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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Dec 1, 2014 5:19:17 GMT -7
I'm a long time Windows/Reaper user but my old workhorse Dell has gone to the glue factory. I've done some research and I think I want to move to Logic Pro X. Not being much of a "Mac guy" and worse yet, being an about-to-be Mac guy with a pretty severely constrained budget, I'm trying to determine what the lowest cost entry point would be into this platform.
I was really disappointed when Apple released the latest Mac Minis because it appears that they've crippled the platform a bit as compared to the last generation.
So - Mac people - of the existing Mac lineup which would be the absolute cheapest machine I should consider for a modest hobbyist home setup? We're talking projects typically under 24-30 tracks AT MOST, recording one to two tracks at a time (usually) and more than likely relying only on the plugins that come included with Logic? I'd consider either a desktop or a laptop with an external monitor.
Blinding performance is not a requirement, but I also don't want to run out of horsepower for the projects I record.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2014 8:57:53 GMT -7
The iMac is mighty good for recording. You'd want to spring for a little extra RAM. You can get that from Crucial.com and instal it yourself. I find it very hard to do audio on a laptop screen. You really need some real estate to see the program and the plugins.
I know guys who use the Mac mini also to a good result.
I'm not a Logic user but I do have the program. It comes with a lot of stuff. Lots of loops, sample sounds, plugins including tons of keyboard and guitar stuff.
Do you already have an interface? External HD?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2014 9:29:24 GMT -7
I run Logic Pro X on a Mac Mini that is about 3 years old. I did upgrade the RAM to 8GB, though. I can't really vouch for 24-30 tracks, though. Most of my stuff ends up being around 10-12 tracks (1 track of Drummer (which is an awesome feature in Logic), 1-2 tracks of bass, maybe 1 keys track, and then however many guitars get recorded). I certainly don't have any issues with the computer's performance.
The plugins work fine - if you know what you're doing. (and, I don't really) The user interface on the built in plugs leaves a bit to be desired at times.
What interface are you looking at? Changing to a Mac gets you in the doors to use Apogee or Universal Audio stuff.
+1 to Roscoe's rec for a big monitor - I'm thinking of upgrading mine to a 27".
-Adam
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Post by aslerjack on Dec 2, 2014 15:33:45 GMT -7
Have an add on question to the OP's post. I am considering the mac mini or the 21" iMac myself. Is it worth it to upgrade to the Fusion drive, I'd like to do the ssd drive but that can really raise the price? The fusion drive is supposed to be a combination of a 128gb ssd and 1tb hard drive. Quick note on the memory upgrade for the 21" iMac's, you need to get the upgrade at the time of purchase, it's built into the motherboard. I checked it on the crucial website also. You can get the memory from crucial for the 27' iMac.
Right now, I have a 2014 15' maxed out macbook pro that i use, I also have an ASUS usb monitor to give me two displays on my laptop.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2014 16:41:01 GMT -7
You'll be recording to an external drive so I'd go w the standard and get as much RAM as you can afford.
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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Dec 3, 2014 5:16:06 GMT -7
The iMac is mighty good for recording. You'd want to spring for a little extra RAM. You can get that from Crucial.com and instal it yourself. I find it very hard to do audio on a laptop screen. You really need some real estate to see the program and the plugins. I know guys who use the Mac mini also to a good result. I'm not a Logic user but I do have the program. It comes with a lot of stuff. Lots of loops, sample sounds, plugins including tons of keyboard and guitar stuff. Do you already have an interface? External HD? Sounds like the Mac Mini might be the way to go if I can find one of the older quad cores, but I'd be curious to know if anyone is using one of the newer ones and what kind of performance they're getting with it. My interface - a Line 6 Tone Port - is aging but it would probably suffice to get me started. I do have an external hard drive but it's also an older USB 2.0 drive, which would also probably work well enough to start with. I work by myself a lot so the Drummer feature in Logic is intriguing to me. I'm also considering a used Mac Mini but buying a used computer scares me a bit. I'd want to know who I was buying it from.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 10:54:18 GMT -7
I have a MacBook Pro with 16gb ram, a solid state 3.0 usb hard drive and Logic Pro x. It works great but ran about $1,800 after all was said and done. I don't think I'd go for anything less. I wouldn't think of running 24 tracks with plugins with anything less than what I got. Logic is great but you really need a computer that can keep up or you'll end up with a headache every other minute.
