I've lately been deciding on which sequencer to get for my new Power Mac G5, and I've been considering to get either Logic Express 7 or Cubase SX 3.

I've been hearing a lot that Cubase doesn't run as nicely on Macs as it does on Windows, and that it's not quite as efficient as something like Logic. I am also looking at logic since that I now have a Mac and that gives me the ability to use software that Windows cannot.

Another part of me says that getting the Cubase upgrade from SL to either SL or SX 3 will allow me to stay with Cubase and possibly save a few dollars (with SL). Cubase is still a great program and I have become very comfortable with it.

And then of course I could try and use both but we'll see.

What do you think?

It true SXs performance is questionable, from my experiece you can use 40%-60% more effects and virtual instruments with apps like Logic, DP4, or Tracktion.

It's not very effecient on anything less than a dual G5, it's not usable.

Because I'm a business, and had to keep working I migrated to logic and haven't looked back.

On my system:

Logic is better at playing VI's with low latency (low buffer settings).

At higher buffer settings I get the same amount of plug's in Logic Pro and SX. But SX can handle more audio tracks than Logic.

(DP is bad at both)

Audio recording and editing is way superior in SX3. I also prefer mixing in SX. (Workflow).
.

Having both is a "dream team" - SX was rewritten from the ground for OSX and WinXP and there was a lot of problems in the beginning. But today SX is a great app on the Mac.

Sweetwater doesn't think DP has bad performance, I also haven't had bad performance from it like i did with SX.
http://www.sweetwater.com/feature/motu/

I know - Sweetwater love MOTU.

Which Mac were you running Cubase on?

At that time it was a brand new 1GHz Powerbook, it basically choked that machine.
I was unable to playback sessions created in cubase 5, that were created on a G4/400.

I ended up putting SX on my PC to transfer my sessions. I did alot of experimenting trying to improve performance, only to be dissapointed. After being a longtime Cubase user I was not confident that Steinberg could deliver on their first try for an OSX app. so I skipped SX1, and upgraded when SX2 came along.

To hedge my bets I purchased DP, and Logic for my OSX transition. I had no problems with sessions of 24-32 tracks, using DP and Logic, on my recently retired G4/400. I also used virtual instruments exclusively for those sessions.

I'm not even going to attempt SX again until I have dual G5, or a mactel.

Doesn't change the fact that DP 4.5 performs worse than SX3 - and that Logic is best at low buffer performance.....

Well I'm using a Power Mac G5 Dual 2.0 GHz processor, that should definitely defeat any speed problems.

Eckhard Doll from Steinberg said that it wasn't even necessary to get a Power Mac but I got one anyway.

This post has been edited by Methanol: Thu 5 Jan 2006, 22:11

I'm a Logic 7.1 user with a Mac G5 dual 2.3 computer. I would say that you want THE fastest computer you can get if you want to run Logic. I chose it because I know that Apple will fully support it over the years. It has a steep learning curve but it is EXTREMELY complete. Just make sure you have a FAST computer or else there will be weeping and nashing of teeth.

This post has been edited by Mojave Mark: Fri 6 Jan 2006, 05:36