Ableton "indie rock band" user here, now ready to record CD

[fountain2]

Hopefully I don't start an obvious and pointless thread here, but I'm searching for some guidance in the foggy road ahead of recording a CD; I.e. Which DAW to record tracks in (for guitar, synth, etc) so I can save some money when going to the studio and polishing the final product with a professional engineer.

Background: I have been an ableton user for a few years now. My band currently uses 2 macbooks in a live setting where by we use ableton for guitar and vocal looping, drum beats, and to keep the tempo locked in our drummers ear. Long story short, I love abletone and want to use it for as many applications as possible.

Now: My band is ready to record our first CD. Many people suggest recording at home the basics so you can save money and time in the studio. This is VERY likely the direction we are going.

One of our bandmates has both Logic Express and Pro Tools 9 HD. From ableton users perspective, what would be the optimal WORK FLOW for me to get these preliminary tracks ultimately into a professional studio? I.e. easiest and if possible, using some kind of integration with ableton that will allow me to easily translate ableton compositions into professional mixes.

Possible solutions:
1) Use ableton for everything.
2) record in ableton and hand off .wav files to Pro Tools or Logic.
3) Record straight into Pro Tools or Logic and bypass ableton all together.

I'm aiming to achieve and establish a highly optimized workflow that will last me for years to come as I engage in the process again and again. Key thing to remember is that I am an ableton user that wants to make the most of it.

Thanks

[Winterpark]

record in live. bounce out stems to whatever DAW the studio you end up at has.
just be aware of sample rates, and not changing them around.

[fountain2]

record in live. bounce out stems to whatever DAW the studio you end up at has.
just be aware of sample rates, and not changing them around.

Sorry for my ignorance, is a stem a single audio track?

Also, would you recommend in ableton I record with EQ settings / effects enabled or do that in the subsequent DAW?

Got ti about the sample rates, I'll keep those locked in.

[Winterpark]

stems are groups of instruments, or parts that are sort of key elements.
ie: bass, vox, drums, lead line etc...

you may also want to separate drum tracks.

in terms of processing, i'd do creative fx within live (sync delays etc), with only some basic EQ cleaning up, like filtering out low freqs from guitar and vox tracks.. maybe some de-breathing of vox... stuff like that...then leave mix eqing to the studio's DAW.

[fountain2]

right on, thanks!