Logic Pro Home based studio on 10K budget

Continuation of discusson from:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=436969&tstart=15
I will sumarize in the next message.

I think anyone would love to have this setup, but I can't resist a few comments:
I think an appropriate setup, without buying any
truly cheap stuff, would be more like $6000.
Example:
- Mac mini CoreDuo, 2G RAM, keyboard, mouse $1160
- 20" Dell Monitor $500
- external hard drive $200
- Focusrite Saffire $400
- monitors $900 (lots of good choices)
- Rode NTK $500
- cables, etc $200
- Logic Pro $900
- MIDI keyboard $500 (Fatar)
- some more software, samples $900
For the price of a Mini, 2G of RAM, and a $500 monitor, you can get a 17" iMac with 2G of RAM. (I went to the store with my heart set on a mini and walked out with the iMac for this reason.)
There's no need for an external hard drive right off the bat. They are only getting cheaper and bigger while you wait.
Few people need more than two simultaneous inputs, and fewer still need more than two outputs. For $400, the Saffire looks like a pretty awesome deal. I think I'd feel a little cramped with this setup though. I'm thinking some day you may want to have a buddy or two over with his guitar for a little jam; you'd be wishing you had some more mics. For just a little more you can get a Mackie Onyx 1220 with four mic pres and four stereo inputs, all of them running simultaneously.
I would also recommend getting a dynamic (an SM58 is as good as any) and a pair of good cheap condensers for X-Y recording, in addition to your main mic. One really expensive mic isn't as good as four or five decent ones.
(Don't forget that your mac will have a pair of 24/192 input, and the mini also has a S/PDIF input.)
If you are going to spend money for a nice keyboard controller, forget buying a controller. I would put the extra money into a cheap digital piano like a Roland RD-300 or a Yamaha P-series. Dedicated MIDI controllers have poor keyboard actions, and the RD will absolutely blow away the audio quality of the piano in EXS24 while using zero of your CPU. Plus, you have a real zero-latency piano in your studio for when you just want to play.
I think 1200 for monitors as budhalite suggested is a little over the top, but I'll admit that I am saving up for a pair of HR824's right now. I don't like the events as much.
And finally, something I discovered when I set up my first studio, almost nobody ever correctly estimates how much they need to spend on wire. In a small pro studio or a moderately large home studio, wire and patchbays can add up to more than the computer.
When you get your dream studio set up, you will find that all sorts of things you never thought of will become weakest links. Soundproofing, room size, computer fan noise, the guy nextdoor with the CB hobby. There will always be something to spend that next pension check on.

Similar Messages

Small Home Based Studio

I would like to know if logic pro x will be sufficient to run a small home base sudio. I do not do any recording yet but want to start. I want to build a small equipment free system to use at home for a vocal quartet practice session. I want to do it all with nothing more than a mac book pro, speakers, monitors, audio interface and mics. I want the ability to set up aux's for monitors and as well as main outs to the house speaker. I run sound on a anolog board on the road for the quartet and a digital board at church so I have a little knowledge but not a professional by any stretch of the imagination. I want to do this to eliminate a large rig as well as dwell ito the virtual mixing area. Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

Ok I think I have decided to go with the LPX due to great compatability with mac bood pro. I have 1 question I still can not get a answer to. As I said I want to use this as a live system for small venues with a 4 man vocal only group singing with music tracks played through itunes. I wanted to use itunes as my player for my music tracks set up in a playlist. Is there anyway to have itunes running on the same mac book and route it to a channel in LPX. If not is it possible to maybe use a ipad and plug it into a input on the audio interface and then route that to a channel. I really wanted to do this all with one computing device but I need the ability to run the music tracks from a playlist in itunes instead of dragging and dropping each song in a channel. And lastly could some one recommend a audio interface the works well with LPX. I need 6 imputs, and 4 outputs. Thanks for the help for this newbie. Tim

Attempting To Bring Logic Pro Home..

