Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

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strangedaysuk
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Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by strangedaysuk » Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:15 pm

Just wondering on your thoughts to upgrade to 10 whilst the offer is on. I have 9 suite and bought it only 6 months ago (so I am a bit annoyed that I don't get a little more of). I love the program, but I am on the edge as to whether to plummet and upgrade. I have got the Beta to try but I've put them alongside each other and tbh cannot see much difference. Theres a few little bits here and there but I feel like I am missing the point. Yes the GUI is a little better - but other than that is there much to benefit me? I typically use Live to come up with pop song ideas, then arrange them by playing in the sections triggering of the verse, chorus, middle 8 by the pads on my keyboard, which I find is a fast way to create an arrangement.

I don't want to slate the software that I have recently come to love so I believe there must be £200 worth of updates so what have you found/ are looking forward to in 10 and why does it make a difference. Does it help creatively or is it just a bonus on 9.

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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by Tarekith » Tue Jan 16, 2018 4:07 pm

For me there's really not one new feature that makes it a huge upgrade for me, but rather a lot of little ones that save me time. Being able to color all clips on a track the same color as a track, seeing automation with one key press, or being able to rename clips and have them rename the track too. Things like that save a lot of time when you're working in larger projects.

My favorite new feature personally though it probably just the way Live 10 looks now. With the new font and better graphics all around, it's like a breath of fresh air looking at the same software I've been using for many years.
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strangedaysuk
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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by strangedaysuk » Tue Jan 16, 2018 4:30 pm

Yes I noticed the track colour - that is specific to 10 and not in 9? Its something I just checked again and realised. Guess I need to consider that as it will help me - its just a little bit more like Pro Tools / Logic which I came from.

A lot of new users don't like the look of Ableton but for me after working in it, I see the point of simplicity and non of the fake mixer style look. Makes sense when you are working in it, so the newer GUI whilst not a huge change is a good thing because if they made it look different in a big way would have ruined it. After using Bitwig for a bit it was a relief to come back.

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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by login » Tue Jan 16, 2018 5:17 pm

Multiclip editing for sure.

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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by Angstrom » Tue Jan 16, 2018 5:53 pm

L10 has a bunch of headlines whcih I dont actually use but the things I've actually made use of are :
  • Multiclip editing which is a bit clunky but much better than nothing at all.
  • One thing which is a big feature for me (but hardly anyone else) - Live now starts in about 8 seconds rather than 60 seconds when the default set contains a Max device. Unfortunately it also crashes 3 out of 4 attempts to start, but that's still a quicker startup than Live 9. When the fix the crash-on-start bug I look forward to L10 starting as quick as L9 does without Max.
  • The ability to actually SEE the interface on my laptop is a big feature for me - Windows didn't previously have hiDPI suppor (MacOS did)
  • I've exported to MP3 a LOT since I started with the beta. sending previews to people all the time used to be a real hassle, and now it's easy.
  • The Drum Buss device is quite good and is the one I've used the most out of the new devices, but it's got too few controlls for me. I'm a tweak head and it feels a little too like a garageband toy. I've still used it, but I suspec that its limitations will mean it has a short usable lifespan as everyone recognises the sound and it gets fatigued.
Umm, sorry to say that's about it. I wish I could say that the other additions were a big hit but they have proven a little minor in use. Even the tools I use - the implimentation is not quite right. EG: slip-editing is something I really use a lot, but really I still "slip-edit" in the same way I did in L5 to L9. in the clip. The new L10 way feels very clunky especially the way it jumps to the grid of the arrangement which is usually bars for most people, whereas I slip edit to sub-beat values and that's easier to achieve in clip view where I can see the whole wave before and after the insert markers too. L10 slip editing is a hidden process where the out of bounds wave is invisible.

Automation view is not without its problems and all the other tweaks are really quite minor in day to day use. EG: EQ8 frequencies going down to 10hz is good but not really something I'm singing from the rooftops. Wavetable synth looks lovely but Its a CPU monster and so far I'm just fine with my normal sounds sources - I'm not really looking to my DAW for killer synths I want my DAW to give me editing tools and good UI for writing, arrangment and performance really.

Anyway, it's a minor update. I paid the toll just because it's expected.

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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by jestermgee » Tue Jan 16, 2018 10:27 pm

I personally like a lot of the GUI touches, workflow improvements, the new capture feature is great (and much more sophisticated than I first thought) and the new FX and upgrades to displays in Push are really good additions too. The new wavetable synth isn't something I have been hoping for. Maybe a new user without instruments but the lack of being able to pop Live instruments out and use them on a second screen has always stopped me from enjoying them as much so I tend to use VSTs almost exclusively and have 2 wavetable synths already.

With Live 8 > 9 it was a no brainer because they offered Push as well. I jumped at the Live 10 upgrade simply because I love the software, believe it has really made huge progress with stability and refinements in the last 4 years and believe it will further grow in the coming years so I look at the list of features (which for me there are quite a few ones I am liking) and then consider what else they could do in 4 years...

