[Greg Malcangi]

I used Logic (Platinum) exclusively for a couple of years until I upgraded to PT5 at the end of last year. I recorded to the Digi hardware from Logic using the DAE and mixed on an O2R. I hardly ever even ran PT4.

PT5 is definitely weaker on the MIDI side and certainly something I miss is the standard notation even though Logic’s implementation wasn’t always accurate enough and I had to switch to the matrix window. Beyond recording MIDI, moving sequences around, changing the volumes and occasionally using a bit of quantise or transposition, I have never really needed many of the more advanced MIDI manipulation features. On this basis I actually find PT superior to Logic. Except for the lack of notation PT does just about everything I want it to and is often quicker and easier that it was in Logic. I always found Logic to be very stable but I find PT5 to be rock solid.

On the audio side I find PT to be better for editing than Logic. Logic does have the advantage of Stereo tracks. However, I also work quite often in surround and Logic’s philosophy of only mono or stereo tracks is far more difficult to work with than PT’s edit and mix groups. Although there is still a lot PT could do to improve the experience for those who sometimes have to work in surround. I have a friend of mine, a highly respected musician, who runs both Logic and PT at the same time. All the audio in PT and all the MIDI in Logic. He feels the quality of the audio is better recorded into PT than it is into Logic. They both use the same DAE and hardware so I don’t know why this should be. His main reason for running both is that he feels PT is so much better for editing the audio and Logic is better for MIDI primarily because it has standard notation which he can printout for the musicians he employs.

On the automation side I can’t say much as I never used it in Logic, I just automated everything from the O2R. I now use a 16 fader Pro-Control and I have no complaints about automation within PT. There are a few additions I would like to see that I’ve used on other desks but at a cursory glance the automation, routing, etc., appears more advanced than that offered by Logic and is again very stable on PT.

Logic and PT are both complex bits of software with tons of options, it would be impossible to compare all the differences. Using a previously mentioned example, MIDI tracks are more time consuming to set up in PT but there again I find the end result (effectively the addition of a MIDI send channel strip) easier to work with. All I can say is that in my situation I’m generally very pleased with my switch to PT and I won’t be going back to Logic (unless I have to export a MIDI tack to print out some notes!).

Greg