Hello forum. First time posting so I help you can help with kindness.
For the record, I have used the search function and will continue to do s0, but I'd like to have some recent opinions on purchasing a new Macbook Pro with Logic 7. I currently use Logic at work although I'm still getting pretty used to Logic let alone the Environment itself.
I attempted to build a Macbook in the Apple store, and my cost came to about ohhh...$5000 with a monitor included. I already own a G5, but I need a laptop for use when I am in Pennsylvania. Is it possible to easily install your own ram into a macbook pro? I'd rather purchase for newegg since the ram from Apple seems to be on the extremely expensive side. I'd rather not run into system incompatibilities u know?
Also what's the opinion on using a Seagate 300 gig 7200rpm external drive for recording audio? Any issues?
Any other suggestions you'd might want to add before I take the plunge? I know I just missed the 7.2 update so I'm considering just waiting for L8, and installing Live on the Macbook for now. I'd value any thoughts and opinions on the subject.

Welcome to the forum!
Seagate... seagate... seagate... that's ringing bells... do a Logic forum search for "Seagate" within the last month or so. I think someone reported a serious problem with those drives. Could be wrong tho...
I can't tell you which RAM is reliable or not, but I'm sure people will chime in with good suggestions. But there is an Apple Store line that goes something like, "well, if you run into a problem with your computer and 3rd party RAM is installed, it might void your warranty". I had a salesman try to pull this on me at my local Apple store when I brought my G5 in with a hardware problem. I said to him that the instruction manual shows you how to install RAM, and it doesn't specify anything about voiding warranties or only using Apple RAM... He had no choice but to back down and honor the warranty.
There are plenty of 3rd party RAM manufacturers out there who make perfectly reliable RAM. Apple doesn't manufacture its own RAM; they get it from a "third party" too!
Food for thought.

Can i install Garage Band Loods into Logic Pro X?

I just started using Logic Pro X. Based on the version of Garage Band on my iPhone I expected to find many more rock-oriented loops, drum kits and beats. Is this stuff only on iPhones? For example "60's Shuffle", "Bar Band Basic Drumset", "Brush Train Drumset", "Crowd Groove Drumset", "Funked Out Drumset", all this stuff and many many more loops should be in Logic Pro X Loops right?

I'm not sure how I did that, since I started with Logic 8, so my loops could be from 8, 9 or X, though I believe they do not really differ much between the versions. I believe Logic just takes the name of the folder(s) to get those dropdown names, but I'm not sure about that either. I'm also not sure if the GB loops are/were also installed if you never had GB installed, though that could well be.
So, all in all I'm pretty unsure, it seems.

Logic Pro Based recording studio

Hi all, I am intending on building a smallish recording studio around Logic Pro - I need your experience and expertise!
My imagined setup is based on a hefty Mac Pro, using Apogee Symphony Cards as Audio inputs. I considered using Motu or M-Audio..any thoughts?
My big Questions:
1. Mixing Desk/Control Surface
Firstly do I need a separate Mixing desk? or will a digital control surface do? Can all the audio go straight to the Mac through the interface? or does it need to go through a desk for monitoring etc?
2. Control Surface
I would very much like to find a decent control surface of the digidesign C24/C20 style, but I don't seem to be able to find anything with more than 8 channel strips that says its compatible with Logic Pro - these all seem targeted at the prosumer/home user category of artist - Any thoughts?
Thanks for your help all,
Ed

No software program is truly bug-free. The issue with Logic and the most current OS (10.5.2) is that these bugs are not being addressed... at all. Logic 8 has been around for 8 months or so and so far there have been no major updates to improve stability, core audio issues on the OS, etc.
Basically Logic is $500 because there is no support - you're buying only software.
Avid, Ableton, Cakewalk and the like are primarily software companies and they thrive on constantly updating their apps. Apple Inc, is not a software company. So you proceed at your own risk when it comes to Apple "solutions".
And keep in mind there is no such thing as a "solution"! Only tools, craftsmanship and love of music.
Your other question I believe about an external mixer, there are two simple descriptions: ITB & OTB.
In the box & Out of the box, respectively. Of course these two worlds overlap and arguably, one is not better than the other. I'd suggest looking for those terms on other forums. Tapeop.com, gearslutz.com, soundonsound.com, there are hundreds, I'm sure.
One last thing and it's a bit of a gripe: But Apple has also taken the liberty to arbitrarily remove certain features and/or consolidate features that were special components to Emagic's program... many of these features will be missed, ie, syncing Logic to an external MIDI clock. R.I.P. external MIDI clock...
Have fun.