As others have mentioned though there are some changes that are not really popular. The new way of displaying Automation, i'm yet to hear anyone except some of the Live devs say they like it. Also, personally I prefer the old display of clips in arrangement instead of an entire coloured track, I liked just the handle, but that could be because I have stared at it the same way for a decade. The browser "collections" feature is not exactly what people were after for the browser, actual tagged browsing was a very voiced request and this is a useful feature, bot not quite what people had in mind.

It's kind of a mixed bag with how people are perceiving the value of the update but I can guess that within 1 year of the new Live 10 being released and the further updates that will come many will be upgrading anyway. They just need to find where the value sits for the price asked.

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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by Tarekith » Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:10 am

One thing I do like about them adding wavetable, is that we finally have a new synth that integrates with Push. I don't really need a wavetable synth, but having more options open to me when I jamming out ideas helps a ton. That's always been the downside of Push, it doesn't integrate well with 3rd party stuff. So on that front, more synths built in are most welcome here.
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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by jestermgee » Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:13 am

Tarekith wrote:That's always been the downside of Push, it doesn't integrate well with 3rd party stuff.
Yeah one of the big reasons I got a Komplete Kontrol. I have been wishing that at least learned parameters could be renamed and easily ordered with pages (labelled) for Push. That is my top request.

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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by Tarekith » Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:20 am

I'm fine using the built in effects most of the time, it was new sounds I was mainly looking for in 10. The new Packs they are releasing with 10 are really nice too I thought, some great sounding drum kits and Sounds in those so far.
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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by Angstrom » Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:48 am

Tarekith wrote:One thing I do like about them adding wavetable, is that we finally have a new synth that integrates with Push. I don't really need a wavetable synth, but having more options open to me when I jamming out ideas helps a ton. That's always been the downside of Push, it doesn't integrate well with 3rd party stuff. So on that front, more synths built in are most welcome here.
Aha, I guess not owning Push makes quite a big difference to my value perception here. A £600 controller with a very specific way of working is not for me, not at that price.
I can see that Live 10 is quite geared towards providing content for the Push and Live package owners.
I'm fine using the built in effects most of the time, it was new sounds I was mainly looking for in 10. The new Packs they are releasing with 10 are really nice too I thought, some great sounding drum kits and Sounds in those so far.
I'm not really a pack user, never been a presets sort of guy. I like making sounds more than anything and my prefered methods are modular type synths, or synths with lots of inter modulation routings. So wavetable / granular stuff never really did it for me. The packs I've used in Live have only ever been Session Drums and I keep the Live 8 version because it's better, Latin Percussion, and whatever The Grand comes from.

I have -inf interest in packs of things like "sound-designed breaks" or "dancefloor ready brokenbeat rhythms" or whatever. Even weirder if there's a bunch of pre-written melodies !!!
I cant even understand the point unless the purchaser is a DJ spicing up their DJ set. That's fine I guess if people like skipping the actual FUN part !

but that's where the market is I guess. Push, with Live as a fancy loop player for "partner content"

I know some people LOVE presets and loop packs but for me I might as well give my synth to my neighbour for all the fun a preset loop would bring me. I don't get the point of them

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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by Tuur » Wed Jan 17, 2018 8:39 am

Tarekith wrote:I'm fine using the built in effects most of the time, it was new sounds I was mainly looking for in 10. The new Packs they are releasing with 10 are really nice too I thought, some great sounding drum kits and Sounds in those so far.
Seconded.

strangedaysuk
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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by strangedaysuk » Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:48 am

Yes I can see many have been just on the fence as well as me.

Im interested in Push but - I wish it wasn't such a focal point. I want to see many of the features that have been discussed implemented. A lot of conversations have put others down because they think it should be a free update. I don't feel that way but I do think we should have had some significantly new features along with the release. For example I really wanted to see some pitch tuning (like flex time style in Logic) and to not even have an autotune plugin or anything just surprises me for a primarily EDM focused DAW.

I think things like the GUI overhall - to fit on high res displays and some general under the hood tweaks were actually just expected. I am happy to pay for an upgrade, but I think they missed the mark at the moment. I want the new features of course - but I only just bought live 9 6 months ago so I am not someone who has used the software for 4 years and gotten my worth out of it yet, if they had offered me the upgrade for half the price for buying so recently I would have taken it. I need to wait and see what comes. The 20% of saving is worth loosing beofre I get too excited.

And I want to buy a Push possibly - so Ableton gets my money.


Bit of a lazy update for a major release - I love Ableton, respect that DAW development is not easy and can forgive. I just hope its not a bad sign for the future of Live - we don't need a repetition of what happened to Sonar, and we don't need another AVID.

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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by Tuur » Wed Jan 17, 2018 2:16 pm

I also feel this update is a bit 'thin'. Especially compared to all the cool 9.x stuff we received...

I trust there will be a lot of 10.x awesomeness in the future though (the Max 8 stuff alone will probably be more than enough for me), so I'm not afraid to take the plunge upfront.

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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by cskracer » Wed Jan 17, 2018 2:30 pm

Sysex functionality in Max.

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Re: Ableton Live 10 - whats your favourite new features?

Post by [jur] » Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:49 pm

L10 can certainly look like a "not so big" update on the surface. But lots of refinements, stabilization and tweaks have been made under the hood in order to make it as rock solid as possible and ready for future serious developments.
We can expect Live to stay awesome for a long time.
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