Logic Pro 9 ($199.99) and MainStage 2 ($29.99) Debut in Mac App Store

[Liquorpuki]

I have been reading this thread since it started and everyone is just doing a back and fourth on good and bad about the change but no real responses from those who have downloaded it.
I'm very curious how this version is, I have wanted logic for a very long time, price was just kinda high, plus my drums don't have mics.Neil Peart would be mad!
I have been getting by with GB, years ago I loved GB, but I maxed it out very quickly. I have my go to songs, and keep adding more loops. At this price I can at last make the jump. Video editing us number one to me then music, and they can go hand in hand (obviously), so if this a solid product I can't wait to download it.

What type of production are you planning to do? What's your typical workflow like when you make a song? Most of what I do involves MIDI. I've got 2 keyboard controllers, electronic drums, and a wind controller I use to play software patches so I need Logic's level of control over the output. I also do sampling so the EXS sampler is one of my main tools.

Logic has a ton of features etc that Garageband doesn't have. It's a powerful DAW, almost comparable to Pro Tools. But not everyone needs something that powerful. IE the beat for Umbrella by Rihanna was actually made in Garageband by tweaking some Apple Loops.

At $200 though I think it's a bargain. I paid $500 for Studio 8 and compared to how much Pro Tools costs, that was already a bargain. Steep learning curve though.

 

[Soura2112]

Loops & mics

First off I really want to get my mics for my drums, I just have a big set so have to narrow it down to the bare bones for a bit, though mics are getting cheaper. So my main goal is to set up loops and add my drums in, then plug some friends in who play other instruments.
Until that day comes I want to go way beyond GarageBand, I really maxed out all the loops, have lots of jam packs, and tons of downloaded loops. As much as I love GarageBand I feel my songs are sounding the same these days. I'm also more into progressive rock when I make a song for myself (rarely does a customer want progressive rock on their DVD). So I'm looking to take my music editing to a whole other level. Can only adjudt so much in garageband, and I cant say anything bad about Garageband, free, and so much one can do with it. I don't mind the learning curve, I actually enjoy it. Now at 200.00 I can't see why not to jump on ship.
I'm a movies/music person, both my passion, why I edit both.
I guess if nothing really has changed then I'm happy to make the transition, just like Final Cut Express to Pro years ago.

 

[tharris0101]

DRM Free / Install Limit?

I just got back from a small Apple Education conference and the presenter mentioned that all Apple apps on the Mac App Store were DRM free. (The package can be manually installed on any computer but won't get any upgrades unless that computer is linked to the Apple ID it was purchased under). Can someone confirm this with the new Logic Pro?

My main concern here is, I have 3 macs at home I'd like to install this on if I get it. Would that be legal and/or supported with one purchase?

 

[rockstarjoe]

I just got back from a small Apple Education conference and the presenter mentioned that all Apple apps on the Mac App Store were DRM free. (The package can be manually installed on any computer but won't get any upgrades unless that computer is linked to the Apple ID it was purchased under). Can someone confirm this with the new Logic Pro?

My main concern here is, I have 3 macs at home I'd like to install this on if I get it. Would that be legal and/or supported with one purchase?

Yes, you can install it on any Mac that you authorize (up to a limit of either 5 or 10, I can't remember which).

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Good for you, and as soon as you realize what "average" means, get back to me

The law of averages says that if I have over two dozen hard drives and none of them go bad in 10 (some in almost 18) years, I'm either extremely (almost unbelievably) lucky or your data is faulty. At least half my drives should fail at or under the average. NONE have.

You do realize a drive not in use is a drive not accruing wear, right? Being magnetic, data can still be lost just sitting there, but a rated life is based on it being used that long, not rest time. If I have a drive that is used 1 day a week, it's quite possibly going to last a LONG time. Some of those 18 year old drives only get used a few times a year at most because they're on outdated computers and thus it shouldn't be all that strange that they still work. 5-6 years needs to be qualified as to whether they are being used 24/7. Drives are actually rated in work hours between failure just as my projector bulb is. If my projector isn't used, it's just sitting there like new (minus any dust contamination and what not).

 

[John.B]

The law of averages says that if I have over two dozen hard drives and none of them go bad in 10 (some in almost 18) years, I'm either extremely (almost unbelievably) lucky or your data is faulty. At least half my drives should fail at or under the average. NONE have.

