the mp3 issue

[Alex Reynolds]

why don't you go make some of that crappy noise you call music...

Hey, I know you! You're my next-door neighbor at 3 in the morning!

-Alex

[normal0c]

So you'd prefer to wait for 5000+ mp3s to be converted to temporary WAV files each time Live starts? Never mind the fact that they'd take about 300 gigabytes of disk space (assuming each is 6 minutes long...)

MP3 support would be nice, but I think the only way it could work is to decode them in realtime.

What I mean is that Live could decode the MP3 as it is loaded. That is, when you open an ALS file that has MP3's referenced in it, the MP3's are automatically decoded to temporary WAV's that are used as long as that ALS file is open. When you close Live it deletes those WAV's.

Live wouldn't have to decode every MP3 on your hard drive, just the ones that are needed for the current ALS file. I assume that this is different from what you and others call "on-the-fly" or "realtime" decoding, which sounds to me like at any given moment that Live is playing MP3 files, it is decoding MP3 files. With my suggested method there is a longer load time for each MP3 as it is loaded into Live, but once that's over the software treats them as WAV's (because at that point they are WAV's).

As for the "why MP3?" issue that so many people are bringing up: I have over 500 CD's that I've purchased over the years, and recently I encoded them ALL to MP3. I didn't do it to share them, I just find that having them all on my computer is much more convenient than trying to find a CD every time I want to hear a particular album or song. Storing all of these MP3's uses about 40 gigs of hard disk space, as opposed to the 300+ gigs it would take to store WAV files.

Now, when I'm putting together a DJ set (or a mashup, or whatever else I want to do with these MP3's) in Live, it would be nice if I could use my collection as source material without having to convert them to WAV manually. Not only is it an extra step and an extra program that I have to open, but I have to keep all of the WAV's I decode on my hard drive. Wouldn't it be much more practical if Live automatically managed when files are MP3's and when they are WAV's?

Finally, I'd appreciate it if the whiny babies on this forum would stop questioning my motives and look at this issue objectively. Let Ableton make the decisions based on what the users want, and stop trying to make those decisions for them. If you want VSTi support, say so. If you want customizable background images for every pane, then say so! But don't argue against something just because you don't think you'd use it. Other people (let's call them PAYING CUSTOMERS) have their reasons for suggesting things, so please understand that you don't always know what everyone else is thinking.

[kgmonarch]

Okay, this is my first message, and I hope I'm not bringing up a point that someone else already has.

Why not just include MP3 support for the pre-listen function in the file browser, and when you drag-drop the file, THEN it converts it to a WAV file, which is saved to the project directory, and then you can do as you please with it. Now we can't do the conversion in real-time because of the performance hit, and also because performing the read & write operations may compromise sound stability.

The main function of this is, regrettably, not for live performances, and I understand that this goes against the very purposes of live, but at least it does provide the facility to quickly test out an MP3 and work with it in a non-live setting. BTW, I have never tried using Live in a performance environment, I just find it very good at putting together a mix.

There are also programs which do a good job of realtime decoding and pitchbending of MP3's, and the best ones out there would be Stanton Final Scratch, Traktor Final Scratch and Traktor DJ. These programs do have it easy though, since they only have to handle a maximum of two tracks playing at any time, plus a 3rd for prelistening. Perhaps Live could borrow this idea by including a single special track (like how you have send tracks or sample tracks) which supports MP3's. Yes, you can only have one MP3 track, but you do get real-time support of MP3's and you can use that with your WAV's.

Or, just include a simple MP3->WAV decoder batch utility. Ugly, but better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick, hmm?

[T.]

Yes, you can only have one MP3 track, but you do get real-time support of MP3's and you can use that with your WAV's.

Why put on limit on this? CPU are getting faster and faster and bottom line: every program can be brought to it's knees. Can you imagine Logic or Cubase with a limit on VST's. 'No sir, only three are allowed, because your system might get slow.'

For DJ use, MP3's are the way to go. I work for 2 clubs and they both have a contract for weekly updates of their audio database. Guess what the format of the songs on the CD is? Hint: it ain't WAV, SD or AIFF.

My 2 cents...

[T.]

[quote="TWhy put on limit on this? CPU are getting faster...[/quote]

'scuse me for the typoos...