Logic Pro 7 vs. Ableton Live 5

FastraxEnt · Post by **FastraxEnt** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:38 pm

I currently use Logic Pro 7 for creating my music (midi / soft synth arrangement). Then I usually record vocals and Master in Pro Tools M-Powered 7. Well I just ordered Project Mix I/0 Bundle and it comes with Live 5... so I'm thinking I may just switch from Logic Pro to Ableton... I do production for pop/rnb artists. Do u think this would be a good switch. The thing that caught my attention is AU & VST. Logic is only AU. And I do understand Logic is much more advanced then Ableton, but I'm not using those features in Logic... What is your guys take on this decision???

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:57 pm

Live is more of a philosophical choice rather than a nuts-n-bolts feature-to-feature decision. True that you can use AU and VST, but also true that Logic has a lot more features. Then again, you hit the nail on the head - who cares about a bunch of features you don't need or use?

Getting back to philisophy, the biggest difference with Live is that you are making music in a non-linear manner. With Live, it's no longer about the sequential arrangement window that all sequencers use...its the paradigm of clips and scenes. It might take a while to get used to, but you'll find that you are a lot more creative and do a lot more experimentation in Live. Ultimately, that's what makes great new music.

From most of us in this forum, the answer will likely be, "Good decision!"

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:09 pm

hi fastraxent,

i am a logic / mac diehard user since version 4.6...
and i use and love ableton, too.

but those apps are a different ballgame alltogether... and they serve different purposes, even there is a huge amount of tasks both apps can serve.

logic is by far superior for pure, high quality production purposes and recording (live instruments) and certain midi tasks.
ableton is quick, very intuitive, better for live playing (that's the main issue of it's development) and by far more stable then logic...

i use both and get the best out of the two... but i would never replace logic (and i think it's not possible) with ableton.

different use, different apps.

and even if you think you don't need logic's indeepst power now, you will if you really want to progress in your productions make earlier or later use of it.

cheers

mcconaghy · Post by **mcconaghy** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:11 pm

Totally agree with nebulae there, I use both Logic 7 and Live 5, and both work hand-in-hand. Each does something the other doesn't, and that's fine. When I need do to something quick I'll fire up Live, since its workflow is so unique it makes for some very fast moves, and I really enjoy fleshing out my arrangements inside Live, performing alternate takes in real time and being able to render them quickly.
Experiment a while, you'll quickly come up with your own workflow combining the two, even rewiring them and using Live as your sample mangler/time stretching box and controlling thw whole thing from inside Logic.

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:17 pm

The only thing I'd add is that I disagree about Live being inferior with respect to recording audio. Sure, Logic is the best sequencer out there, but Live can record to 32-bit audio and [EDIT: the highest bitrate that can be captured by] the best sound cards out ATM. Once inside, Live's mixing engine sounds just as good as any other DAW. I do agree that each tool has its uses, but for me, Live is the only tool I use, and i've dabbled in all the major DAWs over the past 10-15 years. My two bits...

inis · Post by **inis** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:21 pm

Ya, i dont think you can call one superior or not. They are straight up completely different programs.

elektrovert · Post by **elektrovert** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:36 pm

Yep, use both.
They're both great.

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:43 pm

I don't know that they are "completely different" either. I think they have different approaches and paradigms toward making audio, but they ultimately do have the same goal. The method behind the madness is completely different.

A lot of people seem to use both, which is cool. I'm wondering how many people have made the switch over to Live only, and why. Should I start another thread?

Kenfen · Post by **Kenfen** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:50 pm

I used Logic since Version 1.

Loved it.

But, now for my purposes I only use Live. I used Logic until I sold my Mac. (8600 Power PC...old stuff)

Regards,

Kenfen

drush · Post by **drush** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:54 pm

nebulae wrote:Live is more of a philosophical choice rather than a nuts-n-bolts feature-to-feature decision.

exactly.

used Logic for years, was always marginally frustrated. got Live @ version 1.5 and even though there was no midi etc back then, i instantly understood that i *hate* linear sequencers.

never looked back.

MrYellow · Post by **MrYellow** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:08 am

I like oranges better then apples.

-Ben

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:12 am

Why choose one or the other?

I like TURDUCKEN (a chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey).

Does it get any more American than this?

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:40 am

if, as you say, you're not using the advanced features in logic, i say switch. i used logic for a long time, once live got midi, i dropped logic, could not be happier.

muthafunka · Post by **muthafunka** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:48 am

Live since 1.5, sold Logic Pro then bought Express a few months ago for straighter mixing tasks-sometimes find Live's arrange page too creatively tempting lol, Logic's straight up/down page just helps me focus on the mixing job at hand. If it's vsts you're wanting to use in Logic, just use fxpansion's vst to au wrapper, works fine.

FastraxEnt · Post by **FastraxEnt** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:23 am

Thanks for the feedback guys! Well I'm gonna try out Live 5 and see what happens. I think it may be more practical. The only thing I use Logic for is opening Soft Synth Instruments and record midi with them. And the bounce them down to import to pro tools. I just create my songs inside Logic with midi instruments so I think ableton might be a better/easier way about doing things.

Let me ask this: Can i Export All tracks so I can import each track into Pro Tools, Cause most clients like to have thier production in Pro Tools Session form.