Anybody care to comment on differences between Cubase and Logic? I've never owned a DAW other than Sonar. My plans are to get a Mac and get Logic, but want to make sure Logic is the best for me. Cubase looks excellent too. I realize this could be a difficult question to answer, but those who switched from sonar to logic made a decision to chose logic over cubase and others. What would those main reasons be?

Scott Lee
HI Rain,
 
So ive dumped 9 for X. Yes it is better in my personal expereince thus far. 9 is awesome and its one of the shining daws we have used, just find so many thing now missing going back that was on my wish list. Def give in 2 big thumbs up. Hope yer well. 
 
Best,
Scott

Thanks, Scott. I'm definitely in the process of trying to make the upgrade happen quicker than I had initially planned. It does look fantastic.

guitartrek
Rain - thanks for the informative response on the differences. I'm glad they have good instruments and effects. The part where you say Logic is more "focused", always thinking "one step ahead", is what is sticking with me. Cubase seems to have a ton of features. But getting to the feature you want, at the time you need it, may not be as intuitive as in Logic...that's what I'm interpreting.

Now, porting Sonar projects over to Logic would seem like a daunting task. Audio and midi tracks would be straight forward I think, and maybe even tempo maps... But all the track and buss automation? Is there any method of copying automation?

You're welcome. For someone used to Sonar X1 or X2, I'm guessing that it's easier to find your way around in a similar unified GUI.
 
 
As for transferring sessions, not really. This may be worth considering for someone with lots of ongoing projects. One option could be to export individual audio stems w/ automation, and export busses to audio and all. Personally, I was at the crossroads so to speak, so I just jumped ships and any project that I've wanted to recreate was done the hard way (though it was not that hard, anyway).

As a Logic PC 5.5 user, I question why I bought Sonar Producer 8, and didn't just buy a used Mac and Logic Pro 8.  It probably had something to do with the cost of a Mac combined with the cost of Logic at that time.  I do believe I would have been having a lot of fun for the last 5 years.
 
Logic X, with its drummer, wonderful instruments, and content - and now this latest patch (which among other things fixes some bugs in the notation editor !!!), isn't helping matters. 
 
I kind of hope Sonar X3 shows up soon, so I can decide if I want to jump or stay.
 
 

I left pc years ago and hence why I haven't been around here to go to logic 7 and mac, I have used logic since 2.5 for over17 years and only had a short couple year break away from it when apple dumped pc, and I was using alternative solutions trying to find a replacement. I caved in and went to apple. Since version 9 and the way pdc works, automation on tracks with any plugins it's latency is not possible to do in time. Fact. I can't understand all the raving here and that important feature not being mentioned. If you are interested you can read my full report at gearslutz
I'm actually thinking of moving *back* and buying sonar x2. Had a little pc laptop since Xmas that cost a third of my MacBook Pro and is a bit more powerful. I was unwell and missed the sonar demo period before it expired as I had it installed and fell ill and went to hospital and didn't get to use it, but seriously considering just taking the plunge anyway. I wanted to buy essential to learn it, or the studio upgrade for $99, but the to go from studio to producer I love it is more money than going from producer 8 which I have to producer now. Very frustrating that there's no $$99 update path from studio to producer considering that is the difference in upgrade cost now. But back on to logic, here's the topic http://www.gearslutz.com/...completely-broken.html

I don't understand how logic can be so raved about when in 2013 it can't time automation properly. I love the program too and must admit if they fixed these pdc related issues I'd stay, although I still don't like the new interface, its just not as easy on the eye or neat as logic 9.
Sonar from everything I read has perfect automation and pdc timing. That link on logic automation is not matter of opinion or non reproducible, it's all fact and repeatedly reproducible for anyone that has tried it.

So to anyone wanting to switch to logic, remember this. And remember when you hit record everything on those record enabled channels is stacked onto ONE core and often overloads and makes it impossible to record live. The grass is not always greener. I keep on itching to buy sonar producer now but realise I am stuck it if its not for me, so I will at least see if cakewalk can give me another demo period. But I have been watching videos galore and reading info and it seems to be the best daw around overall at present regarding interface, workflow,and performance. The best compromise of all areas basically. Oh and the clip gain is a lot better than logics. The visual adjustment of the wave file is something that logic still doesn't have with non destructive clip gain. Again, the grass is not always greener.

When was the last time you actually used Sonar Rain? What version as well please.

wow i see sonar upgrade from my produce 8 to producer x2 is $99 this month. WOW. so glad i waited.
 
Ok now it's worth it to me, i am going to buy it right now, even if i can never sell it again nor ever use it, no demo nag screens and no "pressure" with time is really worth $99 for me to get to know it properly and see if i want to switch.
 
I guess i'll know myself soon what has more niggles lol. hehe.
 

First, since it's just been mentioned, I'm one of those who LOVE the tools in Logic and the way they work, especially the marquee - which can be used for a bunch of different things - including setting a temporary playback range/start position. I thought it was the most useless tool when I first began but it has become my go to thing and one of the advantages over Sonar for me.
 
