When comparing FL Studio vs Logic Pro X, the Slant community recommends FL Studio for most people. In the question“What are the best DAWs? ” FL Studio is ranked 5th while Logic Pro X is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose FL Studio is:
With the producer or signature bundle, updates are free forever.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free lifetime updates
With the producer or signature bundle, updates are free forever.
Pro Easy to install
No complex activation shenanigans. No dongle and such.
Pro Easy to learn DAW
The FL Studio DAW utilizes drag and drop, and can generally be learned quickly without any prior knowledge. There are also a lot of resources to help begginers and experienced users learn.
Pro Inbuilt cross 32/64bit plugin bridge
You don't need to install/configure a third party bridge.
Pro Intuitive piano roll
Piano roll is a FL Studio's instrument step sequencer. It is considered to be among the most intuitive and flexible tools for quickly creating patterns and manipulating all aspects of each note. A single left click inserts a note, while a right click deletes it. It's possible to mute notes, splice them, stretch them, add shuffle, etc quickly.
The Piano Roll caters for those new to Music Theory as well, containing an array of chords from which to choose, be it a Major, Minor, Minor 5th, Minor 9th, what have you.
Pro Scalable interface
The interface adapts to the screen size it's used on.
Pro Non-invasive DRM
Forget copy protection USB-dongles and phone-home activation. Just import a reg key file and your license is activated.
Pro Has the best startup sound
Pro Powerful Sound Editor
Edison is a great way to record and edit samples, sound effects and is a very easy way to create sample packs and sound libraries.
Pro Supports resampling
Supports resampling (non stretch) which is something some DAWs don't support.
Pro Excellent for visual learners
All the stock plugins look really nice and really show users what is being done, it's a great way to learn mixing theory for a beginner. This approach makes FL Studio easy to learn compared to other DAWs.
Pro Great support & community, lots of tutorials
Pro Flexible non-linear workflow
Pro Fully open: accepts a variety of formats
Accepts VST/VSTi (v2,v3) Wav, Aiff, Rex, Acid, Apple Loop, Ogg, Mp3 as well as almost every video format including Mov and Mp4.
Pro Sampler
FL Studio has a very unique sampler which allows all kinds of sounds to be experimented with, be it a siren, a water drop, or more commonly, the infamous "Progressive House" Kick. The Sampler also allows the user to retune a sample to any key he/she desires.
Pro Very comprehensive plugin suite included
You have basic and advanced plugins right out the box.
Pro Each update is major
When Image Line releases an update, it's safe to assume that there are major improvements in there.
Pro Unlimited creativity
With tools in the piano roll like the "Riff Machine", and the "Randomize" tool, you can literally let the computer automate the production if you want. In addition to plugins like "Gross Beat", Slicex, DirectWave, the ideas can be limitless.
Pro Good for the studio
Some DAWs are good for live shows, some DAWs are good for production, but the FL Studio DAW has carved its niche in the studio recording arena.
Pro Smooth UI
Compared to other DAWs, FL's UI moves at full monitor refresh rates while others are somehow laggy.
Pro Can import/export 32bit audio
Just as the internal engine bit depth, there's no loss in quality.
Pro It comes as VSTi and Rewire
So you can use it inside another DAW. There's no other DAW capable of doing that.
Pro The only DAW with a VJ graphic generation suite (ZG Editor Visualizer)
No other DAW has that.
Pro Fully vectorial UI that will scale to virtually every screen
Because most DAWs don't scale well yet.
Pro Sample/MIDI Manipulation in the Playlist Mode
The Playlist mode comes with various tools for cutting out sections of a sample, midi arrangement, or otherwise. One can also clone, mute, solo out, and stretch a sample by any degree, although the sample's key will change.
Pro Flexible internal linking engine
Its linking engine and controller plugins are very flexible and useful all across the software. For mixing and also for performance mode.
Pro Patcher: Modular environment
Patcher is similar to Max for Live in Ableton and The Grid in Bitwig and allows you to build your own complex generator and effect chains.
