Pro Tools 12 vs Studio One 3 vs Logic Pro X

[ShiftStudios]

Okay, quick action recap for anyone who's listening or cares.

Firstly, what do we consider a strength of Pro Tools? Stability used to be one...

Okay, here I go.

For the last two weeks I have been copying a session between PT, Studio One 3 and Logic Pro X, in the quest to find the most efficient DAW. I can work around interface and design issues, stability and performance, I cannot. So here we go.

3 minute session, 48k, 24bit.

Did not count plugins or tracks, but they are identical in each session.

Pro Tools 12 requires a buffer size of 1024 samples to play and work effectively (mostly, I still get playback issues fequently).
Studio One 3 requires a buffer size of 512 samples to play back and work without error.
Logic Pro X requires a buffer size of 64 samples to play back and work without error.

So I know which one I'd choose if efficiency and performance were my key deciding factors.

There's also the little issue of Pro Tools being terribly optimised. Want proof? Okay, here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cyi5a2oq9s...%20am.png?dl=0

Both sessions open, both not playing. Logic Pro open, not a whisper from the fans until I start playing and modifying at the same time. Fans kick up to full as soon as I open Pro Tools, whether or not its playing, that's terribly optimised...

I do love Pro Tools, at least I love what they were, not what they've become. The great part is, I'm not married to Pro Tools, so I can happily go on dates with other DAWs and not feel guilty.

Anyhow, I'm off to Logic land now, the grass seems greener over there somehow. I guess I'll be spending more time creating music and less time trying to make my DAW work. I'll miss some of you, but should you ever feel the need to regain your sanity, you'll find me floating around the Logic boards.

[cmbourget]

You can not do this analysis without Cubase 8

[albee1952]

"Pro Tools 12 requires a buffer size of 1024 samples to play and work effectively"
This suggests am underpowered machine, but to be certain, you would need to also test/compare with Pro Tools 11. I have also not had a great time with 12, but on my setup, 11 runs like a champ with no stability issues(and running at a 64 buffer for most any session under 80 tracks).

[ShiftStudios]

Originally Posted by cmbourget

You can not do this analysis without Cubase 8

I would like to compare Cubase 8 also. Alas, another dongle I'd need to own... And getting my hands on Cubase in Australia is not the easiest thing to do, neither was Pro Tools though to be fair. Does Cubase even run on Mac?

Originally Posted by albee1952

"Pro Tools 12 requires a buffer size of 1024 samples to play and work effectively"
This suggests am underpowered machine, but to be certain, you would need to also test/compare with Pro Tools 11. I have also not had a great time with 12, but on my setup, 11 runs like a champ with no stability issues(and running at a 64 buffer for most any session under 80 tracks).

I also had the issues with 10...

Not sure though how this is not a fair analysis... As I said, exactly the same tracks and plugins in all DAWs, can't get more apples to apples than that. I've eliminated the plugins and Audio as the problems since it is exactly the same in all DAWs. If Logic and S1 3 can handle it, but Pro Tools has a hard time, I would put more in the fact that Pro Tools is not optimised than that I have an underpowered machine. Exactly which super-computer would AVID like me to own to use their software... seems slightly limited in their potential customer base if I can run it fine in other DAWs, but need a super-computer to run Pro Tools.

[Kris75]

Originally Posted by ShiftStudios

Okay, quick action recap for anyone who's listening or cares.

Firstly, what do we consider a strength of Pro Tools? Stability used to be one...

Okay, here I go.

For the last two weeks I have been copying a session between PT, Studio One 3 and Logic Pro X, in the quest to find the most efficient DAW. I can work around interface and design issues, stability and performance, I cannot. So here we go.

3 minute session, 48k, 24bit.

Did not count plugins or tracks, but they are identical in each session.

