Why is ableton so freaking quite?!

[misiu]

Check this out, I think it explains a lot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-cqYeiOpP8

(Get Maximum Sound Quality From Ableton Live HD Tutorial )

[PureData]

The ideas above have many right sides, but the main thing in your situation is limiter.

Most of plug-ins are comparable but limiters are not. There are a few really good limiters on the market, and yes, they're not bundled with Live. You have to spend more money to get a really asskicking limiter; like Waves L316.

This is general but; most of Ableton users are making electronic music, and electronic music mostly means "sound processing". So, talking like an audio purist, against the limiting is not making sense at all for me.

Main rule is simple; always limit while you're keeping the volume same. This means how much you push the threshold, push the ceiling same amount. So you can clearly see when it gets hursh and where the exact ass kicking point is. Then pull back your ceiling to a high level; like 0.3 dBFS.

Btw, making your track louder doesn't mean it's mastered.

[Bee Dub]

The ideas above have many right sides, but the main thing in your situation is limiter.

Most of plug-ins are comparable but limiters are not. There are a few really good limiters on the market, and yes, they're not bundled with Live. You have to spend more money to get a really asskicking limiter; like Waves L316.

This is general but; most of Ableton users are making electronic music, and electronic music mostly means "sound processing". So, talking like an audio purist, against the limiting is not making sense at all for me.

Main rule is simple; always limit while you're keeping the volume same. This means how much you push the threshold, push the ceiling same amount. So you can clearly see when it gets hursh and where the exact ass kicking point is. Then pull back your ceiling to a high level; like 0.3 dBFS.

Btw, making your track louder doesn't mean it's mastered.

truth and great post

[yush]

The question you posed is the one that a lot of self proclaimed producers will tell you that the software is not the reason for the sound- sounding the way it does.

To begin with - lets assume you know what you are producing-- you have your frequencies in the right place and your compressors pushed to the limit- after all that you even have multi band compressors and limiters on your master channel......

after doing all this --- when you render your track -- you realism that it still doesn't sound as CLEAR...and Loud as the professionally produced tracks.....

The simple reason is that Ableton is not really good in those specific departments-- a lot of home studios end up investing in UMD WAVE plugins-- wave being the 1000 dollars PLUGINS used for post production- mastering and compression etc...

either way this is what i HAVE done
1) Use another software for post production : I am using Adobe Audition currently -- a lot of industry folks use PT.
2) I started using reason 4 -- with the same samples I used in Live -- and the end product out of reason with the inbuilt default mastering suite deployed is remarkably louder and clearer than live.
So in the end --- software does matter.
And for those who disagree --- please first buy reason and experiment making the same beat and render it as 24 bit - 44.1khz non dithered wave file.

[ninox_rufa]

The question you posed is the one that a lot of self proclaimed producers will tell you that the software is not the reason for the sound- sounding the way it does.

To begin with - lets assume you know what you are producing-- you have your frequencies in the right place and your compressors pushed to the limit- after all that you even have multi band compressors and limiters on your master channel......

after doing all this --- when you render your track -- you realism that it still doesn't sound as CLEAR...and Loud as the professionally produced tracks.....

The simple reason is that Ableton is not really good in those specific departments-- a lot of home studios end up investing in UMD WAVE plugins-- wave being the 1000 dollars PLUGINS used for post production- mastering and compression etc...

either way this is what i HAVE done
1) Use another software for post production : I am using Adobe Audition currently -- a lot of industry folks use PT.
2) I started using reason 4 -- with the same samples I used in Live -- and the end product out of reason with the inbuilt default mastering suite deployed is remarkably louder and clearer than live.
So in the end --- software does matter.
And for those who disagree --- please first buy reason and experiment making the same beat and render it as 24 bit - 44.1khz non dithered wave file.

[Machinesworking]

[Jinsai]

the simple answer to this is that commercially released music is mastered.

Also, knowing how to produce a track goes a long way... You might get more mileage out of some 3rd party compressors.

[user1999]

another is to compress the shit out of it. don't listen to people talking shit about "loudness wars". if it sounds badass, it is. sidechain, compress, compress more, then limit it and boost it. the effect racks in the "mastering" folder can be real sweet, check em out. the reality is, the dance music we love IS overcompressed. if you want to sound like it, you gotta do it too

+1

But on a more technical sidenote, the majority of commercially released music is being mastered by pros that have years and years of experience at the art of mastering. They also have UA's, Manley's, and other pieces of gear that run $6 or $7k ea, at their disposal. If you can't seem to get the sound you want using the techniques above your best bet is learning how to mix your music really good and then paying someone to get that 'loud mastered sound' your looking for!

[sporkles]

This thread is quite possibly the answer.

[yush]

Recently met up with Tom Middleton by chance---
I ended up selling my macbook pro 13 inch and my cdj decks and mixer
bought the 17 inch macbook pro--- why?

The 17 inch macbook pro is the only macbook with the express card slot.

Why do I need that??

UAD L2 LAPTOP SOLO EXPRESS CARD

this little card goes into the express card slot and gives you software emulations of industry loved hardware compressors and limiters.

So now once it is shipped and with me 0--- I will be able to tell you if my tracks sound the way I exprect them to..
These limiters and compressors can be applied to your master bus or be applied via an external software once you render the file from LIVE.

Now keep in mind all the stems that you export out of live or use inside live -- should not be maxed out -- and your final track if you choose to render that out instead of the stems -- should have considerable headroom.

The in your final post production software of choice let your express card do all the magic -- and see what happens

[Nick Shepherd]