Apple Logic Pro 9

I started out in Logic 7 and have enjoyed Apple's commitment to constantly improving. They have had some bugs with upgrades and updates but work quickly to get them fixed and I've never had to stop working because of any bugs.
I haven't had much experience with PT, but I couldn't imagine it being better or easier to use the L9. With the new FlexTime editing and great sounding DRUM Replacements, mixing has never been easier. Lining up drums and bass is a breeze and there is no change in sound. Piano, guitar, etc. is a little more sensitive but easily moveable. It gives you the option of choosing which part of the waveform you want to compress or expand. You can also quantize tracks to the n'th degree. Lining up 8 drum tracks and a bass track to be perfect takes 15 minutes. The new Amp Designer and Virtual Pedal Board are great sounding and fun. All of the plug-ins are great sounding and easy to use.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Everyone knows Logic is amazing. I moved over from PT mainly because I was sick of being stuck with their interfaces. PT is a great choice, but the ease of Logic is just absurd... My main reason for writing though is to say that the free month of video training from groove3 is amazing. I don't know why you would buy this program from anywhere else. I was changed over and up and running confidently in just 2 weeks. I mean really flying around the program. Gate, Limiter etc... are a great place to start although eventually I plan to replace them with Waves plugins




OVERALL OPINION

Apple has this great deal that they offer when buying a mac called One to One. You can meet once a week with an Apple trainer in the store to learn how to use Logic or any other apples software for $99 a year. I've been using it to learn how to mix and I highly recommend it.

Logic is that program that people all recognize. It can almost be considered second fiddle to Pro Tools in ubiquity. Do not take that with the negative connotation that that phrase normally comes with. Logic is essentially the program that Macs users may have, considering that it is built by Apple. And it has earned a reputation as being an incredibly easy to use song writing tool with everything it comes with. The set up for logic is just simple. A couple of clicks and you are in. Although I find the environment a little bit intimidating, it is there for you to play with, and what it can do is so much more intuitive than any other program's routing capabilities.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

What is incredibly special about Apple's Logic Pro 9 is what the package in and of itself is. If you need a comprehensive digital audio workstation to get started, Logic is such a quintessentially Apply product in that everything is just there for you. While the included sampler may not be anything like the more ubiquitous retail things like Native Instruments Kontakt, Logic's sample comes with the program and is far more comprehensive than any other program. Add a bunch of royalty free loop packages and all of a sudden, you have so much to work with! The other incredible thing about Logic is its flex time technology; lining up audio happens in many digital audio workstations, but the ease with which it it implemented and the quality is unsurpassed.

OVERALL OPINION

There may be a little bit of bloat to this program, but Apple hides it; Logic is just a beautiful program upon opening, and you have no idea how comprehensive it can actually turn out to be. It is regrettable that I myself do not currently own a Mac, for if I did, Logic would be sitting on it, open all day.

Seeing that Logic is MAC only it's pretty much a no brainer on OSX. The manual is ok at best, however there are numerous on-line resources to help with those short comings.
Install from the DVDs will take a while for all the extra loop and instrument content.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Again since it is now an Apple program I expect it to run stable on a Mac, and it does.


OVERALL OPINION

I used to use Logic at Version 4 to 5.5 on PC back in the day. When Apple bought it and made it Mac only I went to use Samplitude/Sequoia who used to have the same distributor and wrote the Logic audio engine. Years later at version 9 I actually decided to give Logic another shot since by then I had switched to Mac (thanks to being able to run it as Windows or OSX).
And I really didn't like to have to deal with dongles. So...back to Logic. It now seems much more user friendly. Has some new features the might be great for some like audio quantize.
I love using it to write and when I have any midi programming to do. For audio I'm not so fond of it. It still is limited to 24 bit files. Heck even Pro Tools now lets you use 32 bit float files, just like Nundo, Cubase, Repaer, Samplitude, Sequoia, etc...have done for years. So if you're shuttling projects back and forth between DAWs the audio files need to be converted before.
What I find a bit disheartening is that the soft synths have not gotten a face lift since I used to use it 5 major revisions ago. Those were state of the art for 10 years ago. Now...not so much.

Apple recently went from boxed DVD to download through the app store and lowered the price. Which on one hand is awesome, on the other now the extras like Main Stage etc are separate purchases.

Apple Logic Pro 9 is a very good sequencing program, you can pretty much do your whole song in Logic 9 from the musical creation process to the recording process. You will be very pleased with how much Logic Pro 9 can help you. Even if you have used Logic before and have an earlier version of it. It will still be beneficial for you to upgrade to Pro 9 asap.


SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I ran apple pro logic pr 9 on my mac book pro for a while. It wont crash or cause any problems for you. I have been nothing but please with Pro 9 and its ability to give me a good sounds and a great work flow process.


OVERALL OPINION

Overall, the best thing about Logic Pro 9 that I love is the synths that come with it. Logic Pro 9 is one of the few softwares that I would say can actually go without having to purchase a bunch of other synths right off the bat. All of the built in (that come with it) synths are high quality and are very unique. Each plug in can be controlled 100 percent from all parameters. It comes with a packed library of great synths and sounds. Only thing that I really didn’t use that came with it where the drums. I imported my own drum kits because I have a unique sound of real live kits that I love. Logic Pro 9’s live drum kits arent that good for me. But that is not problem at all because we all have our own drums we love to use. The mixer track on Logic Pro 9 is top quality too, you can really get a good master if you know what you are doing and have a solid ear. You will have no worries with Logic Pro 9. Its not very cheap though it does cost a good amount of money. But this is actually one of the only softwares I can say that complete with Pro tools on a professional level.