Hello again;
You helped a lot with simple song writing stuff. I lost my Logic Pro purchased many years ago 10.0.7.
I am using Garage band, at the moment on my macBook pro high siera 10.13.6, but because it is sandboxed it leaves out 1 important plugin (Ample sound guitars) I refuse to dig deep into my computer just to get it up and running. Garage band sounds fine and I am used to many of its eccentricities. I am guitar centered and not prone to EDM,House etc. Right now I'm leaning towards Presonus and may find the free one good enough. Studio 6 is beyond my MacBook but ok for my Mini Big Sur. Soooooo, what do you use, and why?
Thanks

 

If you purchased Logic Pro 10, it should still be in your apple account and you should be able to redownload it, and going from v10 to 11 is a free upgrade. (assuming your macOS supports it)

 

Yes, But, I've gone through 5 used computers since then and fowled up my connection to the store. The Mac Book pro I have seems somehow still identified with the previous owner so no purchases and I lost my back-up so I'm out of luck. The only thing I have left is to do a terminal deep dive to get the one plug from ample sound I want/need and keep using Garage band. I don't trust myself to do it right. Also have other unlicensed plugs I don't want to foul up.

 

If the main purpose is to record audio (eg guitar and vocal), you should try the free UAD Luna to see if it fits your need.

 

Physical limitations rule out recording I'm looking to midify everything.Including voice as the chords are old.
Thanks

 

Reaper,..

 

I can use my buddies computer and install stuff on it with another user attached to my Apple ID. I would contact Apple about having either your Apple ID disassociated with older devices you don't have anymore and try and register your current computer with them as yours.

 

Oh, they didn't tell me that when I was on the phone for 1.5 hours. All I got done was reset my password. But when I go to the store the previous owner's chosen name is there but greyed out. I've got the previous owner's password (a long distance good friend that I rarely see anymore).It looks like they have me as a family member or something like that on His computer. I don't know but that experience left a tase I don't want to chew on again. Knowing Apple they will try to get me to take a trip to Florida to straiten things out. Yes, I have my own issues with Apple.

 

Apple are slow resetting passwords. If I paid for Logic, I would use Logic; by hook, or by crook. If I didn't make electronic music, I would go back to Protools. If I didn't want to pay for Protools, I would use REAPER. If I needed more than Logic for Electronic music, I would get Cubase. If I was making Orchestral; I would get Cubase, Art Director, VSL, etc.

If you paid me, I would use Luna or Harrison whatever. But that's about the only way. I started using FL with V1, and would not go back to using it. I would use Studio One if I had paid for it, but see no reason to switch from Logic to it. They are very similar, except for the fact that Apple do not leave existing problems around for years, while adding more new features on top of the broken ones.

For more experimental things, I would use ReNoise. I would use Ableton for Electronic music, also. If I did not mind it being about $300 more than Logic. If I was considering Bitwig, I'd probably end up on Ableton for now. The RipX DAW looks interesting, but I haven't used it. It's early in it's development and if the company fails, I do not like the idea of using something deprecated/obsoleted for a DAW.

If I had a password problem with Logic because of the Apple Store; I would start the reset process and use a shady copy of Logic until I could access the account in a few weeks. Apple is not going to chase you down for using software that you paid for. I have no idea why their password reset process takes so long, and how they know down to the minute when they will give me my account access back. 3 weeks from now. I will never understand that. But I wouldn't blame Apple for it; because I was the one who lost my password.

 

Last edited: Jun 4, 2024

Wow, well stated. I've been with apple since my Commodore 128 could no longer be see under all the post-it notes but I'm increasingly disturbed by the constantly upgrade policy they have that requires a new computer. Can not afford it anymore.
My phone conversations with apple were almost accusatory, like I was trying to get away with something.
I've been on the Reaper site going through the new song videos and so for like what I see. I'd like to know if you or anyone else know what the gotchas are, as there always are some. Thanks for your post.

 

I wouldn't say it's that bad. Sure, right now we are going through chip changes and the growing pains involved seem to be a little more difficult to navigate then the PowerPC to Intel transition... sure... But M chipped Macs have been out now for years, and known coming kinda thing.

Clone and I (and I believe he still does solely from what he has said), used 4,1 and 5,1 Macs forever.. hell, my 2009 machine is right next to me right now and still works fine and while I'm using my newer machine for music now, that, and my 5,1 work just fine, although kinda stuck in time for the reason so I can access older legacy projects and whatnot,... but if you had told me when I bought that 4,1 in 2009 that I would still be relying on it ~14-15 years later?

That's value. Sure, I upped the ram, put in SSD's, got a USB3 card and whatnot... but hey... it got me a long way.

