Ableton Live ver. 7.0 compatible with 64-bit Windows OS?

[pairajacks]

I'm preparing to buy Windows7 (64bit) for a newly built-faster PC (the cheaper OEM windows OS only gives you one CD; either 32 or 64bit). Before I buy the 64-bit OS, I'd like to know if it is compatible with Ableton Live 7.0. I realize Ableton 7 & 8 are 32 bit, and could run a little slower on 64-bit (running backward compatible), that would be OK with me.

Is 64bit a pain in the ass? I imagine the plug-ins are typically 32 bit; do they run backward-compatible under 64 bit? Stability issues?

I've noticed that some people have posted that they're using 64-bit windows 7 on Ableton, but no one seems to really say that it works well. Even the Ableton FAQ is a little vague:

Question; Is Live 8 a 64-bit application. How much memory can Live address running on Windows 7?
Answer; Live is a 32-bit application and can make use of up to 4 GB of RAM, regardless of which Windows 7 version you use.

[leedsquietman]

32 bit DAW applications tend to run better at present than 64 bit versions under 64 bit o/s because they don't have plugin incompatibilities which the 64 bit apps can suffer from (and which apart from Sonar and Reaper are really pretty much still beta versions) and get a small performance bump (on windows) from being able to use 3.6GB of memory (assuming no graphics stealing or other background programs stealing) as opposed to 1.7GB under win XP 32.

When 64 bit apps are a bit more mature and developers are coding native 64 bit plugins as standard, then you should notice a big increase in the power of the 64 bit DAWS, but at present they are still developing and to a greater or lesser degree, hamstrung by having to run bit-bridging for 32 bit plugins (about 95% of plugins at present).

[pairajacks]

What is your experience with the incompatabilities of plug-ins? Again, I'm OK with a slight slowness due to backward compatability. What kind of plug-ins just won't run under 64 bit?

[bytheriver]

I just finished installing my DAW and win7 ultimate 64bit, Live7 had massive graphics lag until I put in 'vista' compatibility mode, now its fine. Very speedy and neat to.



Live7
Dcam synth squad
Massive
Reaktor
Guru
DrDevice
Ricochet
PSP nitro

all seem fine so far. When I gear back with auth-codes for subboombass and ACE I'll try those out to, but yeah all seems fine and dandy so far.

[leedsquietman]

It varies. But definately a lot of free plugins or older plugins are especially prone to not working in 64 bit.

Professional DSP cards like TC Powercore, UAD and others are quite lacking in this regard too.

Bitbridging is hit and miss and some plugins which work in one 64 bit host don't always work in another due to different bit bridges. J-Bridge is a $20 download and probably the best one in terms of compatibility (somewhere in the 85-90% region). For now, if you are working on time critical projects, or use your DAW professionally/semi-pro/commercially, it's typically more productive/better to stick to the 32 bit version of the DAW.

[arar]

Tk and MDA plugins are working ok with live 7.018 and w7 64 bit

[leedsquietman]

Live 8 and all previous versions are 32 bit, 32 bit plugins are not the problem.

It's 32 bit plugins run into a 64 bit DAW app via bitbridging which is the causing most problems (and availability/reliability of 64 bit drivers for 64 bit DAW apps, which doesn't apply to Live).

It should be virtually no different running a 32 bit DAW such as Live in a 64 bit o/s as it is in a 32 bit o/s except for potential device driver issues (i.e. potentially some midi controllers or audio interfaces not having drivers available or in beta) and getting access to more RAM.