Apple Logic Pro /LogicExpress Discussion

Both the current iMacs and MacBooks have dual monitor capabilities  
that are NOT limited to mirroring.  The older iMacs had that  
restriction, but I bought mine 2.5 years ago and it is not limited to  
mirroring.  However, they won't give you three monitors, so the  
others are right that you probably want a Mac Pro.  Mine has 4 DVI  
outs - I just wish I had enough room on my desk for 4 monitors!

RAM is useful for running large AU instruments, and fast disk drives  
are good for running lots of tracks, so buy as your needs indicate.   
I agree with everyone else that you should do the RAM yourself,  
rather than have Apple do it - far fewer $$$.

My audio drive is external FW800, and I don't have any probs.  My  
audio "cards" are also external, FW400 (MOTU 828 and Presonus FP10).   
My MOTU has been more solid than the Presonus, but they both are  
pretty good, and I can aggregate them so that Logic sees them as one  
huge 18-input sound card.

The more discriminating ears, however, tend to opt for the Apogee,  
Metric Halo or RME interfaces, but Firewire is likely to be around  
longer than PCI-e, so I'd stick with external, rather that card-based  
audio interfaces.

I don't see much point in buying a used computer.  Macs hold their  
value far too well, and since you are looking at it strictly for  
music, the one real benefit to buying used, tons of installed  
software for evaluation purposes only, is kind of moot for you.

As for differences in Logic, I don't remember back to 5.5 (though I  
still have it on my computer), but I think my  key commands have  
survived every upgrade so far.  Some keys have changed to match Mac  
conventions, such as CMD-click no longer sending an audio file to the  
arrange window, but I think that the learning curve (and there will  
be a learning curve, rest assured) is worth it.  Especially for v.8.   
I don't think everyone else loved it as much as I, but the whole  
single window approach introduced in 8 made a HUGE difference in my  
productivity.

Good luck.

Gregory


On Sep 10, 2009, at 4:14 PM, dachillone4u wrote:

> Well I have been very admit about never upgrading my logic that I  
> purchased many moons ago, but the new versions that I see seem  
> undeniable.
>
> I need suggestions on a good setup on the Mac end for strictly logic.
>
> So what type of Mac should I look into?
>
> Are there options for multiple displays(I have a three monitor  
> setup right now)?
>
> Best or Decent sound card suggestions?
>
> That's about it really.
>
> Thanks for any help.