Logic Studio features Logic Pro 8, a major upgrade that combines an intuitive new interface with Logic's renowned sound quality and rock-solid timing, and introduces MainStage, an innovative new live performance application that turns the Mac into a streamlined live rig. Logic Studio also includes.

If you followed my 'Gear Geeking' columns in year 2007, you know the epic story of my move from Pro Tools HD to various native DAWs running on a souped-up Mac Pro, including Logic Pro 7. Microsoft office 365 for mac download torrent free. Well, soon after I'd given up on Logic 7 because of its meager audio-editing capabilities, Apple released Logic Studio, which includes Logic Pro 8, a major upgrade with not only a whole new look-and-feel, but substantially improved editing features too.

Also included in the Studio bundle are MainStage (live performance host application), Soundtrack Pro 2 (audio post-production application), Studio Instruments (40 instrument plug-ins), Studio Effects (80 effect plug-ins), and Studio Sound Library (channel strip and plug-in settings, royalty-free Apple Loops, sound effects, music beds, EXS sampled instruments, impulse responses); but this review will focus solely on Logic Pro 8. I asked long-time contributor and Logic user Geoff Farina to give it a go. He submitted the following opinion, and my response follows. -AH I first installed Logic on my Mac Classic II in the early '90s when it was still an obscure German MIDI sequencer. After fifteen years of upgrades, I can say that Logic has always met my home studio needs, if significantly less demanding than those of a pro studio.

I stuck with Logic through the years as my friends were investing in expensive Pro Tools hardware, and the improved audio capabilities that came with Apple's acquisition brought vindication to we committed users. If Logic Pro 7 finally provided much of Pro Tools' power in a somewhat cryptic package, Logic Pro 8 makes this power more accessible to Mac and Pro Tools users alike. Although installation was a breeze, there were a few surprises. The first was its sheer size, foreshadowed by a thick seven-DVD package for the Logic Studio bundle that looks more like the latest Beatles box set, complete with the Apple logo.

It turns out that a 'barebones' install requires about 7 GB of disk space, and a full install with the entire sample content requires a whopping 39 GB! On the bright side, Apple has done away with the irksome XSKey, and they don't require product registration before use. Opening the program confirmed my fear that Apple has fully consumed my favorite German sequencer; 'iLogic' is here at last. Logic 7's dark facade was replaced with OS X 10.4's familiar light-gray window style, and it was immediately clear that Apple has made every attempt to assimilate Logic into its 'iWorld'.

Apple also took some cues from Pro Tools, and one could argue Apple is trying to woo both Mac and Pro Tools users more than they are trying to please existing Logic users, and this new iteration moves away from the customizable feel of earlier versions, at least on the surface. The problem is that most Logic geeks prefer to build their own interface and workflow; whereas Pro Tools tells you how to work, Logic asks you, and this has always been one of Logic's unique strengths.

Needless to say, I initially found Logic Pro 8's new Arrange window less useful than Logic 7's. I was first put off by an obtrusive toolbar across the top with giant 1' square buttons for 'useful' functions. Do I really need a giant 'Bounce' button at the top of the screen when I might bounce a mix once at the end of the session? Fortunately, this toolbar is customizable, but I turned it off completely.

This still left a strip of blank space across the top of the window that would hold an entire track, as Logic Pro 8's new Arrange window is more of a meta-window that basically takes up space framing the windows that I actually need and duplicating the functionality of the Menu Bar. I was further annoyed that I could not turn off the large Transport Bar that occupied a 1' tall strip along the entire bottom of the window, and I missed being able to drag a tiny, bare-bones Transport into the top left corner of Logic 7's Arrange window. One of my favorite Logic tricks is to open two linked Arrange windows, zoom deep into one of them, and use the other to navigate to the tiny region segments that I need to edit, much like a microfiche machine facilitates the quick navigation of hundreds of pages of newsprint. To do this in Logic 8 requires two honking Transport Bars to be open at once, wasting space and hindering editing. In Apple's defense, many of these interface changes are cosmetic, and Logic 8 is still incredibly flexible with enhanced Screen Sets and other customizable functionality that most power users couldn't live without, but the aforementioned interface issues will certainly vex longtime users. If less useable, Logic Pro 8's Arrange window is more powerful and informative than ever.