Ableton used for recording, editing and mixdown of solo guit

[kanuck]

Although I've found Ableton's reverb to sound ok for more unique reverb sounds I found it far from realistic and would rather use third party plugins, but to each their own.

Yes as the poster above said, all those types of editing can be done in Live. I'm not sure what you're struggling with exactly. What I mentioned before is still impossible though and that is multi-track editing. Therefore if you used 2 separate mics (not stereo) to record your guitar or have a mulit-tracked drum kit you won't be able to edit them together. This is due to the fact that you cannot group clips in Live whereas you can in other DAWs (at least most of them).

I do use 2 mics on separate tracks panned hard left and right; to my ears it just sounds better than one stereo track.

I've gotten into a routine where I record and add reverb in Ableton, and I have Audacity set up as the default editor. I have learned since how to edit in Ableton, but the separate track issue makes it not feasible, and even if I did record like that, the view, function, and workflow of basic editing is just plain easier in Audacity for how I do it.

Which third party plugins are you using for reverb? I'm still considering switching to Reaper, but I don't care for any of the stock reverbs.

I don't understand how panning 2 tracks hard left and right would sound better than a single stereo track. They are identical. I think you're setting something wrong on your interface.

I agree with you that live's editing is quite limited. I've never properly used audacity so I can't comment on that. This is why I use Reaper for most of my normal audio editing and use live for writing and composing.

There're a lot out there and I'd recommend choosing 3-4 and demoing them yourself. The one I use is this, it's quite cheap and affordable.
http://www.valhalladsp.com/valhallaroom

[H20nly]

I don't understand how panning 2 tracks hard left and right would sound better than a single stereo track. They are identical.

it's probably slightly louder.

[kmaaj]

I don't understand how panning 2 tracks hard left and right would sound better than a single stereo track. They are identical. I think you're setting something wrong on your interface.

I can't do anything with the interface in regards to panning, it is as bone simple 2 in 2 out as it gets. Where I hear the diffrence is when the mics are live into Ableton itself. And it's not just that. Two separate channels gives me the option to manipulate each individually later if I wish.

I agree with you that live's editing is quite limited. I've never properly used audacity so I can't comment on that. This is why I use Reaper for most of my normal audio editing and use live for writing and composing.

Audacity behaves almost identical the the old version of Cool Edit Pro that I have. CE will not load on my newer 64 bit PC, and the newer version, now Adobe Audition, is too bloated and expensive for what I need. I wish Adobe would release a bare bones stripped down version more akin to the original Cool Edit.

There're a lot out there and I'd recommend choosing 3-4 and demoing them yourself. The one I use is this, it's quite cheap and affordable.
http://www.valhalladsp.com/valhallaroom

I played around with valhalla last night and got some nice sounds out of it.

[kmaaj]

I also played around with Ambience last night and got some KILLER reverbs from it.

[Sage]

I don't understand how panning 2 tracks hard left and right would sound better than a single stereo track. They are identical. I think you're setting something wrong on your interface.

I can't do anything with the interface in regards to panning, it is as bone simple 2 in 2 out as it gets. Where I hear the diffrence is when the mics are live into Ableton itself. And it's not just that. Two separate channels gives me the option to manipulate each individually later if I wish.

You shouldn't be hard panning two separate sources.

[kanuck]

I don't understand how panning 2 tracks hard left and right would sound better than a single stereo track. They are identical.

it's probably slightly louder.

There is no way that it would be louder. How does that logically make any sense?

I don't understand how panning 2 tracks hard left and right would sound better than a single stereo track. They are identical. I think you're setting something wrong on your interface.

I can't do anything with the interface in regards to panning, it is as bone simple 2 in 2 out as it gets. Where I hear the diffrence is when the mics are live into Ableton itself. And it's not just that. Two separate channels gives me the option to manipulate each individually later if I wish.

I'm not aware of a single interface where you can pan on the interface itself. Live conveniently created all their tracks to be both stereo and mono. From the input selection you can choose between stereo inputs or mono inputs. Therefore if you wanted to use mic inputs 1 and 2 for your left and right respectively you would choose "Ext. In" to be "1/2". This will give you the exact same results as creating 2 separate mono tracks where 1 has "Ext. In" as 1 and the other has "Ext. In" as 2 and then panning them hard left and right.

If you're processing the left and right channels differently then you're going to have a very messed up stereo image.

On the other hand if you're miking the same source but not in stereo (i.e. not left/right) but just using 2 different mics for 2 different colours that you can blend later in post-production then yes, you want to created 2 separate mono tracks and feed them the 2 separate inputs. This is where editing becomes tricky with Live. You cannot group clips together and edit the 2 recorded tracks together. You may run into phase and synchronization issues. This is why I was recommending using a different DAW at least just for multi-track editing.

[H20nly]

I don't understand how panning 2 tracks hard left and right would sound better than a single stereo track. They are identical.

it's probably slightly louder.

There is no way that it would be louder. How does that logically make any sense?

well, to be fair, i said probably... and here's why: i realize that you are thinking that they are the same thing... but what i was thinking is that one track vs. two tracks is where a slight increase could come in to play... why else would it sound "better"?

granted... a lot of my thought process is based on the notion that, so often, louder is perceived as "better".

is two tracks panned in both directions really the same as one in stereo?

[kanuck]

I don't understand how panning 2 tracks hard left and right would sound better than a single stereo track. They are identical.

it's probably slightly louder.

There is no way that it would be louder. How does that logically make any sense?

well, to be fair, i said probably...

is two tracks panned in both directions really the same as one in stereo?[/quote]

Ok, so you're giving information without actually knowing what you're talking about?

And yes that's what a stereo track essentially is two separate mono tracks. One being the left channel and one being the right channel.

[H20nly]

wow dude. lash out much?

tell you what... you keep being aggro about it and i'll keep thinking what i think:

2 hot/separate tracks layered vs. 1 track will yield slightly different results.

[Sage]

Why on earth are people arguing about two mono tracks vs a stereo track!?

On a technical level they may be the same thing, but very different purposes.

[H20nly]

i'm not arguing.

i was down to have a discussion on why kmaaj feels that it sounds "better", but i don't feel like playing who can be more belittling in Music and Audio Production. that's what The Lounge is for.

it's off topic anyway so piss on it. the OP has already been answered.

[Sage]

Its not an explanation to what the threadstarter is doing.

A stereo recording an acoustic guitar is very different to two mono takes of acoustic guitar. Two separate takes/non-stereo microphone technique hard panned left & right will sound fake, not "better".

[H20nly]

well, "better" wasn't my choice of words. i implied that it may be slightly louder. i implied this because you are stacking sounds/tracks i.e. 1 vs. 2, and i don't believe that hard panning completely negates the signal on the other side of the dial.

[Sage]

You're getting into stereo pan laws et al, so it was a daft point to make. There's plenty more going on to make it more exciting to the ears,

But these differences apply to a stereo recording and two separate mono takes, just their application is totally different. This just sounds like the threadstarter is getting off on the false stereo image providing by a non-stereo microphone technique panned hard left & right and needs a crash course in how to record.

If I'm doing a solo guitar, it is always a stereo recording. An acoustic guitar is a stereo instrument!

[kanuck]

wow dude. lash out much?

tell you what... you keep being aggro about it and i'll keep thinking what i think:

2 hot/separate tracks layered vs. 1 track will yield slightly different results.

I didn't think I was lashing out. I was just trying to help the OP receive legit information opposed to speculation. You can always just do a test yourself and find out. Some other posters such Sage have got it right as well. You're talking about something completely different from what I was.