Ableton Forum

I have read a few people on various forums stating that Live 8 compliments Logic 8 very well. I have downloaded the demo and currently playing with Live 8. Would Live 8 be viewed as a replacement or a compliment to Logic 8? Is it worth having both? Is anyone using both and how?

Thanks.

depends on your workflow.

I only use Live for Djing, Logic for creating songs, im too used to Logics workflow to try it any other way.

I have a copy of Logic, but for me its too slow. All I need is in Ableton Live.

t1mp wrote:depends on your workflow.

Still in the process of figuring that out, I am coming from FL Studio mainly. I like how both programs work so far.

I m wanting to try logic for studio since I dont play out ever..wish there was a damn demo available

logic is a great app and it would be my go-to daw if it wasn't for ableton. the only thing that ableton doesn't cover for me so far is 5.1 rendering but that's why i'll be getting the final cut studio 2 pack in the future (out of which soundtrack pro will be used for my purposes). if you've tried out live but it's not enough to have you move away from logic, then stick with what works.

I have both. Only ever use Live these days though. It's just more fun and I've loads of plug-ins. If I was multitracking live instruments, I'd maybe still use Logic. I like the timeline view a bit better and things like quick comping. Basically if I was doing something with more than about 16 tracks, that I wasn't planning on performing ever, I'd probably use Logic.

logic is my favorite traditional DAW, and i find it very complementary to ableton, and use them for different tasks. they have different strengths and between the two of them you can cover most of your bases.

live does many of the things logic does quite well, and then some, so for most go-to tasks i stick with live and never touch logic. its streamlined interface and brainless MIDI-mapping functionality makes it a much more reasonable place to experiment, play around, or test something. and between live's clip view and the way it handles recording and DSP in realtime, live is an ideal environment in which to generate material.

for similar reasons (interface design, approach to MIDI control) it's the clear choice (as far as "DAW-like" software goes) for live performance of any kind.

finally, max for live will open up a whole universe of customizable functionality that no other DAW can touch.

logic, on the other hand, is a better choice when it comes to the arrangement (and mixing/mastering) of tracks per se. logic's MIDI and audio region editing tools are much more sophisticated than ableton's, it has better plugins, more sophisticated automation options, built-in sample editor, better file navigation/management, etc. many people also say that logic's mix bus sounds better than live's.

i use logic when i'm doing a composed audio arrangement that i intend to bounce down to a finished track, and also for some file management/editing tasks. i use live for everything else. sometimes if i'm generating audio for an arrangement i'll use live rewired as a slave into logic and use it like a big multitrack 'instrument'.

it's a solid pairing, for sure, especially if all you have right now is logic.

I wouldn't use Live for recording my cousin on her acoustic, Logic I would. Anything to do with my electronic stuff, I'll use Live over Logic and master within Logic.

Though must admit I currently don't have Logic, only recently got a Macbook and won't get Logic until I have an iMac, but use Cubase and Pro Tools for the same things as I would Logic.

i also say it depends on your workflow and needs... i love both.

i use both on an iMac, and I agree that Logic is easily the best among the "traditional" DAW's out there. it's a fantastic program.

as for the two working together -- this is something I'm still trying to decide on. that is, how and if and why they really can work together. people say this stuff about them 'complimenting' each other but it's still not clear what they are talking about. if you mean for seperate projects, than sure; I use live for most everything, but open logic up for doing film-scoring work where i want a traditional time-line from step one onward; but if we're talking about using both programs ---together--- for a single project, this is where I'm not so sure a good workflow is possible. Rewire? Well, you can't run VST/AU inside ableton if it's slave to logic, so that shuts me down completely right off the bat, as i always use plugins when working in abletons' session view. Bounce session view stuff to logic's arrangement? I like this idea, since ableton's arrange view is not ideal to my mind, and logic's arrangement view is great, but how do you best bounce the material and when? AFAIK there is no way to bounce scenes from Live to audio, which means you have to 'record' into live's arrangement view, then bounce from there over to logic and re-arrange, at which point you are using session view + 2 different arrangement views, which is adding a whole extra step to the process, and somewhere in there I just lose my workflow; arranging twice is just a waste of time and pain in the ass.

so! unless i'm totally missing something about a way to export session view scenes as audio (please tell me if so! i haven't messed around with export stuff that much really, since I do most all of my songs in Live alone) I really can't see how a solid/workable workflow could result from using both programs for a single project. unless you just want to master in logic a track mix-down from live, but in that case you wouldn't be using logic at all for songwriting functions....

interesting thread, and something that has been much on my mind lately. very curious to hear more from others.

Thanks all...been doing the demo thing with live 8 and I am starting to really get into it. Most likely pick it up and make the best of those 2 tools.

It's not a replacement by a long shot. Logic Studio 8 is an entirely different (and larger) beast.

Live 8 is a great (if not perfect) complement. There's something about Live that, to me, is unique among software tools out there. It has an incredibly unique blend of features that not only let it function as a pretty solid little digital audio workstation (especially if you're using Live 8 Suite), but as a live performance tool, turning your computer and all its digital files into an instrument you can perform. Whether you're recording that performance as part of your creative process or to literally take the show on the road, Live is a great tool.

coming from Logic pro 8 I say Live is a a complete package if you get the suite, plus I manage to find that the sound library well the sample sound library in Live are much more quality than Logic, thats for sure, but as a traditional DAW Logic is by far the best, but Live has a unique feature that no other DAW has, that is you could launch clips and compose your song all right in the session view without hitting the arrangement, thus when you go to the arrangement you could polish it up and even get more precise to what you want in the song, as the tools in suite 8 I practically could say this that Live has a lot of great plugins, but for my taste in production I use Live 100% from start to finish.