You do realize a drive not in use is a drive not accruing wear, right? Being magnetic, data can still be lost just sitting there, but a rated life is based on it being used that long, not rest time. If I have a drive that is used 1 day a week, it's quite possibly going to last a LONG time.

I'd bet good money that the majority of drives that fail, fail when they are powered up.

Remember that bits, whether stored as a laser etch (CD/DVD/Blu-ray) or a magnetic charge (HDD) or an electronic charge (SSD), are not exact ones and zeros but 1.01 and .95 and eventually through lightning and sunspot activity and other occurrences, errors will eventually show up. Even though the noise floor in a digital application is pretty much off the charts and error checking bits will help find degradation to a large degree, if you research archival digital storage you'll realize there is a shelf life to all of it.

 

[AidenShaw]

I'd bet good money that the majority of drives that fail, fail when they are powered up.

Or more likely, the errors are noticed on the power-up when the OS accesses the drive meta-data. Little-used drives spend most of their time in a low-power "spun-down" state, so mechanical failures are unlikely if the drive isn't spinning.

I literally deal with dozens of failed drives a month, and "power-on" failures are virtually non-existent. For any single drive, one would accept a failed sector or two per year. When a drive gets a couple of failed sectors per month - move your data and replace the drive. (I'm assuming that the drive is part of a redundant RAID array, so that your data is still accessible after a failed sector.)

Remember that bits, whether stored as a laser etch (CD/DVD/Blu-ray) or a magnetic charge (HDD) or an electronic charge (SSD), are not exact ones and zeros but 1.01 and .95 and eventually through lightning and sunspot activity and other occurrences, errors will eventually show up. Even though the noise floor in a digital application is pretty much off the charts and error checking bits will help find degradation to a large degree, if you research archival digital storage you'll realize there is a shelf life to all of it.

Mostly right - but optical ROM (BD/DVD/CD) media is stamped, not laser etched. Writable optical media is laser-etched. Both of them, however, are subject to errors.

Also, you said "error checking", when "error correcting" is more accurate. The ECC algorithms for modern storage media can silently correct bursts of 10-15 (or more) "bad" bits in a row.

 

[John.B]

Or more likely, the errors are noticed on the power-up when the OS accesses the drive meta-data. Little-used drives spend most of their time in a low-power "spun-down" state, so mechanical failures are unlikely if the drive isn't spinning.

I literally deal with dozens of failed drives a month, and "power-on" failures are virtually non-existent. For any single drive, one would accept a failed sector or two per year. When a drive gets a couple of failed sectors per month - move your data and replace the drive. (I'm assuming that the drive is part of a redundant RAID array, so that your data is still accessible after a failed sector.)

---------

Mostly right - but optical ROM (BD/DVD/CD) media is stamped, not laser etched. Writable optical media is laser-etched. Both of them, however, are subject to errors.

Also, you said "error checking", when "error correcting" is more accurate. The ECC algorithms for modern storage media can silently correct bursts of 10-15 (or more) "bad" bits in a row.

Good points, Aiden.

When I said optical media, I was thinking specifically of writable optical media, but I think all of it is somewhat suspect for the long haul. Still working out for my own personal uses the best methods to long-term archival of data...

Cheers.

 

[[DL]]

Does this run well on an Ultimate 13" Air? (maxed-out configuration)

 

[plymman]

Runs perfectly on an Air. I have a mid 2011, 13" Air with 1.7GHz i5 and 4Gb. I've just been learning the basics, using soft synths and recording real guitar and bass, and the Air has handled it easily, the fans haven't even ramped up yet, no latency, no lag, no clipping.

For all that's been said on this thread, this is a great deal, a great product and I have a slow internet connection so I knew I was in for a long wait but to get a product of this quality for the current price, the download time is a very small price to pay. This was almost an impulse purchase for me, I used to use Cubase SX all the time and have only recently got back into songwriting and production and found Garageband has been excellent but lacked a lot of instruments and some features I was used to. Logic Pro is probably a bit overkill for me and the learning curve a little steep but at the price, there's no way I could refuse. I'm just so pleased I didn't click the buy button on Reason 6 for £350 the other day!

When I was seriously writing a few years back I had a spare room and lots of time. I had stacks of outboard gear, desks, mic's, synths, etc.. Years later I have two small kids, no spare room and am time limited. I LOVE that Logic runs perfectly on a 13" Air, I LOVE that I can plug my guitar straight into the laptop with just a Lindy jack to USB cable and get crystal clear recordings, and I LOVE that I can use the iPad as a controller, midi keyboard etc... I have everything I need to create pro recordings and it all fits in a document wallet and it all costs less than I have previously paid for just one decent hardware effects unit!

