Apple Releases Logic 7, New Jam Packs

RadRafe writes "Apple today introduced Logic Pro 7 and Logic Express 7. Logic Pro now features Distributed Audio, a clustering tool (Xgrid-based?) to exploit the DSP power of multiple Macs, and Sculpture, the long-awaited component-modeling synthesizer. Also out today are two new Jam Packs for GarageBand - though they work in Logic too, now that Logic supports Apple Loops."

Comments

"Scale out"

[ARRRLovin]

With "grid-everything" becoming the latest buzz, hardware manufacturers must be salivating every time a new distributed processing program is released.

Re:"Scale out"

[BWJones]

This actually is a *BIG* thing. Built in distributed computing infrastructure that is easy to enable without a ton of scripting and custom coding has been a holy grail of distributed computing for a while. Programs like Pooch from Dean Dauger have helped considerably, but distributed computing built into applications that take advantage of an OS supported computing "grid" are another level entirely. Certainly folks that use film rendering and such can benefit, but so can users of Photoshop, not to mention a whole cadre of folks in scientific computing (like myself) for image analysis and clustering analysis (of images) and molecular simulations, particle based modeling etc...etc...etc...

Kind of like...

[Anonymous Coward]

Is this kind of like Fruity-Loops by FL Studio?

And also...

"It supports audio at 16- and 24-bit resolution and sample rates of up to 192kHz for both audio recording and playback of internal software instruments."

Only 192kHz? I'm not terribly sure that's worth the $999 price tag they're asking.

Re:Kind of like...

[dgatwood]

96kHz makes sense because instead of having an HF filter that starts rolling off within the human hearing range (in order to be near zero by the nyquist point of... say 22.05kHz) you can start filtering way outside the human hearing range and do digital downsampling in a way that avoids aliasing instead, thus preserving the higher audible frequencies more accurately.

192kHz, though... seems a bit... nay, completely out to lunch. Oh, wait. With 192kHz, you should be able to record the (60kHz) WWVB radio signal along with your audio, so you don't need to time stamp your files. I'm sure everybody can appreciate the benefits there.... ;-)

Re:Kind of like...

[rco3]

And, of course, there are the experiments done by (IIRC) Pioneer with a cobbled-up double speed DAT machine in which samples of Harmon-muted trumpet, which has significant harmonic content past 20-30 kHz, were played by for test listeners. EEG's indicated that the brain activity differed between recordings bandlimited to 20 kHz and recordings which contained the higher frequency content. None of the listeners could hear the difference, but they appeared to respond to it nonetheless.

What the underlying cause and effect were, I don't know.

Personally, I'd feel pretty confident that a 24/96 medium, with relatively sharp Nyquist filters, would qualify as being completely transparent compared to the rest of the signal chain. There certainly aren't going to be many mike/preamp combinations exceeding 120 dB s/n!

I suspect that the use of a 192 kHz sample rate allows for both extended bandwidth past the conventionally accepted limits of human hearing, and for shallower, gentler Nyquist filtering. The sampling's certainly cheap enough now, unlike 1983 when most CD players used 14-bit D/A converters!

As a Logic Platinum user

[mcc]

I'm honestly kind of pissed about the bug fixes thing. I bought the top-of-the-line version of Logic when 6 came out. Shortly afterward suddenly they redid the pricing structures so there's no longer a Platinum, just a Pro and an Express. A year later I find that they're issuing updates to Pro 6 that they aren't issuing to Platinum 6, even though on would expect these to be the same product. Meanwhile despite them being introduced not long after Logic 6 I still can't use Cocoa-view AudioUnits, a basic feature which you'd think Apple would support in their own software and a feature which I need. Now that 7 is out I can pretty much be guaranteed that Cocoa-view audiounits are not coming to Platinum 6, no?

Bundling Soft Synths

[Black-Man]

I am a MOTU user myself, but the idea of bundling the soft synth's with the DAW software is intriging.

I can see the value added with the bundling, but you would think customers would want to pick and choose their soft synths. I mean, does everyone want a B3 or a PPG or whatever emulator?

