GarageBand vs. Logic Express

[twoods]

I know GarageBand is great ... one of the reasons is that it's inexpensive. But how does it compare with the new Logic Express? I know I have to be careful with GB on my powerbook because it is processor intensive. Is Logic the same way?

Thanks again,

[tdhurst]

Look up info about Logic. The diff between it and GB is similar to FCE 2 and iMovie. All audio creation programs are processor intensive...

[quackattack]

yeah, there is a big difference. if you just want basic info check out the apple web site. http://www.apple.com/logicexpress/. im not sure how much more processor intensive it is, but its certianly not less than GB, if thats what you are wondering...

[junior]

Contrary to the posts above, Logic Express is no where near as processor intensive as GB. Garageband completely slows down your system with just a few tracks open. Logic will give you far more tracks to work with than Garageband will. I don't know if Express has the 'freeze' function, but if it does, then you'll be able to get even more tracks with effects on them.
Check the Apple site for info. It would probably help if you could give more specific questions once you've read the info on apple.com.

[JazzOne]

I have found GB to be much more processor-intensive than software that is supposedly more sophisticated (such as Reason). I believe this is because the programming for GB is not as streamlined as the code for more costly software. In other words, some programs are more powerful than GB, but they don't use the processor as much because the code is written in a way that there are fewer calculations. I would assume that Logic is much more efficient in its use of the processor than GB. However, I have not personally used Logic yet. I am currently researching Logic Express because I am interested in purchasing it to replace GB and Soundtrack.

[losackmd]

i am sick of the limitations of GB i.e.its CPU hunger and i run a G5 1.8GHZ single processor
with 2 GB RAM! the play head turns yellow with just 2-3 software instruments playing. Its pathetic and limiting and psychologically impedes good creative composing. Everytime you get a new idea or something that sounds good that you want to add or even trial it for a few takes and you need a new track for it GB is put to the test whether or not the new track will stop things in progress. This is not what you want>something that stops the progression of creativity in lieu of ameliorating it. Ideas in music are spontaneous and many
times out of the blue without thinking.. something sounds great and you want it and then GB's colors go RED! I mean i want 5 loops on separate tracks with just percussive sounds .
can anyone here tell me if LE7
will be less CPU intensive even with a GB song imported into it?
I mean will we still be crossing our fingers hoping not to see that orange or red color appear in the play head?
I mean has Apple given us composers the freedom to write symphonies
if we want to with LE7 since they are not fixing GB?!
A shame for those who wanted more out of GB will i guess not get it.

Can anyone give me from their experience with LE 6 or 7 some fair figure of the amoun with a 3 1/2 minute song?
How about the he limitations or comparisons between GB and LE 7?
Has anyone thought about that comparison?
I want to add data to my GB songs. I cant because
of the inherent architectural limitations: hunger for processing power.
So I am ready to buy LE7 yesterday but want some assurance
ill get more power less orange and red and can midi merge tracks which GB cannot do either.
a good comparison chart of CPU usage etc etc etc etc between GB and LE7 i believe is badly needed for those who want more at this stage.

thanks

[WinterMute]

Logic is a very good app to run under single processor machines, I run it occasionally on the PowerBook, but we run it all the time on G4's at the Uni, and some of those are only 500Mhz...

You will be able to run many more audio and midi tracks in Logic Express, up to a limit of 250-odd for audio, but you'll only be able to record 12 tracks at once. Garageband is a v1.0 freebie that allows you to play around with audio with no real knowledge of music, sure it has some powerful features, but it isn't really an iMovie analogue, iMovie is quite capable of turning out decent results, GB really needs to horsepower to be remotely useable.

This is true of ALL audio workstation apps, if you run them "native" they'll suck your proccesor dry, they really do need the off-board power of dedicated DSP cards like the Digidesign Accel cards, or an external interface like M-audio's 410.

My ProTools LE will only run to 35ish tracks and a few plug-ins before running out of legs, there is no substitute for DP power with audio.

Logic will run like a charm and is a MUCH more creative app than Garageband.

[AirWave]

i am sick of the limitations of GB i.e.its CPU hunger and i run a G5 1.8GHZ single processor
with 2 GB RAM! the play head turns yellow with just 2-3 software instruments playing.

Hi. This is only my second post to Macrumors, so bear with me ;)
I just love reading this forum :)

I'm normally using Cubase SX + a wide variety of software instruments, but I have played around with GarageBand a bit. I don't consider GB a pro music application, but for what it's intended it's not bad at all.

Concerning GB's CPU hunger. I run it on a Dual G4 1.42Ghz 1GB Ram and sofar I haven't run out of steam yet. My Dual G4 can easily pull a 20 track mixture of software + real instruments and effects.

Are you using other software instruments than the ones supplied by Apple with GB ? Have you updated GB ? If not then something is wrong.

[sonofsam]

I have to agree, GarageBand is a big processor hog. I am looking to upgrade to Logic Express or Pro as well. I have seen it run on friends machines (Logic 6 of course) and it seemed to run pretty smooth.

I will be curious to hear reviews/posts when the new versions come out.

[quackattack]

Contrary to the posts above, Logic Express is no where near as processor intensive as GB.

Well, apparently I spoke to soon. I haven't used logic express personally. I'm sorry for the bad info, next time I will do my homework.

[pimentoLoaf]

Wanna join a 15,000+ member club for Logic Pro & Logic Express?

Click here (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/logic-users/), as Apple recommends them.