MBP as centerpiece of Logic Pro 7 home studio?

Hello All.
I am VERY close to placing an order for my first Mac and right now its neck and neck between the MacBook Pro and the 20-inch Intel iMac.
My main purpose for the Mac is to be a dedicated computer for serious hobbyist music creation with Logic Pro 7, Garageband & various plugins, web surfing, management of an iTunes Library over 12000 songs and occasional iLife usage. I currently use Cubase, Reason and various VST's on my PC. My songs consist mainly of sofwtare instruments, a few breakbeat loops or beats that I create myself. Eventually, I will add those programs and VST's to the Mac when the universal binary versions of them come out.
I've been debating this for weeks now and I'm seriously torn between the MBP and the IMac; both have their good and bad points. For the MBP, I love the idea of portability and not being stuck at a desk when I'm working on my tracks. This would be especially handy when my wife starts bugging me to use the Dell PC that currently sits on said desk or when my 20-month son gets too rowdy and chases me out of the room. I don't travel much nor do any professional recording or touring, but I must admit the ability to even just play around or surf the web from another room in the house is appealing which is why I'm considering it.
On the other hand, I'm definately not rich and I'd be paying a serious premium for that portability. Plus when you add laptop accessories, the price gets up there rather quick. Alternatively, I could get an Intel iMac with the same configuration, Logic Pro 7 and the 7.2 Crossgrade for about the same price of the MBP and accessories WITHOUT Logic Pro 7. Furthermore, I've gotten used to the 21" CRT we use for our Dell PC and I'm wondering if the 15.4" screen of the MBP would wear on me after awhile. I could get the iMac with all the same specs with that big beautiful display, but it would obviously take up more space and I'll lose the portability.
1) Anyway, have any of you ever used a laptop (like the PowerBook G4, for example) as the centerpiece of your home studio? How did that work out? Is that something that you'd recommend or would I be better off with an iMac desktop?
2) Also, should I be concerned with the heat that laptops like the MBP and PowerBowk put out? I was gonna have the 100GB 7200RPM drive installed in the MBP so I wonder if drive noise could be a factor here as well?
3) Lastly and on a side note, regardless of whether or not I get the MBP or the iMac, I'd be using my Edirol PCR-50 MIDI USB Keyboard Controller to control the software instruments and plug-ins. If I simply plugged this into the computer via USB, would I experience any latency issues with Core Audio/Core MIDI of OS X? Or is a MIDI absolutely necessary? Does OS X allow you change the latency settings?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Hello
i used to have a Soundcraft 24/8/2 mixboard, a MPC 2000XL, an EMU e6400, a MicroModular, a Nord Lead, three DBX266XL compressors, a TC M-One, a Lexicon MPX100, a Sherman Filterbank ...
i've sold everything except the nordlead and bought a powerbook G4 1.5 ghz with Logic Express 7.
i've never been as productive as now. I used to be forced to compose in front of the same stupid wall. now i can make music anywhere. i bought some good headphones, plug them directly to the powerbook soundcard and make music most of the time on the sofa next to my girlfriend while she watches tv.
i have a super small usb midi keyboard (m-audio o2) which i plug when i need to enter notes. sometimes i even enter notes using the CapsLock keyboard integrated in logic so i don't even need my usb keyboard.
when i've finished my track i go to my office and plug my firewire soundcard (Echo Audiofire 8, lots of inputs / outputs, useful to plug guitar / bass / mic and eventually a friend's computer) and check the mix on my monitors.
i'll never go back to a desktop computer again. i'm not a pro working for any kind of business, i'm just a musician making my demo. my mixes sounds as good as or better than when i had all this audio hardware.
i have two sessions in os X, one internet, one audio. i surf the web heavily, no virus, no ********. sometimes i even load safari while boucing a track in logic, professionals will tell you it's baaaaaaad, i don't care.
so :
1) i recommend having a laptop and good headphones (100$ minimum) if you're just making music for pleasure. pro need big G5, we don't.
2) i don't have problem with heat. when it's on my thigs it can get very hot which is not recommended. you must let the heat get out.but i didn't have any problem
3) no midi latency problem at all, wether it is pure midi or usb.
Lastly : i think the MacBook Pro is too expensive. a powerbook G4 is too old for big sessions. wait for the MacBook (the iBook successor), which is supposed to be intel 1.67 ghz solo core 13"3 inch screen, a little more than 1000$, and may be released on April 1st (apple aniversary)
i'm currently waiting for my copy of Logic Pro 7.2 to arrive, and i'll get a MacBook as soon its released
(be careful there are near to 0 plugins out on intel macs yet be sure you will only use logic plugins)
cheers
Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Setting Up a New Studio with Logic Pro 9