Re:Bundling Soft Synths

[33degrees]

I can see the value added with the bundling, but you would think customers would want to pick and choose their soft synths. I mean, does everyone want a B3 or a PPG or whatever emulator?

That's the way it used to be with emagic, but apple decided to simplify the product line, and now you get everything for the price the software alone used to cost. I personally aplaud them for doing so, as the software is easily worth $999 without the synths, and probably 3 times that with them all, not to mention that they're very high quality.

Re:Very busy user interface

[andrewjhall]

I used to use Logic on Windows (when that was available). It's a grade A nightmare to use. Even the musicians I know struggle with it. It can do nearly everything you could possibly imagine, but it'll make you pay for it every step of the way. I never got very far without my head in the manual, which was a serious blow to my geek credibility (in front of pretty musician I was setting it up for I might add)....

Not really.

[Anonymous Coward]

You can *do* drums in it but it's clumsy and a lot of work. Even though FruityLoops is such a built-for-dummies program, there unfortunately isn't anything for the macintosh that's really comparable to FruityLoops. :(

Re:Very busy user interface

[Anonymous Coward]

considering the basic processes involved in recording and mixing are essentially the same whether you do it using analog equipment or digital, it would be quite silly to reinvent to the wheel. note, however, that this statement does not say anything about the extra editing functionality you get with digital systems - it's about tracking and mixing...

Re:Cubase SX 3

[littlerubberfeet]

I have used Cubase, Nuendo, Protools, Logic and Reason. They all suck as sequencers when compared to Digital Performer. VST on the mac is now pointless, since all the *cool* kids are using Audio Units. Look up the synth packages. MachFive, Kompakt and Intakt are all AU plugs.

Steinberg originally developed for Windows (actually IRIX, but that's a long story), and has not done a good job porting things to the mac.

But if you are comfortable with Cubase, go for it, after all, only the end product matters.

Re:User-unfriendly Logic

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm refering to the 1 year old product, which has been constantly "improved" by Emagic for more than 10 years since its inception.

Re:Very busy user interface

[caseih]

Hmm. Say anything remotely anti-apple and the moderators jump all over you! Wow. That comment is most certainly not a troll.

Thanks for those who talked about how the knob controls work (which, they are right in pointing out, is not immediately intuitive; there is a slight learning curve), rather than just blindly modding down.

/.ness

[mirko]

Loads of comments here.
Mostly trolls or flamebait... a few people who suggest sx3, reason or Live are better...
I am surprised to be the only one asking about:

• when will the update be available ?
  
• is the Gb-ethernet mandatory in order to use the xgrid functionality or will it run but not as quickly ?
  
• were there main engines updates besides the xgrid stuff ?
  
• does the update take mLan further into account or is this supposed to be 100% handled by the system ?
  
• will the update dvd also contain new Apple Loops and EXS24mkII samples ?
  
• If I visit Apple's CHF/FR Logic pages, the specs only appear in English, isn't Logic 7 already localized ?
  

Re:I am impressed.

[TibbonZero]

I like Logic in alot of ways, but I really hope that they have fixed the unholy combination of the G5s, OS X, Logic, and Digidesign (TDM) hardware. From what I have seen this is nothing but crash crash boom! If that indeed does work well, with this new distributed audio, I might have to switch from Protools to Logic. My only other reservation with logic, is that it's still not 100% easy to swap drives with Protools users. I simply love protools for the fact that I can next day (or Digitransfer... which is a overpriced secure FTP box) a hard drive to any studio in the world, and assume that they have a Protools rig that can open it, and I can drag my iLok key with me, and have all my plugins on a CD or USB key, and have all my plugins legally on any system i touch. Not bad. It reminds me of some time ago when I could send a 2" tape theoritically to just about any studio, or a few years ago ADATs anywhere. My next big project is all in Protools and on 2" synced together, and the session is going to be done some at my place, some in LA, and mixed god knows where, and mastered god knows where. It needs to easily be transportable. But if they can get some way to save as a basic protools file from logic, i'd love it!