The new M chipped Macs ARE powerful, and I'm real impressed and more then I thought I would be, and I needed a new machine for other reasons as well.... but I plan on it lasting me a long time, as I tend to get good life and value out of my Mac purchases... whether repurposed at some point or "retired" on ice etc.

I don't like changing macOS's as much as the next guy, and I don't like having to rebuild my idea of "what works as an instrument/recording" device as it's something I do slowly and deliberately with study, but I don't have to do it that often... once a decade tops it seems... (and while I won't say there haven't been some challenges, but the reward has FAR outweighed the pita tbh...)

and it sucks to lose certain plugins and everything (why I have 2 of the older machines in different locations), and whatnot... sure.

But if you look around, and buy Apple Refurbished etc, you can really find some great prices on a machine that will last you.

At least I have.

No, it's not like Windows where I can run the 2003 version of Reason 2.5 or whatever lol... but I'm ok with that.

Hell, my Vic20 after 20 years after purchase wasn't giving a lot of love either ;)

 

With REAPER? It's like the Audio version of Gentoo Linux. Gentoo will do everything and anything you want, if you configure and compile it yourself. There is no catch to REAPER. It's just another program to learn. Some things that should be easy are convoluted. But if someone had a complaint about another DAW, they have probably "fixed" it in REAPER.

If you want to do that type of low-level work in Logic, you can. It's called the Environment. Most people never need it or even know it is there. I draw the line at something like this, or with REAPER using scripts for things that should be official features.

 

I personally use Reaper. I really like it. It takes some getting used to (this can be said about any DAW though), but once you figure it out, it's amazing how powerful this DAW for the price you pay for a valid license. You can try it for free up to 60-days, at which point a nag screen pops up (I think only after 60 days).. but you can still keep using for free if you really want, although that isn't technically allowed by the devs.

I got my start in music (amateur) way back in the tracker days, and Cakewalk 1.x (dabbled in both).. so I've used a lot of different DAWS, but all were in Windows. But I've used trackers, Cakewalk/Sonar, FruityLoops, Reason, Cubase, Reaper, Ableton Live (a small bit) and probably others. Cubase is probably my favorite, but the license on that is pretty ridiculous and I like to have a valid license for my DAW. I got tired of trying to balance my wallet with "do I need these new features?".

I will say Reaper does everything any DAW can do, however, and sometimes more than others (And they are really good with keeping it updated). It can just be a little less intuitive if you're used to a certain way of doing things... especially feels the case for MIDI stuff. I operate 100% with MIDI/VSTs and almost entirely in the box, though, so it's definitely quite doable.

 

I bet Reaper is a notch or 3 or 4 above garage band. I'm looking to write some songs that have been hanging around in my head since my cover band days in the 60's and 70's. The only complexities would be in the instruments. That's why Ample sound guitars are intriguing. I'll basically start with Toontracts EZ keys and Bass, and Drums. Then move on to some guitar picking, then melody sung by Emvoice. Then moderate mixing down and on to the next song with the least amount of hassle along that path as possible. Reaper looks like it might just fit unless you folks think otherwise. If I could use 10.0.7 that sits in my applications folder
without having to ad all the other stuff I'd be fine. And as long as Reaper sounds good and can handle the plugins I want I'l be fine.

 

Probably the best thing about Reaper is it's performance.. which I think is hard to beat. So it most likely can "handle the plugins (you) want". But that said, I'm not sure what format they are or anything.. but it is able to load a wide variety of formats in either 32-bit or 64-bit. That includes VST, VST3, LV2, AU, CLAP, DX, and JS.

As far as "sounds good", most people will tell you that all DAWs sound alike. You won't be disappointed there either.

What I WILL say is reaper comes with some great native FX plugins, but is pretty crummy when it comes to its own instrument plugins. I don't really personally care about that, but you might. I use 3rd party plugins for everything, really.

Out of the box, the look of the DAW isn't inspiring, but it's very customizable, unlike most DAWs. There are even themes to try and make it look more like Logic (Tip: if you search "Reaper Themes Collection" on the sister site, you'll find a huge library of themes someone has collected).

The other thing great about Reaper is it's documentation and tutorials. A dude named Kenny Gioia has made a tutorial for doing just about anything with Reaper, they're all here.

 

Last edited: Jun 4, 2024

I don't know about that. Where I worked before I had the chance to here a number of DAWs and without effort Logic sounded fuller and more professional by quite a margin. Now it could have been personal taste of those that used them. Or heaven forbid my ear was a tad more refined. Who knows, I'm glad to here what you think of Reaper though.
Thanks all. Good talking too you again.