Doc;

There are too many differences to try and explain, but think of it like this.

GarageBand is the free TextEdit type software compared to Logic which is like the MS Word.

GarageBand does many things well for being a free "toy" mixing solution. Logic provides vast amounts of options to adjust virtually every input.

If you are used to GarageBand and have never used a full functioning pro style software like Logic, it can be extremely intimidating. The jump to Logic is well worht the price, but I strongly recommend that you buy a book or seek out instructional videos.

Hi, Doc.

Another perspective.

The R8 comes with Cubase LE. Cubase LE 5 (for example) runs on a Mac.

http://www.zoom.co.jp/products/cubasele5/

Why not just use what came with your R8?

Cubase is a powerful plarform - as is Pro Tools, Logic, Sonar, Studio 1 and Digital Performer.

The R8 is a great little device for tracking with - and it even goes to 24 bit 48KHz. This makes it a good entry point for getting your tracks into any one of the major DAW platforms for a production mixdown at a later date. If you don't want to break the bank, it would tend to make sense not to head towards Logic because it won't offer you much more than any of the other DAW's. You already have all you need with the LE version of Cubase that came with your R8. This combination will be fine for getting your songs assembled.

Like myself, many mix engineers here on Kompoz are using Pro Tools and Cubase (for example) - but the kind of DAW's we use are more sophisticated beefed-up platforms which have more production capabilities than a more general "LE" DAW. That's not to say you can't get great results with "less". If you don't add [print] reverb, compression or other FX to your raw tracks (and have decent headroom), you'll have more control of your mix - and have the kind of tracks that mix engineers prefer. This is an option maybe worth considering at some time in the future.

I hope this helped a bit.

Cubase is indeed a quality DAW. I've used it for a long time.

Like any DAW platform, its performance will be dictated by the specifications of the PC / Mac.

If the PC / Mac is under-powered and you push it too hard, there's a whole raft of problems ahead of you - but that'll probably be noticed in a "heavy" mix. If it's just basic tracking and not going for an over-ambitious mix, you'll be absolutely fine. As noted earlier, you can do a lot with "less".

Cubase can run virtual instruments too - from drum kits (like Addictive Drums) to guitar modeling software (like Amplitube) and as many synths as you can shake a stick at. Most DAW's are able to do this. There's a huge amount of virtual instruments out there. Almost spoiled for choice.

Logic costs $199 now, and so that's pretty competitive with any other DAW out there, esp given the functionality it currently brings. I went from garage band to Logic and it was pretty seemless as a transition.

I bought a refurbed 27" iMac i7 w/ 2 TB drive and up'd to 16GB RAM for a total around $1300-$1400 and added Logic. That's pretty competitive pricewise with PC's, and it's been a lot less of a hassle than using a PC (which yes, I do use for other things now, not music) - e.g. Logic has crashed 3 times in a year, and the Mac once.

I find I have only had performance issues on this system when I've had 38+ tracks and 16 subs, plus many plugs all running. Addressing that was dealt with by freezing the tracks and re-orging the memory allocations in the project, but I'd say that's the limit. Beyond that more horse power is needed.

The waves plugins are cpu pigs...sigh.

Just throwin' this out there as an option for consideration...
Reaper:

http://www.reaper.fm/

I'm using the trial version and so far, it does everything I need it to do.  It's light weight, it works with all of the VSTs/instruments I use, and once I confirm it works with my USB/keyboard/controller, I'm buying it....$60!  Not bad at all!  Very functional and not a drain on the wallet.

Like I said...it "works for me"...but others may not agree...but it's worth checking out the trial version.

I have to admit I am a GarageBand user.  There, I said it.  I love GarageBand.  

I loved GB too. It was easy and my first pieces here in kompoz were done in it. As I started to want to do more, I realized I wanted a more refined system for production - Logic was that. But I honestly think you can do a great job with GB as well - up to a point. :)

The nice thing here is that you have a decent sized crowd of people who actually like to mix stuff and have invested a bit to be able to do that, and so as long as you can create a good set of tracks, you can get a very good mix and master from some of the engineers here.

I'm using Logic with Lion - it doesn't seem to have any issues that I didn't see with *Leopard.

