Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
Post Reply
Audio Anomaly
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 3:15 am

Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by Audio Anomaly » Fri Oct 30, 2009 5:12 am

Ive been using ableton for a long time now to dj. I run ableton on my mac, out through my soundcard into my allen and heath xone 92, control all with a trigger finger.
Its served me well and is extremely dynamic with 4 outs. I love ableton but im just getting tired of the fact that ableton alone can be a pain to dj with. Djying every sort of gig regularly, it becomes a strain dragging in clips and not having any sort of decent library system. Warping and mixing on the fly has become easy but its a pain saving the clips for again and i always end up rewarping tracks ive played before. Its really just come to the point where its sapping the fun out of djying for me and indeed the ability to find, try out and mix tracks quickly.

I think things would be much more enjoyable and practical if i had serato with a set of 1210s, its decent library system and could just throw on a track and beat match.

Now i dont think id like Traktor scratch, i started djing using traktor and for some reason id feel i was moving backward by returning to it. But it is very tempting with the 4 decks, brilliant effects system, ease of midi maping and a better soundcard that works with all software!

So i am very keen to buy Serato and a set of 1210s. But still i think i would very much miss the flexibility, effects etc ive grown used to with ableton! So all hail the ableton serato partnership!

But i still feel reluctant to invest in serato just yet as im sure many others do. Nothing has been specified about this partnership!
Two big questions, obviously im looking for opinon as nobody knows for sure

1) Will the SL 1\3 work as a soundcard for ableton alone? Just say im doing a crappy gig and dont want lug around the 1210s, just want to use ableton alone, in this or any other scenario. I dont intend on owning two soundcards, selling my one now will fund purchasing a SL soundcard!! I am assuming the SL soundcard will have to work with ableton as a soundcard aswell for this collaboration to work? Were being told "If you own Ableton Live, and any of the DJ products that use Serato software, get ready to unleash your creativity in 2010!" So i am assuming from this comment that if i invest in Serato and own ableton that i will have the ability to use the Sl1\3 as a soundcard for ableton also?

2) Will the ableton effects racks work on the serato decks? This is one area serato misses out on bigstyle. I love my bit of reverb, beat repeat etc

Any other thoughts, debate on the integration between the two is much appreciated. Especially your train of thought on buying serato now vs waiting till more info is released\ product is launched. Is it correct to assume one will have the necessary compatability for usage of serato\ableton with the current SL soundcard?

Cheers!

Radio Arcade
Posts: 218
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:20 pm
Location: Glasgow - Scotland

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by Radio Arcade » Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:42 pm

I have serato and ableton 8. When I dj out I just burn stuff to cd to save me lugging laptop/serato interface but im hoping this partnership is like a serato plug for ableton meaning you can dj/mix as normal but use ableton fx in real time via a controller or someting 8)
Music Makes You Lose KoNtRoL!

Hidden Driveways
Posts: 1977
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:13 pm
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Contact:

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by Hidden Driveways » Fri Oct 30, 2009 1:58 pm

You can use the Rane/Serato hardware interfaces with Ableton Live. So if you buy an SL1 or an SL3 or a TTM 57SL, you can use them as your soundcard for Ableton Live.

What you currently cannot do is use both programs at the same time on the same computer. The most recent announcements from both companies makes it sound like this will no loner be an issue. It sounds like they're going to make the two programs act as one somehow.

I think it's going to be more than just a simple integration of the two different programs running on a single computer sharing the same soundcard. I think they've got something special up their sleeve. I mean, this is Ableton we're talking about. They're not known for hum-drum boring advancements.

I would suggest getting a Rane/Serato interface and the 1210's. Of course, I am someone who loves vinyl, loves record players, loves record shopping, and loves scratching and mixing.

Of the current interfaces available, I think the SL3 is nice. It's got a higher resolution sound, and auxilary ins and outs, however, there is no mic input.

If you get into Serato now, it will give you a few months of playing around with it, learning the software, and getting your turntable chops up. Once you're there, you'll get a nice treat in January when the collaboration is made public.

The sweetest thing about going Serato is that you get free software updates for life. We just got Version 1.9.2 last night. Free free free. Put that in your Traktor and pull it. :wink:

neuron132
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:23 pm

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by neuron132 » Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:36 am

Hidden Driveways wrote:You can use the Rane/Serato hardware interfaces with Ableton Live. So if you buy an SL1 or an SL3 or a TTM 57SL, you can use them as your soundcard for Ableton Live.

What you currently cannot do is use both programs at the same time on the same computer. The most recent announcements from both companies makes it sound like this will no loner be an issue. It sounds like they're going to make the two programs act as one somehow.
snip
I think what you mean is that you can't use them at the same time with the same soundcard. I use Scratch with the SL1 & Ableton with an EMI 2|6 at the same time no problem.

Dr Dub
Posts: 455
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:20 pm

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by Dr Dub » Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:57 am

before you buy something, try to hold out till the announcement ableton announced for NAMM, i think in january, perhaps they show somthing which is a must-have for you.
Besides this, there are also other possibilities. With Max4Live, you can use MS Pinkey in Live:
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2009/10/3 ... #more-8139

And have a look at Deckadance, which runs very smooth (for me) as a vst in Live.
You can choose if it syncs to Lives tempo or runs independently, and you can use all your vsts and Lives FX.
Live Suite 9 - MBPR 15 - NI Komplete Audio 6 - Push - Brain - Hands - Melodica

Patch
Posts: 2614
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2004 8:14 pm
Location: Bristol, UK

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by Patch » Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:54 am

Can you use a separate audio interface for Deckadance? I use Live for mixing (with an motu Ultralite) and DJ Decks/Mixvibes for scratching (with a U46DJ).

