Logic 9.1 released. 64 bit support tested.

I was thrilled and surprised this morning to discover via Daring Fireball that Logic Studio had been updated to 9.1, adding 64 bit support to the software in addition to many bug fixes.

Whilst munching a hard-boiled egg I resisted the temptation to install the updated immediately and decided to run some tests.

I used Lily Allen’s ‘The Fear’ project that came bundled with Logic.

The most cpu intensive part is around bar 76, this is where my former 2.0Ghz Core2Duo Macbook would drop out.

Running Logic 9.0.2 through the built in audio produced this on the CPU meter:

Bar 76 in Logic 9.0.2

This was pretty consistent over multiple plays. Despite its alarming appearance on the 2nd core, this has never dropped out on my 3.06Ghz Core2Duo 27″ iMac.

I then installed Logic 9.1. Including Main Stage which also gets the 64 bit treatment it’s a 400mb download.

I fired up the same song noticed that on the splash screen it said “Logic 9.1 (32bit)” so it appears it defaults to running in 32 bit mode. Probably wise for most users as some things can’t work in 64 bit mode (e.g. rewire) due to lack of 3rd party support.

Playing up to bar 76 and taking a screen shot again produced this result:

Bar 76 in Logic 9.1, 32 bit mode

We can see that although Logic is still running in 32 bit mode, the 9.1 update has changed the way the CPU is either consumed, or at least how its usage is reported.

To enable 64 bit mode I quit Logic and after Getting Info on the Application I disabled the ‘Open in 32-bit mode’ box.

Enabling 64 bit mode

Running up to bar 76 again, and we see something interesting:

Bar 76 in Logic 9.1 64-bit mode

CPU consumption is now reported mostly the same as it was in 9.0.2.

I’m unsure whether Logic 64 bit is more efficient. It doesn’t appear so, but at least it isn’t any worse. 32-bit mode appears to have more CPU headroom available in 9.1 than either the 32-bit only 9.0.2 or 64-bit 9.1.

Tonight I’ll test Logic 9.1 with large sample sets. 64-bit should finally enable the use of projects that break the 4GB ram barrier, something Cubase 5 and others have had for awhile on the Windows platform.

I suppose one of the biggest surprises in this is that Apple enabled 64 bit in a point update, and not in a major Logic 10.x paid upgrade as many had expected. Logic 10.x will hopefully get Open CL support however.

Does this mean we’ll see a point update for Final Cut Studio, enabling 64-bit mode?