Who at Sweetwater is best contact re: Live?

[oxytocin]

Can anyone recommend a sales rep at Sweetwater who is an Ableton expert (or close to that)?

Thanks.

[TomViolenz]

Can anyone recommend a sales rep at Sweetwater who is an Ableton expert (or close to that)?

Thanks.

Ask for: Al Kahalic, Oliver Closesof, Seymour Butz, Mike Rotch and Anita Bath.
They usually have good advice

Ah, Hugh Ath, ask for him, he is the best!

[TomViolenz]

Please can someone help the guy?! My names were (hopefully!) obvious prank names.
That should stop no one from giving good advice!

[jestermgee]

Please can someone help the guy?! My names were (hopefully!) obvious prank names.
That should stop no one from giving good advice!

Seems you are pulling the shenanigans from the lounge into the other threads. I bet Funken left the damn door open again.

To: oxytocin, not sure who is best but have you asked round there?

[TomViolenz]

Please can someone help the guy?! My names were (hopefully!) obvious prank names.
That should stop no one from giving good advice!

Seems you are pulling the shenanigans from the lounge into the other threads. I bet Funken left the damn door open again.

To: oxytocin, not sure who is best but have you asked round there?

I did, but I thought some levity hurts no one

[Buleriachk]

I have found most of Sweetwater's sales reps to be well-rounded and knowledgeable; if you call the operator and tell you her general field of interest, she will try to direct you to someone who is more or less knowledgeable in that area. If it can't be answered there, they will refer to one of their Chief Gurus, who can probably help. If not, you're just going to have to ask the Ableton forum (wherever THAT is), and failing that, Ableton support....

That said, if I ask a pre-sales question (I try to do as much research as I can pre-inquiry) and get it answered correctly, I always make sure I purchase the item from them (they don't usually deal from MSRP, in my experience). And they have really good backup technical support, once you have purchased it, which is why I often buy from them even if no pre-sales questions are involved, unless the deal is so good I simply can't pass it up, and I don't expect to use their technical support with it..

OTH, if you've bought a lot of stuff from them, then a rare freebie is probably OK....

[oxytocin]

Can anyone recommend a sales rep at Sweetwater who is an Ableton expert (or close to that)?

Thanks.

Ask for: Al Kahalic, Oliver Closesof, Seymour Butz, Mike Rotch and Anita Bath. They usually have good advice
Ah, Hugh Ath, ask for him, he is the best!

Something tells me that asking for any of the first five will just raise a lot of Sweetwater eyebrows.

I'll take a chance on Hugh, tho.

Thanks.

[oxytocin]

Please can someone help the guy?! My names were (hopefully!) obvious prank names.
That should stop no one from giving good advice!

Seems you are pulling the shenanigans from the lounge into the other threads. I bet Funken left the damn door open again.

To: oxytocin, not sure who is best but have you asked round there?

So I guess my suspicions are confirmed. Total prankster. I guess maybe I won't even ask for Hugh Ath, then.

Yes, I asked the Sweetwater rep I got on Friday (phone). He knew very little about Ableton. He suggested calling back on Sat. (I couldn't) or Mon. (I will) and asking for an Ableton specialist. I just thought I'd try to get a name here, if possible. But I can go the route suggested and see what happens.

Thanks.

[oxytocin]

I have found most of Sweetwater's sales reps to be well-rounded and knowledgeable; if you call the operator and tell you her general field of interest, she will try to direct you to someone who is more or less knowledgeable in that area. If it can't be answered there, they will refer to one of their Chief Gurus, who can probably help. If not, you're just going to have to ask the Ableton forum (wherever THAT is), and failing that, Ableton support....

That said, if I ask a pre-sales question (I try to do as much research as I can pre-inquiry) and get it answered correctly, I always make sure I purchase the item from them (they don't usually deal from MSRP, in my experience). And they have really good backup technical support, once you have purchased it, which is why I often buy from them even if no pre-sales questions are involved, unless the deal is so good I simply can't pass it up, and I don't expect to use their technical support with it..

OTH, if you've bought a lot of stuff from them, then a rare freebie is probably OK....

Thanks. I'm getting a new MacBook Pro and wanted to double-check about what's best-suited to Ableton (in a multitasking environment) and what isn't.

E.g., I've read that the latest Retinas, which although the newest, etc., have latency issues that previous non-Retina (and possibly even earlier generation Retina) models didn't, as well as other drawbacks that apply to all Retina models (closed architecture re: RAM, SSD, battery, etc.).

