Best DAW out there?

Apple's Logic Studio 9 is one of the better DAWs out there, based on experience with Pro Tools (also excellent) and Cubase (also excellent), and limited experience with Sonar and Studio One. First off, it runs on Apple Macs (I've run it on iMac and MBP) instead of perpetually problematic PC's. This DAW lives up to the advertising. Apart from sonic quality and the feature set, it seems to be the easiest learning curve to climb - - and this is the big plus (I've done the cumbersome thing and my time is too precious). During the last 18 months our band (original pop rock) has used Logic Studio 9 to record 16 songs to 95% completion (I don't know if there is such a thing as 100% complete) and four more are underway. We are happy with the process and the results. Recording is always a lot of work so it counts when the DAW gets in the way as little as possible. I do not doubt that a power user on Pro Tools would blow us away, but we're musicians/songwriters faking it as studio engineers. It would be well worth an investment of time comparing the various DAW's. If you find a bug-free DAW for PC it'll spare you the premium you'll pay to go Apple Mac. That said, we originally went that route and the outcome was way suboptimal so we ended up going Apple after having endured the expense of the PC attempt. I wish we had done a lot more homework - - it would have saved us eight months of time (precious) and considerable wasted cost. Check them all out thoroughly before you buy.

Logic Studio 9

I've been using Logic studio for almost a year now and I love it. Very easy to use, I learned how to use most of the important features within the first two weeks of having it. The flex editing works great. Space designer is a fantastic reverb. I was actually kind of skeptical about the Amp and pedal modeling mainly because of the really cheesy names the virtual pedals have but they actually all sound pretty nice. The way your able to choose what type of mic to use on the amp cabinet and exactly where on the speaker you want to put it is really neat!! The basic plugins it comes with compressor, EQ, Gate, Limiter etc... are a great place to start although eventually I plan to replace them with Waves plugins.

I Have Never Tried PT but I don't think I would ever have any reason to switch.

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.

Bottom line: Get Logic!! You won't regret it!!

Only buy from Sweetwater

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. Everything is just.... logical..... BOO bad joke. 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. Thanks Sweetwater.

Apple Logic Studio 9

I also have use Apple's Logic program since Logic 7. The program is very straight forward and very easy to use. Why people use Protools I will never understand. The overall functionality of Logic along with all the other programs in the suite make it the best studio program available.

Just keeps getting better

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.

Throw in Waveburner, Soundtrack Pro and Mainstage and you have a complete high end package. Nothing is second rate.

Basically, I like it, AALLLOTTT!!

Apple steps it up big time

I've been using Logic Pro 9 since shortly after its release. To me the Flex Editing feature alone was worth the upgrade price. Flex Editing is Apple's take on elastic audio. True to Apple form they implement this feature with grace and simplicity. It's saved me hours of editing and the results sound and "feel" great.

Amp and Pedalboard Designer is a great addition to Logic's already comprehensive suite of plug-ins. I really enjoy using Logic's pre-defined channel strips as starting points when writing, and this is where I've found Amp Designer to be indispensable. Calling up instant tones is saving me tons of time and keeps the inspiration alive.

Logic 9 just works. No troubles on my iMac Core 2 Duo. Works perfectly with my current interface and MIDI keyboard. CPU load is minimal, even with tons of plugins going. And at the end of the day, Logic sounds great. My mixes are coming together nicely, and when people hear the songs I'm working on they comment on how professional they sound.

Just keeps getting better!

I have been a Logic user since long before it was an Apple product and have to say that this latest version is by far the best yet! Avid/Digidesign keeps giving me more and more reasons to consider ProTools but the bottom line is why switch when I already have everything I already need right here in Logic? I primarily use this for audio recording and it does an awesome job of that but this latest version gave me some great guitar amp and cabinet models as well as some great instruments (like the EVB3 Hammond Organ). I like the amp/cab models so much I sold all of my other amp/cab gear that I was using for recording and use strictly Logic for all of this now. Additionally I like the EVB3 so much that I quit hauling all of my gear to my old church that had a Hammond C3/Leslie 21H and just resided to using the EVB3 instead. OK, it isn't quite a real Hammond but it is so dang close that the hassle of utilizing the real thing just wasn't worth it any longer. The only thing I would like to see better of is reverb plug-ins. Maybe I am a reverb snob but I think Apple could do better with the plug-ins and default presets. Don't get me wrong, they are great but not in line with the greatness of the rest of the suite. Just my $0.02. enjoy!

Logic Studio 9

The most important issue with producing a great digital record is one's expertise with any given software. I started out with Sonar, after a couple years I switched to PT. After too many years of dongle hell, a trusted friend informed me that I didn't even need a dongle if I choose to use Logic's native production tools. So I bought a new MacBookPro and Logic Studio -- super time saver with zero loss of sonic integrity -- it's two years later and I've upgraded to Logic Studio 9. Cripe, I might even crack the manual open some day.