After 2 Days with Live

[david122]

Now I'm normally a cranky, bad-tempered old sod when it come to audio software and what they promise compared to what they deliver.

Well after two days of playing with live I am forced to say that I am hugely impressed. As a Logic 6 user I was looking for something that would allow me to use my vast library of loops and samples in a more productive way - but without giving up the absolute neccessities like flexible routing and decent midi manipulation.

I looked at Soundtrack and Garageband (no bussing at all).
Acid 4.0 (useless bussing and no send effects)
Reason (poor compression and awful eq)

All that remained was to go back to Sonar on the PC. It's as good as Logic in most areas but adds great loop manipulation.

And now I've discovered Live. It's got everthing I need and does it in a really clean way. I love the fact that I've got just one window to work in becuase I really have pop-ups and floating windows.

The quality of the important effects is excellent. The compressor and EQ are first rate. I compared them to my usual Waves plugs and have decided to use the Live ones. The Compressor I is particularly suited to "Invisible Compression" on a drum track.

Also the way the effects are laid out is superb. In one window I have tracks with midi and audio and I can adjust effects in real time without opening new windows. No other package does this as well.

I'm using the demo version on Windows but when the full version arrives I'll be using it on OSX. And here's the thing that has most impressed me - in two days not a single crash on Windows. That IS a first for me.

Niggles?
Just a few small ones.

Transport is a bit poor. Moving along the timeline could be improved. How do I just return to measure 1?

MIDI preview in the explorer would be nice - Acid does this.

Support for synths with multiple outputs. I get the feeling that this is possible but I can't figure it out. The manual does not address this in any detail. Can anyone shed any light on this?

But that's about it. All in all the best all round package I have ever come across.

That's enough of me being nice - back to cranky mode now.

[elemental]

Live 4 does support multi-output VSTi's. Just create a new audio track, and choose the input as say - '3 MIDI' of your VSTi is on that MIDI track. Then u can choose which output from the VSTi gets fed to the audio track.

[peeddrroo]

nice to hear some positive feedback.
i must say that after 1 month of heavy Living, i'm getting more and more pleased by this program... i mean instrument...

about the multiple outs for synths: you have to create a new audio track, and choose as 'audio input' the track where you put the synth. then in the sub-menu, you'll have all the ouputs of your synth. done!

about getting back to bar1, i don't know if this helps, but in the arrangment view, you have this playhead that you can drag to any place in your arrangement. (or insantly move when holding the Ctrl key)

[david122]

Thanks, I've figured out the multi-out thing.

And yes, I've been doing a lot of annoying playhead dragging. I wonder how that one slipped through the development plan.

All other similar app have a single keystoke that takes you home. A ten minute programming job I reckon.

You also need a way of moving from measure to measure without having to do any dragging or scrolling.

I can appreciate that new apps strive to be different in their own way but I do wish that they could all settle on a standard for transport.

[Rex]

Double clicking the Stop button sets the playhead back to 1:1:1.

Unfortunately it doesn't work with the Space bar.

[wildcon]

Hi,

Interesting comments.

I'm a dedicated user of Cubase (SX2) and after some resistance I am starting to use live more and more.

I must agree with the transport comments. I find moving around in live quite awkward and annoying. I did post suggestions for 'Marker Tracks' that let you save and jump to positions / loops within an arrangement (Intro / Verse Chorus etc).
I use this all the time in Cubase and would be lost without it. It also speeds up the editing process no end.

All in all though (Especially with Live 4) a great package. The support from Ableton has also been excellent.

[painseeker]

The quality of the important effects is excellent. The compressor and EQ are first rate. I compared them to my usual Waves plugs and have decided to use the Live ones. The Compressor I is particularly suited to "Invisible Compression" on a drum track.

If you find the fx in Live better than Waves (and Logic's reberb for that matter), you must be suffering from some serious hearing disorder

Im not saying Live fx sux, I'm just saying that there a MANY fx out there which sounds better.... way better. TC, Waves and PSP to name a few.

[AdamJay]

i 2nd the nod to TC Native Plugins. i love live's reverb and eq4, but the filterator in Tc Native 3.1 kills anything Ableton can offer right now, and its cpu effecient too!

[david122]

If you find the fx in Live better than Waves (and Logic's reberb for that matter), you must be suffering from some serious hearing disorder

In the same way I suppose that you are suffering from a reading disorder.
I didn't mention reverb, I was talking about the compressor.

Set up a Waves C1 with -50db .01 attack 100 release gain 10db and it pumps horribly. The Live compressor I does not neither does the Emagic Compressor which is my favourite.

At this stage I really don't see myself using Live to mix-down but rather to assemble and arrange with effects that are as close to the final effort as possible. I would then re-assemble everything in Logic and produce the mix and then master.

[painseeker]

If you find the fx in Live better than Waves (and Logic's reberb for that matter), you must be suffering from some serious hearing disorder

In the same way I suppose that you are suffering from a reading disorder.
I didn't mention reverb, I was talking about the compressor.

I read just fine You wrote "The quality of the important effects is excellent." Dont know about you, but I see the reverb to be very important. Thats why i mentioned the Logic verb. If you write something like "the important fx in Live", how should anyone be able to know that you exclude reverbs from the "impotatn fx list"?

[hyerstay]

I love the fact that I've got just one window to work in becuase I really have pop-ups and floating windows.

You mean hate (not have), right? Me too! Especially coming from Logic, Live is such a relief in this aspect.

Cheers,

jason

[david122]

painseeker

You really are an annoying little pedant!

[hyerstay]

Ok, I'll bite.

If you write something like "the important fx in Live", how should anyone be able to know that you exclude reverbs from the "impotatn fx list"?

Do you mean important or impotent?



Just having fun!

Cheers,

jason

[saddam whosayin?]

wildcon wrote:

I find moving around in live quite awkward and annoying. I did post suggestions for 'Marker Tracks' that let you save and jump to positions / loops within an arrangement (Intro / Verse Chorus etc).
I use this all the time in Cubase and would be lost without it. It also speeds up the editing process no end.


funny, i always found markers, staring at a horizontal timeline and not being able to rearrange sections quickly annoying...
never having to deal w/ markers is exactly why I use live for writing

your scenes are your markers
make a new one when you need a new "marker"
assign your scenes to your controller or keypad and trigger - instant re-arrangement

[ryst]

david122 and painseeker,

What is wrong with you guys? I see this all the time on this board. Everyone is so defensive and has to have the last word. So you disagree...so what? These arguments are so petty.