Emagic MicroLogic AV
Reviewed by Tony Thomas
A lot of the folks I know like and use the various versions of Logic, so I have been interested in taking a look at one of the incarnations of the program for quite a while now. As a user of Creator (a program designed by the same team as Logic) on the Atari ST back in the 80s, I wanted to see how the program has evolved. When I heard they had an inexpensive ($99 list) version of Logic, called MicroLogic A/V, I was particularly curious. How much could such an inexpensive program really offer?
Just finding a copy of the program proved to be a challenge. Although the program was announced at the Winter 1998 NAMM show, I couldn't find a dealer who stocked it. It only recently started appearing in ads and I had to compel my local Guitar Center to special order me a copy.
Upon opening the box, inside I found both a CD-ROM and two floppies (one for the PC and one for the Mac. Yes, both versions come in one box). The CD-ROM contains all the extant versions of the Logic series (albeit uninstallable unless you have the correct dongles or key disks) and the floppy contains the latest update of the program. To install the program, you have to run the install program from the CD and insert the floppy when requested. I found this two disk install to be pretty clumsy and would prefer that the entire program be on CD-ROM. Considering the fragility of floppies (which are almost extinct anyway), it would make be feel a bit more secure.
Upon boot up, the program looks similar to most MIDI/audio packages in that the track listing is on the left and the arrange window is on the right. It is unique in that it uses icons to designate track instruments and functions and has some other interface twists. Visually, it looks a lot different than most Windows programs which have kind of a sameness.
Like some other popular MIDI/audio programs, there is a toolbar with select, pencil, eraser, text, scissors, glue, solo, mute and magnify tools and a transport taskbar with a number of buttons and displays. I found that the program interface is fairly intuitive and it was pretty easy to find what you need, although there are some twists.
One of the challenges I had was getting the program to work with Hubi's Loopback, a multi-client driver that is needed to run XG Edit along with MicroLogic. XG Edit is a must if you use XG devices like the SW1000XG, CS1 or 2x, the SW60XG or the DB50XG. It seems that, while the program records system exclusive, it doesn't echo it to the device. Also, it automatically detects and sets up the MIDI inputs and did not have a patch bay to select them. As a result, I had to setup Hubi's in parallel with the programs output causing MIDI feedback. I found the switches to turn off unneeded MIDI inputs in the WIN.INI file and was able to remedy the situation. It would be nice to have that capability in a patch bay interface or preferences screen, however.
In terms of operation, the program performs like a champ. I particularly like the non-volatile quantize (which is very musical, by the way) and the enhanced resolution of 1/3840 of a note. The program is very solid, and unlike a lot of other programs, it won't glitch while tabbing to other programs or windows or even performing tasks like saving files. I found this to be particularly impressive.
Micrologic A/V delivers an amazing number of features for a very small price. I think it is currently the best program in its price class.
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- Copyright 1999 by Tony Thomas
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- Techtrends 7/16/99
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