In this Logic Pro X video tutorial, we take a look at setting up your audio interface in Logic Pro X. Learn what each setting does including how to reduce latency to get the best recording experience.
In today’s video we will take a look at setting up your audio interface in Logic Pro X. I’m using Logic Pro 10.2.4 in Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 but the settings will be the same across all versions of Logic Pro X and even Logic Pro 9.
Enable Advanced Tools
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Before we begin, we want to turn on all the advanced tools and options in Logic Pro X. By default, Logic Pro X hides a lot of powerful tools and options which really separates Logic Pro X from Garageband. To make full use of Logic Pro X, you will want to turn on all the advanced tools and options.
In the menubar, click on Logic Pro X, Preferences, then Advanced Tools. Enable ‘Show Advanced Tools’ and you want to enable all of them by clicking on the enable all button at the bottom of the window. Logic Pro X will take a few seconds to enable all the options. You might notice a slight visual change in the user interface of Logic Pro X after these options have been enabled. This shows how many features were disabled previously.
Configuring Your Audio Device
We will now begin configuring our audio preferences. Click on Audio, then ensure that you are in the devices tab. You can also access this panel from the menubar by clicking on Logic Pro X, Preferences, then Audio.
Enable Core Audio
Core Audio is the digital audio infrastructure of the Mac OS. Most audio interfaces are Core Audio devices and you should always leave this setting enabled. You can think of this being the reason why you don’t usually need to install anything when using audio interfaces on a Mac.
Set the Input and Output Devices
Choose your desired audio device for your input and output devices. This will list all Core Audio compatible audio devices including both internal and external hardware. If your audio interface is not showing in this list, ensure that your audio interface is properly connected to your Mac and has been turned on.
The flexibility in Logic Pro X is the ability to choose different audio devices for the input and output devices. This allows for some creative and flexible use cases.
Changing the buffer size
The smaller the buffer size, the less latency there will be when recording, mixing, or working with software instruments.
However, as the buffer size is reduced, more strain is placed on your computer’s processor. If your computer is not able to handle the increased workload caused by the smaller buffer size, audio playback will be affected in the form of pops, clicks, crackling, or audio dropouts.
Experiment with your system to find the lowest buffer size that your system can handle without having any pops, clicks, crackling, or dropouts.
When mixing with a lot of plugins, it is also possible to increase the buffer size to increase processing power at the cost of some increased audio latency. Additional latency while mixing is usually not a problem.
The resulting latency will be displayed below. Generally anything below 20-25ms is good and perfectly sufficient. 10ms or less would be very difficult to notice. Note that the value displayed is a round trip value, meaning the input and output latency combined. If you are only using software instruments or playback then only the output latency will affect you.
The Other Settings
You can leave the other settings alone as its default settings are fine for most users.
Apply the settings
If you have changed any settings on this page, click on ‘Apply’ to apply the settings. it make take a moment for Logic Pro X to switch to your desired settings.
General Audio Settings
While we are in this menu, we will move over to the ‘General’ tab to change some settings that are crucial for getting the best audio quality while recording audio.
Change the recording file format
Logic Pro X defaults to AIFF as the default file format. While AIFF files sounds exactly the same as WAVE files, I highly recommend changing to record using the Broadcast Wave Format, BWF. The BWF format is slightly more compatible across platforms and is the recommended file format to use for music delivery and audio archiving. This recommendation comes from various organizations including the Audio Engineering Society, Grammy’s Producers & Engineers Wing, and various government archives.
Enable 24-bit recording
Make sure that 24-bit Recording is turned on. Turning on this option will record to 24-bit audio files instead of 16-bit audio files. 24-bit audio files allows for cleaner sounding recordings as it has a much better dynamic range. All professional audio interfaces should have 24-bit convertors and this option will allow you to take advantage of the full quality of those convertors.
Summary
You have now set up Logic Pro X to use your audio interface to its maximum potential. Have fun recording and writing music in Logic Pro X. Leave a like if you like this video, or leave a comment below telling us what you liked or did not like about this video. Subscribe to the channel to not miss out on any new videos by clicking on the subscribe button. Also watch one of our other videos to learn more about music production. Do you want to see more content for Logic Pro X? Help us to make better content for you by telling us what you want to learn next. I hope you enjoyed watching this video and that I was able to help you in your music making journey.
