Switch from Acid to Live???

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 03, 2003 6:12 pm

Before you answer yes, please consider that I am a studio pc musician. I do not perform live. What can Live do that Acid can't / do better than Acid?

Thanks for your insight!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 1:40 am

Reasons to switch:

--VST effects. Acid uses DX effects which are a bit harder to come by. You can get tons of good quality VST effects online for use in Live.

--Effects automation in Live is vastly superior to that in Acid. You can draw envelopes in Acid for just a few effects, and even then it's cumbersome. You can draw envelopes in Live if you want, but the real excitement is in grabbing a knob (ok, clicking on it) and turning it while in record mode. Nearly every parameter of ever effect is automatable.

--Live is a great "sketchpad" for composition. Using the "scenes" you can bring loops in and out, layer them, etc. Record a rought performance and then switch to "arranger" mode and go to work as you would in Acid.

Reasons not to switch:

--With some tweaking Live's stretching algorhythms are as good as Acid's, but that's only with tweaking.

--Acid 4 supports VST instruments, Live does not. Acid can be a rudimentary MIDI sequencer, Live cannot.

Hope that helps.
pgunders

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 6:15 pm

Thanks. That sums it up quite nicely!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 12:44 am

As far as VST and DX availability there are more DX available for the PC. You may be thinking of VSTI and DXI availability, which in this case VSTI are vastly more abundant.

Somethings that Guest 2 didn't mention was:

-- The GUI difference between the two programs and I think most would agree that Live wins here hands down. Even the way that effects are handled is superior to Acid's, where in Live you can just add/remove on the fly without issue.

-- The different types of warping available in Live. This allows greater flexibility in dealing with different types of loops compared to Acid's method.

pgunders · Post by **pgunders** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 10:55 pm

I do prefer Live's GUI as well--especially when it comes to effects--but I think Acid has the edge when it comes to arrangement. The only annoying thing about Live is the way you can't scroll through an arrangement without simultaneously zooming in/out.

A quick search of various plug-in sites leaves me convinced that there are more VST effect plug-ins available for PC than there are DX effects (and many, many more free ones).

pgunders

Credo · Post by **Credo** » Fri Jun 06, 2003 8:57 am

--When comparing I think its good to also remember that LIVE is multiplatform. The 'freedom aspect'. The 'principle of choice'.

I have not used Acid, but one look at the screenshots makes me frightened!

C

PollyParanoia · Post by **PollyParanoia** » Fri Jun 06, 2003 9:47 am

pgunders wrote:I do prefer Live's GUI as well--especially when it comes to effects--but I think Acid has the edge when it comes to arrangement. The only annoying thing about Live is the way you can't scroll through an arrangement without simultaneously zooming in/out.
[...]
pgunders

You can, by either holding the shift key or the control key when you scroll (the "hand-with-magnifying-glass" cursor will tranform to an arrow). Since Live doesn't use the right mouse button, you can set this (thru most mouse software) to shift or control, which makes it that much easier.

PollyP

pgunders · Post by **pgunders** » Fri Jun 06, 2003 6:32 pm

Thanks for the tip! I guess this shows who reads the manuals and who doesn't!

pgunders

tribalogical · Post by **tribalogical** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 4:23 am

[quote="Credo"]--When comparing I think its good to also remember that LIVE is multiplatform. The 'freedom aspect'. The 'principle of choice'.

C[/quote]

This can be significant for some. A friend of mine uses a PC (me, Mac-head), and he recently purchased Live for his box...

Because he has Live, we can collaborate freely, simply by mirroring our sample libs (we both create tons of them from scratch), and sending Live sets back and forth... the file sizes are relatively small, so it's easy to manage 'remote' collaborations... we don't have to send huge self-contained folders back and forth over the 'net...

He's been a long time Acid user, but finds himself using Live more and more... says it's somehow "more compelling" (ah, so it's a touchy-feely thing! Maybe equals better interface/workflow?)

One thing that becomes apparent in this scenario however, is the need for improvement in Live's sample "search" function... when a file goes missing, or is moved, it's a real pain to "find & replace" it.

When this happens with an entire set's worth, it plain sux... (you see the situation? I send a newly created Set, but no samples. He's already got them all on his local drive. But he has to *manually* match files to clips... as there's no automated search function in Live... Something even as sinmple as Reason's function would do nicely...

Our workaround is to *religiously* organize and name the clips/tracks/scenes, so it's possible to relocate files from the library....

But it isn't easy. I'm hoping that Ableton will address this issue down the road?

Or, maybe we've both *completely* missed something?

Anyway, aside from that, I have *zero* issues with Live, and that's really saying something... it seriously rocks my boat...!

peace,
tribalogical

Switch from Acid to Live???

Switch from Acid to Live???

Maybe...