Logic 5 + 001 - 72 tracks!!

[Audiohead]

Just did a torture test with Logic 5 and my 001. 72 tracks @ 24-bit 44.1!! I was actually able to record up to 82 tracks, but can only play back 72. I would assume that extra buffering is applied during recording, but I may be wrong....

Regarding the 32 track petition, I think it's well justified to ask for this and more besides, when the 001 hardware can obviously return this kind of performance when pushed hard.

And I don't even have a cutting edge system!

Asus A7V133
Athlon T-bird 1.4GHz
Quantum Fireball LP 20GB ATA66 (System)
Seagate Barracuda IV 60GB ATA100 (Audio)
Matrox G400 Dualhead graphics
512MB Crucial PC133 SDRAM
Win98SE w/ 98lite 'chubby' desktop

[APAULOS]

Have you experienced any glitches running Logic 5 from the digi? Or have those been taken care of in the new version of Logic?

[gabriel_p]

JPS, he never said it was Davec's torture test just A torture test. you know like recording 82 tracks ain't torture enough! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Audiohead]

OK, here we go:

APAULOS - Yes, there have been some glitches, but I'm pushing my system to the limits with the mixes I'm currently trying to finish off. Performance seems better than 4.8, and some previously troublesome plugins are working much better now. My big Logic/001 problem has been spontaneous rebooting, and it hasn't gone away. But I now think it might be my graphics card at fault...

flashbak - No, you can't monitor FX while recording, but as you say, it's rumoured to be on the way in the next subrelease. Pity, cos it's so straightforward with PTLE. We shall see...

aziel - All I did was to install Logic on my PC in addition to PTLE, and then enable the Direct I/O driver in the Audio Hardware setup window in Logic. I was up and running in a few minutes. All 18 inputs and outputs on the 001 box (and PCI card) then become available.

JPS - I recorded 18 tracks, then played them back while overdubbing another 18. Kept attempting to do this until the system choked. I didn't use any plugins as Logic doesn't yet support FX monitoring. As Gabriel said, I wasn't testing CPU, just disk throughput. I think that the UAD and TC DSP cards are supported, but I'm not 100% sure.

[Mark_Knecht]

Audiohead,
Very cool results. Since I'm not a Logic user, help me understand:

1) Is Logic in control of the whole system? Start/stop/etc.?

2) What hardware is Logic using? Do you have an RME or Audiophile 2496 or something?

3) Can you record in both PTLE and Logic at the same time?

Thanks,
Mark

[Audiohead]

Mark

I use Logic as a replacement for PTLE, as opposed to running them together. I believe someone has found a way to run Logic as MIDI only in sync with PTLE, but that's another matter. This may be what you're referring to.

Logic has access to the 001 hardware just as PTLE does, except for the fact that you can have up to 96 (stereo!) audio tracks if your PC can handle it... The MIDI is second to none in my opinion, and it supports Direct X and VST plugins (as well as having 50 or so of its own), along with VST instruments. And the new automation is great - very much like PTLE. But beware, it's a big, complex app, not nearly as easy to grasp as PTLE.

That's the good news - the problem is stability. Yavuz has mentioned this several times, as have I. My problem, as we discussed a few weeks back, is spontaneous rebooting. This has never happened in PTLE. Having said that, I've also seen a few posts from happy Logic/001 people around here, so my problem could be the exception rather than the rule. In fact, I'm about to put my money where my mouth is and get a new graphics card to see if that cures the problem. I have a Matrox G400 Dualhead, and have recently heard that the G450 was introduced shortly after to address reliability problems with the G400.

The odd thing is that a couple of weeks ago I recorded an accoustic session (4 mics - 2 vocal, 2 guitar) in Logic. I then realised that PTLE was probably the app I should have been using for a session like this (it's simpler and frendlier), so I imported the wave files into a new PTLE session and hit play. And there was a really different sound! I got the guys to A/B the two sounds with me, and everyone preferred Logic, myself included. There were just 4 faders up, no EQ or FX, so it was a fair A/B test. PTLE seemed to be more 'in your face', with a more aggressive top end, while Logic was warmer and more natural sounding.

So if I can get this system nice and stable, I'll be a very happy man.

And I'm not knocking PTLE at all - it's still a great app, and I love it for certain jobs (mainly editing and comping), but I'll now think twice about mixing in it....

[flashbak]

Audiohead,
Something I was very disappointed to find in previous releases of Logic was its inability to allow one to listen to a plugin's effect while it's being recorded. Can you now do that in version 5.0? I believe I read somewhere that that feature won't be in the initial release of 5.0 but that the 5.1 update will have it.

[aziel]

Audiohead, you gotta explain to me what do yo did and how...it´s very interesting, works fine? what are you using? the 001 hardware?

[JPS]

Audiohead, it would be nice to know how you conducted this test. I do have a few questions, if you don't mind sharing your experiences. Did you load up each track with the same five plugins specified on the Davec test for the Digi 001? During recording do the plugins actually consume CPU cycles, or are they somehow disabled? What would be a track count without plugins? Does this software support the UAD card solutions?

I'm sure Logic would love to sell copies of their software to Digi 001 owners, but this is interesting.

[Mark_Knecht]

Audiohead,
Thanks for the very clear explanation. Sounds very interesting. Might this be true under Nuendo also?

I certainly remember our conversations about your reboot problems. I'm sorry we haven't been able to solve that. I seem to have solved my problems under PTLE. (Knock on wood. Having said that I bet I'll get one today!)

I've never used Logic, but I'll have to consider trying it out. You have full access to the hardware? All 8 inputs plus the ADAT and s/pdif inputs are available? If so, that's very cool.

Cheers,
Mark