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Audio Interface For Mac Logic Pro X
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If you're using third-party plug-ins, try any of these recommendations to fix your issue depending on what you're experiencing:
- If you can open Logic Pro or MainStage, but you're having issues with your project or concert, try bypassing plug-ins.
- If you can't open Logic Pro or MainStage, try removing plug-ins.
- If a recently-installed plug-in isn't available in Logic Pro or MainStage, try the following in the order listed until you can find the plug-in:
Bypass Audio Units plug-ins
If you're having an issue in a particular Logic Pro project or MainStage concert that uses third-party plug-ins, bypass each third-party plug-in in the project one-by-one, testing the project after you bypass each plug-in.
You can bypass plug-ins several different ways:
- Place the pointer over the plug-in slot in a channel strip, then click the Bypass button so the slot dims.
- Option-click the plug-in slot so the slot dims.
- In the plug-in window, click the Bypass button so the slot dims.
If bypassing a plug-in fixes your issue, check with the manufacturer to see if the plug-in is compatible with your version of macOS, and for possible updates.
Remove Audio Units plug-ins
If you can’t open Logic Pro or MainStage, try manually removing plug-ins.
- Find the plug-in file on your Mac.
- If you suspect a particular plug-in, locate the file for the plug-in in the folder, then drag the file to the Desktop.
- Try to reopen the app.
If you still can't open Logic Pro or MainStage:
- Create a new folder on the Desktop.
- Move all the plug-in files that appear in their installation locations to the new folder.
- Try to open Logic Pro or MainStage.
- If you can open the app, replace each plug-in file to its original location one-by-one. Quit and reopen the app after you replace each plug-in file. If you can't open the app after replacing a particular plug-in file, that plug-in might be corrupted or incompatible. Try reinstalling the disabled plug-in or check with the manufacturer for an update.
Restart your Mac
If your Mac is running macOS High Sierra or later and you recently installed a plug-in that isn't available in Logic Pro or MainStage, restart your Mac. Before you restart your Mac, confirm that the plug-in is 64-bit compatible. 32-bit plug-ins aren't compatible with Logic Pro or MainStage.
- Choose Apple menu > Restart.
- Open Logic Pro or MainStage.
- Click an Audio Effect, Instrument, or MIDI Effect slot to see if the plug-in is available in the pop-up menu. If the plug-in still isn't available, rescan the plug-in.
Confirm that the plug-in is installed
Logic Audio Mac Gratuit
If a recently-installed plug-in still isn't available after restarting your Mac, confirm that the plug-in is installed:
- Choose Logic Pro X > Preferences > Plug-in Manager, or MainStage 3 > Preferences > Plug-in Manager.
- In the Plug-in Manager, locate the plug-in. To filter the list by manufacturer, click the manufacturer's name in the left column.
- If the plug-in doesn't appear in the Plug-In Manager, find the plug-in file.
If 'not authorized' appears in the Compatibility column for the plug-in, make sure the plug-in is properly authorized as documented by the manufacturer. - Reinstall the plug-in, then restart the computer.
- If the plug-in still isn't available, check with the manufacturer to see if the plug-in is compatible with your version of macOS, and for possible updates.
Rescan a plug-in
If the recently-installed plug-in is installed, use the Plug-in Manager to rescan the plug-in.
- Choose Logic Pro X > Preferences > Plug-In Manager, or MainStage 3 > Preferences > Plug-In Manager.
- In the plug-in Manager, locate the plug-in you want to check. To filter by manufacturer, click manufacturer's name in the left column.
- If 'failed validation' appears in the Compatibility column for the plug-in, select the plug-in in the list, then click Reset & Rescan Selection.
If 'not authorized' appears in the Compatibility column for the plug-in, make sure the plug-in is properly authorized as documented by the manufacturer. Then rescan the plug-in. - If the plug-in fails validation again, check with the manufacturer to see if the plug-in is compatible with your version of macOS, and for possible updates.
Logic Audio Macbook
Rescan all plug-ins
To automatically rescan all installed plug-ins, remove the Audio Unit cache file.
Logic Audio Mac Free Download
- In the Finder, press Option and choose Go > Library.
- In the Finder window, go to Library/Caches/AudioUnitCache.
- Move the files from AudioUnitCache folder to the Desktop.
- Restart the computer, then open Logic Pro X or MainStage. All installed Audio Units plug-ins will be rescanned.