Apple has finally released Logic Pro X. Rumors of its demise were not true. So what has changed?
First, there is no “upgrade price”. It’s $199 for this version of Logic regardless if you had the previous version or not. Now, even though it’s was just announced this morning, I have already read several blog posts (because everyone on the internet is an expert) complaining about this. I’d refer them to ProTools 11. New, it is $699, and the “upgrade price” is $599. SUCH A DEAL……not. $199 is reasonable for new version that has lots of new features.
Second, it’s fully 64bit. Logic 9 was 64bit, and that was released several years ago (3 or 4 I think?). It also requires the latest Mac OS X (10.8.4) and 4 gigs of ram. I don’t find these big deals at all. In the ProTools world, going to ProTools 11 is a huge deal as it breaks RTAS plugins. So in ProTools 11, ALL YOUR PLUGINS NEED TO BE UPDATED. In Logic X most all plugins have been updated to be 64bit. Logic drops support for 32bit plugins.
Third, Flex Pitch. That seems to be something that is now standard on all DAWs. Pseudo Melodyne like pitch editing. Something Digital Performer has had for years (I think it was first in version 6 or maybe 5….which ran on OS 9). It is a great tool to maybe fix a few little glitches in a recording, or even use it to do harmony parts.
Fourth, iPad Remote. Sadly, I can’t use the iPad remote because I still have an iPad 1 (original iPad) which can’t get iOS 6 or above. But the benefits of having it would be huge. So you can redesign your home studio (or studio), and not really be tethered to where the computer and recording hardware are. How cool is that?
There are also a lot of other interesting things, like a intelligent drummer thing that supposedly can groove to a tune you make. And more synths and guitar pedal/effects. Not really interested too much in those. I guess the mixer might have changed a little, it looks more ProTools like to me now.
In all, if you want to record, and have a Mac, get Logic. Period. I moved away from ProTools a few years ago, and I haven’t missed it at all. $199. Go. Download. Enjoy.
Oh, I found this little command line thing to figure out what plugins are 32bit or 64bit.
Here is the command to see the 64 bit plugins
/usr/bin/file /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/*/Contents/MacOS/* ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/*/Contents/MacOS/* | grep “bundle x86_64”
Here is the command to see 32bit ones
/usr/bin/file /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/*/Contents/MacOS/* ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/*/Contents/MacOS/* | grep “bundle i386”
And if you want to see REALLY OLD ONES
/usr/bin/file /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/*/Contents/MacOS/* ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/*/Contents/MacOS/* | grep “bundle ppc”
All the plugins I have are 64bit. Probably cause Logic started supporting 64bit like 4 years ago.