Ableton Forum

Newbie here. Nice to meet everyone folks.

Just purchased an Arturia mini lab II and getting used to the Ableton interface (former Sonar user here).
I am using Ableton Live lite (the free version). The sounds that come with it are really not that impressive. Will upgraind the next version provide some better quality sounds?

The Arturia also comes with a limited version Analog Lab V- it has a better set of sounds. The upgrade for this is $200.00. Anyone use the upgraded version and if so would you recommend it?
thank you for any insight
Sal_the-Cat

The Lab has some good sounds but is limited to using presets (from the V Collection) with only a few tweaks possible. So it's great for finding a sound quickly when you're sketching ideas, and for getting you really close to the sound you're after, but sometimes not quite exactly where you want to be. V Collection is vast and sounds great (and includes Analog Lab). Both Lab and Collection are currently on sale.

Hey hey,

Wanted to hop in here. Yup, if you upgrade Live to Standard or Suite, you'll have access to more synths. Some folks like them, some don't. You might want to try a demo and see how you get on.

I LOVE Arturia's stuff. I think Analog Lab is a great way to go if you don't want to get bogged down with synthesis. Lots of great sounding presets - plus it should integrate really well with the minilab (I have a keylab and I enjoy dialing up presets straight from that device).

Like Greenapples said, the V Collection is super solid. I think Arturia has some of the best soft synths and emulations on the market. So good!

sal_the_cat wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:07 am

Newbie here. Nice to meet everyone folks.

Just purchased an Arturia mini lab II and getting used to the Ableton interface (former Sonar user here).
I am using Ableton Live lite (the free version). The sounds that come with it are really not that impressive. Will upgraind the next version provide some better quality sounds?

The Arturia also comes with a limited version Analog Lab V- it has a better set of sounds. The upgrade for this is $200.00. Anyone use the upgraded version and if so would you recommend it?
thank you for any insight
Sal_the-Cat

the full versions of live come with packs; you can check them out on ableton website. There are sound libraries; sampled instruments; virtual instruments (depending on the version you choose), and some pretty neat stuff; and it's gotten better over the year, no you can do a lot without any additional plug-in.
However; I don't exactly know what you mean by sounds (virtual instruments? sound banks? samples?); but I'd say ableton live is not really about the sounds it comes with; it's a full featured DAW first and foremost.
I don't know what you're exactly after but you should check out sampled instruments by native instruments; and the synths and instruments made by arturia in the V collections.
I bought the whole V collection a few days ago and it has great virtual instruments but I barely use Arturia Lab that's included with it. It's basically a preset manager that offers a few basic tweeks on each sound.
But if browsing through presets is your thing and you like the limited version; it's probably a good idea to buy the full version of analog lab; you'll have plenty to play with.

Also they're having a sale right now; you should log into the arturia website and check the price they offer for the analog lab (into your account); chances are you'll have a discount; 200$ is the full price if you don't own any hardware.
I have a keystep 37 and a microfreak (no analog lab) and I have the analog lab listed for 69 $ (I went and bought the whole V collection for 200$ + pigments for 70 + the fx collection for 70; so every single arturia plug in for 330 $ that's crazy)

..so I went to look and there you go for the upgrade from "analog lab intro" (which is what you have right? it's 69 $ / €):
https://www.arturia.com/analoglabintro-upgrade

Hey everyone,
Happy Thanks giving!
Appreciate the responses. I think I am going to look into the V collection and also check out Native Instruments (I assume you can play these plugins into Ableton with no issues).

I am primarily looking for rich sounds. The Ableton free version has a few good ones, but most are the same thing with minor tweaks and the sounds are bit cheesy to be frank.

I will report back after I have decided on an approach for a sound collection.

thanks

Arturia just updated all their plugins, lots of bug fixes/improvements and also now M1 native too.

Mark Williams wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 25, 2021 9:44 pm

Arturia just updated all their plugins, lots of bug fixes/improvements and also now M1 native too.

yeah; btw I was wondering when that live beta version with M1 support would become final; it's been a while now. Looking at the beta release updates I'm kindof expecting it in the coming days; I hope it won't be another month or two.

also I'm thinking ableton misses a bluesy/jazzy brass section pack. They'd call it the rat pack.

Shift Gorden wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 23, 2021 5:26 pm

Hey hey,

Wanted to hop in here. Yup, if you upgrade Live to Standard or Suite, you'll have access to more synths. Some folks like them, some don't. You might want to try a demo and see how you get on.

I LOVE Arturia's stuff. I think Analog Lab is a great way to go if you don't want to get bogged down with synthesis. Lots of great sounding presets - plus it should integrate really well with the minilab (I have a keylab and I enjoy dialing up presets straight from that device).

Like Greenapples said, the V Collection is super solid. I think Arturia has some of the best soft synths and emulations on the market. So good!

This is a popular misconception you DO NOT get any synths or even Sampler in Standard. You need to budget for Suite unless intending to use only third party plugins for Multi sampling / synthesis.

tactile_coast wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 27, 2021 2:59 am

Shift Gorden wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 23, 2021 5:26 pm

Hey hey,

Wanted to hop in here. Yup, if you upgrade Live to Standard or Suite, you'll have access to more synths. Some folks like them, some don't. You might want to try a demo and see how you get on.

I LOVE Arturia's stuff. I think Analog Lab is a great way to go if you don't want to get bogged down with synthesis. Lots of great sounding presets - plus it should integrate really well with the minilab (I have a keylab and I enjoy dialing up presets straight from that device).

Like Greenapples said, the V Collection is super solid. I think Arturia has some of the best soft synths and emulations on the market. So good!

This is a popular misconception you DO NOT get any synths or even Sampler in Standard. You need to budget for Suite unless intending to use only third party plugins for Multi sampling / synthesis.

well you get a few things in standard still.
best is to look at the comparison chart
https://www.ableton.com/en/live/compare-editions/
(and what? Bass? there's a bass synth in live? totally missed this one)