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Cubase or Logic?
So I finally replaced my 2007 iMac with a 2017 iMac.
It’s the model with 3 GHz Quad Core i5.
I am considering getting one of the above to complement my iOS setup which is mostly based around Cubasis 3.
To me it makes most sense to get Cubase 10 as I believe I can transfer Cubasis projects into this, but I can also presumably export stems to Logic.
Does anyone have any strong feelings over which one is a better option?
- Which DAW for Mac?49 votes
- Cubase 1018.37%
- Logic Pro X81.63%
Comments
To me personally Logic Pro X is the Logical option.
Fully installed takes around 80GB of storage. The sound libraries can easily be moved to an external drive, SSD recommended.
And yes, if you export stems from Cubasis they can easily be imported...
I’m biased because I first learned music production in Sequel, basically Steinberg’s version of GarageBand. I find Steinberg’s stuff easier and more fluid to work with. If I’m being honest, Logic feels and looks a bit outdated to me.
Logic containtais tremendous amount of great bundled synth/sampler/fx plugins... you don't need basically any other third party plugins to make almost all thinkable music genres ;-) And it's not just Alchemy, there are tons others - VA, FM, hybrid, physical modelling, drum synthesis ... all kinds of compressors, eq, delays, reverbs, ... ... it's endless, it has more bundled plugins than any other existing DAW, period. And quality is breathtaking.
Logic always been good to me
.
I’d recommend doing a trial of Cubase since it’s an option.
As a purely value proposition Logic can’t be beat. It’s one off price with ‘forever’ free updates (Apple will never charge for those) plus all its instruments and effects... there’s not much an argument.
However I still prefer Cubase for workflow reasons. It runs on an old school ‘studio’ metaphor which I like better than the way Logic works ( although it’s not that different). Cubase has built in instruments and effects too of course. Last time I looked I think the Logic instruments we more impressive... the effects were a wash.
It’ll cost ( $50 -$100 ) per year to update Cubase ... depending on what you, do those updates can seem useful or not (sometimes I wonder if we are at “peak” DAW yet ). It requires a dongle to run which many hate... but it can be installed Mac/PC which I have found useful a couple of times.
Both have demo versions. Try them and see if the ‘cost’ of Cubase is worth it to you. You might even like Logic better in which case the decision is easy!
I have used abelton , logic and cubase, Logic is nice, but it seems to be getting more and more like garageband, with each update. feels less professional to me. Abelton is great for beat writing and dj type stuff. But to me Cubase is perfect. there is a little bit of a learning curve at first( nothing a few youtube videos won’t cure). But it is extremely powerful! and also, don’t use Cubasis on ios as much of a comparison. it is a much much easier workflow on Cubase.
let me know if you have any other questions.
Personally, I've moved from both Logic and Cubase to StudioOne, which is fantastic. Everything seems to be where I expect it to be (although I use Reaper too for quick sketches). However, there's a lot to be said for Garageband on iOS -> Logic.
One other silly thing.....Cubase requires a dongle which is just kind of annoying in this day and age. Logic is supreme value if you’re staying in Mac world. The included instruments and fox are fantastic. Studio One has a great workflow and was created by ex Cubase people so maybe there is something there for you, not quite so many built in instruments, but maybe not having so many choices could be beneficial and there is a trial to see if you like it.
Just because of this unremarkable option alone, I would never think of replacing Logic with Cubase:
This small checkbox saves an incredible amount of time while building the basic arrangement of an song.
With advanced tools enabled you can just 'drag loop' the midi-event, stretch audio and plenty of other nice tools too
Time-Stretching midi-events is also a piece of cake (I use this all the time to tempo-match my sloppy recordings).
But yeah the 'midi loop' thing in Cubasis would be so handy as would 'ghost patterns'(ie. just a reference to an original pattern with optional velocity, pitch change, say hello to midi-echo etc.) which was standard in Cubase Score 2.5 way, way back in time (Still have the thick printed manual binder for it LOL).
Thankfully Logic Pro X got the 'Live Loops' from GarageBand which is pretty nice way to build up an arrangement.
I know
To fill an arrangement quickly, there is nothing faster than this little button.
Cubasis' Copy/Paste Arranging is sooo 1990
And it is the reason why I have not used Cubasis for a long time.
You’ll definitely save a lot of money going for Logic and won’t even miss out on features. So quite a logical choice I guess 😜
It's so ironic that this basic feature that has been in Cubase from the early days is missing from Cubasis...
(NS2 has it too).
...even GarageBand has this
Studio One.
I prefer Bitwig to either
For me they're apples and oranges. Although there's often feature overlap, I think they all have different pros and cons in workflow.
I have apps and gear that I like to:
A. Quickly write with (hardware grooveboxes/workstations, Korg Gadget, Maschine),
B. DAWs I like to complete production, edit, and mix with (Cubasis on iPad, Studio One, ProTools).
C. Stuff that's fun to experiment with, but I just end up noodling, patching, and losing track of time with (VCV/Mirack, AUM, Reaktor, Bitwig, Ableton/M4L).
