Logic 7 biggest flaws?

[MADSTATION]

Hi guys!
I'm a Cubase SX3 user...I've seen the announcement for Cubase 4 and I'm somewhat disapointed. I went on the Logic site and was blown away by the included plugins. So now I'm thinking of getting a mac+logic.

I know what's to like about Logic...
But what's not to like about it?

Thanks

[Gopal]

Hell I'm still on Logic 5 and I like it better than cubase :lol:

[MADSTATION]

Is there a logic demo somewhere for pc? even if it's an old version? At least I could play around a bit and see if it suits my needs. It's very tempting.

[Gopal]

What's your email?

[MADSTATION]

djmad@madstation.net 8)

[pseudonym]

I honestly can't tell you anything I don't like about Logic...

only that it crashes unexpectedly a little more often than I would like.


I used Cubase for 3 years and when I first started using Logic I was like: "ahh, so this is what the grown ups use..."

That's not to say that Cubase is for kids, but that's how it looks and feels. Logic has earned its name.

[mr.e]

I use logic 7 for mac...but my honest opinion is that for pc I much rather use logic 5 than any other software. And I do

[Khazul]

Cubase just seems to be a very messy application to me - dont know what it is about about it - it does everything I want (exception for flexible audio routing - grrr!), but somehow the way it does everything seems to involve way to much f***ing around...

Im hoping that V4 will at least address the crippled audio routing and cripple VST2 architecture, but have little hope about it being more pleasent to use overall.

Dunno what v4 will be like for including plugins - but IMHO the ones included with V3 were mostly next to useless - ffs - even the cheapo tracktion v1 and v2 had better ones IMHO.

[F5D]

I used Cubase (test version) for many many years but then I wanted to start using legal software and Logic looked the best because it comes with so many good and very useful plugins.

Cubase was an ok software but I hated the plugins which came with it so I had to install all kinds of 3rd party plugins that I could do anything with it. That's not a problem if you have lots of money to buy all kinds of plugins. Anyway, I had been testing the 5.5.1 logic platinum (pc) too and a friend of mine helped me to get into it. Logic is very different from cubase and needs a little bit more learning but once you get in it it's more flexible. However, the new logic 7 is alot easier to learn than the previous logic versions and the difference between the 7.2 and 5.5.1 is huge. The GUI is nicer, better editing tools, menus etc, more plugins etc. Highly recommended.

I like more of logic 7 pro than Cubase SX2/SX3. I like logic's automation and editing tools more. They just feel more "pro", hard to explain. The GUI of Logic is also easier to look at and learn because it is very simple and has only a few dark colors. Looks kinda "pro", hehe. :) Cubase has too many colors and buttons everywhere. And in cubase I didn't like that I couldn't make my own connections and setups.

So, what's not to like in logic?

-the internal sample editor is very old now, anyway we're waiting for a new sample editor in logic 8

-hyper edit in matrix editor (midi cc graphical editor in piano roll) is also very old and doesn't remember it's resize settings but still works, no problems there. The blue backround color in hyper draw editor is silly but you can usually automate everything from the arrange page so this is not a big problem so usually you can use the matrix editor without the hyper draw). Anyway, the matrix editor is very good.

-The piano keys don't get highlighted in matrix editor (like in cubase's piano roll) when you press keys from you keyboard. Maybe in logic 8.

-usually you cannot rename objects or channels just by double clicking them but have to do this from another place (by selecting view parameters in environment, you get all info of the selected track and can change it's name, channel settings etc. In the arrange page you can always see the info, i/o-settings and channel strip settings of the selected track on the left side of the arrange page). Once you learn it, it's no problem, it's a feature. You also have to name your bus tracks in the audio configuration menu because if you give names to your bus objects in your arrange page, the names won't show up in the bus list (because you changed the bus object names, not real bus names). Anyway, this is also a feature and you have to learn how the environment works. Once you give names to the busses, inputs and outputs in the audio configuration menu, you understand how it works and will love logic. :D

-sometimes when you hit play, logic will first play audio from some kind of audio buffer from the last playback, so if you're bouncing (exporting) some stuff, hit space bar a few times and make sure, the audio buffer is empty (usually some reverb tails or something) before you start the bouncing. This is not a real problem either once you understand why it does this. You can also start the bouncing a few seconds earlier than your real audio starts so you can cut the beginning of the bounced track if it has the contents of the audio buffer. This sounds alot worse than it actually is, so don't take any panic!