Hey Scott...I'm in an iMac like Bill and migrated from Garage band to Logic about a year ago. Everything is similar, just much more robust...much to learn still and rarely work more then 15 tracks per project, but absolutely LOVE it. So, I must give it a thumbs up if you're a dedicated mac user.

And Bill that's a bummer about the wavs using up system resources...I've heard they are the magic mixer elixer....sigh...

:)

Well, I end up using a very small set of them nowadays. I use the vox and bass riders, and I use the noise reduction set when I need to. I'm finding that I am moving more towards Alloy for a lot of things that waves does, and it's cheaper over all. The waves desser is great tho - and their compressors are very good.

But I'm trying to move away as they really do eat up the resources.

For me it worked the opposite way. After fiddling for years with various DAWs, I ended up using Garageband. The main reasons are :

I bought a Mac because of music and because I grew tired with PC 's complicated and troublesome behaviour when I was making music. 

I invest mainly in analog gear and as my studio grows I tend to go analog and away from the computer. 

I use DAW mainly for tracking and rarely editing (If I was godess Kali, probably, I wouldn't use a DAW at all) and very few and selected plugins (for anything I can't do with the hardware I have). 

The Garageband was included with the Mac so I didn't have to invest on a new DAW and it offers all I need. 

When I had to rely on plug-ins a DAW like Cubase,Pro Tools,Logic etc. was an absolute necessity. Garageband in my opinion is limitating when you make music mainly digital. 

It is just a matter of what your needs are and how you prefer to work.

Many, many moons ago I began digital recording using Pro16, the grandfather of Cubase on a Commodore 64 and then progressed to Cubase on an Atari. In the last millenium I switched to Logic 7 on a Mac. It was dreadful, hopeless and bugged to high heaven. Then Apple bought Logic and did what Apple always does - made it brilliant.

Recently my daughter started using Garageband and to assist her I bought the latest version and it is absolutely brilliant. I understand it now uses the Logic engine but it is far superior to Logic in it’s presentation.

The designers of Logic made their software look like analogue recording equipment, particularly the deck and at the time this seemed a great idea. Analogue decks featured patches and buses and Logic uses that idea however the digital world needs no bus, every channel can have every effect.

My personal opinion is if you can't create a hit with Garageband you can't create a hit. It does it all and it does it faster. All those pesky compression settings are all set up for you and you can still play with them.

What Logic gives you is lots of synthesisers to twiddle with and you can transpose aif files too, which is great but compared to Garageband the interface is clunky in the extreme.

My guess is that in ten years time Logic, if it still exists, will look like Garageband with extras and it will have dropped all that old 80s recording studio look.

One interface will win out, two makes no sense and my money is on Garageband.

As for the rest - RIP. Winner takes all and the winner is Apple without a shadow of a doubt. I've been on Macs for a quarter of a century and they deserve their success. Truly brilliant.

Hi all. is there a sound diffrence between Logic and Garageband? Sonically speaking.

I suppose there could be sonic differences based on GB being 32bit and Logic supporting 64bit where your plugins are concerned, but I suspect most of the difference there would be more resource utilization than sonic, but I have no real idea how code paths in the plugins may differ between their 32 and 64 bit versions.

I suspect you will find more difference in what each can export.

GB can export AAC and mp3, each up to 320kbps. You can also get the AIF files out of the song.band package if you want. In your project freeze your tracks and then right click on the .band file and select "Show Contents": the aif files are in the Freeze Files folder. (Note: it's been 3 years since I used GB - I think this is now done via "Track Locking".)

Those should be very high quality AIF files.

Logic has a lot more options in terms of the quality of file it exports, and it's a lot easier to do as well.

I personally find using logic a lot easier than using garageband these days, but then it's all about what you are used to, I suppose.

ABout 3 months ago, Computer Music Magazine put out a "Special" edition all on GB.  I've seen it as recently as last week at a Barnes and Noble so its still available.  It is over 100 pages of everthing GB and how to use it like a pro. 

Personally, I'm totally Pro Tools as my main DAW.  But to those mentioned above, Reason is another one with amazing capability, too!  I use Reaper and Reason inside PT all the time.  Love all of them!