Pro Perfect for engineering because of the production style workflow
The workflow for creating beats in FL Studio is among the fastest which make mixing and mastering a breeze inserting plug-ins and routing on the mixer.
Pro It is the only DAW where you can program real scratching sequences (Turntablism)
You can make your own scratches with the "Fruity Scratcher" or "Wave traveller".
Pro Imports video for scoring
You can open several video players.
Pro It's possible to run FL Studio on Linux via Wine without a noticeable performance impact
Version 12 of FL Studio includes a new Generic ASIO driver that's capable of achieving same low latency performance as the native Windows version. Instructions on how to set up the DAW to run on Linux via Wine can be found here.
Pro Reasonable and liberal license
Buy once, and you're allowed to use it on every computer you own.
Pro Amazing sequencer to input midi
Pro perfect for arrangement and homerecording
Pro Complete control over multiple Launchpad Pro animation lightshow projects
Live can, but working with more LPs is a pain.
Pro Shows other instrument notes in background if needed
Pro A lot of good synthesizers and instruments (over 30)
E.g. Harmor, Flex, Sakura, Sawer, Sytrus, Poizone...
Pro FL is famous for its great sequencer
Great software for creating rhythms.
Pro Well-functioning mobile version
Pro Large number of effects (approx. 70)
E.g. GrossBeat, Newtime (tuning), Patcher (own complex generators and effect chains), Maximus, Soundgoodizer...
Pro Built in Audio Visualizer
Game Editor . lets you make cool sound-triggered animations in no time
Pro Soundgoodizer
HAHA Soundgoodizer goes brrrrrr
Pro Very flexible timeline
Pro Best stretching algorithms in the market
Pro Developed by a team of friends
Pro High quality instruments and effects
Good range of high quality synths: analog, FM, wavetable, string modulation, sampler, organ, clarinet, epiano.
Pro UI designed for ease of use
The Logic Pro X DAW has made an effort to keep clutter out of the equation so producers can focus on the music.
Pro Free update from Logic
As of 1/21/2015, Apple has released an update that allows users to upgrade from Logic to Logic Pro X.
Pro Studio standard
If you take music production seriously then one day maybe you'll enter professional studio, where you will most likely find the Logic DAW along with Pro Tools.
Pro Easy to learn, makes writing easy, and keeps technical in the background
It is easy, intuitive, and easy-to-implement.
Pro Comes with 57gb content
The initial download of Logic Pro X gives users 2gb of samples, but the DAW automatically downloads 57gb of samples once the Logic Pro X DAW is installed.
Pro Cheaper than similar programs
This program costs US$200 and must be bought from the app store.
Pro Allows users to program their own tools
The Logic Pro X DAW lets users make their own effects using with javascript leveraging its Scripter API.
Pro Supports expressive MIDI - MPE
Works with new controllers like Seaboard Rise, Linnstrument, Continuum Board, etc.
Pro Many instruments
Different kinds of instruments all around.
Pro Full external MIDI support
Poly aftertouch, sysex and two modes of controlling external midi instruments.
Pro Free corresponding iPad app
In order to allow more control, the Logic Pro X DAW has added a free iPad app called Logic Remote.
Logic Remote is available in several different views, and is capable of MIDI input and parameter adjustment. It comes with a full library and browser. Navigation is easy as well via the navigation bar along the top of the screen.
Many interesting views are available, such as chord strips. This view allows users to play a series of preset chords that are already in the right key. Gestures are supported with this app, so loop speed and other properties can quickly be adjusted.
This app connects to Logic through WiFi, so the app and program should be running on the same network.
Pro Many plug-ins
Pro Uses minimum amount of CPU
The Logic Pro X DAW is optimized for CPU usage, which makes the DAW more stable.
Pro Virtual drummer
Allows to create high quality drum tracks even if you are not a drummer.
Pro Does a lot of work for you
Switch in to Alchemy on the synth and you get an intuitive template to adjust wavetables and eq visually, plus various modes and styles. Handy tool.
Pro Incorporating iOS devices, accessing Apps/Synths/Effects
A totally overlooked feature....
The Setup is as Easy as Pie.