(they don't usually deal from MSRP, in my experience)

Not sure what you meant there -- "they don't usually [vary] from MSRP"?

[Buleriachk]

Manufacturer's suggested retail price. Actually, they do offer discounts; you just can't deal from their advertised price, which is usually the same as all the other chains....

Not sure what you meant there -- "they don't usually [vary] from MSRP"?

[TomViolenz]

I have found most of Sweetwater's sales reps to be well-rounded and knowledgeable; if you call the operator and tell you her general field of interest, she will try to direct you to someone who is more or less knowledgeable in that area. If it can't be answered there, they will refer to one of their Chief Gurus, who can probably help. If not, you're just going to have to ask the Ableton forum (wherever THAT is), and failing that, Ableton support....

That said, if I ask a pre-sales question (I try to do as much research as I can pre-inquiry) and get it answered correctly, I always make sure I purchase the item from them (they don't usually deal from MSRP, in my experience). And they have really good backup technical support, once you have purchased it, which is why I often buy from them even if no pre-sales questions are involved, unless the deal is so good I simply can't pass it up, and I don't expect to use their technical support with it..

OTH, if you've bought a lot of stuff from them, then a rare freebie is probably OK....

Thanks. I'm getting a new MacBook Pro and wanted to double-check about what's best-suited to Ableton (in a multitasking environment) and what isn't.

E.g., I've read that the latest Retinas, which although the newest, etc., have latency issues that previous non-Retina (and possibly even earlier generation Retina) models didn't, as well as other drawbacks that apply to all Retina models (closed architecture re: RAM, SSD, battery, etc.).

(they don't usually deal from MSRP, in my experience)

Not sure what you meant there -- "they don't usually [vary] from MSRP"?

Yeah sorry for that, as jestermgee said, someone must have left the door to the Lounge open

Regarding your specific question, I know not so much, as I'm not in the market for a new computer, so these things are not in my focus ATM.
What I do know is that indeed the Retina screen is not supported by Live yet, so that the resolution of Live on that screen is sub par. How bad it is I don't know.
The non-upgradeability of the Retinas, you are already aware of. This is a very HUGE draw back IMO, and one that might make my next Mac not a laptop, and if they take it away from the Mini and iMac as well, then I will go the Hackintosh route.

For you to consider right now would still be last generations non-Retina MacBook Pro. They have none of the downsides mentioned above (upgradability and screen) and you may get it cheaper nowadays in the refurb section on Apples website.
The CPU upgrade between the last generation was not so big (mainly somewhat better battery times and maybe 10% more speed). So that's the way I would go. I would probably get it with a quad core i7 and the minimum of Ram. Because that can be upgraded aftermarket for much cheaper. Same goes for the SDD harddrive.

I think that generation of MBPs also still had the DVD drive, that if you don't need it, can be replaced by a second hardrive!

I know of no latency issues in either model. But look around the forums, I know there are recent threads here that dealt with the MBPs.
Good luck

And yeah, don't ask for Hugh Ath either

[beats me]

This thread is a WIN. Posting on a DAW forum asking for an expert elsewhere they can talk to on the phone, as if that one person has more knowledge than the collective on the forum.


But I guess with a phone call you don't have to worry about a random person picking up the line and going "Don't buy that. IT'S SHIT." and then hanging up, followed by another random voice going "Works fine for me".

[H20nly]

just ask for Mike. he's your man a Sweetwater.

John is the main guy at Guitar Center.

[oxytocin]

This thread is a WIN. Posting on a DAW forum asking for an expert elsewhere they can talk to on the phone, as if that one person has more knowledge than the collective on the forum.

It wasn't either/or. I was asking knowledgeable people here for recommendations about who to contact at a retailer -- in this case, someone knowledgeable about using Ableton on MacBook Pro's. A rep at a retailer would normally also tend to have more extensive experience with different computers than any individual poster here would (unless he/she also works in music retail).

But I guess with a phone call you don't have to worry about a random person picking up the line and going "Don't buy that. IT'S SHIT." and then hanging up, followed by another random voice going "Works fine for me".

So, you've cited the hit-or-miss nature of online forums, and as a result you've contradicted your own criticism and explained why another information source than online forums can be worthwhile. Beyond which, there is also Sweetwater's reputation.

[eyeknow]

just ask for Mike. he's your man a Sweetwater.

John is the main guy at Guitar Center.

Cheeky bastard!