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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Jan 4, 2015 8:15:59 GMT -7
Update: scored a quad core Mac Mini/8Gb from the Apple Refurb store last night at 1:30am . Pretty slammin' deal too. Really looking forward to having a recording rig again. I'll be piecing it together as I go. Logic is a definite. Hoping I can limp along with my Line 6 Toneport interface and my old USB 2.0 external drive for a while until I can upgrade. All these toys = $$$$.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2015 7:27:47 GMT -7
Nice! I can't speak from experience, but it looks like they still have Mac OSX drivers on their site, so it should work.
If you don't want to spend the $200 for Logic immediately, you might start with Garageband, which is free. It has a lot of the same features and a similar GUI to Logic, so when you do decide to upgrade, you'll have a bit less steep of a learning curve.
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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Jan 5, 2015 8:59:32 GMT -7
Nice! I can't speak from experience, but it looks like they still have Mac OSX drivers on their site, so it should work. If you don't want to spend the $200 for Logic immediately, you might start with Garageband, which is free. It has a lot of the same features and a similar GUI to Logic, so when you do decide to upgrade, you'll have a bit less steep of a learning curve. Hey, thanks for checking those drivers! Much appreciated. I may mess with GB a bit - it sure can't hurt and as you point out it may help me ease into the look and feel of Logic. I'm also considering running Reaper for a while until I get Logic because I have a fair amount of experience with it - although I hear the OSX version's GUI isn't all that snappy. Or maybe I'll just get Logic and dive in ;-)
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Post by Hohn on Jan 5, 2015 9:08:09 GMT -7
You'll be recording to an external drive so I'd go w the standard and get as much RAM as you can afford. I'd go with the cheapest SSD just for reliability and run an external Thunderbolt array for the music.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2015 9:12:06 GMT -7
I may mess with GB a bit - it sure can't hurt and as you point out it may help me ease into the look and feel of Logic. I'm also considering running Reaper for a while until I get Logic because I have a fair amount of experience with it - although I hear the OSX version's GUI isn't all that snappy. Or maybe I'll just get Logic and dive in ;-) I've found Garageband to be so "easy" it's hard to figure out. You may want to dive right into Logic rather than try to learn 2 different (yet related) systems. I'm alway recommending the "Ignite" series of instructional books
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2015 11:30:33 GMT -7
The "help" feature in Logic is pretty solid. If you have a clue as to what you're trying to accomplish, typing in a few keywords of that tends to get you to the right place.
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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Jan 10, 2015 7:10:05 GMT -7
Well, I took the plunge and snagged Logic. From what I've seen so far I'm very, very impressed. For my purposes and for what I plan to do with it, it looks like it's going to be a very powerful and useful platform.
It has been an interesting week. I'm new to Mac and OSX but so far I've had no trouble finding my way around it (disclaimer - I work in IT). I will say this - and I don't really have a dog in the fight (man, I hate that expression) because other than iOS I've been a Windows user forever: I'm beginning to see now why Mac lovers love Macs. It really does seem like a more elegant and seamless integration of hardware and operating system, at least for the average user.
Logic seems fairly intuitive from what little scratching around I've done, and for the level of recording I plan to be doing. Drummer is pretty cool and I can't wait to put it to use.
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Post by Righty on Jan 10, 2015 10:33:39 GMT -7
Buzz, we've got a lot in common as far as this subject goes. I slowly dipped into the apple world. I'm a former IT guy. Last year I picked up a 15" MacBook Pro specifically to use as a recording platform running Logic Pro X. I started from scratch and have come a long way in a short time. Never thought I'd be a Mac guy and I have nothing at all against Windows and I hate the whole Mac vs. PC thing. I tend to gravitate towards what works for me and the OS X / Logic works well for what I need. I also found out pretty quickly why folks like the Mac. I never really understood the appeal before.
I have a long way to go to be proficient with Logic but it's been a great experience.
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