Can Live 8 use multiple audio interfaces?

Dr Dub
Posts: 455
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:20 pm

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by Dr Dub » Sun Nov 01, 2009 11:08 am

live can just use one interface at one time. (if you are on a Mac, you can use aggregate Ddevices to kind of merge two interfaces into one).
If you use Deckadance as a vst, all souncard stuff is handled by ableton, so it s one soundcard for both, but you could route Deckadance to different outputs.

You can run Ableton and Deckadance (not vst) on one machine at the same time, then you have to use two souncards, but you loose the integration and possibility to sync.

Perhaps i don t get you, why would you want to use two souncards?

BTW, Deckadance suppports all Timecode Vinyls.
Live Suite 9 - MBPR 15 - NI Komplete Audio 6 - Push - Brain - Hands - Melodica

S4racen
Posts: 5822
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:08 pm
Location: Dunstable
Contact:

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by S4racen » Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:41 pm

I believe all bets are off in using the SL1 or 3 as a soundcard with Ableton on a Mac...... Correct me if i'm wrong but the Mac doesn't see the SL1 as a soundcard.....

Cheers
D

pipedreams
Posts: 43
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:46 am

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by pipedreams » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:47 am

S4racen wrote:I believe all bets are off in using the SL1 or 3 as a soundcard with Ableton on a Mac...... Correct me if i'm wrong but the Mac doesn't see the SL1 as a soundcard.....

Cheers
D
thats true.

I sold my SL1 a little while ago getting impatient to hear about what was going on with the Ableton/Serato partnership. Wanting to upgrade to something I can use for recording as well as dj'ing. It would be nice if Serato worked on a new interface that had some features aimed more at the ableton production/recording side of things (midi in/out, 1/4 inch or XLR inputs maybe) but still useable with the scratchlive software. I would definitely spring for something like that. I love Scratchlive but having an audio interface that is restricted solely for scratchlive vinyl emulation seems excessive when u have programs like ms pinky or deckadance that can be used with any quality interface. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what january NAMM has to offer.

sorry for ranting.

S4racen
Posts: 5822
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:08 pm
Location: Dunstable
Contact:

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by S4racen » Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:03 am

pipedreams wrote:
S4racen wrote:I believe all bets are off in using the SL1 or 3 as a soundcard with Ableton on a Mac...... Correct me if i'm wrong but the Mac doesn't see the SL1 as a soundcard.....

Cheers
D
thats true.

I sold my SL1 a little while ago getting impatient to hear about what was going on with the Ableton/Serato partnership. Wanting to upgrade to something I can use for recording as well as dj'ing. It would be nice if Serato worked on a new interface that had some features aimed more at the ableton production/recording side of things (midi in/out, 1/4 inch or XLR inputs maybe) but still useable with the scratchlive software. I would definitely spring for something like that. I love Scratchlive but having an audio interface that is restricted solely for scratchlive vinyl emulation seems excessive when u have programs like ms pinky or deckadance that can be used with any quality interface. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what january NAMM has to offer.

sorry for ranting.
Rant away, 24 hours with serato and it's great fun, i didn't want Traktor as it's functionality crosses over with much of what i do with ableton so serato is brilliant.... I'll hardwire it in though and i'm feeding it back into ableton through my soundcard with the latency down in serato it's actually brilliant.....!

It's just i wanted the serato box as my travelling soundcard not to have to take another with me as well.... Roll on January!


Cheers
D

n8sum
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:40 am

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by n8sum » Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:40 pm

pipedreams wrote:
It would be nice if Serato worked on a new interface that had some features aimed more at the ableton production/recording side of things (midi in/out, 1/4 inch or XLR inputs maybe) but still useable with the scratchlive software. I would definitely spring for something like that. I love Scratchlive but having an audio interface that is restricted solely for scratchlive vinyl emulation seems excessive when u have programs like ms pinky or deckadance that can be used with any quality interface. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what january NAMM has to offer.

sorry for ranting.

I'm with you on waiting. A jointly developed interface is a potential prospect and something that is geared more to producers would be a great addition to the market. There is definitely room for such an alternative given native instruments range of devices that incorporate studio grade input paths in addition to the phono/line rca inputs. Alas, we'll have to see what has been developed. I have a feeling it is going to be software but one can only hope.

Globaldj
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2006 10:13 pm
Location: Madison

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by Globaldj » Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:08 am

so... it's possible to use SL3 box with Ableton? If so, how?
Thanks
Living in a world of Graphic Design and Music Production

Hidden Driveways
Posts: 1977
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:13 pm
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Contact:

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by Hidden Driveways » Tue Dec 01, 2009 2:21 pm

S4racen wrote:I believe all bets are off in using the SL1 or 3 as a soundcard with Ableton on a Mac...... Correct me if i'm wrong but the Mac doesn't see the SL1 as a soundcard.....

Cheers
D
I own the TTM 57SL and it works as an audio interface for Live on a Mac. Idon't have the SL1 or the SL3 so I can't speak for them. It's wack if the 57 works and the SL1 doesn't.

Globaldj
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2006 10:13 pm
Location: Madison

Re: Ableton Serato Partnership Questions

Post by Globaldj » Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:46 pm

looks like the SL3 box doesn't work with Ableton - At least it's not being recognize as a soundcard by my MBP
Living in a world of Graphic Design and Music Production

Post Reply