Live & Logic

[damagedgoods]

I do quite like live, and quite like the demo of FM8, however FM8 costs £160, and part of me thinks Ill be getting much better value if I go with logic?

Is there a Logic demo and does it include all the bundled synths etc? That's the most obvious starting point. To be fair, £120 sounds like a pretty sweet deal - but does that include all the instruments etc? Or is it a limited/LE type thing?

If you're into the NI stuff then consider saving up and getting Komplete - you get FM8, Absynth, Massive, Battery, Reaktor, Kontakt and Guitar Rig for something like £400 normal retail, plus the Kontakt and Battery sample libraries which are about 60 GB. With a student discount I'm assuming it'll be a lot cheaper too.

It's been a while since I've used Logic but I do remember liking some of the synths a lot, particularly the more limited ones actually... a couple are quite narrow in scope but fast and easy to get a nice sound out of - fewer parameters, more of a signature sound etc. I assume there must be some "flagship" synths with all the bells and whistles too but I really can't remember.

You can get some really nice sounds out of Ableton Suite but it takes a little bit more work to avoid sounding like Monolake (not that there's anything wrong with that, obviously). Again, I think this is more down to workflow and interface than actual features and capabilities.

[andy663]

No the £120 covers the lot. From what Ive seen there are some synths with few parameters but there is also a couple with many parameters. Ive looked for student discount on the Komplete but there is none, and as a student I really cannot afford £400 lol.

I have also heard that the reverb and delay designers in logic are fantastic, but its a bit annoying that there isn't even a demo version, for software that to a standard buyer would cost the best part of £400.

Part of me thinks if I buy logic, Ill get all of the synths, effects, reverb, drum synth, which, if in the worst case scenario, i prefer working in live, I can still use, and just route to live.

The only thing making me hesitate is the quality of the main logic synth, in comparison to the likes of Zebra, Fabfilter Twin2 and NI. It would be if someone could comment on this, or point me in the right direction of an interview for logics flagship synth.

Thanks alot for the opinions guys.

[oblioblioblio]

trying demos is best bet. most reviews aren't really that helpful. (oh, just saw tat it's not possible w/ logic)

the quality of the logic synths is probably comparable to zebra etc. but you definitely won't get the versatility of zebra. Plus zebra/fabfilter have really nice workflow (for me at least) that helps me get the results I want quite natrually.

zebra also comes with zebrify, which is super cool.

if you check on kvraudio.com marketplace you might find someone selling their license for a recent fabfilter promotion deal which includes twin2, their delay and their filter. probably you'd pay $140 for these.

I would probably get third party plugins rather than a whole extra daw.

[Salomo]

Definately go for logic with such a bargain. Once you understand Logic's "logic" you'll be hooked, it is really nice. The onboard synths and effects etc are mindblowing, some of them a tough nut to crack like Sculpture the modelling synth. All worth it though, get your mind around it and you can do anything.

ES2 is also nice, aswell as ES1 and I use Ultrabeat occasionally, which also has drag/drop samples mode so you can instantly use the samples in the Ultrabeat synchroniser. Logic automatically chains itsself to Live, ideal.

Also the content and jampacks you get with Logic are really nice, some great things in it. For that money you can't go wrong, definately more value for the $ than any of the virtual synths you mentioned.

[andy663]

Some fairly mixed opinions. Thanks for all the input. I think Im going to play with the zebra and fabfilter demo's a little longer and then make a decision.

Thanks again.

[tone-def]

i like making tracks with more than 1 DAW. people say DAW's are all the same but it's not true, you can do things in logic you can't in live and you can do things in live you can't with logic. it gives you much more options. i started with Reason and when i got Logic i got really inspired by all the things i couldn't do in Reason. the same thing has happened recently when i got Pro Tools.

[clubfoot]

LOGIC - get this one man.

I just can't leave this alone. I use PC version 5 from years back and it's great. With the latest version you've got even more synths and fx. What I like about it is the lack of gimmicks. And the abundance of simple usable synths. Later you will collect more synths and freeware and stuff to use within Logic.

The word workflow is mentioned above. But I don't feel any sense of a workflow in Logic. It's just a place to make music. And much less of a toy than ableton. Oh yes, and much better than that piece of sh!t midi editor in ableton too - god I hate that thing.

[maximini]

£160 Massive
£160 FM8
£160 Absynth

maybe i am jumping late in this thread but why dont you buy NI komplete?
thats indeed some value for money, as you get those 3 plus Battery, Kontakt and Reaktor plus a huge library -> meaning you will be completly covered with sounds and tools for a while
it's about 500€ i think.
i would not recommend buying another DAW if you own already Live8 and are comfortable with it.
cheers