Anyone else using Lives onboard devices almost exclusively?

[condra]

Hey.

I find myself using VSTs much less these days, for the following reasons:
1 - The type of music I'm doing at the moment is mostly sample based
2 - I'm lazy and my VST folder is a mess.
3 - Stability (Live
4 - I think Lives devices are really bloody good, and I've learned them backwards.

Apart from the occasional fling with Sampletank and Sylenth, the only VSTs I use regularly these days are Artillery II, and CSR reverb.

So, just wondering if anyone else likes to use Lives devices exclusively, or almost exclusively. ??
Also wondering what devices people think are as good as any VST, or need to be improved. ??

I own Operator and Sampler, and use and love them both.
I use Lives reverb a lot, but I still like my CSR reverb from IKM.

What do people think of Lives compressor??
Personally, I really like it.

[andrewbrewer]

agree on all points. operator is i think better than any vst i've messed with. impulse i would like improvements

[slaykent]

agree on all points. operator is i think better than any vst i've messed with. impulse i would like improvements

Honestly, I have not used impulse once since the appearance of drum racks. Is there any advantage in using impulse instead of a drum rack?

[capta1nA]

The only external plugin I'm running these days is Automat (www.alphakanal.de). My G4 can't handle too much, but it does Live 6.0.10 well for the most part.

[jer_mcclain]

I am, with the exception of a little Reaktor here and there. There is so much there if you have Suite and M4L, its hard for me to justify using anything else. I have a lot of other things collecting dust as a result.

[condra]

I still feel kinda guilty about using Lives compressor so much. People go on and on about how good other compressors are but I love Lives compressor for being so quick and easy.

[JuanSOLO]

Right now my set has theFinger as a Reaktor plug, FM8 as a plug, and TONS of Ableton.

Spent the last year switching to a more native Ableton, than Ableton with NI plugs.

I LOVE THEM.

For recording, I will use a lot of NI stuff though. SpaceMaster reverbs, Kontakt, Reaktor Synths, sometimes Battery.

I have started to like Operator a lot, but it is still hard to replecate some of the sounds I used to use regularly with a Reaktor synth called Concept X. That was my intention though.

[Pitch Black]

Is there any advantage in using impulse instead of a drum rack?

You can timestretch sounds in Impulse. I use it in place of Simpler/Sampler where I want to have real-time timestretch available on a knob.

[slaykent]

Is there any advantage in using impulse instead of a drum rack?

You can timestretch sounds in Impulse. I use it in place of Simpler/Sampler where I want to have real-time timestretch available on a knob.

Cool. Thanks for the tip.

[liveISlife]

I love Lives onboard gear. Everything is so simple and so good. The only other plug I use in pretty much every track is Stylus RMX. I do like to have a nice selection of other plugs to rotate through just to add different charter to different tracks though. And I also just like figuring out new synths and stuff!

[Hidden Driveways]

I still rely on Pluggo a lot, but I use the Live stuff all the time too.

[leedsquietman]

I like Operator, Electric and Tension but I use loads of other plugins because no DAW gives you everything you need in the box IMHO. The Suite gives you quite a bit but is by no means complete (if you've already been used to using a ton of 3rd party plugins before then you know what is missing).

Regular 3rd party synths - Massive, Zebra, ACE, Arturia (JP8V, Analog Factory, Prophet V), Kore Player, Kontakt Player, East West Play Symphonic, Steinberg Halion Symphonic Orchestra, Korg Legacy Digital.

3rd party FX - Sonalksis Essentials (SV315 compressor, SV517 EQ, SV 719 gate, multi limit, stereo tools, DQ-1 dynamic EQ), TC M30 reverb, D16 Toraverb, Audio Damage (Fluid, Dubstation, Liquid, Roughrider), Voxengo Voxformer, Elephant, Soniformer, PSP 84, Neon EQ, DDMF LP10, Colour EQ, NY compressor, Cytomic The Glue, etc. Live's in the box FX, especially modulation FX and reverb are quite weak.

Having said this, if you're happy with just using Live's devices, avoid temptation and save yourself some money by keeping to Live's devices - if you don't know what you're missing, it can be a blessing - in the wallet at least

[Bleep Blop Ima Robot]

Yeah picked up massive and fm8 when they where $99, had fun with them for a bit but then got really back into messing with Analog in live and other devices. One still constantly used is Maschine. But still atm im having fun and loving all the on board devices in live.

[jasper]

Live's entire audio engine is phenomenal.

Compressor is an excellent, versatile compressor with good punch
and you can tweak a sweet bite out of it, sidechaining is easy with it.

Operator is one of the best FM synths I've ever tried, and I own a real Yamaha DX7.
I love Operator.
I'm a week away from upgrading to Suite8 and buying the APC, but sometimes
I open the demo version of v8 just to play with Ableton's Sampler! lol.

Brutal honesty:
Impulse has a "stretch" knob for sounds. But AFAIK Sampler doesn't. that's wierd to me.
Analog didn't make a mindblowing impression on me, but I didn't
take too much time under the hood.
I think Tension sounds f*ing beautiful, it's the easiest physical modeling
instrument I've ever played.

IMO: Kontakt (especially the obscene new features and articulation stuff in the new version4)
is an unbeatable sampler/rack. I use it with Live. I really don't think there is a better sampler
on earth right now than Kontakt.
FM8 is a ballsy-as-hell FM synth.
Absynth is...Absynth. I only use it when I want to scare people.
Reaktor user here since Reaktor version1.
I can't wait to buy Max for Live.

Anyway, to answer your question: I do use AU and VSTi from other makers.

[Pasha]

Although I bought Zebra 2 when I got Live 7,
since I upgraded to Live 8 suite Zebra is getting
dust. I use only Live on board devices and my
album reflects that.
Zebra enters there 10% of times when I need a particular
sound from the big free preset library.
The reason behind that is that finally Live 8 library
has what I can call presets and my learning to use what I got
brought me a lot of satisfaction and fun.
Lately I appreciate Analog a lot for some paddy sounds
I need. Mixed with Operator in racks makes a very good
sound. Electric and EIC2 are very good and Tension makes
interesting sounds when pushed over the stringy synth it is.
Session Drums is my only source of drums and I can't ask for more.
Live Suite provided me with all I need to make music.
Sampler is great but I use it only to tweak preset, I'm not
the sampling guy.

- Best
- Pasha