I think it's important to demo and figure out what tools you gel with so you know the goal (or lack of goal) for each session. Some guys can start Ableton and get work done instantly, for me it's too vast. I can easily lose a weekend just playing around with esoteric plugins and concepts. Studio One is like..."nope, just get shit done"..."Are you ready to do final mix and move over to mastering page, check your mix reference, and the LUFS for streaming?"
Some great advice here, thanks everyone.
Never heard of Studio One before this.
Probably best if I download the free trial of Cubase and Studio One.
I do have slight sentimental attachment to Cubase as it’s what I used as a teenager when I first started and I have fond memories of cutting, copying & pasting little windows of music. But I’m also not wanting to spend £££ on updates and VSTs etc.
Is Studio One reasonably easy to learn?
Logic is available as a free 90-day trial version with full functionality.
For a lot of people Logic is probably gonna be the preferred DAW but in your situation, if it's going to be an extension of your iOS work, Cubase makes way more sense. Being able to transfer the whole project you just did in Cubasis to desktop is pretty amazing. And it's not just stems, it's the same project as it was in Cubasis.
Are they priced the same?
I’ve been using Logic since it was first released for Mac back in the early 90s. It was hideous, but it had some specific features that made using it so fast and efficient and made it impossible for me to jump ship
Everything in the parameters is non-destructive. From quantise to looping and transposing. It’s also incredibly quick. Want to transpose some regions, select them and drag the transpose value. Done.
I could never get on with any other sequencer once I got used to those features. Having to go into a region to destructively apply quantising, velocity changes etc became such a pain I couldn’t go back to Vision or Performer.
I still miss those features in all the iOS DAWs. Nothing comes close to the speed of arranging in logic for me. I guess it just clicked.
There were lots of things about the interface in v1 era Logic I hated but it was just so fast. And all the MIDI edits were in real time without having to stop the transport (which is still something some iOS DAWs can’t do in 2020) which none of the other sequencers I’d used at that time could match.
So I tolerated the hideous and awkward interface with its ugly Atari fonts and it gradually got nicer and nicer. But if you scratch the surface you can still find some of the lovely bit-mapped interface in places like the environment window.
Anyway. I’ve tried lots of DAWs in the years and gave Live a good go at one point but logic is the one for me.
I can see the attraction of Bitwig or Live for some people but unless you’re already wedded to the Steinberg way of doing things I can’t imagine choosing cubase over logic for Mac. Logic is incredible value for money, ridiculously powerful and doesn’t have restrictive copy protection. I hate copy protection so much. I hate the assumption of guilt until you prove otherwise and have been badly bitten by very expensive software more than once that either bricked my Mac or stopped me using software I’d paid for by asking for a disk (back in the day) or serial number at the worst possible time. Ironically the pirates never had those issues with the same software I paid for.
I was so glad when Apple bought Logic and got rid of the dongle.
The AppStore may not be a panacea for developers but it sure is consumer friendly.
I presume if I buy Logic I can use the same license on my iMac and MacBook Air?
And can I store stuff in iCloud to easily transfer between the two?
Finally - is 8GB of RAM sufficient for it to run smoothly? I have a 1TB internal SSD for storage.
I'm running Logic on a 2018 MacMini (6-Core 3.0Ghz i5, 8GB Ram, 256GB SSD) and sure I'm not a 'heavy' user but it's running smoothly for my needs, no hiccups. I did notice that the internal SSD is way aster than say a Samsung T5 SSD connected to a USB3 port. Thunderbolt drives may be a bit faster...
(I moved my sound library back to the internal drives since it loads the sounds a lot faster than the external T5).
And yes the license is good for as may computers you own or are signed into with your AppleID
You can store stuff on the iCloud but I'd still do it 'the old school way' and Airdrop the files from one computer to the other in case they are in the same room...
Cheers!
@klownshed I agree 100%. Although I'm a die-hard Ableton fan, there's no alternative to the MIDI editing in Logic.
Ableton is also very weak on the MIDI front and Logic compensates well for that.
I've read complaints about Logic turning into more of a Garageband lookalike but comparing it to ancient Logic versions I find its usability much better now.
Better still, designated family members can install it, too. There’s no additional charge. I’ve had Logic forever and my teenage son is now using it on his hand-me-down MacBook to build multitrack brass arrangements.
Reaper.
there is not much choice lately...
https://www.reaper.fm/
I use it from 10 years now
and it's THE DAW.
Takes some time to get used to it
and config it to your needs but after that...:)
Studio One for me is very well thought out and intuitive though it does things quite differently from the other DAWs so there is time "unlearning" if you have preconceived ideas of how things should work. Once you understand something, you can really appreciate how much thought goes into the implementation. For me, having learned Logic early, Studio One seems overall easier to learn.
For me Logic, no question because if you are already on mac it is the most cheap way for a full blown DAW with (for my taste) the best included instruments and FX, free big updates, future proof, best way to interact with iOS and iOS devices plus some more. It also has for me personally a lot really unique and the best in its class instruments including all third party stuff i tried like Sculpture, Alchemy and some more. It also for sure find its way to ARM chips, not sure about the other major DAWs.