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2024 NAMM TEC awards Logic Pro as the best DAW

pfschim

pfschim

Just a Skeleton with a Jazz bass
Supporting Member
Apr 26, 2006
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SF Bay Area
#1
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#3
I'm a Logic user and have been since 2009. At this point when I open other DAWs I'm instantly labored by the unfamiliar workflow. That said, if you exclude all of the "stuff" that's included in Logic (loops, instruments, etc.) you're left with a DAW. Just a DAW. They all sound the same, they all do the same basic functions, albeit in slightly different ways, and in 2024 they all work exceedingly well. It's basically impossible to go wrong. Learn the one who's workflow clicks with you the most and don't look back. If you're going to do work in commercial studios be sure to also learn ProTools, but otherwise just pick one and you'll be working in the best DAW, for you.
 
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#4
For me, Logic is the best DAW because because it (now) runs on Mac. Back when there was a Windows edition (before Apple bought it), I had tried it, but decided on Cakewalk/Sonar instead. After switching to the Mac platform, I gave Logic another try. I had it up and recording in about 10 minutes.

Mac has rarely given me any trouble; Windows was a CONSTANT source of issues.

I think it's great that I've only had to buy it once, and updates are free. Over the course of 10 years with Cakewalk/Sonar, I probably spent about $5000 on upgrade versions. I bought one copy of Logic Pro 9 in 2008 for $500 and have continued to get upgrades at no charge.
 
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#5
I'm an Ableton Certified Trainer, but I also love and use Logic (started on Logic 6), even more since it became available for iPad. I used Logic on iPad for two gigs last week, and it sounded good and was perfectly stable. Also, IMHO Logic has the best factory library of instruments and effects. It's good to know more than one DAW - don't get too attached to one piece of software ;-)
 
#6
I have no idea what weight the NAMM TEC awards provide in the market. It would seem to me that such an award (and it's implied endorsement) pretty much ignores a huge part of the market, as not all studio's or potential users are Mac users.

It's certainly no big deal to me, but it did make me curious. I also completely embrace @silky smoove 's notion that at this point in time, pretty much all DAWs work as expected and none "sound better" than the others .... that it's the workflow that matters the most.
 
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#8
Past TEC Awards
Best Workstation Technology:

  • 2023: FL Studio (Image-Line)
  • 2022: Ableton Live (Ableton)
  • 2021: Studio One (PreSonus)
  • 2020: Bitwig Studio (Bitwig)
  • 2019: Pro Tools (Avid)
  • 2018: REAPER (Cockos)
  • 2017: Cubase (Steinberg)
  • 2016: Studio One (PreSonus)
  • 2015: Logic Pro X (Apple)
  • 2014: Pro Tools (Avid)
Ableton and Studio One are my favorites. Reaper is excellent. Logic Pro on iPad is a good one too.
 
#9
seamonkey said:
Past TEC Awards
Best Workstation Technology:

  • 2023: FL Studio (Image-Line)
  • 2022: Ableton Live (Ableton)
  • 2021: Studio One (PreSonus)
  • 2020: Bitwig Studio (Bitwig)
  • 2019: Pro Tools (Avid)
  • 2018: REAPER (Cockos)
  • 2017: Cubase (Steinberg)
  • 2016: Studio One (PreSonus)
  • 2015: Logic Pro X (Apple)
  • 2014: Pro Tools (Avid)
Ableton and Studio One are my favorites. Reaper is excellent. Logic Pro on iPad is a good one too.
Click to expand...
well, given that list over time, I guess that the NAMM TEC awards have pretty much hit all the usual suspects.

As I said in my OP, I'm an Ableton and Reaper user. But as I have both Windows and Mac hardware at my disposal, Logic has hit my radar a bit. My primary reluctance is that I'm not super excited to learn yet another workflow. I have tried to use Garage Band a bit (both on a Macbook and an iPad) and found it kind of non-intuitive compared to other DAWs I'm familiar with.
 
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#10
pfschim said:
I have tried to use Garage Band a bit (both on a Macbook and an iPad) and found it kind of non-intuitive compared to other DAWs I'm familiar with.
Click to expand...
As mentioned I’m primarily a Logic user. I’ve heard some people refer to Logic as GarageBand Pro. I can’t say I agree as I also find GarageBand to be among the least unintuitive DAWs available.
 
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#11
silky smoove said:
As mentioned I’m primarily a Logic user. I’ve heard some people refer to Logic as GarageBand Pro. I can’t say I agree as I also find GarageBand to be among the least unintuitive DAWs available.
Click to expand...
in my personal recording setup, my focus is (mostly) just producing bass tracks for songwriters and a few producers I've worked with over the years. So, I just want a simple, clean way to do that and produce solid spec, clean and clear tracks for those folks to include in their projects. Ableton and Reaper definitely do that, and I suspect there are any number of other DAWs that would work for me too ... although I'm cautious about having to learn another interface/workflow.