Pro Tools 12 requires a buffer size of 1024 samples to play and work effectively (mostly, I still get playback issues fequently).
Studio One 3 requires a buffer size of 512 samples to play back and work without error.
Logic Pro X requires a buffer size of 64 samples to play back and work without error.

So I know which one I'd choose if efficiency and performance were my key deciding factors.

There's also the little issue of Pro Tools being terribly optimised. Want proof? Okay, here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cyi5a2oq9s...%20am.png?dl=0

Both sessions open, both not playing. Logic Pro open, not a whisper from the fans until I start playing and modifying at the same time. Fans kick up to full as soon as I open Pro Tools, whether or not its playing, that's terribly optimised...

I do love Pro Tools, at least I love what they were, not what they've become. The great part is, I'm not married to Pro Tools, so I can happily go on dates with other DAWs and not feel guilty.

Anyhow, I'm off to Logic land now, the grass seems greener over there somehow. I guess I'll be spending more time creating music and less time trying to make my DAW work. I'll miss some of you, but should you ever feel the need to regain your sanity, you'll find me floating around the Logic boards.

This post is not accurate as PT 11/12 is ALWAYS at a buffer of 1024. The only time it's not if a track is record enabled OR you have "first selected" chosen under MIDI prefs.

PT 11/12 has a dedicated input buffer. You have no option to choose an output buffer.

So you can't actually measure a session in this way. Unless you are using the "First selected" option under midi prefs.

[ShiftStudios]

Originally Posted by Kris75

This post is not accurate as PT 11/12 is ALWAYS at a buffer of 1024. The only time it's not if a track is record enabled OR you have "first selected" chosen under MIDI prefs.

PT 11/12 has a dedicated input buffer. You have no option to choose an output buffer.

So you can't actually measure a session in this way. Unless you are using the "First selected" option under midi prefs.

Okay, so based upon your reply, Pro Tools, even though it always runs at 1024, is still less efficient than Studio One 3 or Logic Pro X. Regardless of what Pro Tools decides to do, I chose 1024 and it finally stopped giving me enough playback errors to be mostly useful. Logic Pro X however, worked perfectly fine at 64 samples.

All you really stated was that Pro Tools is so inefficient that it forces you to use 1024 samples and still can't do the job as well as S1 3 or LPX.

The point I am re-iterating here is that you can do the same job in LPX or S1 that you can in pro tools, and you don't need a super-computer to do it.

EDIT: So the post is accurate, because I had it set to 1024, and if you are saying it ALWAYS is, then it's irrelevant.

[soybalm]

12 running pretty good here. Logic is kinda messy to work in. I used to love it when it was PC 5.5.3. last pc version. I don't like Studio one at all.

[ShiftStudios]

Originally Posted by soybalm

12 running pretty good here. Logic is kinda messy to work in. I used to love it when it was PC 5.5.3. last pc version. I don't like Studio one at all.

I use Artist Series Mixers and a Control, and they work great in Logic, so no real difference to me. :)

I guess at the end of the day it depends what's most important to you. I prefer a fast stable system. Logic seems to be giving me that, I was totally sick to death of playback errors.

[Sardi]

Originally Posted by Kris75

The only time it's not if a track is record enabled OR you have "first selected" chosen under MIDI prefs.

I wasn't aware of this. Can you elaborate please?

I have first selected under MIDI prefs so that when I jump around my VI's, my MIDI controllers automatically pick up on where I'm at. Are you saying that I'm now running at a lower buffer and potentially using more CPU?

[grayter1]

Originally Posted by ShiftStudios

Pro Tools 12 requires a buffer size of 1024 samples to play and work effectively (mostly, I still get playback issues fequently).
Studio One 3 requires a buffer size of 512 samples to play back and work without error.
Logic Pro X requires a buffer size of 64 samples to play back and work without error.

Sounds about right for PT, but I can run both S1v3 and Logic X at 64 samples. I built a beefy Hackintosh for video editing, so my graphics card was selected for that task. That seems to help.

tg