Digital Performer vs. Logic Pro?

I haven't used either, as I am mainly Pro Tools. However, I would reccomend DP over Logic 7, which is supposedly very buggy.

I have used DP since version 2.5, and with the exception of some minor 4.0 issues I think it is great. The biggest drawback, imo, about pro tools is its proprietary nature. Granted, like Apple, this allows them to have a rock solid product by ensuring you are only using their hardware. They also "cripple" their LE systems, i.e., simultaneous recordable tracks and multiple interfaces. Pro Tools TDM, however, is another story.

As for Logic, I haven't used it much at all. The first few times I opened it up I had the feeling of being abducted by aliens and being forced to fly their spaceship -- nothing made sense. Not really what you would expect from Apple, or any DAW for that matter. Most people I know prefer DP over Logic except for a few brave pioneers.

The way I see it:
Pro Tools is for engineers
DP / Logic etc.. is for musicians/composers/engineers
GarageBand is for noobs (sorry)

Poeben said:

The way I see it:
Pro Tools is for engineers
DP / Logic etc.. is for musicians/composers/engineers
GarageBand is for noobs (sorry)

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the way i see it:
protools is for AUDIO
logic is for MIDI
garageband is for LOOPS

each is best in what it has first been designed to do; there is no better way of recording and editing audio than what protools is, and there is no better way of arranging midi than what logic does. there are a lot of loop utilities, but garageband has to be recognized as one of the good ones.

DP tries to be protools and logic at the same time. it excels in neither, but if you need to do audio AND midi, then dp does it best, on average.

JFreak said:

the way i see it:
protools is for AUDIO
logic is for MIDI
garageband is for LOOPS

each is best in what it has first been designed to do; there is no better way of recording and editing audio than what protools is, and there is no better way of arranging midi than what logic does. there are a lot of loop utilities, but garageband has to be recognized as one of the good ones.

DP tries to be protools and logic at the same time. it excels in neither, but if you need to do audio AND midi, then dp does it best, on average.

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I would add Live 4 as one or possible the best for looping/chopping/remixing. I don't know Logic vs. DP though, I've found neither to great in terms of ease of use, Cubase was always my fav. Logic is obviously more popular among 'big name' type people though. I've heard DP is easier on system drain. Interesting that garageband is ranked among those pro apps, have to upgrade to ilife 05 I guess!

Just out of curiousity, I've heard a lot of people hating PTLE, is this just a small group or are there really problems with it in OSX? Or is it only truly 'great' w/ in the big TDM systems?

back in the day...

...you know, when Performer was just Performer, not Digital Performer, it was a great, simple, intuitive sequencer (well, at least as intuitive as a sequencer could be, anyway....). For MIDI multitrack stuff, it was great. When DP came out, it was expensive, and none of the machines at my school could run it anyway. I finally got a copy of DP about a year ago, and much of what I loved about the interface and setup was gone. (I think they realized that a lot of folks just kept using the old stuff - as recently as version 6(?) you still had the option to save in version 2.41!)

Also about a year ago, we bought the big box o' logic 6. Installed it - but, like already mentioned, nothing made any sense to me at all. Reading the manual was like reading some of those dummy mockups in Photoshop: Yonown fjwof fkjwif dkhjos sdf fghwifon sd vweogos wedosvndwioweo! Johwof fomvb grf grfignoe vsofv qweqwe oscvo ldkhj. Rlfh.

So, now I just do everything in Sibelius. I write to print and publish, not to perform, so this is simply easier for me; YMMV.

I know. Not much help. Sorry about that.

MFK

Poeben said:

As for Logic, I haven't used it much at all. The first few times I opened it up I had the feeling of being abducted by aliens and being forced to fly their spaceship -- nothing made sense. Not really what you would expect from Apple, or any DAW for that matter. Most people I know prefer DP over Logic except for a few brave pioneers.

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I agree, Logic is confusing as hell. Took me about 2 weeks (with the help of the http://www.osxaudio.com forums) just to get my midi controller working properly (with the knobs and sliders configured and everything). The manual is huge and not very friendly. BUT, the program does work pretty well. I've done a little midi and audio recording on it, and it seems to do everything i need (and is probably capable of much more). Just takes a long time to get used to the interface(s)

So, which one would you reccommend for someone like me, who is a live keyboard player with many synths, who would like to produce house music? I also have iDrum (fun).

mintlivedotcom said:

So, which one would you reccommend for someone like me, who is a live keyboard player with many synths, who would like to produce house music? I also have iDrum (fun).

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Can't say myself, but definitely check out http://www.osxaudio.com. You should be able to find an answer there.

I've never used DP, but I really like Logic 7. I thought Logic Pro 6 was rather confusing and cumbersome (my prev experience came from a PC with Acid Pro and Reason), but 7 is great. So far I've only used 7 similar to Acid with loops, digital audio recording and effects.

I saw Live 4 mentioned above and it is an excellent product as well. Especially for "live" type mixing or on the fly remixing.

I've had demo's of Pro Tools but never used it. I wasn't fond of its hardware dependancy or its lackluster GUI, but it is a solid product and very widely used.

You should be able to take your Pro Tools files or Logic project to any good studio for final mixing.

vtprinz said:

Can't say myself, but definitely check out http://www.osxaudio.com. You should be able to find an answer there.

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I have looked at OSX a lot. I just wanted to know if any MR posters had advice. I will search and post my question there as well. Thanks.