Instruments
To get the numbers out of the way first, Live 10 Suite bundles 13 virtual instruments (three of them Max For Live devices, and DrumSynth comprising eight separate ‘kit piece’ instruments), while Logic Pro ships with 21 of the things. It’s the quality that counts, however, not the quantity, and although Logic’s Retro Synth and Vintage keyboards are well worth shouting about, the older ‘ES’ series – ES1, ES2, ES E, ES P and ES M – EFM1, Sculpture and EVOC 20 synths, and Ultrabeat drum machine are showing their age. They’re all sonically serviceable, but the fact that most of them haven’t even been updated to support the Mac’s Retina displays suggests that they’re really only still there to keep the numbers up. Being much newer, Live’s line-up isn’t as diluted by antiquities, but the Analog synth could do with some upgrade love.
The flagship synths that we need to focus our attention on here are Logic’s Alchemy and Live’s Wavetable, both of which are quite magnificent. Alchemy – once a pricey third-party instrument, until Apple bought its developer, Camel Audio – is the more overtly powerful of the two, taking in additive, granular and analoguestyle synthesis, with four simultaneous sources, tons of filters and copious effects. Wavetable certainly holds its own, though – a two-oscillator (plus sub) wavetable synth with over 100 well crafted wavetables onboard, two filters, comprehensive modulation options, and a supremely accessible interface and workflow, that sounds phenomenal.
As of a few months ago, when Apple completely rebuilt the venerable EXS24 for Logic Pro X 10.5, Live Suite and Logic Pro now each include full-featured and slimline samplers, and while Logic’s Sampler has more going on in its modulation section than Live’s Sampler, both are a match for any producer’s multisampling needs.
Meanwhile, on the perc front, Logic’s Drummer puts a very convincing virtual drummer and their kit at your fingertips, and the newly overhauled Drum Machine Designer is a great improvement on the previous iteration, putting it on an even footing with Live’s much-loved Drum Rack.
Speaking of Racks, while Logic’s Track Stacks are a great solution for grouping tracks to play multiple instruments from single MIDI parts and process their outputs collectively, Live’s limitlessly nesting Audio Instrument Racks, in combo with Audio and MIDI FX Racks, make building your own tentacular macro-controllable split and layered devices ridiculously easy. And don’t forget, Live 10 Suite includes Max For Live itself as well as the aforementioned prefab M4L devices, enabling you to make your own Live instruments (and effects), and giving access to an ever-expanding world of free and commercial patches. For us, those two factors tip the scales.
ROUND WINNER: