Why I prefer Pro Tools for mixing instead of Ableton Live

[Fanu]

VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmJqqvU ... e=youtu.be

I did a video of why I'm going back to Pro Tools for mixing, once again, instead of doing it with Live.

These may be minor inconveniences to many, but this is from the viewpoint of a professional mixing engineer who has to think of these matters daily.

Please do leave your comments if you feel otherwise or if I may have any false info here.

Also, I hope this can also serve as constructive criticism for Ableton.

[miyaru]

I used Cubase in many incarnations for 20+ Yrs. I can understand that you prefer to mix in Pro Tools, 'cause when I started using Ableton Live Suite, I dearly missed Cubase while mixing. I looked at cheap solutions as in Harrison Mixbus etc. But later on I learned to work with Push 2 and it's mixing capibilities.

It is still not as Cubase, but it is doable....

[Da hand]

Hey man, that was a nicely informative video! I won't be making the switch myself to PT anytime soon, but it did raise some good points of things that would be nice to have in Live.

[jwing]

I definitely prefer to track/write in Ableton by far because it feels more intuitive for the creative process to me; but I agree, nothing beats ProTools at mixing which is where it really shines. When I finish a song I typically bounce and take it over into PT to mix/finish.

[mikb]

Good for you!

I'm not however going to follow in your foot steps as I don't feel hampered by mixing in Ableton Live 10 at all. There are some limitations, but the only ones that have bothered me I've overcome by exploring the possibilities of the Live mixer or by using third party tools ( I use lots of plug-ins for "my sound"). Why would I need another DAW? I don't. What I need is to crank out more tunes as fast as I can. This doesn't leave me any time to maintain knowledge of another DAW. I do respect how others want to work, however, so way to go, Fanu!

[Fanu]

Good for you!

I'm not however going to follow in your foot steps as I don't feel hampered by mixing in Ableton Live 10 at all. There are some limitations, but the only ones that have bothered me I've overcome by exploring the possibilities of the Live mixer or by using third party tools ( I use lots of plug-ins for "my sound"). Why would I need another DAW? I don't. What I need is to crank out more tunes as fast as I can. This doesn't leave me any time to maintain knowledge of another DAW. I do respect how others want to work, however, so way to go, Fanu!

Yeah man

Like I said, "These may be minor inconveniences to many, but this is from the viewpoint of a professional mixing engineer who has to think of these matters daily." I've mixed a ton in Live over the years. I certainly don't expect these features to make someone who doesn't do it that much buy Pro Tools.
But still, these are handy features that I'm sure all could appreciate.

[jlgrimes]

I agree that Ableton isn't the greatest for mixing and managing large projects.

I prefer Reaper and Studio One for mixing.

Ableton has made some small strides though. But I think their niche is creating songs.

I think Ableton battles with expanding their DAW. I suspect that they don't want to add too many features that might distract some users.

Reaper while great for mixing is horrible for writing.

Studio One is better but not as good as Ableton IMO.

[v00d00ppl]

Live, MPC 2.2, and Maschine 2.7 are great for writing the loops, verse, chorus, etc.

Protools, Cubase, and anything else with similar mixing tools will also help you get your ideas to sound clear.

[groovyomega]

Actually I really like mixing in Live. Due to the ease of the volume / fader / send controls it's a please to get results fast. The biggest drawback for me is that you can't see in one view which plugins are on which channels. This really works every other DAW, but in Live you always have to select the individual channels first to see what's going on there.

[miyaru]

There was a script to add to a txt file. where you can see your plugins. It was a prefs file, once offered by Ableton itself. I used it in AL 9, but lost it somehow......

[miyaru]

Instructions
All you need to do is create a file called Options.txt with a line ‘-ShowDeviceSlots’ and place it in the right directory.

I’ve made the file ready for you: download Options.txt (right/ctrl click, save as). See instructions below on how to find the right directory to place it on your system.

If you wish to do it yourself:

Create a text file called Options.txt (this has to be in plain text format).
Inside the file write ‘-ShowDeviceSlots’ (without the apostrophes).
Place the file in the same folder where Live’s Preferences.cfg file is located (this folder could be hidden, see instructions below).


That is all! Start up Live and in the lower right side of the screen you will notice a new “plug” icon which allows you to show/hide device slots in the clip view.

[Fanu]

Yes, that^ is a great feature.
I've always been baffled as to why it's not an official feature.

[Tarekith]

The reason I read awhile ago was that because you can have multiple chains in say an effects rack, it ends up being a LOT of effects that might need to be shown. Some of which might be parallel too. If Live had a more traditional effects layout per track (ie serial) I could definitely see this being a lot more useful.

[dbfs]

Yes, that^ is a great feature.
I've always been baffled as to why it's not an official feature.

Probably because it doesn't work correctly. I'm on 9.7.7 and for me the Plugin names don't show up in the slots when you add them. They're just blank with a power button. Doesn't matter if they are 3rd party or stock. The names show up when you load a song though???? Who knows...

But I do agree that they should add this by default and make it work correctly.

[miyaru]

If you do the Ableton Test Beta program, you can add your wish in the Centrecode forums....