProTools hardware. Also Apogee's jitter spec is quite good. That is a major sonic issue with A/D converters.
Brad |
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