Should I stay with Logic? (buying new computer)

[Jac459]

A little perk I see on using macOS is for some Moog stuffs being only available on Mac... But that being said they are not very great

Are you referring to the Model 15 and Model D in the App Store? It's the first time I've heard someone say these things are bad…

Yes and Animoog.

But let me correct that: not very great for my own taste. It is really dependant of your own preference. I think the emulations are ok even if I prefer for example the legend by synapse audio. But animoog really... I fail to see the interest. It is extremely limited.

[Jac459]

I think macOS vs Windows 11 is a debate for OS passionate... not music passionate...

I wouldn't say that. There are definitely reasons for the one or the other which will affect what you do with your machine on a daily base. ESPECIALLY when it comes to audio software.

Just a little example: The Waldorf Largo 2 GUI sucks ass big time. So, I'm happy I can still use version 1 on Windows. I wouldn't be able to do so with Mac OS, as version 1 isn't M1 native.

There are dozens of such examples, and a lot of older audio plugins which you won't be able to run on... that other platform.

But v1 works in Rosetta?
I used reason studio in Rosetta for 1+ year and I never had any issue including performance issue.

If your plugins run very well with a virtualisation layer, why should you care as a musician?

Again it is only for geeks and OS passionates...
It just works.

And I could talk about Rob Papen not working in 4k in windows.... But I won't go there because both platforms have stuffs not working or dedicated to them.

But it is so marginal... 100% of my core plugins works on both platforms. 99.99% of my "nice to have" works too.

[syntonica]

Don't worry about the cost of the machine. I have a 2014 MBP refurb
I bought back then and still use ias a daily driver. I paid $900 at the time, so it's cost me $90/per annum overall, and is still going strong.

I did finally get a new M1 MBA refurb last year to use as my music specific computer. It's fast enough to handle any plugin I throw at it, and if not, I can just go back to freezing tracks, although that will now probably rarely happen.

The reason that I stick with Mac is because of CoreAudio baked in, no messing with ASIO or other drivers. Also, when I look at PC laptops, they are always of such poor quality and specs for the price that I'd have to upgrade every couple of years. I'm just not into desktops.

If you're a gamer, though, then a PC desktop it will probably be for you. It will remain upgradable for some time. For design, Mac or PC is fine. It's all the same software.

Oops! Forgot to answer the main question. No. Logic sucks from the very second Apple took it over.

[fedexnman]

Do what you like , both Windows and Mac have there pros and cons . Unfortunately I use Windows because OSX and Linux didn't do it for me . I had been tempted to get a MacMini but not being able to user upgrade the ram and SSD was a deal breaker for me . Linux doesn't have all the software I want to use and wines a b-word . So Microsoft it is.

[Monsieur_FyP]

Logic sucks from the very second Apple took it over.

As we say in French : « Tout ce qui est exagéré est insignifiant » (Anything exaggerated is trivial)...

[syntonica]

Logic sucks from the very second Apple took it over.

As we say in French : « Tout ce qui est exagéré est insignifiant » (Anything exaggerated is trivial)...

Why do you believe I'm exaggerating? Logic 7's only feature of value was getting rid of the USB key. Everything beyond that was just awful.*

*This is indeed my not so humble opinion and you are free to disagree.

[Monsieur_FyP]

you are free to disagree.

I disagree. « awful » is meaningless. Btw, Logic Pro 7 is prehistory, and I don't see how this could influence the choice of a DAW in 2024...
Logic has its faults (what doesn't), but its value for money is exceptional, and its latest version offers some really interesting features...
Unless you absolutely want cross-platform software (which is conceivable), Logic is a good choice, one made by many people...

[pdxindy]

I disagree. « awful » is meaningless. Btw, Logic Pro 7 is prehistory, and I don't see how this could influence the choice of a DAW in 2024...
Logic has its faults (what doesn't), but its value for money is exceptional, and its latest version offers some really interesting features...
Unless you absolutely want cross-platform software (which is conceivable), Logic is a good choice, one made by many people...

The current Logic has some fantastic features! The development team has been doing great work the past few years.

[syntonica]

The current Logic has some fantastic features! The development team has been doing great work the past few years.

While I agree with this, the UI is still awful. Big lickable candy-colored oversized blocks of annoyance. 7 was not usable on my 1024x768 iBook. Also, the UI is clever just to be clever. It leaves it completely unintuitive and unusable to me. Having to read the manual to find out one simple action that would be a click and drag on any other DAW was beyond annoying.

While I'm glad of the new features and GUIs, please please please do something about the micro-mini VI GUIs that are still there, clashing against your oversized main GUI. THANKS, Apple!

I got Logic X to be able to open up old projects on new machines. All the stems were only rendered and I only risked having to replace a couple of older effects that never made it out of PPC-land. One of the very good positives about Logic--how it handles backwards compatibility with the old stuff.

[pdxindy]

The current Logic has some fantastic features! The development team has been doing great work the past few years.

While I agree with this, the UI is still awful. Big lickable candy-colored oversized blocks of annoyance.

Yeah, if you don't like the UI, then so it is.

I find the UI clear and easy to use. I have no problem with it and some of the recent stuff like the Step Sequencer and Quick/Sampler I think the UI's are great.

[alonl6]

Thanks for the opinions. At the end I went with 2tb max out Mac mini m2 pro

[Amon1973]

The Waldorf Largo 2 GUI sucks ass big time. So, I'm happy I can still use version 1 on Windows. I wouldn't be able to do so with Mac OS, as version 1 isn't M1 native.

I have Largo 1.8.0 VST3 running native - not sure in which version they added AS support, but I'm running it natively since way before the Largo 2 release.

[chk071]

You're right. This is from the version 1.8.0 changelog:

Changes in Version 1.8.0

- Native Apple Silicon support
- MacOS Ventura and Windows 11 supported
- Bugfixes

Still have version 1.7.4 in mind.

Well, one reason less to bother with that bad v2 GUI.

[skijumptoes]

The main feature I appreciate in Logic compared to other DAWs is the drummer functionality; it's truly killer.

EZDrummer is one of the few comparisons to what Logic's drummer does. And it is much better in regards to depth, trouble is it comes at a price as it needs a decent amount of MIDI packs. Luckily you can download third party ones for free and it uses those libraries to build on and match any bass/melodic parts you through at it as a reference.

Paired with EZBass it's a killer combination if you're a guitarist/singer/songwriter, and can be used across any DAW of course.

It's not quite as instantaneous as Logic Drummer though.

In regards to Mac vs Win, I do much prefer to work on Mac, I find coreaudio to be much better, plus i've been really enjoying using UAD's Luna for mixing projects, which is Mac only. My main issue with Windows machines are the power requirements, and they're just nowhere near as efficient in regards to sleeping and picking up where you left off as a Mac is.

Plus being able to swap DPI on the fly on MacOS is just so much better than Windows. If i'm on a larger project i'll change it on Mac to give me more/less space as required and I don't need to quit apps - it just works straight away. I've had no end of issues with Windows and plugin/app scaling - it seems a mess by comparison, was fine before I had 4k screen though.

Beyond that, I don't find there's much difference when it comes to using either - the apps/plugins are all identical in use, and latency/performance I find to be similar too.

[revvy]

The Waldorf Largo 2 GUI sucks ass big time. So, I'm happy I can still use version 1 on Windows. I wouldn't be able to do so with Mac OS, as version 1 isn't M1 native.

I have Largo 1.8.0 VST3 running native - not sure in which version they added AS support, but I'm running it natively since way before the Largo 2 release.

That’s important information.

Good job OP stayed with macOS, my previous advice of ‘jump ship’ is no longer valid.