When I'm hired into a project in a pro studio, I like to know what's being used for my own understanding of what pros are using. I mostly see ProTools on the control room screens but I have seen Logic a few times as well.

Just for fun, I gave Garage Band a spin a few years ago and found it kind of baffling compared to what I'm used to.
 
#12
Logic is great. except they broke Melodyne ARA integration with M1 architecture 3 years ago and so far the only workaround is 'run Logic with Rosetta'.

but frankly the most important reason I don't consider switching to Logic now is that their cue mixes managing is so 90s, and I actually use them.
 
#13
Aloe said:
Logic is great. except they broke Melodyne ARA integration with M1 architecture 3 years ago and so far the only workaround is 'run Logic with Rosetta'.
Click to expand...
This was a disappointing realization, but the reason for it results in a more stable platform than previous versions of Logic and also compared to other DAWs, so I'm okay with the decision by Apple. In essence, running Audio Units outside of the main system architecture removes any system-dependency from plugins. The result is fewer crashes, particularly due to third party plugins causing conflicts, but to your point does break the ARA functionality. I just use Melodyne via the Transfer feature and it works great. For my needs I'm happy with the compromise.
 
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#14
ProTools all the way. Well for most things. Logic is nice to have on hand for MIDI stuff.

I started when ProTools was SoundTools. I used it for Mastering and stereo tape transfers. I prefer analog recording and was told a long time ago that the definition of an engineer that doesn't know ProTools is "unemployed".

If I was going down the DAW path again I would go ProTools. I just can't stand the planned obsolescence and haven't moved on from PT9 and 10.
 
#15
Logic is great, esp. with all the stuff they have added during the last years without charging for it. Even many of the free plugins are simply great and allow professional work. But I am still afraid of Apple's market power.
I think there can’t be a best DAW. People who are more into electronic or loop based music seem to prefer Ableton or Reaper for a reason. I mostly ignore DAWs and use a MPC and a Tascam Model12. Logic only for serious mixing and mastering.
 
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#16
The best one for you is the one that you are most familiar with. For me, that is Reaper because it does what I need, I've used it for a very long time, and I'm at the point in my life where learning a bunch new software just isn't fun anymore. Here are some other things I like about Reaper:

The license is inexpensive, $60 for a personal license that covers 2 major versions of the software before you need to purchase another license. I did have to recently purchase a new license after using the previous license for a number of years. If you don't feel the need to upgrade, your license is perpetual, but updates will stop.

With that personal license, I can run Reaper on multiple computers (no limit).

The software is self-contained on my computer(s). No requirement for an online account.

The software has versions for Windows, MAC and linux. I have run it on all three. These days it is Windows and linux.
 
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#17
thanks for the replies on this. Thanks to @seamonkey 's post I guess I now understand that the NAMM TEC awards for "best" DAW have kind of been bestowed on just about all the well known DAW's at one time or another, so they probably don't mean too much really.
 
#18
Been a Logic guy since it was owned by Emagic, starting with v4 if I recall correctly. I think it's actually pretty amazing what you get with Logic now for the $. While I use a ton of 3rd party plug-ins, the Logic ones really do just keep getting better and better. I've spent $$$ on Waves stuff over the years for example, so they're my go to for most mixing and mastering, but man, you can do some perfectly pro work with just the stock Logic stuff. But they could update a few things though, in particular for mastering. For example the AdLimiter is still just kind of weird to me. They should come up with something more like the Waves L2--much better interface and simplicity for mastering. Same with their Mulitband Comp. A bit clunky to use IMO. But overall, the stuff has gotten really good in recent versions.
 
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#19
pfschim said:
in my personal recording setup, my focus is (mostly) just producing bass tracks for songwriters and a few producers I've worked with over the years. So, I just want a simple, clean way to do that and produce solid spec, clean and clear tracks for those folks to include in their projects. Ableton and Reaper definitely do that, and I suspect there are any number of other DAWs that would work for me too ... although I'm cautious about having to learn another interface/workflow.

When I'm hired into a project in a pro studio, I like to know what's being used for my own understanding of what pros are using. I mostly see ProTools on the control room screens but I have seen Logic a few times as well.

Just for fun, I gave Garage Band a spin a few years ago and found it kind of baffling compared to what I'm used to.
Click to expand...
I'm a long-time Logic guy, and I find Garage Band kinda baffling. I usually suggest people starting out to just go straight to Logic if they can swing it.
 
#20
LowendG said:
For example the AdLimiter is still just kind of weird to me. They should come up with something more like the Waves L2--much better interface and simplicity for mastering. Same with their Mulitband Comp.
Click to expand...
I agree on the adaptive limiter. It works, just not very intuitively. Fabfilter, like many things, is my go-to for that. I've actually never tried the Logic multiband compressor. The few times I want that I'll either grab Fabfilter's Pro-MB, or one of Izotope's models. I will say that when it comes to compressors in general, Logic's updated Compressor plugin is shockingly good for a factory plugin. I use it frequently.
 
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