MP3 export please!

[akm]

It is SO inconvenient not to have it. In my work I very often need to send some music to the client for quick audition, so every time I need to do the conversion in another software. Please?!

[[erm]]

[Moved to the Feature Wishlist forum]

[Stromkraft]

It is SO inconvenient not to have it. In my work I very often need to send some music to the client for quick audition, so every time I need to do the conversion in another software. Please?!

I can understand the wish, but seems so unnecessary as it can be automated. If you have clients you are a pro and if you're a pro you know or can learn how to set up a professional work flow and have this right now.

Why add functionality that is already exists and is easily achievable when there's so much else better Ableton could add to Live? Of course, Ableton can decide for themselves, so no harm in voicing your wishes.

If you want convenience why aren't you uploading a private clip directly to Soundcloud? You have an extremely slow connection?

[akm]

"but seems so unnecessary as it can be automated" - could you please share your ideas how I can do it?

"If you want convenience why aren't you uploading a private clip directly to Soundcloud? You have an extremely slow connection?" - actually I always have no idea why this upload to SoundCloud function ever exist. Now you seem to give me a great idea about how I can use it, actually even saving a few steps along the way, thank you! I still need to check how it works.

[Stromkraft]

"but seems so unnecessary as it can be automated" - could you please share your ideas how I can do it?

What OS are you on? If Windows, you need to do your own research. On macOS, there are alternative ways. I use Hazel and encode with XLD most of the time.

My work flow is semi-automatic as Hazel opens the newly exported file in XLD so I can set any specific or just start the encoding. The encoded files go a publishing folder where Hazel triggers a string of events, like uploading to a web server, sending the link to interested parties and so on.

Instead of Hazel you could use the native Automator and you can also build a fully automatic encoding system. I assume you can do the same in Windows.

I've recently started to share previews in private links on Soundcloud. If you got an account it's pretty self explanatory, just type in the publishing info, set it to private and publish. Soundcloud makes an Mp3 automatically for playback, but if you need to allow for downloading the MP3 rather than the Wav or Aiff, you need to make the MP3 first I think as I don't believe you can download the MP3 version. But maybe you can with the proper setup.

[akm]

Thank you very much for the help. I'm checking things right now. Yes, I'm on Windows. Seems no luck with SoundCloud: https://www.ableton.com/answers/ableton ... ed-desktop

[Stromkraft]

Thank you very much for the help. I'm checking things right now. Yes, I'm on Windows. Seems no luck with SoundCloud: https://www.ableton.com/answers/ableton ... ed-desktop

Damn! Somewhat surprising Ableton can't fix this themselves as the mac version of Live must use the same APIs at Soundcloud as the Windows version. Maybe it's due to differences in the file systems or something.

I think you can find other apps that upload directly to Soundcloud though.

[Stromkraft]

I think you can find other apps that upload directly to Soundcloud though.

There was an app called Scup before, but AFAIU it's dead because of API changes. I think the new API allows for uploads, but I'm not sure.

I'd ask Ableton what the problem really is. It works on Mac, why not on Windows? What's the difference?

[digitalgeist]

Agreed, MP3 encoding is klugey. There's so many audio formats out there I wonder if it's worth the time for Ableton to implement MP3 dithering and compression though. WAV and AIFF are great, they're the standard for a reason for uncompressed. Support for exporting something other than just those two would be nice though (ahem, OMF/AAF would help with cross-DAW compatibility with say, Fairlight, Avid, ProTools - you know, any professional sound-to-picture app).
For now, if you need to encode VPR MP3, just use LAME. Better alternatives to MP3 would be Ogg Vorbis or Apple AAC or FLAC.

The biggest gripe I have with delivering via SoundCloud is that many pro studios have closed networks with systems that don't have internet access so you're adding the step of downloading the file from SoundCloud, moving to the private network, etc etc etc. Delivering a file through email/dropbox/whatever is so much easier than depending on SoundCloud's uptime or worse yet, the client playing the track directly from SoundCloud where they've compressed and crushed your MP3 even further!

[Stromkraft]

Delivering a file through email/dropbox/whatever is so much easier than depending on SoundCloud's uptime or worse yet, the client playing the track directly from SoundCloud where they've compressed and crushed your MP3 even further!

Yeah, I share files via dropbox sometimes, which is an alternative to putting them on your ftp server. I only upload 24bit lossless, so no more compression on Soundcloud than what's already there. There are some ideas out there for getting the best sound from Soundcloud. I think also a private link can have a downloadable file, which then could be lossless (16bit, 44.1kHz probably the best in that case). On the other hand there are people that gets confused by lossless files, in which case uploading a HQ MP3 is possibly acceptable. If it sounds bad in Soundcloud's rendition, then I'd worry about the original too.

[downfader]

It is SO inconvenient not to have it. In my work I very often need to send some music to the client for quick audition, so every time I need to do the conversion in another software. Please?!

I can understand the wish, but seems so unnecessary as it can be automated. If you have clients you are a pro and if you're a pro you know or can learn how to set up a professional work flow and have this right now.

Why add functionality that is already exists and is easily achievable when there's so much else better Ableton could add to Live? Of course, Ableton can decide for themselves, so no harm in voicing your wishes.

If you want convenience why aren't you uploading a private clip directly to Soundcloud? You have an extremely slow connection?

The soundcloud thing is an option, but I imagine any pro would soon run out of time on the account profile there.

[Stromkraft]

If you want convenience why aren't you uploading a private clip directly to Soundcloud? You have an extremely slow connection?

The soundcloud thing is an option, but I imagine any pro would soon run out of time on the account profile there. :?

soundcloud.com/pro

[downfader]

If you want convenience why aren't you uploading a private clip directly to Soundcloud? You have an extremely slow connection?

The soundcloud thing is an option, but I imagine any pro would soon run out of time on the account profile there.

soundcloud.com/pro

Its 75 quid a year. For the services on offer (and the spam you'll get) its not financially worth while imvho. Possibly better to use a free youtube account and private links/urls

[patzer]

Maybe time to revisit this?

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/05/15/mp ... erminated/

[Stromkraft]

The soundcloud thing is an option, but I imagine any pro would soon run out of time on the account profile there. :?

soundcloud.com/pro

Its 75 quid a year. For the services on offer (and the spam you'll get) its not financially worth while imvho. Possibly better to use a free youtube account and private links/urls

Pro = Making money by investing into what you do and having a revenue stream, If you don't have one, you're not a pro. How many gigs do you need to make in order to make $75? If that's more than one gig you're charging too little.