Logic Pro 8 & Digital Performer 5 Comparison?

I guess I can throw in my 2 cents since I use both programs. I do like using both for different reasons. For the way you described your use, I will recommend Logic. Logic will work for you better right out of the box without having to buy anything else. Logic's virtual instrument blow DP's away. you have a better selection of instruments and presets. Logic comes with many more effects than DP, and gives you many more of presets. Also Logic has channel strip settings that DP does not. so for the newer users Logic is much easier to get a mix right away using al of those presets. Logic is much more customizable than DP, and much more pleasant to look at (IMO)

If you are using outboard midi gear I recommend DP since it is much more intuitive and user friendly for that. Also DP's Tempo mapping is a little nicer than Logics. DP has a feature called "Chunks" that allows you to store multiple versions of your song in one project file, Logic does not have such a feature. I like midi editing in DP a little better than I do in Logic, but that is just personal preferences

Hope this helps, if I can think of anything else important I'll jump back in
Don

I basically agree with everything that Donald Hoeber said. I also have both apps.
Right now, I'm pretty much using Logic exclusively, but DP does have a few significant advantages.
The primary reason I use Logic instead of DP is because Logic is much better at supporting 3rd party AU plugins. I have Waves, and Waves is unreliable and officially unsupported for DP 5.1. DP 5.1 has been out for quite a while now, and Waves still doesn't support it. However, Logic 8 has only been out for a short time, and Waves supports it beautifully.
Ironically, Waves is mostly unneeded in Logic because the built-in effects in Logic are very good.

Nevertheless, there are a few features in DP that are missing or poorly supported in Logic:
1) Chunks - as Donald already stated. Chunks are a great resource and time saver, and there doesn't appear to be any such feature in Logic. The best workaround I can find is to copy the logic file to another name and put it in the same folder while keeping everything else in the folder the same. Still, this is much less convenient and less efficient than DP's chunks.
2) Arpeggiator and other MIDI effects - DP has a nice arpeggiator and several other cool MIDI effects that can easily be instantiated on any MIDI track. Doing this in Logic requires non-intuitive and very time-consuming edits in the Environment.
3) Scoring to picture - DP has lots of cool tools for making this easier, especially with regard to setting and adjusting tempo. Logic allows adjusting tempo but simply lacks many of the tools that DP provides for scoring to film. Up until now, all my film projects have been done in DP. I am transitioning that to Logic though. I may still go back to DP if I have a particularly tricky tempo to find... Have a look at my website at www.andrewplayer.com/movies1.html and you can see some examples of the projects that were done in DP.

Now, for Logic's benefits:
1) Support for 3rd party - see above
2) Built-in synths - Geez, these things are really pretty neat. DP's built-in synths are no contest to these.
3) Built-in effects - I mostly don't even need Waves anymore because the effects are so good. Frankly, the reverb, EQ, and compression effects alone are worth the price of Logic IMHO.
4) Region looping - Both programs support this, but Logic's is much easier to use and therefore less time-consuming IMHO.
5) Built-in loops - Even with how much Apple gives you, they are still no where near enough. Nevertheless, the built-in Apple loops are mostly of very good quality and they are easy to search through. DP has no loops.
6) Stability - Logic crashes way less on my machine than DP does.