Help me decide between Logic Studio and Adobe Audition

[orangettecoleman]

I just traded my extra Dell laptop to my friend for his underused Macbook, so I have access to Mac, Windows, and Linux now, and I am attending university again so I found out today that I can get either Logic Studio for OSX or Adobe Audition for Windows for 150 bucks with the educational discount. I've been trying to get into composition using assembling and arranging extensively edited and processed samples for a while but haven't had the time to learn one platform thoroughly. Now I'll have the time so I thought I should invest in a good audio production setup and learn it inside out. As of right now, I'm not planning on using Midi or synthesis (although I might mess with that in the future, and I already put PD on my Macbook for that purpose) so my real focus is audio recording and extensive editing/processing/arranging tools rather than live performance or synthesis/midi. If it was just Logic Pro in the Logic Studio package I would probably go with Adobe Audition because I know that's made for audio editing in particular, but Logic Studio is also bundled with Soundtrack Pro 3, which I've heard is right up there with Audition regarding editing tools, so maybe I'd get all the editing and arranging tools I need from that while still having the Midi tools available with Logic should I ever want to utilize them - best of both worlds? Or is Audition significantly better for audio editing and arranging? The Macbook is 1.8g processor, 2gigs of ram, and a 60g HD (I can get an external USB drive if necessary). The PC is an HP desktop, AMD64 2ghz dual processor, and 4 gigs of RAM.... I feel I'm monopolizing the new topic feature these days, sorry if I'm being a pest...

[Gaendaal]

I'd sell the PC and buy both...

[billygomberg]

LOGIC STUDIO

I've been using Logic for over 8 years and think that the current configuration is particularly powerful (especially for the cost). I've never used Adobe Audition so I can't really compare contrast. I'm unsure why you are looking at Soundtrack as an additional editing tool - Logic's audio editing/tweaking/automating is much more robust than what is offered in Soundtrack (which is basically a bridge to FCP).

ask me questions about Logic.

[nicenick]

i'm a huge fan of audition - switched to it from logic a few years ago. the sample editor is much better and is better integrated with the arrangement screen, so if you're looking to work exclusively with samples and are interested in micro-editing type techniques it's the best bet -- you can work incredibly quickly once you figure out the basics.

on the other hand, logic has the better built-in effects (audition's are not bad by any means, just logic has some extremely nice reverbs/delays/etc). and logic is much better at dealing with MIDI and VST instruments, so if you're thinking of adding synths/drums/whatnot then you may want to go with logic. i'd also say don't even bother with soundtrack 3, it's not very good, nowhere near as good as audition.

[snailed]

I switched to Logic soon after selling my Mbox/Protools setup and snagging a MOTU Traveler. I have to say that I agree with the previous poster as far as single wave editing. This to me is Logic's biggest weakness (although I don't have much experience in Adobe Audition). To remedy that problem, I use Peak Pro 6 to get really detailed on a sample level when editing a single waveform (and for mastering). Not to say you can't do some good stuff with Logic's sample editor, but I find Peak much more intuitive. For arrangement, Logic is really excellent.

Billy: Have any books or video tutorials you'd recommend on Logic? I've never had good luck with those sorts of things, but I have a hard time with the Logic documentation. I'm constantly finding new features, and it'd be nice to cover some more advanced features in a "lesson" based format.

[billygomberg]

I will support the above crits of Logic's audio file editor. It's not great. It does what I need it to do, but yeah I still back up to Peak on occasion. That said, I don't really do painstaking sample-by-sample editing.

and I don't really have any good tutorials. the docs are good, but docs are never good to learn an app. I don't recall if Logic came with a set of tutorials but my haziness is probably an indicator of "no." I'm sure there are some decent ones out there. what are you looking to do? Some things are "pretty simple" - some are "totally headscratching" (arpeggiator took me years to find).

[Moon]

In terms of user interface, without considering how good each software is, I would recommend osx. When watching other people use windows, everything they do seems to take twice as long.

I would say, verily biased, get a magic trackpad and a normal mouse and use them together in Logic for moving things around, and use Audiosculpt for sample editing. I'm thinking of getting a drawing tablet for using in Audiosculpt, too.