I love progress....

 

[John.B]

I LOVE that I can plug my guitar straight into the laptop with just a Lindy jack to USB cable and get crystal clear recordings

What's a "Lindy jack"?

 

[plymman]

It's just a guitar cable with a USB connection at one end, jack at the other. Made by a company called Lindy. I've tried several different cables, cheaper audio I/O etc.. the Lindy cable is the only one I've found that records with no latency, is hum free and gives very clear recordings. It's a cheap and cheerful answer that actually does work.

 

[[DL]]

Runs perfectly on an Air. I have a mid 2011, 13" Air with 1.7GHz i5 and 4Gb. I've just been learning the basics, using soft synths and recording real guitar and bass, and the Air has handled it easily, the fans haven't even ramped up yet, no latency, no lag, no clipping.

Awesome, thanks! Can't wait to buy this; as a GarageBand user with no Jam Packs, my electronic music has been pretty dull. This has a wider selections of beats, synths, and effects, so it'll really help.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

It's just a guitar cable with a USB connection at one end, jack at the other. Made by a company called Lindy. I've tried several different cables, cheaper audio I/O etc.. the Lindy cable is the only one I've found that records with no latency, is hum free and gives very clear recordings. It's a cheap and cheerful answer that actually does work.

I have no issues on my late 2008 2.4GHz MBP (upgraded to 4GB ram and a 500GB 7200 RPM internal sata hard drive) with a PreSonus and guitar and I can use up to 4 inputs at once (I've seen some products that can handle well over a dozen for live recording of large bands or orchestras) . I have a Behringer mic connected to the balanced XLR on Input 1. I connect my Stratocaster to the unbalanced jack on Input 2 and have my Roland workstation digital piano connected on 3/4 (Midi is through a separate box and can use all the Logic instruments for the keyboard and I can even connect a digital drum set to play the drum parts in real time). I record acoustic guitar and vocals through the microphone. Everything is perfectly clean sounding. The total sound quality I'm getting on mix-down is better than most commercial rock albums. I can even mix for true surround sound. It's awesome. It can connect to professional mixing consoles and whatever else I might need in the future. I'm recording everything myself (all instruments/vocals) and it meets my needs perfectly so far.

The only limitations of a slower Mac is that you get less tracks available in real time than the equivalent setup on a faster Mac, but that also includes hard drive speed, not just CPU time. It's also highly dependent on how much processing features you use on a given track and whether it's a synthesized instrument versus a live recording, etc. (all of which can use more CPU power). I did hit the limit one time on a song that had a ton of processing effects going on (probably around 18 tracks), but deleting unused tracks removed the problem (e.g. synthesized midi tracks use CPU time even if they're currently muted). I've had over 25 with less processing and no issues. It doesn't take too much. Start stacking a half dozen guitar pedals per guitar track, room DSP and/or auto-tune add-ons across multiple sets of vocal takes that you're experimenting with for sound effects and CPU time can start rising quickly. Using more acoustic recording lately I didn't even peg one of my two cores across 18 tracks. Temperature sits around 155F at only 2000 RPM fan most of the time.

It'd be a total shame if they let this product go to hell like with (the initial) Final Cut Pro X. I want more/better features, not just a new interface and 1/4 the features I had before.

 

[plymman]

Awesome, thanks! Can't wait to buy this; as a GarageBand user with no Jam Packs, my electronic music has been pretty dull. This has a wider selections of beats, synths, and effects, so it'll really help.

No problem, I hope you enjoy it, it really runs like a dream, I guess the macbook air specs of today would have been a pretty high spec setup a couple of years back when Logic 9 first came out and the SSD really makes a difference, I've never created music on one before but it's fantastic, absolutely smooth even when recording multiple, simultaneous real audio.

 

[Dr McKay]

I'm my Father

Excuse me?

 

[OFFICIALJONNYD]

Usually when a "Pro" app from Apple is in the $200 range, it's clearly intended for amateurs. They need to drop the word "Pro" now.

Super producer redone who basically put lady gaga on the map produced most of her hit songs, and a ton of hits you hear on the radio were made by him with Logic.... Stock logic to be exact...

 

[milo]

Way to get my hopes up for a L10 release by bumping this old thread.

 

[darthraige]

lol. This is a joke right?

OBVIOUSLY! Haha.