Logic Pro X Updated With Improved 12-Core Mac Pro Support, App Enhancements and Fixes

I personally don't understand the idea of using 12 cores for Logic (or any music software), but I suppose it's not for me.

Then you've obviously never used music software with multiple plugins. CPU gets eaten up FAST.

Kind of... its true that you need CPU cycles to deal with I/O, but unless you're running input effects (i can't imagine why) then the input buffer size is more constrained by how your machine is sized for I/O - what your RAM and disk throughput looks like.

If by "Input effects" you mean "effects processing for live guitars, vocals, etc." then…well, hopefully that answers your question.

No-one who is a serious user of audio production applications has any question about the benefits of greater CPU power. As CPU power increases, we are asking more of our plug-ins in terms of both functionality and fidelity. I don't see that slowing down any time soon.

12 cores is overkill for the sessions I'm working on.

Fixed that for you.

Let's hope Aperture gets some attention next.

I just bought a pair of Beats headphones so now I can make some chart topping hits

Regardless of whether you print the effects or not, it's useful to be able to hear them when recording - amps and delays when recording guitars, for instance, or reverb when recording vocals. The low latencies required to do this comfortably (64 or 128 samples) cause an increased load on the CPU, and mean that variations in processing load aren't averaged out as much as they are with longer latencies, increasing the probability of CPU overs.

The same holds true for latencies low enough to play software synths comfortably.

I'll often be in a situation where a track is 90% done, using Ozone, BFD, Ivory, etc. all playing back fine on a 1024 buffer. Then I decide I need to re-record or add a guitar part. I set the buffer down to 128 to do this and the Mac doesn't have the power to play the project at this setting.

People commenting that faster/more core CPUs aren't needed for audio don't know what they're talking about. Freezing tracks to reduce CPU is a PITA.

I wouldn't put it that dramatically. I did 96k/24bit recording on a quad core G5 a while back and would run nearly 30 real time effects - reverbs, compressors/limiters/gates, the usual. I can't recall the CPU going above 50% capacity.

That was an 9 year old machine, and I have to say peeking back in on the digital audio industry, not a lot has changed. Most of the prosumer gear is still 96k/24bit while the pro studios go for 196kHz, but that was around back in 2005 as well. The one thing that has changed is that desktop and mobile CPUs have gotten a ton more powerful with more and more cores.

I suppose you mean 192KHz.
Times have changed since you worked with your G5. Many projects now are 60+ tracks and plug-in count is sometimes 200+. Also many plug-developers are now into analog modeling plug-ins that are real CPU hogs. Try instantiating 80 Slate Digital VCCs followed by 80 VTMs, add EQ, compression, convolution reverbs and an I7 iMac will crumble with the CPU demand.

Music doesn't sound beter than 10 years ago with alle those fancy plug-ins. And I prefer my hardware over plug-ins anyway soundwise.

It's impossible that Apple gave up on Aperture. No abandonware would have been updated that frequently. Aperture is probably the one app that received the most point updates over time.

Any news on a 64bit Logic Node?

Apple hasn't updated it since the early Logic 9 days, looks like they've dumped it. If you need to do that sort of thing I'd look into third party options like VE pro or bidule.

Agreed.

Now the reason behind concidering jumping back to Logic after using PT since 4.5 under Mac OS 9 is that I'm plain sick of AVIDs prices, forced obscolecence, restictions of their proprietary AAX format compared with allowing at least 64bit VSTs to be used with the one wrapper application they forced off the market for dubious reasons and the fact they've played the industry standard routine to gouge people for years now.

This somewhat captive customer abuse is exactly why I got out of PT while it was still called Digidesign. Besides the hardware upgrade path that locked users into buying new systems just to keep PT software current, native systems had matured and allowed the user to deploy the I/O of their choosing.

Made the jump to non-Avid apps years ago and have no regrets.

I personally don't understand the idea of using 12 cores for Logic (or any music software), but I suppose it's not for me.

If you don't understand, yep, it's probably not for you.

But for someone seriously working on audio, it means A LOT! It surely does mean something I do understand pretty well and just make wish a new Mac Pro 12 Core even more :)

12 cores is overkill for audio. Heck, I can't even ramp the CPU to 100% with 6 cores with 40+ tracks of individual plugins. :eek:

40+ tracks is quite "nothing" by today's standard (I often have over 30 tracks just for the drums part). I haven't work on project with less than 100 tracks for a while now, all of them having at least 3, 4 or even more audio plugins... and with at least 50 tracks of Virtual Instruments.

Try some of the heavy plugins (Diva in HQ mode, LuSH-101, etc...) and your 6 cores won't last after few tracks already. Try now to do some motion picture soundtrack and sound fx, etc... and you will hope to have a Mac Pro with 48 core :)

One of my last project I did was a short musical movie and the mixer guy started to be crazy to mix all tracks together because his Protools HD3 rig couldn't get enough tracks to run the whole project, even with the help of the DSP cards and the old 2008 Mac Pro 8 Core.... and guess what? It was still mixing through the SSL instead to do all in the box.

So if you can't ramp your CPU... good for you! But some of us, unfortunately, have a pretty good idea how to.