Record in Ableton or in Pro Tools?

[kovesen]

When I record on my own I always use Live, but when I play with my band we always use Pro Tools to record songs.

Will the quality of sound be affected in any way by using Ableton instead of Pro Tools?

I'm more a musician than a technician, so I'm not the go-to-guy on these kind of issues. But I am trying to convince the others in my band that Ableton is the way to go.

Am I wrong?

[leedsquietman]

You can record in either and if you know what you're doing it will sound equally good in either. Just remember about warping in Live and how this can affect audio. (read your manual).

You can rewire the audio from Live to protools in any event, so there should be no issues.

[fiver]

i've always wanted to try this but havent ever really been in the right setting for it. as far as i know, there should be no difference, as long as you're using the same hardware as you would otherwise (interface, mic pre's, etc). if i'm not mistaken, though, digidesign hardware(HD 192's in particular) will only let you use 8 channels of audio if you're not using pro tools. keep that in mind if you're ever planning on recording more than 8 audio tracks at once. this may have changed, but i doubt it. digidesign.

[kovesen]

Thats what I thought.
I will be using exactly the same hardware so that shouldn't be any problem.
When I record in Ableton I use the same gear as when I record in Pro Tools and I have no problem recording more than 8 tracks.

I think I will give Ableton it a go the next time we record!

[simonlb]

I know it's been touched on but make sure you turn Warping off. No need for it if you're recording a band

[fiver]

I have no problem recording more than 8 tracks.

simultaneously?

[kovesen]

I have no problem recording more than 8 tracks.

simultaneously?

I believe so. I have only recorded demos like that in Ableton. Maybe I have only used less than 8. I will try tomorrow and post a reply.
Can't see why it shouldn't be possible..

[kovesen]

I just rigged up for recording now and tried recording more than 8 track simultaneously. No problem at all.

[jerry123]

Tracking will be the same in both, mixing/summing is where the difference is.
If you can mix in Protools or mix to an outboard mixer from Ableton, you'll get better results, trust me.

[anybody human]

There shouldn't really be a audio difference in the programs, although they all handle digital summing differently this was more of an issue years ago and has stuck. I think the most recent (2/19/10) Sound On Sound podcast discusses this. Also, the 11/25/09 podcast discusses gain structure in DAWs, I found it helpful.
http://www.soundonsound.com/podcast/sos_podcast.rss

It just depends on your preferred workflow. I prefer Ableton and try to use it as much as possible, but there's no doubt that recording audio performances and mixing are tasks that ProTools handles well. A lot more options in PT; clocking & I/O options, track comping, automation, mix views, dual monitors, audio editing etc.

Since you have access to both programs why not use both? For instance you might take something you've prepared for a song in Ableton to the band, rewire or import the audio into PT, and then maybe after you're done tracking in PT take some audio back into Ableton and play around a bit. Never know what you'll come up with and it'll be fun. Whatever works for the task and use all the tools at your disposal. Have fun recording!

[tlennon]

Since you have access to both programs why not use both? For instance you ......

Exactly what I always advocate. I have many tools and mix a mesh them at diff times. There is no 1 way or right way.

[Tone Deft]

use the DAW you're more comfortable with. the sound quality isn't as much an issue, if it's an issue at all.

what is an issue is the wasted time you'd spend dicking around with either DAW trying to figure out 'what went wrong' while your band is standing by impatiently looking over your shoulder bitching at you for not using the other DAW. if they want to use another DAW, tell them to step up and be the technician on the session.

[evernaut]

There shouldn't really be a audio difference in the programs, although they all handle digital summing differently this was more of an issue years ago and has stuck. I think the most recent (2/19/10) Sound On Sound podcast discusses this. Also, the 11/25/09 podcast discusses gain structure in DAWs, I found it helpful.
http://www.soundonsound.com/podcast/sos_podcast.rss

It just depends on your preferred workflow. I prefer Ableton and try to use it as much as possible...

Exactly. And thanks for the SOS link.

[fiver]

I just rigged up for recording now and tried recording more than 8 track simultaneously. No problem at all.

whoa! that's 36 channels of audio. what kind of HD setup are you rockin anyways?

[kovesen]

I just rigged up for recording now and tried recording more than 8 track simultaneously. No problem at all.

whoa! that's 36 channels of audio. what kind of HD setup are you rockin anyways?

It's a digirack 003 with an extension module which gives me 8 more channels.. 18 channels in total. Not quite HD, but it works for recording synths and drum machines.