(Review/First Impressions) Logic Pro on iPad is an absolute must

I know a lot of people here have been skeptical of the release of Logic Pro for iPad, and after using it for a bit, I’d like to assuage those skepticisms because I think this represents the ultimate turning point for the history iOS music production.

I’ve been making music for almost a year now (you can check my past posts, I shared a lot of it here) and I’ve been using Cubasis 3 exclusively to the point where I could draw every page of the interface and every stock plugin from memory. In just about 3-4 hours of meandering about Logic Pro, I’ve gotten used to the UI and almost all the basic features that Cubasis offers, and I can confidently say Logic Pro instantly makes Cubasis 3 obsolete in every way. This is the experience of someone who has never used a desktop DAW, but has always been envious of their capability.

Let’s start with the interface, which is beautifully managed and feels right at home with a resident Cubasis user. Tracks are organized on a timeline, tracks can be grouped, subgrouped, foldered, and collapsed to make organization instant. Audio effects and what not for each individual track are presented in a module strip across the bottom, ala Ableton, and each AuV3 can be summoned in a panel just like in Cubasis. The mixer can also be summoned from anywhere at any time, as can the piano roll for any given track.

Midi events can be looped and dragged, there are about 100x more features and functions with regards to Midi and quantiziation, midi notes can be quantized to any key or scale very easily. The audio processing is much higher quality than in Cubasis, and the collapsible, almost modular UI is incredibly intuitive and far more pleasant to use. Writing Midi notes will take a few minutes of getting used to, but once you get the hang of it it feels far easier and more efficient than in Cubasis.

The sample library and browser is located on the left hand side, and features a SEARCH BAR, a tagging system, and colour coding for instruments, effects, and samples, and can be summoned and collapsed at any time. Audio and Midi samples can be dragged and dropped, and the audio editor is insanely capable. One shots and samples can be loaded into a sampler and played via Midi within a few clicks. These are features we have been asking for for years in Cubasis 3.

The stock plugins and synths are some of the best and most complex I’ve ever seen in any DAW period. Not to mention the over 50GB of free sample libraries and packs immediately available for download, with more to come.

Automation in Cubasis has easily been its weakest aspect. The automation system in Logic is vastly superior, points can be curved and drawn overtop the midi events in the timeline, and automation lines for different parameters are colour coded and stacked on top of each other for fool proof visualization. The automation can be edited directly on the track, or on its own dedicated editor in the midi roll for more precision. All the parameters for instruments and effects are well organized and easily selectable from a menu, and drawing parameters in general is much more intuitive.

A few downsides that I’ve noticed so far is that there doesn’t seem to be comprehensive mouse and keyboard support. I haven’t found any options regarding dedicated bindings for hot keys or shortcuts, and the system settings in general leave a lot to be desired at this time, especially compared to the vast array of settings in Cubasis 3. Little things like the option for the playhead resetting position on stop/start are lacking. Generally, mouse and keyboard work just fine, and most of the basic shortcuts like copy and paste are intact, but it certainly takes getting used to, and there’s no way to zoom in/out vertically or horizontally in the timeline or midi editor via keyboard like there is in Cubasis 3, which has been the biggest pain so far coming from mouse-keyboard habits with Cubasis. On the flip side, comprehensive Apple Pencil integration should open the doors to a more creative workflow for those who use it. I don’t, so I can’t really comment on it. The redo button is also for some reason hidden in a long press of the undo button, not sure why they aren’t just put side by side on the top. One thing Cubasis 3 does better is the velocity controls for Midi notes, it’s interface resembles FL Studio’s velocity controls, and you can sweep across notes to edit their velocity. Cubasis 3 in general has always been strong with editing Midi parameters. Another issue I’ve encountered is routing input/output tracks. For example, in Cubasis, any instrument that produces its own Midi notes, (like Riffler), can have its output set to a different instrument track, say a synth, so the notes from Riffler will be played by that instrument. I haven’t been able to figure out how to achieve this in Logic Pro. But aside from that, I don’t think I’ll be returning to Cubasis 3 any time soon.

This is all just scratching the surface, it will take months and months to even come close to acquainting myself with all the features.

Finally, I want to comment on cost and pricing: some people dislike the subscription model, which I understand. However I will note a few things: there’s a 1 month free trial, and it’s $4.99/mo US (or $50 annually) so you can still try it out for free. Second, Logic Pro should be considered a live service, which means we should expect to receive constant updates, new sound libraries, features, and fixes frequently, unlike with Steinberg, who made us wait almost a year between Cubasis 3 updates that added almost nothing to the experience or feature list. And $50 for a year is not going to break the bank (music production is an expensive hobby no matter how you cut it). Thats $500 for 10 years of Logic Pro. That’s as much as an intermediate version of FL Studio, or a basic version of Ableton, or a handful of desktop VSTs. A lot will change in 10 years.

You should also consider this: now that there is a full desktop DAW available on iOS, developed by Apple themselves, this opens the door for VST developers to rethink their relationship with iOS development. Expect to see more and more popular desktop VSTs ported over to AuV3. FabFilter has been doing this for years, porting all of their popular plug-ins 1:1, and for a fraction of the price. A bundle of all 9 FabFilter plugins on iOS cost $150. The equivalent on desktop is $800. FabFilter Twin 3 being ported a few months ago pretty much refutes the idea that iPads can’t handle desktop synths like Serum and Diva.

For those who have invested in iOS music production and AuV3 software: this is what this community has been longing for for years. A full desktop class DAW with no compromises fully optimized for the iPad. It’s here. It’s great. There’s no excuse, if you have a capable device, download Logic Pro for iPad.