Others say...

"The Vocoder Sealed the Deal"
Here we are six months after this product was released, and there's only one review so far. I guess that's because Logic Express's big brother, Logic Studio, gets all the attention. Hey, I'd love to have Logic Studio too, especially with all those Jam Packs, as an amateur "tinkerer", I really can't justify paying five hundred bucks or so.

I decided to take the plunge on Logic Express 8 since it has much of the good stuff of Logic Studio, but it's about 300 bucks less. I'm glad I bought this. It's a lot of fun

I've had it just a couple of weeks so far, and I haven't even scratched the surface of its capabilities. Mostly I've spent my time playing with the EXS-24 sampler and the EVOC-20 vocoder. Vocoder you say? Yep. It's not even mentioned in the description above. I use a simple logitech headset mic and an M-Audio Oxygen midi controller and it works like a charm.

As to the EXS-24 sampler: a lot of people are interested in the sample library that comes with the Express version. As you are probably aware, the express version does not come with the 4 Jam Pack DVD-Roms. The library included with Express has some holes, but it is fairly easy to fill those holes with freely downloaded soundfonts from the web.

You don't get the nice box and documentation with the Express version, but the sequencer and audio recording capabilities are full-fidelity and full function. Honestly, most people are not going to miss the advanced features of Studio because there's enough to keep you busy learning for years.

The thing that made me decide to buy Logic Express 8 now rather than waiting until I had the money to buy Studio was the upgrade policy. You can upgrade to the Full Studio version for $299, which is the approximate difference in price between the packages.

UPDATE 7/2008

Now that I've been playing with Logic Express 8 for about six months, I want to add more depth to my previous comments. It still rates 5 stars for value; however I've run into areas that Apple can improve on the next refresh.

The EXS-24 sampler can lose track of samples if your library gets too large. There are work-arounds. You can split your instruments into separate Sampler Instrument folders, and you can use EXS Manager, a 3rd party software package, but it should be unnecessary.

The ES2 synthesizer sounds nice, but its user interface is obtuse, crowded and behind the times.

There is no paper manual. I'd pay an extra 20-30 bucks to get a genuine users manual with the software.

At least "right out of the box" Logic Express does not "play nice" with most midi controllers. If you want to use the buttons and sliders on your midi controller, you need to program them yourself. Personally, I haven't found the time. I can see why Apple came up with the Soundstage application that it bundles with the Studio version of Logic. Accessing your sounds across multiple built-in synths can take multiple steps in Logic Express. If you are a performing musician, you probably will eventually want Logic Studio.

Last but not least, Logic does a poor job at importing General Midi files. Basically, in this department, Logic is equal to, but no better than Garageband. Logic imports the GM file, converts it to a logic file, and assigns each track to a default instrument that often sounds nothing like the GM standard. The EXS sampler does not have a general midi soundfont. Quicktime, which comes with every mac, does have a good general midi soundfont, and you can play the Quicktime synthesizer from Logic, BUT you can't save presets, and the program does not automatically map the sounds, which makes it pretty useless.

Other than accurate General Midi importing, my wishlist would include built-in vocal-reduction (karaoke) support and pitch-to-midi input.

"Best I've Used"
I'm an amateur in the audio field and have found Logic Express 8 to be the both the easiest to use and most comprehensive audio software I've used to date. I've used Cubase, Sonar and others in the past and Logic is so much easier to use! Highly recommended!