-External fx and external synth plugins currently don't work with pdc so you have to manually compensate. Maybe in logic 8. I haven't used these plugins at all because you can use external synths manually like before pdc times. However, full pdc works with audio tracks, instrument tracks + all buses, so logic has full pdc.

I have been reading about the new features of cubase 4 and it still doesn't seem to be what I'd need. Cubase has better control of external fx units and synths and has a better sample editor. However, I feel that everything else is better in logic, plugins, arrange windows + environment, tools, automation and the way everything works. I feel that logic pro 7.2 still has better features than cubase 4 altough cubase 4 is brand new. If logic 8 will have a new sample editor and a few other things which logic users have been waiting for, it will be a killer program.

Switching to OSX is very easy. Core audio and everything just work very well. Low latencies, multiple audio apps on at the same time without worrying about anything. I suggest you buy a mac pro. The new apple notebooks have some very difficult quality problems (heat, noises, shutdowns etc.). However the new mac pro towers don't have any problems. They're powerful, quiet and are easy to expand later.

I'm still running a dual 1.8GHz G5 with 3 dsp cards and I don't have any problems with processing power. Anyway, a mac pro would be a killer machine. I will perhaps upgrade next spring <-> summer when the 8 core macs are released.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Mac + Logic = very good music production system.

[MADSTATION]

Many thanks guys for your time!
A friend of mine recently purchased a Mac Pro and will buy logic in the next couple of days...I will go at his place to work on some music and see what Logic has to offer. I'm really curious about the plugins actually :)

Is it easy to sidechain stuff in Logic?

[mr.e]

easy as pie !! :D

[F5D]

I use the sidechaining in logic only with logic's own compressor. Some other logic plugins include the sidechaining function too but I haven't tried them yet with sidechaining. Anyway, if I want to use sidechaining with a kick + bassline for example, I set the outputs of bassline tracks and basskick to their own mix busses (bass kick and bassline) and then insert a compressor to the bassline track and select the bass kick bus for sidechaining and it starts to work. Somehow I haven't got this working by selecting audio tracks but it always works if I select a bus. Anyway, I always mix with buses so this is not a problem for me. I don't know whether you can use audio unit plugins with sidechaining or not. But anyway, using the logic's own compressor with sidechaining is easy and it also sounds pretty good. The included compressor plugin is maybe not the best available but with right settings it sounds pretty smooth and works well with the sidechain. I always use it when I need to sidechain things and use uad compressors if I don't need the sidechain.

[JayTranzmit]

Logic is elegant in the way it works, everything seems to be streamlined & very intuative.

Being a Cubase user previously right up until when Steinberg turned the GUI into a complete mess with the release of SX, Logic is much more of a cleaner way of working. I ditched my Mac that I was using at the time as the new G5's had just been released & were sketchy & needed an in between machine to get me through until they'd settled. Had a purpous built DAW & a friend lent me Logic to have a go with. 2 days of brain storming rebulding the environment & getting to grips with it, I was hooked. I knew more about Logic in that short time than with Cubase after several years. :lol: Superb program

I'm just in the process of upgrading at the end of this week to a dual 2.7 G5 & Logic Pro 7 finally. To be honest if the last PC version had offline bounce then I think I may have stuck with it for much much longer as it did all that I needed. It was the only feature I had missed since VST5.

Cubase 4 looks great too & had seriously considered going down that road. Yamaha are in control now so it's going to be a different kettle of fish hopefully for the users with them. Visually I don't like the look of the new plugs but, if they work well then at least it gives a good palette to work with rather than the crap in previous versions. Media & Soundframe are good additions.

Logic is still a bad ass sequencer.