Hi Experts,
I need your suggestion and help in setting up my Home Studio. I have the below hardware and would like to seek the suggestion of the experts in the forum to set this up.
iMac 27 with 8GB DRAM & 1TB HDD - Corei5 2.8GHz
Yamaha Motif XS8
Korg Triton LE
Roland Fantom G6
Roland SP 20 Drum Pad
Akai MPD 32 Drum Machine
Logic Pro 9.1.4
Reason 4
Record 1.5
Garritan Personal Symphony Orchestra
Komplete 7
East West Quantum Leap
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
Roland Monitor Speakers
I would like to use one of the Workstation (Yamaha Motif XS) as a Master Keyboard and use with Logic as the Master Sequencer. I would also like to use the Roland Fantom G6 and Korg Triton LE as MIDI and Audio Sources. Audio is not a problem as all of these are going straight into the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40. Now I have connected the Yamaha Motif XS 8 MIDI IN & OUT to Focusrite however I would like to complete the Architecture where in I can choose any Instrument from Logic / Reason / Yamaha / Motif / Korg and use the Logic as the Master Sequencer and use the Yamaha Motif to play these parts from the different sources.
I would also like to know if I can use the Akai MPD 32 Drum Machine as a complete MIDI Controller.
Any inputs are highly appreciated.
Regards,
CCIESRI

I would strongly recommend reading the late great Pondini's article on Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant:
http://pondini.org/OSX/SetupLion.html

Exporting scoring markers in Final Cut Studio and importing to Logic Pro

I want to export my scoring markers with the movie in Final Cut Studio and see them as markers in Logic Pro 7.2.x. I need to use the markers as "hit points" to calculate my tempos and effectively lay out my score based upon the action in the picture. I'm exporting the Final Cut Studio project to a Quicktime movie and choosing audio and video + "scoring markers". Thanks for your help.
TG

Don't bother rendering a movie out of LiveType, simply save the project file and import it into FCP.
LiveType outputs in the Animation codec only, so you will always have to render. Using the project file has another advantage -right clicking and choosing "Open in Editor" will drop you back into LiveType where you can quickly make adjustments, save and return to FCP with the changes in place.
To set project properties, you can use the Place Background Movie function in LiveType. Drop a short clip in and it will automatically adjust the properties to match. You can delete it once you have the settings. If you have Anamorphic video, you will still need to adjust the pixel aspect ratio -exact settings depend on the format, you haven't told us that yet.
Again, depending on the format, you might have to set the Anamorphic flag in FCP's Item Properties for the LiveType file.
When you view the FCP export in QuickTime Player 7 (not QuickTime Player X) make sure that the High Quality Playback preference is selected.
Typefaces in video:
Avoid using small, thin, delicate and Serif typefaces. They never work well.
A well known example of a Serif font is Times, which you should avoid at all costs in any case -it makes it look like you made the titles in MS Word. Stick with San Serifs with clear, bold strokes. Helvetica is a popular example of a San Serif.
If your titles are white, reduce the brightness to around 90%. Apply a shadow or border to distinguish them from the background. While it might sound counter productive, applying a tiny amount of blur can help too.
One more thing: Don't put your email address in the body of your post. The forums are open to anyone who wants to read them and by extension, web bots. They will harvest the address and bombard it with spam. We don't do personal email on the forums anyway -we share information amongst all users.

