Logic 9 vs Pro Tools 10

Question

Hello all you social sound designers out there.

Another question from me:

I have £200 to spend on a new DAW.

Logic 9 as an app is available for £140 from the app store, whilst Pro Tools 10 is just under £200 from an online education discount store.

I want to use whatever DAW i get for sound design for the moving image mainly, but also for music composition & music Mixing.

I am already used to Logic Pro 9 as I used logic since version 7. The thing is, I would kind of like to experiment with a new DAW, but am not sure if Pro Tools is worth the investment in time and money.

Are any of you users of both DAWs and have any of you experienced moving from Logic to Pro Tools in the past? what are your suggestions? thanks in advance...

Answer 1

First question to ask is do you already have a DAW. If it is Logic 8, then you might not need Logic 9 if you can get something else. IMHO its not that big a difference.

I have been using both Logic and Pro Tools for quite some time now and they are really two different pieces of software to me. For music composition, it is hands down Logic for me. MIDI is better(Pro Tools is catching up on this), freeze tracks is crucial for big compositions, performance is slightly better with virtual instruments, and multi-timbral instruments like Kontakt makes so much more sense in Logic than Pro Tools. Bouncing multiple tracks for a mixdown is a dream in Logic but a nightmare in Pro Tools. Real time bounce in Pro Tools just doesn't help with bouncing all your MIDI tracks to audio.

Pro Tools on the other hand is king in audio editing and processing. Having multiple Audiosuites open are great for sound design, audio editing is easier to do precise edits, hotkeys are amazing(crucial for being a serious sound editor), OMF import and syncing to video is simpler. Basically, its a powerhouse for post-production. The plugins that come with Pro Tools isn't as comprehensive as Logic especially when it comes to instruments but the audio processing stuff are good. You will need to supplement it with some third party plugins eventually like a convolution reverb, doppler, etc. But only if you need them. Logic too doesn't come with everything.

If you already have Logic 8, just go ahead and get Pro Tools 10. With the education discount and 4 years of upgrades, its the best version of Pro Tools ever. The iLok will be justified once you start getting into buying more plugins as the big names like SoundToys, SPL, EastWest, etc also use it. Having an iLok isn't that bad when compared to the days of carrying an MBox around.

If you are just looking around for another DAW, do take a look at Reaper. I like it for working with MIDI, it comes with an amazing set of plugins and it really cheap. It better suited to music composition and music mixing rather than post production sound. But I like it because it is extremely lightweight but extremely flexible.

Answer 2

If you're familiar with logic. I say stay with Logic. I use Pro Tools 8 currently mostly for music and editing audiobooks. I have done some film editing as well. However, I had to purchase something in order for it to read OMF files. As I understand it, Logic already has this feature as default. All DAWs perform the same function with variations on how they achieve the same result. As a Non-logic user... I highly recommend Logic.

Answer 3

I would agree that both systems have their own unique benefits and downsides. Stick with what you are comfortable with. Personally, I've used both logic and protools for about 4 - 5 years. For mixing, editing and other general sound design tasks, I feel pro tools is better but in terms of musical composition, midi editing and sequencing, logic is the winner.

It's also worth saying that I recently upgraded to Pro Tools 10 using an educational discount for £199 including postage and an iLok key along with 4 years free upgrades.

Answer 4

I've been a Logic 8 user since it came out and recently switched to Pro Tools 10.

I rarely use it for music production but rather for post stuff. For music production Logic is just fine and maybe a bit more comfortable than Pro Tools is.

But as soon as you want to do some kind of post stuff: get Pro Tools.

Even though I'm still a novice when it comes to PT my editing has become way faster and it's way more comfortable than Logic.

For example: Logic can import OMFs in theorie, but most of the time it just won't work. PT on the other hand imports every OMF I tried so far. Another example: Logic let's you choose the type of crossfade...in theorie :) In reality it either crashes or doesn't change the fadetype.

So to sum it up: Logic does offer a lot for the price and is a good start. But sooner or later you'l have to invest in a second DAW. If you still have a usuable version of Logic you should use that version and invest in another DAW...for example PT :)

Answer 5

Yet another way to categorise them: Are you going to work with recorded or generated sounds. Are you going to be editing waveforms or editing MIDI?

Pro Tools is the industry standard for sound to picture, in the traditional sense of "tracks and stems of categories of elements". The only other name in the field is Nuendo (a steep cost of entry). PT is also well suited to working with recorded material in terms of wave files so when it comes to tracking rock bands, it's been there for ages too. But for producing MIDI-based music, Logic has the upper hand between the two (Avid have Sibelius on that front) with a massive collection of samples and incredible software synths. And Logic's individual waveform editing/management is dismal.

Most of us, I think, we end up with two DAWs (or more). I have Logic for music and Pro Tools for anything to do with sound editing. Then again, for more designed sounds, I reach for Logic again. And for serious work to picture, Pro Tools it is. I have a love&hate relationship with both DAWs, and unfortunately no change is in sight. On the positive side, Pro Tools is a lot less up its own arse than it used to be. On the negative, Logic seems to be losing touch with the idea of being a stable and (above all and excuse the pun) "logical" app, so there's a certain anticipation towards Logic X.

Finally, Komplete. I've done a lot of work with Komplete 4, which I then upgraded to 6, purely because of NI's upgrade drive/campaign. 7 can last you until you use it to earn for 8 or who knows, 9. Same with Logic vs Pro Tools. Spend wisely. Oh, finally, some clients wait to hear "I use Pro Tools" come out of your mouth before they give you work.

Answer 6

I started using logic 6 years ago and loved it as a musician. I've upgrade it to version 8. Recently I need to do some film work and needed to buy protools 10. It took me a while to get my head around it but I found both to be very useful and If I have both I am more employable.

Logic is great for composing and and has ooddles of loops and midi instruments out of the box.

Pro-tools has some great key functions like the three in one tool option. I like being able to adjust ciip gain for each clip or sub clip.

The reverb for Pro- tools is not as nice as that in Logic Logic has better Mastering software and plug ins

Both are great and I'm glad I own both