Ableton Forum

I feel irritated every time I have to unplug my laptop from my desk hub and take it outside because of the 7 clicks I have to do no matter what: turn on the audio engine, open Preferences, set Audio Input Device, then Audio Output Device, both when I unplug and when I plug back in. Logic chooses the best audio interface automatically. Me and others have been begging for Live to do this for years, but I don't even think my children will live to see this implemented here. Having the audio engine be off nearly every single time I open Live ruins any momentum I may have when starting up Live (even moreso than the minute long mandatory loading of Max in Live 10) and immediately kneecaps me, especially when I'm already stressed and want to make music to unwind. It's even better when it randomly changes my In/Out sample rate and I realise after recording hours of material.

I understand people many of you will tell me to have thicker skin, but I am very productive and this frustration has been a very long time coming. I have slowly been worn down and am starting to resent Live just because of this one thing. Live's workflow is 10x better than anything else on the market, but at least I never felt dread every time I started up Logic, or had to move away from my desk.

Is there any solution to this, what do those of you with laptops do? I hear Soundflower doesn't work with newer mac versions (even people @ Ableton use Soundflower as I've seen in their demos), and Audio aggregate devices lag a lot, as well as cut off volume control.
I don't know if any solution exists, but anything that helps is appreciated.

when I'm already stressed and want to make music to unwind

Dude. You already know this is about as first-world a problem as there has ever been. You want to make music on your laptop in the garden but there are too many clicks to get started?
Yes, they could improve this feature of course. but lets be clear about something - if we get to make music on our laptops in our gardens we should not be "miserable", and if we are then there is a larger cause than 8 clicks of agony.

I'm saying Live's foibles are probably not the issue here regarding your garden music making "misery"
My advice? Take up "Mycology", read Paul Stamets. relax a bit.

I wish we could set a preferred audio device as well, as this is something I run into multiple times a day too. I’m constantly taking my laptop from the studio to other places in the house, coffee shop, or maybe a brew pub, and having to reselect the audio interface each time I get back to the studio does feel tedious compared to other DAWs.

Not quite sure I’d go so far as to say it was making me miserable, but I definitely feel your pain with this one.

While this would be convenient performance improvements is way more important. For those afflicted by crashes, no crashes too,

angad wrote: ...I never felt dread every time I started up Logic, or had to move away from my desk.
Is there any solution to this, what do those of you with laptops do?

I FEEL YOU...

OK first thing;
Once a piece of software leaves an R&D battle as "the best it can be"
it goes on maybe MILLIONS of machines, (Computers; The Amazing "anything" machine!)
and then has to work and play well with MILLIONS of other OS and "programs" configs
each individual user has, and THEN has to work and play well with every piece
of hardware each individual user HAS TO HAVE or he'll DIE... automatically.
[whew! a daunting task!]

Your problem, in a sentence is you want Live to "grow legs"
and go from "studio mode" to "portable mode" without changing
the settings on the SAME machine... SO do I... I want to
collaborate with and record with folks in my area. Put shoes on it,
it's going for a walk...

MY solution; Live let's you license 2 machines on each (even intro)
so I have my "home studio" machine set up to pop right up AS IS,
[this machine stays put]
and I have a laptop "With Legs." All I need to do is grab the mic(s)
and my axes and the "Legs" machine and ROLL!

(funny thing, someone mentioned "crickets" in a previous post, and one
of the things I use my LEGZ machine for is collecting sound Fx.
I nabbed an espresso machine at a Wawa (convenience store) that
sounded like... I can't even describe it! But I love this!

I just use a small USB interface for the I/O and my "Legz copy"
of Live, and a USB memory stick lets me swap files between the two.
Hardware, preferences and "Latency compensation" is already ready already...

I CONFIGURE NOTHING! Live works well even with PC's with scant resources
so you should be able to pick up a used Laptop for "Legz" use for a
few euros, Pounds, Dollars... NOT heap big wampum.

