Selecting essential hardware for Logic Pro X 10.5

As well as a Mac, you may need some additional hardware to effectively use Logic Pro X. Let's explore what we can add to our setup.

An audio interface

While most Mac computers have a built-in microphone audio playback capability, and a speaker, they are not really adequate for creating good-sounding music, just for perhaps getting ideas down.

When you want to use a microphone to record your voice singing or speaking, your computer needs something to record it. Firstly, the microphone won't be loud enough, so you need a microphone pre-amp (mic pre). An audio interface will have one or more of these.

Also, microphones are analog devices and computers don't understand analog information unless it is translated to digital information. So, you need an analog-to-digital converter. Then, for the sound to go back out to speakers, which 99% of the time are analog, you need a digital-to-analog converter. An audio interface will have these.

You need one or more inputs to plug your microphones or instrument cables into, and outputs to a set of speakers or a console. You will often see the inputs and outputs referred to as I/O. You'll also require a headphone jack to listen through headphones.

I now have some good news for you. It used to be that to buy an audio interface that had one or more good mic pres and good converters, you had to spend a fair amount of money. Now it is hard to buy one that doesn't have those. Mostly, the more expensive ones will have more ins and outs, which you might need to record a whole band or mic a drum set with multiple mics. For most of you, however, one or two mic pres and ins with a stereo output will be just fine. There are even USB microphones that include an audio interface that podcasters frequently turn to.

Speaking of microphones, if you are singer or want to record a saxophone or other instrument that does not plug in to the audio interface directly with a cable, you will need a microphone or two. Again, they range from the inexpensive but decent to the incredibly expensive. There are essentially three kinds of microphones: condenser, dynamic, and ribbon mics:

• Condenser mics are commonly used to record vocals and acoustic instruments. They feature an extended and flat frequency range and come with either large or small capsules. They are less commonly used on live stages because they pick up more off-axis sounds, may not handle really loud signals coming into them as well as dynamic mics do, and they are less durable. Also, they require phantom power, which is built into most mixers and mic pres. The Neumann U47 and U87 are two famous examples. The price ranges from very inexpensive to really expensive.
• Dynamic mics, like the famous Shure SM57 and 58 that you see, are widely used on stage because they do reject off-axis sound, can handle really loud signals, and if you drop them, they probably will not break. Also, they are generally pretty inexpensive. They also are widely used in studios, even though they have a less extended frequency range, color the sound, and are less detailed. But for miking guitar amps and rap and screaming rock vocals, they may still be your choice.
• Ribbon mics were probably the most common mics in recording studios from the 1930s until the 1970s but fell out of favor when high-quality condenser mics became more prevalent. In recent years, they have become more popular again. They are usually fairly expensive, although less expensive ones have appeared in the marketplace. The classic diamond-shaped ribbon mic is associated with Frank Sinatra. Modern-day offerings from companies like RØDE and Royer Labs have now become popular.

I will only say that the microphone type and costliness don't always determine how well it pairs with your voice. I recorded all the vocals on my album Honestly (I know, shameless self-promotion) with a $400 dynamic mic.

You can, of course, delay any decision and use the built-in capabilities of your Mac until you get your feet wet, if you wish.

A MIDI controller

These can consist of a wide combination of keys, knobs, faders, and drum pads. If you are a real pianist, you might want one with 88 full-size weighted keys. If you aren't, 37 unweighted small keys may be fine. If you are not going to play much in real time but just program the information in, then Logic's built-in virtual keyboard may be sufficient. There are decent inexpensive ones and then more expensive ones, depending on your needs.

Monitor speakers

Unlike the speakers you listen to music on for pleasure, these are not designed to make the music sound as good as possible but are designed to be "flat" so that you can be pretty sure that it translates well, meaning that the mix you hear will be approximately the way it will sound in most people's listening environments. There is a huge range of price and size configurations, from nearfield, to midfield, to larger speaker systems with sub-woofers. For most music creators, a decent pair of nearfields gets the job done. Also, the room you are in plays a role as it may be too dead sounding, too reflective, or trap bass frequencies, and that affects what you hear when you are listening to your music and mixing it.

So, if your room is not treated or good sounding, can you mix just with headphones and forgo speakers? Yes, but there are disadvantages that I will discuss when we deal with mixing.

Monitor headphones

Again, these are not about beautiful sound but accurate reproduction. As is the case with monitors, you want the headphones to give you as uncolored a sound as possible so that you know how your music will sound on other systems.

Enough talk about gear, let's talk about Logic Pro X and all that you will derive from learning to use it well.