Pro Tools vs Logic Pro X

[trevb0t]

Hey guys, 

My brother is about to finish his masters degree in percussion, and has done most of his recording education in Logic Pro X. He's comfortable with it, and wants to buy it.

The problem is that he's got $1k USD budget (in the U.S.) and Logic is only available on Macs. (Yes yes, I know hackintosh is a thing. But he's not gonna go for that.)

He literally wants to go in on a Mac Mini with an i5 8600, 8GB 2666mhz SODIMM single channel, and a 256GB SATA SSD. I will lose my damn mind.

 

Anyway, I'm wondering if any industry pros can weigh in and help me convince the kid that learning Pro Tools is going to be the better option, since he can actually buy a functioning workload PC for 1K.

Or is Logic Pro X THAT MUCH BETTER? (Is it better at all?)

[Crunchy Dragon]

If he's proficient with Logic, that'll probably be the best option as it will optimize and maximize his productivity in the workfield.

 

What are the prices on decent used Macs where you are?

[trevb0t]

3 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

If he's proficient with Logic, that'll probably be the best option as it will optimize and maximize his productivity in the workfield.

 

What are the prices on decent used Macs where you are?

He's in Provo, UT. So I'll have to do a little looking around.

[Crunchy Dragon]

1 minute ago, trevb0t said:

He's in Provo, UT. So I'll have to do a little looking around.

My thought process is if he needs Logic but can't afford a good new Mac, he should look for a good used Mac.

 

Something like a MacBook Pro from a year or two back, for example.

[DrMacintosh]

24 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

He literally wants to go in on a Mac Mini with an i5 8600, 8GB 2666mhz SODIMM single channel, and a 256GB SATA SSD.

Im confused as to what Mac mini you are referring to that has an 8th gen processor and a SATA HDD? 

[trevb0t]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Im confused as to what Mac mini you are referring to that has an 8th gen processor and a SATA HDD? 

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini/3.0ghz-6-core-processor-with-turbo-boost-up-to-4.1ghz-256gb#

 

The current gen.

And I said SATA SSD (As in SATA M.2) not HDD.

[DrMacintosh]

25 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

Anyway, I'm wondering if any industry pros can weigh in and help me convince the kid that learning Pro Tools is going to be the better option, since he can actually buy a functioning workload PC for 1K.

I'm not an "industry pro" but I do hang around people that are in the music scene. There is absolutely no reason to suggest that learning Pro Tools would be beneficial in any way. Each program is different, Logic is just far more convenient and does not require a million extensions just to get it in a usable state. 

 

A base model Mac mini would perform fine for music creation as long as he isn't going crazy with the number of tracks and effects he is applying. 

 

The above config is a really decent Mac. 

[DrMacintosh]

2 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini/3.0ghz-6-core-processor-with-turbo-boost-up-to-4.1ghz-256gb#

 

The current gen.

And I said SATA SSD (As in SATA M.2) not HDD.

Neither are accurate as the drive is PCIe, not SATA. 

[trevb0t]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

I'm not an "industry pro" but I do hang around people that are in the music scene. There is absolutely no reason to suggest that learning Pro Tools would be beneficial in any way. Each program is different, Logic is just far more convenient and does not require a million extensions just to get it in a usable state. 

 

A base model Mac mini would perform fine for music creation as long as he isn't going crazy with the number of tracks and effects he is applying. 

 

The above config is a really decent Mac. 

Right... A decent Mac, but... Basically a $500 computer...

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, trevb0t said:

Right... A decent Mac, but... Basically a $500 computer...

If you want a system that runs macOS officially, it's going to be expensive. This isn't something new. 

 

If your brother likes using Logic, you're not going to be able to tell him to ignore his preference, buy a PC, and re-learn how he makes music so he can use Pro Tools, just so you can get the satisfaction of making him go with a Windows based PC and not a Mac. 

[DrMacintosh]

Also, if the budget is a concern, tell him to look at used iMacs. You can get ones from 2013 for decent prices. They should all have quad core i5s and Iris graphics (if not a dedicated card). 

[trevb0t]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

If you want a system that runs macOS officially, it's going to be expensive. This isn't something new. 

 

If your brother likes using Logic, you're not going to be able to tell him to ignore his preference, buy a PC, and re-learn how he makes music so he can use Pro Tools, just so you can get the satisfaction of making him go with a Windows based PC and not a Mac. 

I have no intention of making him do anything. 

Since he intends to do video creation and editing from the same PC, I would like *the satisfaction* of using my technical knowledge of PC hardware to help him choose a PC which would actually perform what he needs it to with some longevity and a little juice behind it.

$1000 could put him into something pretty powerful on the workload computing side, considering that a gaming GPU isn't a need for him.

 

I relearned 3D modelling within a few weeks outside of college when I switched from Autodesk Maya (about $5k at the time) to Blender.

If you have any technical knowledge of the medium, setting up macros to fit your workflow and learning new names for very similar tools isn't much of a task.

I am asking for industry professionals to give software opinions on basically the two industry leading softwares (Pro Tools being the current leader from what I understand) to see if they know what the switch over might look like. Not to be treated like an asshole for saying that a computer not built for workload computing is not built for workload computing and is far overpriced.

[trevb0t]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Also, if the budget is a concern, tell him to look at used iMacs. You can get ones from 2013 for decent prices. They should all have quad core i5s and Iris graphics (if not a dedicated card). 

Has Apple not cut off support for new iOS versions on a 2013 model?

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, trevb0t said:

Has Apple not cut off support for new iOS versions on a 2013 model?

macOS Catalina supports all Macs from 2012 and newer. 

[DrMacintosh]

10 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

Since he intends to do video creation and editing from the same PC, I would like *the satisfaction* of using my technical knowledge of PC hardware to help him choose a PC which would actually perform what he needs it to with some longevity and a little juice behind it.

$1000 could put him into something pretty powerful on the workload computing side, considering that a gaming GPU isn't a need for him.

Get Final Cut Pro and he won't need the specs of a $1K PC to render video. You can edit 4K video on a MacBook with a CoreM processor and 8GB of RAM because of how good FinalCut Pro is. 

 

10 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

f you have any technical knowledge of the medium, setting up macros to fit your workflow and learning new names for very similar tools isn't much of a task.

It being hard or not does not matter. Whether or not he want's to does.

 

10 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

I am asking for industry professionals to give software opinions on basically the two industry leading softwares (Pro Tools being the current leader from what I understand) to see if they know what the switch over might look like.

You can finds millions of content creators saying that either program is better. It's up to the person who is going to be using the program to decide what they like. There isn't something special about Pro Tools or Logic that will make your songs sell. 

[mr moose]

He as the end user has to decide what he wants and is willing to settle for.    When choosing the tools for your profession only you can decide which is best. 

 

Personally (meaning my first hand experience) I see more of the industry steering away from mac, not because of the program, but because apple keep obsoleting hardware that is essential in a studio environment. There are work around's  that are probably fine, however when you tell a professional audio engineer he can fix that issue with an adapter the whole things starts feeling like a thrown together DIY solution and not fully capable workstation.