Now that Logic for OS X is shipping we are starting to see more and more questions about its operation, mostly from users who are considering switching. Here are a few of the most common questions and their answers, courtesy of the Sweetwater Technical Support staff.
How is MIDI handled since there is no more OMS?
Access to MIDI hardware is handled using the only OS X standard known as “Core Midi“. This means that there is no further need for OMS, MidiManager and MidiShare. There is a Core Midi Unitor family driver for Unitor8 MkII, AMT8 and MT4 that uses the USB connection. Additional Core Midi drivers are already available from other manufacturers such as M-Audio (Midiman), Edirol, MOTU, and Evolution.
How is Audio handled without ASIO?
Access to audio hardware is handled using the only OS X standard known as “Core Audio“. This means that there is no further need for driver protocols such as ASIO and EASI. There are currently Core Audio drivers for the built-in Apple audio hardware and the EMI 2|6, plus more Core Audio drivers are available from other audio hardware manufacturers such as MOTU, M-Audio, Edirol and RME.
How does it handle 3rd party plug-ins like VST?
Access to 3rd party DSP plug-ins will be handled using the only OS X standard known as “AudioUnits“. This development will be available soon as a free Logic subrelease is available.
Is there DAE support?
DAE support is currently unavailable. This is planned, but the development must be carried out in cooperation with Digidesign. We expect Digidesign will issue a statement regarding its completion in the near future.
What about OMF, Rewire, and REX file support?
Rewire support, OMF Import/Export, OpenTL, REX File Import/Export are currently unavailable. The inclusion of these features is planned but depends partly on external developments.
Can I import my key commands and preference files from OS 9 into OS X in Logic 5.4?
You can import your key commands from the preferences file of Logic OS 9 in the usual way. Just find the key commands menu under preferences. Choose options and then Import Key Commands. From there navigate to the OS 9 preferences file in your old OS 9 System Folder and choose Logic 5 Preferences.
Operation
Upon launching, just as normal – it searches through its driver base and sets up Core Audio and MIDI functions. Once it opens it looks almost identical to the 9.x version except for a few minor changes…
Change 1 – The “Settings” menu that used to be kept within the OPTIONS header, has been split into 2 separate menus, now called Preferences, which has now moved to the LOGIC PLATNIUM header, and Song Settings, which has moved to the FILE menu.
Change 2 – Within the “Audio Driver” tab of the new “Preferences” menu, there are only 2 drivers listed now… CORE AUDIO and VS – so you must install your CORE drivers for your audio device before launching LOGIC
Change 3 – Loading an Audio instrument has now been moved to the I/O section of the track instead of the INSERT section to accommodate the new MULTI-OUTPUT function of certain Virtual Instruments
Stability
At this point it seems more stable than previous versions. The System Performance meter seems to reflect about the same usage of Disk/Audio information. The Display and overall speed of the program seems a little sluggish on some systems. The screen redraws are bit slower and the screen sets change take up to two seconds. Everything else is pretty much as before.