[snailed]

I will support the above crits of Logic's audio file editor. It's not great. It does what I need it to do, but yeah I still back up to Peak on occasion. That said, I don't really do painstaking sample-by-sample editing.

and I don't really have any good tutorials. the docs are good, but docs are never good to learn an app. I don't recall if Logic came with a set of tutorials but my haziness is probably an indicator of "no." I'm sure there are some decent ones out there. what are you looking to do? Some things are "pretty simple" - some are "totally headscratching" (arpeggiator took me years to find).

Basically, I was looking to get further into the tuning functions of using MIDI. I saw a few default scales in there, but I haven't really investigated beyond that yet. I'd like to be able to specify my own scales. Little things come up like this often; mostly, I've been finding out what I need to through the LogicProForums and I learn things on an as-needed basis. I don't have too much of a problem with going about things that way, but I was just curious if there were any recommended sources (like video tutorials, particularly the MacProVideo stuff) or any good books to add a little structure to my learning process. Some of those can be a bit pricey so I was wondering if anyone had any experience with anything specifically.

[billygomberg]

I will support the above crits of Logic's audio file editor. It's not great. It does what I need it to do, but yeah I still back up to Peak on occasion. That said, I don't really do painstaking sample-by-sample editing.

and I don't really have any good tutorials. the docs are good, but docs are never good to learn an app. I don't recall if Logic came with a set of tutorials but my haziness is probably an indicator of "no." I'm sure there are some decent ones out there. what are you looking to do? Some things are "pretty simple" - some are "totally headscratching" (arpeggiator took me years to find).

Basically, I was looking to get further into the tuning functions of using MIDI. I saw a few default scales in there, but I haven't really investigated beyond that yet. I'd like to be able to specify my own scales. Little things come up like this often; mostly, I've been finding out what I need to through the LogicProForums and I learn things on an as-needed basis. I don't have too much of a problem with going about things that way, but I was just curious if there were any recommended sources (like video tutorials, particularly the MacProVideo stuff) or any good books to add a little structure to my learning process. Some of those can be a bit pricey so I was wondering if anyone had any experience with anything specifically.

I kinda refuse to pay for tutorials and stuff unless I'm like, getting a BRAND NEW CAREER making bazooka dollars for running Logic. It's your cash, really, but I've found (as you seem to have) that most reasonable questions are in reach with a good forum search.

[RFKorp]

I know Billy swears by Logic. Others do too. I've always found the interface hard to work my way through. But that may be evident only of my own inability to wade through its wide range of features.

On the other hand, while I'm a bit more a fan of Audition, I'm not gonna try to pretend it's an AMAZING program. As far as basic usability, it's tops -- pretty much the current evolution of Cool Edit if you ever used that program back in the 90s. And it does a few things very very well (noise reduction for one) but it won't blow your mind over all. It'll just get the job done nice and crispy.

[orangettecoleman]

Is there a good editing program that I could integrate into Logic that isn't as pricey as Peak Pro or Audiosculpt? I'm paying 150 bucks for Logic if I get it and it seems kind of silly to pay three times that for the editing program. Is a program like Audacity insufficient for advanced sample editing?

[RFKorp]

I don't know anything about integrating into Logic.

But as much as I love Peak, I've been finding myself using this program more and more recently:
http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/waveeditor/

so, that's my cheap mac single-file editor suggestion.

[billygomberg]

frankly dudes you dont NEED an separate audio file editor to use Logic. Logic DOES come with an audio file editor. It works fine. It's not the cream of the crop, but it'll get the work done.

[orangettecoleman]

OK, logic it is. Thanks for the link to the editor above, that is what I'll go to if I find the Logic editor insufficient. Thanks for the input everyone! Now I need to set up my new house with a music room, and bunker down to learn Logic.

[kangaroo?]

more than happy with Audition here, early on i had also installed Logic on my Powerbook but didnt see the need to switch. Not that i got to examine Logic thoroughly, but by then i was already addicted to Audition's interface and ease of use. Its features will get you a long way before you feel the need for something better -as long as you dont deal too much with external components of course (hardware and software), since OSX is much much better at managing these.

one other thing to consider is the physical factor of the systems you have at hand. Think about which computer you see yourself more comfortable spending time on. Because if you start getting seriously into audio production, you'll probably be spending endless hours in front of the computer screen. The Macbook's screen might prove too small for that part. Oh, and if you end up getting an external HD for the mac, make sure it's FireWire