PS: I keep live running in the background on my studio machine all the time.
Ready to roll, no waiting! I restart now and then to keep the digits fresh!

I really hope this helps. I hate having an idea and forgetting it by
the time something loads (like my email "pop") or the endless updates
that have to be done daily to some 3rd party software no one can live
without (Flash, Adobe anything, Google crap, etc...)
We're Musicians; we stress our machines out just doing FUN stuff!

G Pop

People who have no idea how good they have things these days certainly will cry over the smallest things.

Harden up sunflower. You have a laptop, Live and Logic and a place you can create and be happy and this small thing gets you down. If that's all you have to complain about I envy you.

If it bothers you that much, stop using Live and use Logic. While it would be nice to have Live select the "most suitable" interface, there would be some users who run systems that have multiple interfaces attached that would then complain the wrong one gets selected.

WHen I run into a problem like this, I learn how to code programs and create a script that can take away the 7 click blues and do all that for me. Could try and do that maybe? Or just spend 12 seconds manually setting a few things.

Would hate to see you prep for a gig, having to set things before you get to work.

Easy man, we all have different annoyances with our tools and the OPs request is something that has been asked for many times by other people too. No need to tell people to harden up just because you don't find something as annoying as we do.

Tarekith wrote:Easy man, we all have different annoyances with our tools and the OPs request is something that has been asked for many times by other people too. No need to tell people to harden up just because you don't find something as annoying as we do.

Fair enough, I guess calling someone a sunflower was a bit harsh for these forums

I am sure the user is justified in their frustrations and misery. I tend to experience misery when family members die from kidney failure after years of battling diabetes, or when friends commit suicide because life's just too hard. I was thinking that a few mouse clicks were just a part of it all but clearly it is an issue that is bigger than I can appreciate.

If the user just wants to post the the link to upvote their suggestion in the Beta I would be happy to upvote it. I am sure they have made a suggestion already if they took the time to open up on the forums.

+1. Would be a good qualify of life feature.

If you are using windows, go into troubleshoot compatibility. Let it run through it course. make sure all the preferences are correct in live 10.IF it will ask you do you want to save the settings at that point click yes.Your problem should be solved.

Tarekith wrote:I wish we could set a preferred audio device as well, as this is something I run into multiple times a day too. I’m constantly taking my laptop from the studio to other places in the house, coffee shop, or maybe a brew pub, and having to reselect the audio interface each time I get back to the studio does feel tedious compared to other DAWs.
Not quite sure I’d go so far as to say it was making me miserable, but I definitely feel your pain with this one.

I've been a musician since I was 9 and I'm 61... (50+ years)
I've been a machinist and "setup engineer" for jobs where "re-tooling"
meant half a days work... I was also a paramedic for some time.
"Semper Paratus!"

I tune my guitars before I use them, and as a machinist I had setup and
prep work with every tool I ever used, and every work piece or machine I
ever used. On stages, my bands set up hours before gigs and did sound checks...
"Be Prepared" - Boy Scouts!

I guess I'm used to proper setup procedures in everything I do.
Workflow; it all starts with setup and prep work.

That being said, some macros maybe? Hey, if live could used different
setup macros and detect hardware attached to it's environment it could
pop up a hardware config window where you have different Preferences
set for your particular style of music making. (Like VST banks!)
Computers automate tasks well...
if they have the programming to handle it. Maybe a "Config" Drop-down
menu button on the interface? 2 clicks, BAM!

Lately the youngsterz [sic] are on the move and collaborating with many
other people and from place to place, rave to garage, to online, to
peoples bedrooms, and even on their phones!... ???
it's the future. Like most GOOD arguments, both sides have good points.

I've tried TOO MANY DAW's, and Live's workflow, "Gadgets," libraries, packs,
etc, made me productive from minute one. I live in Live! lol! But...
We're musicians; We're narcissists!!! Peter Pan Syndrome!

WE want it ALL!

G pop