You can switch tools using the numeric keypads or by pressing escape and clicking on the tool you want. You can also assign different tools to different combinations of mouse + keyboard shortcut. You can assign different tools to different mouse boutons - up to 3. Lastly, there is a behavior that is somewhat similar to the smart tool.
 
Whenever my cursor travels on the lower half of a waveform, it turns into the marquee tool, enabling me to select/mark range for playback, set playback start temporarily, etc... The marquee is pretty much a smart tool.
 
TTOZ, I read your post on GS and it's obvious from the start that you know your stuff and that you aren't just complaining. I trust that the issues you mentioned can be duplicated repeatedly. And as you guess, I don't use UAD, nor do the people I've had the opportunity to visit - except for one, and I'll be getting in touch w/ him soon enough in this regard because I plan on adding a UAD card to my rig. It is entirely possible that Sonar is a better option for you.
 
I wasn't aware of the issue which bothers you and it doesn't affect me but I think that you did the right thing bringing it into this discussion. Whichever question I can answer about what Sonar didn't do for me of did so for me I'll be happy to help. I'm not familiar w/ the X series though, but many of the issues I had w/ it seem to have prevailed w/ the newest versions.
 
Backwoods - Sonar 8.5 was the last version I used - Pro Audio 8-ish was the first.
 
 
Playback engine has been improved but still had a lot of catching up to do last time I checked (after X1) - for my workflow, anyway. 
Logic has the integrated sampling tools and sampler - that gives Logic the edge on every other guys FOR ME.
Comping - Logic has swipe comping. Sonar doesn't.
Varispeed.
Skip selection - the coolest thing when you try different arrangements. Reverse loop points to skip section. Do it right in front of playhead w/ playback engaged for extra points. Priceless. And smooth...
Importing Session Data - Crucial for me to be able to import only markers and a few tracks, or only track X and Y and their assigned buss.
Scalable GUI - one of the main reasons I switched, as trivial as it seems. I wouldn't want to deal w/ 40 tracks in Sonar on a laptop.
Intelligent management of aforementioned GUI. 
Record on selected track - not having to arm a track to record on it is a luxury. But you get used to it, and it's frickin' handy.
Input channels - I like to record through. Saying that it's useless is just like those people who used to say that monitoring through was useless. Sonar is one of the last ones not to have these by the way.
Routing options - Try routing a bus to a channel. Logic wins.
Navigate from one channel's plug-in GUI directly to another channel's plug-in - didn't work in Sonar back in the days...
Logic Compressor - I love that plug. And most of the bundled stuff.  But that's just me.
Industry standard - yes it does come into play. 
 
 
I can also tell you what Sonar had which I thought gave it the edge over Logic:
 
- MIDI Plug-ins (as of Logic X, no longer an issue).
- GUI - No longer an issue since Cakewalk "borrowed" Logic's GUI. Only, from a Windows angle.
- Ease of use and legacy - Out of the equation w/ Sonar X1, I had to start anew, anyway.
- Open-standard, alternative to Steinberg's proprietary tech - Cake bite the bullet and went ASIO and VST.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Rain - That scalable GUI would be a big hit for me since I'm a laptop user, and the MacBookPro will be a smaller screen than I'm used to. (they only come in 15" these days)
 
And thanks for your comments about programming for different tools. I'm relieved that you can assign key strokes for tools in Logic.  I like keeping my eye on the object I'm editing rather than having to reach for a tool which takes your eye "off the ball".
 
Do you use drum maps?  I'm using Superior and have a lot of drum pieces.  I do a lot of drum midi note editing and I arrange the drum pieces in a specific way to keep things organized.  Sonar's PRV with drum maps works well for me because it is so dense and each hit is represented by a triangle - not a note duration.  It's hard to assess Logic's lane sets from the limited screen shots in their manual.  Don't know if you can get the density of seeing so many at a time.  This may be one sore point with me.  

Rain
I've worked w/ a 13" for 2 years and while it wasn't the most comfortable thing, it was manageable. 

 
So I just missed out on an i7 iMac on craigslist - they were asking only $750, but someone scooped it up the same day.
 
In the even that Sonar X3 doesn't float my boat, I've been trolling for the cheapest Macs which can run Mountain Lion / Logic X.
 
Someone is selling a 2009 Mac Mini Core 2 Duo server with 2 500GB (5400rpm) drives with 4GB memory.  I'm wondering if this would do for song writing and home recording.  I suspect the constraint would be the drive speed.
 
Also, for bread and butter instrument sounds like brass sections, saxes, and basses, do you rely on samples which come with the ESX24?  I'm just wondering what takes the place of Dim Pro in Logic for these kinds of sounds?  There is no rompler included is there?  Is there an instrument plug that logic users gravitate toward for sounds which aren't included in the key, synth, and drum instruments included in Logic.
 
As I was writing, I realized that Dim Pro runs on the Mac - but then I checked, and it doesn't run on Lion or Mountain Lion - d'oh!!!
 

I'm sorry to dig out this old thread, but I am thinking of getting logic. My question is regarindg the drummer, and especially the "follow"-function. Is the drummer indeed able to "follow" the selected audio track? or is it really a good-sounding idea that doesn't work in reality?