I have a carillon 25 keyboard (bad choice, I know) and I can't get it to communicate with my mac at all! I'm running logic pro 9 and reason 5. I get signal in from my M Audio trigger finger so I know it isnt an entirely mac based problem. Thanks!!!

I have a carillon 25 keyboard (bad choice, I know) and I can't get it to communicate with my mac at all! I'm running logic pro 9 and reason 5. I get signal in from my M Audio trigger finger so I know it isnt an entirely mac based problem. Thanks!!!

Well, how have to determined no signal is being recieved to your mac?
Have you got something that shows the actual signal? Or have you just been trying to control a VST? What software are you using by the way?
I personnally went with a AKAI MPK25, because it's made already mapped for logic & ableton etc, so it just makes things incredibly easy.
I would suggest you return it if you can as a dead unit & perhaps look at something else a bit easier?
Otherwise, if you just want to get this working we can have a look a bit deeper.
And driver? OS X driver?

I have Logic Pro 8.0.2 and would like to upgrade. I'm running OS Lion on a 2010 MacB Pro. What is the best option? Logic Pro 9 App or Logic Studio? Can't find upgrade price. Or should I just stay with Logic 8?

I have Logic Pro 8.0.2 and would like to upgrade. I'm running OS Lion on a 2010 MacB Pro. What is the best option? Logic Pro 9 App or Logic Studio? Can't find upgrade price. Or should I just stay with Logic 8?

Same here, I have Logic Studio 8 and wouldn't mind staying with that version, except that the installer won't run on my new Macbook Pro as PowerPC apps are no longer supported. That's the message I get in any case.
I use to run Logic on a 2006 Macbook Pro.
I guess that makes me a very unhappy Apple user! I've been using Logic from the Emagic days, bought every upgrade only to see Apple kill what used to be one of the best Pro Audio application. Imagine if they had done the same to Photoshop, there would be a lot of unhappy designers out there
Paying the full price for years to slowly see your daily app go down in price & efficiency until it's given away at $199 for semi pro users. Well, at least ProTools is stil alive & kicking so I guess that's the way forward now.
This is coming from someone that never ever used a Windows machine to make music! Life is good still!

Logic Pro + Node + Studio Setup, Need Advice, Please Help.

Hello everyone.
Ive just recently bought Logic 7.1 for my Quad PowerMac G5, and Im loving it!
Im going to build a studio in my garden (yup, im no pro). And I was thinking of purchasing a PowerBook for the studio and offload all processing and storage to my Quad machine (located in my study room in the house).
Im also considering purchasing another PowerMac G5 as for my server, and I would like to setup the server to also process Logic data and storage. Is this possible? Would i need to buy Xsan?
Another question, can I use more than 1 PowerMac G5 for Logic Pro? Also, how do I setup a Node? And in order for the Node to work do I need to purchase more Logic Pro USB Keys?
You may be wondering why am I going to purchase a PowerBook for the studio, well the answer is, i don't feel its safe to have a very expensive machine in studio, don't want it to get damaged by environment such as damage or theft, plus i spend alot of time studying.
One more thing, I have a PowerBook G4 and IMac G5, can i also setup Nodes on these machines aswell?
Any input would be brilliant. Also, your suggestions on studio setup would be also welcome.
Thanks in advance.
Haresh
Quad PowerMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

You won't need Xsan. I would test things out before getting too far into the idea. Your host should really be the strongest computer, all 3rd party, EXS, etc..plugins are not nodeable. You can use more than 1 node but as I see it your bottleneck would be the PBook. You can use regular file sharing just fine for this. You will need 1 USB key for each computer running Logic, the Node app requires no key. Therefore, you can run Logic on your book and 3 nodes with 1 key if you like. I would encourage you to use an iMac G5 as opposed to a Pbook if you really want to flex Logic muscle, which from the sounds of it, you intend to. iMac G5s are even cheaper than the Pbooks. Another thing to consider is some people have had no luck setting up Nodes-I've never had problems with it but there are some out there, maybe they're weird, maybe I am-but don't be 100% reliant on Nodes all the time until you have proven that in practice.