Create an aggregate audio setup and midi device incorporating your iOS devices and wham bam....Instruments / Audio / FX all accessible within logic.,
An AU... An Audio I/O.. Brilliant.
Pro Professional mixing and mastering tools
Pro Regular Updates
Pro Great support
Pro Good community
Plenty of videos, tutorials and groups for tips and learning fast.
Pro Used by celebrities
This includes: Prodigy - Invaders Must Die (everything except guitars), John Powell - How to train your dragon, other works, and Tycho (until 2011 when he switched to Reaper to finish his album). Though , Still to this day uses Logic for composing.
Lets also not forget Boris Blank that in essence is Yello, and One of the pioneers of electronic based music.
Pro The best value for Mac users
I prefer mac than windows for music production. And because of this is really hard to beat the deal of logic. All its quality plugins and community make learn to use it very easy. I love the youtube channel Why logic pro rules is all there.
Pro With Pro Tools it's the DAW mainly used in professional studios
Pro Live loops
Originally an Ableton Live feature, Logic Pro allows you to record live loops and experiment with the best combinations, and drag your loops into the arrangement view to complete your work.
Pro Old but nice look
I think from all the old DAWs (Pro tools, Cubase, Digital performer etc) Logic is the one that looks better and well organized.
Pro Garageband little bro
For ideas and working remotely, you can use garageband on your Iphone or iPad and then send that information to logic to give it the professional end.
Cons
Con The Browser is archaic
Every time it has to refresh, it closes the entire menu. So if you just navigated several dropdowns to find an automation parameter of a third party plugin and you want to automate a second parameter, you have to navigate back to that dropdown all over again. Searching within the browser is a slapped on feature that only shows you a single result at a time, and you have to press a hotkey to cycle through them one by one. Really, your browser in FL is the Windows File Explorer, or Finder in OS I assume. The FL Browser is workflow molasses and should be avoided at all costs except to find samples you already know the location of.
Con Not intuitive for track based recording approach
Con Shortcuts are weird
And non-reconfigurable.
Con Audio recording not as good as the other DAWs
Recording audio is always a problem in FL Studio.
Con The GUI is very difficult to see
The color scheme of GUI is terrible. They use a lot of dark and similar color for the GUI.
Con Most controls are hidden
In the mixing console, mid, bass, and treble are not explicitly stated as they should be.
Con Limited number of 125 mixer channels (500 tracks) and 10 effects slots
You can use the Patcher plugin or routing to the next channel, but it does not always work efficiently and properly
Con Not great for Mixing
Every channel should have input gain controller and extra plugins should be added for more creativity.
Con No Dolby Atmos / Surround
Con Lack of other midi keyboard brands
Con A
Con Bad sound for expensive piano plugin
Rendered using the same MIDI note and compared it to the render on other daws, it's really bad.
Con Crashes when loading plugs
Con Brak ARA (komunikacja audio np. z Melodyne/VocAlign)
Con Has a slight tendency to crash
Always save before loading a new VST or doing something important: FL is prone to crashes.
Con The soundfont player will trash your projects, no 64-bit version available
Remember that nice project with a soundfont in it ? Yeeeah, load it again and prepare to face stuck MIDI notes and a trashed project.
Con No channel folder and channel grouping in mixer
Con No Saturator
Only Waveshaper, Fast dist, Maximus + Soundgoodizer.
Con Proprietary
Con Can not customize the GUI
Can not change the UI as you like.
Con Look
Con Only compatible with Mac
No Windows or Linux versions are available.
Con It is next to impossible to organize your mixer channels
There are lots of work arounds, but a straight rearrange the mixing channel would be appreciated.
Con Poor audio editor
Audio editor is a lot less intuitive and accessible than other DAWs.
Con No support for 32-bit plugins without 3rd Party Plugin 32 Lives
Con Unusable with lots of plugins: stutters and clicks
Con Lags or crashes often
This happens usually when there is a lot going on in the track.
Con Rarely updated
Since Apple purchased this software, the updates are rare and none. The latest update was less than great and has forced users to look elsewhere, especially the Pro community.
Con Not open source
Con Very buggy
Con Too big
The app is too big!