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Why is Ableton Live so popular? How is it different/better then Cubase, etc..?!
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| Dance123 |
Hi,
Lately I hear alot about this Abelton Live software however I don't see how it is any different from other sequencers like Cubase?!
How is Ableton Live different/better then Cubase, etc..?!
Anybody who could explain from experience?! Thanks! |
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| Subtle |
| Ableton works in realtime. |
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| Speactra |
Live makes me use alot more of my creativity than other seq.
And the internal effects are awesome! :D
However, I don't like the sequencer in live that much though it's
more comfortable to do automatations rather than for example
Cubase and FL IMO :tongue2
Some ups and downs:
:) Great internal effects
:) Clip view
:) Automatations
:) Sound Engine
:) Easy to use
:) Audio editing options like timestretching
:) Exporting/rendering samples in loop mode
:) It's possible to dj with it
:) Live performances of course :tongue2
:( Cpu usage
:( Sequencer (moving your clips is like they're glued)
:( A few bugs
//Alex |
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| Magnus |
| I suggest you download the demo and see for yourself. I run Ableton as a slave with Cubase SX. Ableton is awesome for dropping in loops which it calculates automatically in time with your project. Its a quick and easy way of getting a bunch of crazy things going which is why I like it. You can have what I like to call a switchboard of loops which you can initiate all at random in realtime while your track is playing, and Ableton will snych them all to your playing track. The possibilties are endless and Ableton is designed in such a way that its very easy to use. You can get going on it within minutes using its included tutorials which are well designed. |
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| hereander |
Live is very nice for "jamming" with your own material or for remixing / throwing things together. Another pro is that it has the best vsti-remote-automation function. You can assign any vst-parameter to your control-surface with full-duplex-feedback (can any other sequencer do that? I am desperately seeking for a possibility in sonar. Controlling the mix is ok with my mackie-control, but softsynths is a horror if you change a patch and get these parameter jumps. any idea?).
Cons:
- No support for 64bit and dualcore cpu (I have an opteron 165)
- Not good for mastering (the cannelstrips look kind of basic and the bus-routing options are very limited)
- Rewire-Slave mode quite useles: If you want to use the advantages like vsti-remote-automation in you mastering host with live as rewire slave you will be very dissapointed because you can't use vsti's while in slave-mode. |
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| Dance123 |
But doesn't Cubase SX 3 do all of these things also like auto-timestretching loops you import, etc..
and what's so new about the "realtime" and "live" concept. I mean, if you record stuff in Cubase, isn't it also "live" and "realtime", what else would it be? I honestly still don't understand what makes this program different from Cubase SX, etc.. Maybe somebody could make a comparison about what things you can do in Ableton Live that you can't do in SX?!
Thanks! |
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| Speactra |
| quote: | Originally posted by Magnus
I suggest you download the demo and see for yourself. |
:rolleyes: |
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| hereander |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dance123
But doesn't Cubase SX 3 do all of these things also like auto-timestretching loops you import, etc..
and what's so new about the "realtime" and "live" concept. I mean, if you record stuff in Cubase, isn't it also "live" and "realtime", what else would it be? I honestly still don't understand what makes this program different from Cubase SX, etc.. Maybe somebody could make a comparison about what things you can do in Ableton Live that you can't do in SX?!
Thanks! |
Well Cubase, Sonar, Logic... are sort of "linear". Your put your sounds and whatever on a timeline and arrange it.
Live is more like a kitchen-mixer, you can mangle everything together and it fits together somehow. You also have different tracks like in Cubase, but you have two different views. One is like in Cubase and the other is more like a drum and loop sampler. you have your tracks as columns and you have rows which represent scenes (refrain, fill-in etc). Into the cells of this matrix you can throw whatever you want. Loops, midi, audio... and live detects the speed or groove automaticaly and adjusts it to your songtempo. If you hit play, every clip from the selected row (scene) is being played. Then you can change to what ever clip you want. Like this you can try every element of your work with every other element, start/stop loops, throw in new ones... everything without stopping the playback. You can play your session like one hour and find out what fits together. If you have your thing going you can record your live-"jam" into the "linear"-view like it is in cubase and work on from that point in the traditional way.
This live aspect can be hardly realized with loops and regions in the other pro-sequencers. Though some other "hobbyist" products like Orion and Project5 have similar concept.
When you switch to the stage of work in the linear view ableton live gets quite weak in my opinion and its time to transfer everything into a pro-sequencer. Maybe future versions will improve that point (also dualcore x64 cpu'S :)) |
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| Axolotyl |
To sum it up, Ableton Live is about workflow and creativity. Its interface, automation system and insert chain is simply intuitive and flexible. Also its just really fast to use when you get your head around the ableton way of doing things. Aside from the sequencer norm, there is also the 'session' view which allows you to jam with loops and fx in a non linear fashion and then have that recorded to the linear sequencer. Some of these features may be more important to others than full blown DAW functionality in which case live is the perfect tool.
Where it falls down compared to SX is in mixdowns. The level meters are not accurate enough. The routing options are limited, being just basic sends. And the midi editing is very simple compared to SX's list of tools. Apparently Ableton is addressing a lot of these issues in Live 6 and are also including 64 bit and dual core support too.
At the end of the day though, these things dont matter nearly as much to me as getting ideas down onto the PC and having a fast and simple to use sequencer with a good workflow, which is what Live was designed for.
So yeah, thats my opinion on Live :D |
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| Dance123 |
Thanks for the info guys!
If you don't mind I have some additional questions:
1/ does Ableton Live have a build-in (programmable?) arpeggiator, something you could expect from performance oriented software?
2/ when you go in the arrange window, does it also have a pianoroll editor like in Cubase and is it as good cause I use the key editor alot.
3/ can Ableton live work with all VST instruments out there like Cubase or only with the ones that come with the program?
Thanks! |
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| wood0292 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dance123
Thanks for the info guys!
If you don't mind I have some additional questions:
1/ does Ableton Live have a build-in (programmable?) arpeggiator, something you could expect from performance oriented software?
2/ when you go in the arrange window, does it also have a pianoroll editor like in Cubase and is it as good cause I use the key editor alot.
3/ can Ableton live work with all VST instruments out there like Cubase or only with the ones that come with the program?
Thanks! |
1. Yes, Live 5 has an arpeggiator. I haven't really used it but it's there.
2. I don't know what the piano roll in Cubase is like , but yes there is one(The Midi clip view). The only thing I know of that is lacking about it vs. Cubase is how it is statically positioned (annoying how it stretches over dual monitors)
3. Yes, VST is a standard, any application that supports VSTs (which Ableton does) supports them all. Perhaps there are other types of plugins in Cubase (non-VST) that won't work, I don't know.
Hopefully somebody can help you out more with your Cubase questions as I know little to nothing about it, but several people have already stated the best answer to your questions:
Download the demo and try it. |
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