Difference between Logic Pro 9 and Logic Studio?

I have garage band and I notice that the instruments available are extremely limited, so I am looking to upgrade solely for the idea of getting more instruments and more features. Does the app store Logic Pro 9 have the extensive amount of official instruments to download for free? Or are there additional costs if you are looking to purchase the instruments for the app store logic 9?
I know that the studio version has mainstage, compressor and other programs etc, but what I am looking to find out is if there is a difference between what instruments, resources and materials found in the $210 Logic 9 and the Logic Studio version that you can't download for free from inside Logic 9?
Thanks

Hi
Segall wrote:
Does the app store Logic Pro 9 have the extensive amount of official instruments to download for free?
The instruments themselves are embedded within the Logic application, with the exception of the sample libraries for the EXS24 and Ultrabeat. All of the content, including the various Jampacks and sample libraries are available to download
Segall wrote:
Or are there additional costs if you are looking to purchase the instruments for the app store logic 9?
No.... free
Segall wrote:
I know that the studio version has mainstage, compressor and other programs etc, but what I am looking to find out is if there is a difference between what instruments, resources and materials found in the $210 Logic 9 and the Logic Studio version that you can't download for free from inside Logic 9?
The "Studio" DVD's include the now defunct Soundtrack Pro, which had around 20G of loops, beds and sound FX. Some of that material is now available for Final Cut X.
A few utility programs are also missing (Waveburner etc).
CCT

Hello,i have a retina with Mountain Lion.I have logic PRO 7 and logic Pro 8 ,with G5.I can't use the CD with the retina!!It's not a powerpC!!How do i install Logic Studio 8 with Mountain Lion successfully ?too évolution Logic PRO 9?

Hello,i have a retina with Mountain Lion.I have logic PRO 7 and logic Pro 8 ,with G5.I can't use the CD with the retina!!It's not a powerpC!!How do i install Logic Studio 8 with Mountain Lion successfully ?too évolution Logic PRO 9?

The installer for Logic Pro 8 has a bug which keeps it from operating in Lion or Mt. Lion. Use the program Pacifist to install it.

How can I upgrade the solo version of Logic Pro 9 to Logic Studio?

I just would like to know how and where to upgrade logic pro to logic studio

First of all, Erik is correct.. Logic Studio has been discontinued.. However, there are a few copies left around I am sure... to purchase if you really wanted to...
But.....
Unless you really want Waveburner and Soundtrack Pro 3..(Neither of which have been updated for at least a couple of years now..) there is little point in buying Logic Studio 2... as it will cost you $499... and you can buy Compressor and Mainstage (the other two parts of Logic Studio) for much less than that on the App Store.... and the additional content (that actually took up most of the DVDs in the boxed set) can be downloaded for free within Logic Pro itself.
I think a newer version is soon to be announce.
Not of Logic Studio there won't be.. I believe boxed sets of Logic are long dead and gone... and won't be seen again... It's all App Store products from now on...
There may well be a newer version of Logic Pro on the way.. but no one knows when.... until Apple announce it.

I have logic pro studio 8 and the upgrade, however it will not upload on my mac book pro. It says i need a product key for the logic 9 and it come with one.

I have logic pro studio 8 and the upgrade (logic pro 9) and it will not load up to my new mac book pro. Its asking for a product key for the logic pro 9 upgrade and there wasn't one in the box. i need some help

Contact AppleCare... Explain you are a Logic User and you should be transfered to a Product Specialist to assist you with your Issue.

Logic Pro Home based studio on 10K budget

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