Apple Logic Pro X - Manual (Page 272)

Chapter 9 Use prerecorded media 272
Supported media and file formats
Media and file formats overview
Logic Pro allows you to access any digitally stored audio recordings (audio files) on your hard
disk, in the most common Mac file formats, as well as several other formats.
Audio files imported into a Logic Pro project can be at any supported bit depth and sample
rate. Logic Pro supports bit depths of 16, 20, and 24 bits, and sample rates of 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96,
176.4, and 192 kHz. Logic Pro can use the file’s sample rate, or can perform a real-time sample
rate conversion.
In addition to audio files, Logic Pro can also import MIDI and project information.
The following list describes all file formats supported by Logic Pro:
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WAVE and AIFF Files: Wave (WAV) and Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) audio files are
very similar. They can be stored at different bit depths (16 and 24 bit are supported by Logic
Pro), in mono, stereo, or surround, and at sample rates up to 192 kHz. Logic Pro also supports
Broadcast Wave files, which can contain timestamp information. Files that provide timestamp
information can be recognized by a clock symbol, shown alongside the audio region name in
the Project Audio Browser. The file extension of broadcast wave files is .wav, allowing them to
be read by any application that supports the standard wave file format. In such programs, the
additional Broadcast Wave file information is ignored.
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Core Audio Format Files: Core Audio Format (CAF) files are containers that support integer and
float PCM formats, A-law, u-law, and a number of others including AAC and the Apple Lossless
Audio Codec (ALAC). Unrestricted file sizes are possible, at high sample rates and bit depths.
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Sound Designer Files: Sound Designer I and II (SDII) audio files are similar in structure to AIFF
files, and can contain timestamped region information. Use of Sound Designer format files can
make transfers between Logic Pro and Digidesign Pro Tools software more convenient.
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MP3, Apple Lossless, and AAC Files: MP3 and AAC files contain compressed audio information.
They are usually far smaller than equivalent WAV, AIFF, or SDII files. This reduction in file size is
due to different encoding techniques that “throw away” some of the audio information. As a
result, MP3 and AAC files do not sound as good as their WAV, AIFF, or SDII audio counterparts,
depending on the source audio material. Apple Lossless files also contain compressed audio
information. As the name suggests, the compression used (ALAC) does not discard audio
information in the same fashion as MP3 files. The sound of the compressed audio file is
identical to the original recording.
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Apple Loops: Audio loops contain additional identification information: time and date, category,
mood, key, and tempo. They also contain a number of transient markers, which break them
down into small time slices. The main advantage of audio loops is their ability to automatically
match the tempo and key of a Logic Pro project. Software instrument loops contain MIDI note
information that triggers a musical phrase or riff. The motif will be played, as is, when these
types of Apple Loops are added to an audio track. When added to a software instrument track,
the MIDI note information can be edited, as you would with any MIDI region.
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ReCycle Files: ReCycle (REX, RCY) files are generated in Propellerhead ReCycle software. These
are similar to Apple Loops audio files, in that they contain a number of slices, and match the
project tempo. When imported, a small folder that contains several regions—one for each
slice—is created. Each of these slice regions can be handled like any audio region. ReCycle
files, unlike Apple Loops files, do not follow the project key.
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Standard MIDI Files: Standard MIDI files (SMF) are a standard file format used in MIDI
sequencers. They can be read and saved in Logic Pro. SMFs may contain note, lyric, controller,
and SysEx data. They are added to MIDI or software instrument tracks in Logic Pro.