For post-production, film and video game composers, and home-studio musicians alike, Logic Pro X ($199.99) continues to set the bar for pro-level at a bargain price. The latest upgrade, to version 10.3, contains another round of useful upgrades, and the update is free to existing Pro X owners. The package puts even more pressure on its well-established digital audio workstation, or DAW, competitors, many of which have moved to subscription-based pricing that make them more expensive to buy and maintain over the long term.

Logic Pro X brings Touch Bar support and other powerful new tools to the studio. In a more modern interface. Logic Pro X Support. Produce professional audio on your Mac with Logic Pro X. Learn more with these resources.

Unless you need for compatibility with other studios, or simply because you're more familiar with it, Logic Pro remains our favorite mainstream DAW and a clear Editors' Choice. Comment Cracker Xbox 360 Slim Sans Puce on this page. Setup, Installation, and User Interface To get started with Logic Pro X 10.3, you'll need a recent Mac running OS X v10.11 (El Capitan) or later, with at least 4GB RAM and 6GB of free space for the base program.

To install everything, including all of the packaged synths, instruments, loops, and effects, you'll need 57GB free. As always, Logic Pro X doesn't require hardware or software copy protection; as long as you're logged into the Apple Store with your account, you can download, install, and run it seamlessly. For this review, I tested Logic Pro X 10.3 on two machines: a 2013 MacBook Air with the Core i7 upgrade, a 256GB SSD, and 8GB RAM running macOS Sierra 10.12.2; and a quad-core i7 2012 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD running OS X El Capitan 10.11.6. I tested Logic Pro X 10.3 with both a audio interface and each Mac's built-in audio, and as expected, I ran into no problems. In fact, I didn't run into any bugs at all; this may be the most stable version of Logic Pro X I've tested in years. A couple of point updates (now at 10.3.2) have since added three new EXS24-based percussionists to the Drummer instrument for pop, songwriter, and latin beats; the ability to transpose or fine-tune the pitch of audio regions; some minor enhancements to Alchemy and the Arpeggiator plug-in; and some performance and stability improvements across the board. Apple heavily redesigned the interface for the Pro X launch back in 2013; most of the improvements were welcome, but the color scheme wasn't.

It took on a much darker tone that works well for video editing in a dark room, but not necessarily for audio editing. Apple has lightened things up a bit this time around. It's still not as silvery-bright as Logic Pro 9 was. More significantly, the UI elements and fonts have received a flatter, -like makeover, with a simpler, cleaner design that's easier on the eyes. The transport numerals get a thinner, sharper font as well.

The UI itself remains almost entirely the same, so there's nothing new to learn; it's just a bit cleaner and more attractive throughout. Despite its immense power, Logic remains a simple program to start using, because the main screen can include everything you need from start to finish—depending on how you populate it, of course. Basic tracks are available in several kinds: audio, for recording live instruments; MIDI, for recording MIDI data from a keyboard, electronic drum set, or other input device; and instrument, which combine the two for use with virtual synthesizers and other plug-in instruments. The main view doesn't see much change in 10.3. The transport is located at the top of the screen and away from any keyboards, mixing surfaces, or other things you may have sitting at the bottom of the monitor and blocking part of the view.