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A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 4:18 pm
by nc2010
Hello,
I don't like Ableton Live 8's internal file browser because :
* too small
* when I press the first letter of a word, the cursor doesn't move to the first file with this letter (this is present in Windows' Explorer)
* the wheel of my mouse doesn't work in the browser, in order to scroll the list of files
Do you know some good Sound Browser software that I could use? (ALT+TAB => Sound Browser, ALT+TAB => back to Live)
Mac users, you do have Iced Audio Audiofinder, but we Windows users don't have it...
Any idea ?
A good browser that allows fast search in the samples, fast preview (auto-play), etc.
Thanks!
EDIT (2013-01-05) :
As I really wanted this feature (fast preview of .wav files in Windows Explorer), I decided ... to code it myself! Here is my "AudioExplorer" add-on to Windows Explorer:
http://jeuxdorgues.com/audioexplorer/
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 5:10 pm
by H20nly
what version of Windows are you using?
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 5:55 pm
by nc2010
Windows 7 64bit, but it was the same when I used XP 32bit
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 6:30 pm
by H20nly
i ask because Windows 7 has a very strong search function.
depending on how you have your library organized you could use the built in search and create a shortcut in Windows explorer directly to it. since you are already referencing using Alt + Tab then i am assuming you know your way around the keyboard a little bit...
sorry, i don't have any software in mind that will search for you, but the OS indexing in 7 is superb IMO, so you could make use of that while you search for something more to your liking... assuming that you don't just use said search feature on a more permanent basis.
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:40 pm
by nc2010
Thanks for tip, I think I don't use
Windows 7 Search feature at its best.
Where do you enable all these Search features (indexing), with which parameters? What kind of indexing ? Full content ? Names only ?
If I remember well, I found lots of different places where I can enable/disable things about Windows 7 Search, that's why I finally gave up ...
Thanks in advance

Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:05 pm
by H20nly
well... i'm not sure what you have changed, but out of the box the search feature just works. well.
if you have changed anything the way to fix it... is with the search feature
go to Start... type in index... by the time you get to the letter x you should see 'Indexing Options' at the top of the returned results. select that.
go to the Advanced tab in the resulting window.
if needed, you can rebuild your index from scratch there.
also... go to Start > click Computer
the resulting window (Windows Explorer) will have a list of your drives and such.. it will also have a Favorites bar on the left side. you can drag any file or folder over to the star labeled "Favorites" and create a shortcut to that resource.
if you hold the Windows key + E it will open Windows Explorer. now you have a shortcut that will take you almost directly to your new Favorites folder nc2010Library (for example) after you get there you can organize to your heart's content and use Alt + Tab to flip back and forth as mentioned in your OP.
hope this helps.
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:13 am
by nc2010
Thanks

In fact there are 2 places :
* Control Panel Indexing options (don't know exat name in english)
* Control Panel Folder options > Search Tab
BTW, do you know why Ableton 8's internal browser search feature is so slow ? Is it the same for you ?
For example if I'm in a single folder with only 100 .wav files, Search for a wavefile by filename is very very long! It should be done in 0,001 second

Is it the same for you ?
PS : I'll try your "Favorite folder" trick as well, seems nice!
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 5:56 pm
by H20nly

glad i could help.
i don't know why Live 8's browser is slow, but Live 9's browser works like that search function in Windows... it's lightening!
if you haven't seen this already... check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7dIkon ... r_embedded
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:25 am
by Valiumdupeuple
Just wait for the marvelous L9 browser, maybe they'll manage to get it quite acceptable before the release!!

Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:12 pm
by H20nly
i still find parts of Live 9's browser cumbersome (of course it is just the beta at this point), but the thing is when you know you want a kick, you type in "kick" and a list of kicks come up... it really takes the brains out of it. why bother clicking your way through folder trees and sub trees when you don't have to? a couple of keystrokes vs. click scroll, click scroll, click scroll... and so on. what's not to like?... unless you REALLY can't spell...
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:18 am
by db120
xplorer2 with the preview file option enabled:
http://zabkat.com/
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:00 pm
by Rogue Scrunt
Icedaudio.com
audio finder
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:10 pm
by darkenedsoul
Rogue Scrunt wrote:Icedaudio.com
audio finder
Too bad it's OSX only. I have heard of that somewhere else....probably here in another thread lol. Looks/sounds like a cool product (didn't waste time to see how much they whack you for).
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:23 pm
by nc2010
Hi everybody,
I was looking for a browser with autoplay of .wav since years.... with no success. (and I got an answer from IcedAudio: AudioFinder will NEVER be available for Windows, too bad...)
BUT
As I really wanted this feature (fast preview of .wav files in Windows Explorer), I decided ... to code it myself! 
Here is the first release of my "AudioExplorer" add-on to Windows Explorer (Win 7 / Vista / 8 ) :
http://jeuxdorgues.com/audioexplorer/
I hope you'll like it!

See the youtube video in order to know what it is about.
Any comment/feature request/etc. welcome!
All the best.
Re: A Sound Browser software for use with Ableton Live
Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 7:35 pm
by H20nly
nc2010 wrote:Hi everybody,
I was looking for a browser with autoplay of .wav since years.... with no success. (and I got an answer from IcedAudio: AudioFinder will NEVER be available for Windows, too bad...)
BUT
As I really wanted this feature (fast preview of .wav files in Windows Explorer), I decided ... to code it myself! 
Here is the first release of my "AudioExplorer" add-on to Windows Explorer (Win 7 / Vista / 8 ) :
http://jeuxdorgues.com/audioexplorer/
I hope you'll like it!

See the youtube video in order to know what it is about.
Any comment/feature request/etc. welcome!
All the best.

oh snap!
cool man!!!
bump