Recording settings in Logic Pro for Mac

You can use Recording settings to determine how Logic Pro for Mac responds while in record mode.

Audio Recording

The following settings determine the file type and bit depth of newly recorded audio files. You can change those settings in an existing project if needed, and all new audio files are then created in that format without altering any previously recorded audio files in that project.

File Type pop-up menu: Select the audio file format for recording.
- AIFF: Audio file format mainly used on the Mac platform.
- WAVE (BWF): Most compatible audio file format.
- CAF: Allows for exceptionally long recordings if you plan on recording continuous, half-day or longer audio files.
Bit Depth pop-up menu: Set the bit depth for newly recorded audio files. A higher bit depth has the ability to capture a wider dynamic range.
Note: Choose the recording bit depth in Logic Pro to match the bit depth of your audio device. Each audio device either has a fixed bit depth or lets you choose a specific bit depth to send its digital audio signal to Logic Pro. You can find these settings in the Audio MIDI Setup app (located in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder on your Mac).
- 16-bit: Use only if you want to keep audio file sizes small or if your audio device supports 16-bit. Because 16-bit audio files only have a dynamic range of 96 dB (without dithering), they produce quantization distortion at very low signal levels.
- 24-bit: The most commonly used bit depth. Its file size is 50 percent larger than 16-bit audio files, but it has a better dynamic range of 144 dB with virtually no quantization distortion.
  With proper external gain staging, 24-bit is sufficient for any acoustic recording because the dynamic range of even the best microphone doesn’t exceed 140 dB.
- 32-bit float: Uses 32-bit floating point calculations to create audio files 33 percent larger than 24-bit audio files.
Tip: The advantage of using 32-bit float for recording is that you can remove digital clipping that occurred during the recording simply by lowering the gain of the audio region. You can also increase the gain of a recording made at low levels without increasing the noise floor.

Overlapping Track Recordings

The following settings determine what happens when you record on a section of a track that already has an existing audio region or MIDI region:

Overlapping Track Recordings pop-up menus: Set the behavior when recordings onto MIDI or audio tracks overlap.
- Create Take Folder: A new take folder is created when recording over an existing MIDI or audio region.
- Merge: Merges newly recorded MIDI data with the previously recorded MIDI data in the same MIDI region.
- Overlap: Creates new MIDI regions that overlap the previous MIDI regions on the same track.
- Overlap/Merge Selected Regions: Newly recorded data is merged with all selected regions to form a single region. This takes place after each recording is completed.
- Create Track: A new track is created when recording over an existing MIDI or audio region.
- Create Track Alternative: A new track alternative is automatically created with each recording or cycle repetition.
- Merge Current Recording Only: This function merges the data recorded in all cycle passes into a single region.
- Create Tracks: This function automatically creates a new track for each cycle repetition. Each previous track plays while you’re recording.
- Create Tracks and Mute: When recording in Cycle mode, this function automatically creates a new track assigned to the same channel strip for each cycle repetition. Tracks are created after recording has stopped.
- Create New Track: A new audio track is created automatically when you record over existing material. The new track is created after recording has stopped.
Replace pop-up menu: Set the behavior when Replace is turned on.
- Region Erase: Erases regions from the Tracks area from the start of recording until the end of recording, even if nothing is played.
- Region Punch: Erases regions only where audio material or MIDI events have been recorded.
- Content Erase: Does not erase regions but the audio or MIDI content inside of them, from the start of recording until the end of recording, even if nothing is played.
- Content Punch: Does not erase regions but the audio or MIDI content inside of them, only where audio material or MIDI events have been recorded.
Recording Project Settings button: Opens the Recording Project Settings pane.

Download the guides:

Logic Pro User Guide: PDF

Logic Pro Instruments: PDF

Logic Pro Effects: PDF

Helpful?

Logic Pro User Guide for Mac

Recording settings in Logic Pro for Mac

Audio Recording

Overlapping Track Recordings