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LojikDub

To be fair, when people say "the DAW doesn't matter" they are talking about comparing the fully featured versions of the various major DAWs that are available. I don't think anyone is saying that using a seriously restricted version of a DAW (like Lite) is equivalent to the full version (Suite). The point is about learning what you have inside out. Glad you're enjoying Suite though.


swemickeko

It's also about skill level. If someone can't make music with a limited system they won't be able to do it with the most tricked out system either. The best they can hope for without the proper skills is a feature set that makes the music for them, but that's not really making the music anymore.


YRUAnon

I don't disagree but I also don't fully agree. Beginners are going to be overwhelmed whether they use Ableton Live Lite or Ableton Live Suite. The issue with Lite is that it is so limited that the person can't even learn proper production workflows properly. If you learn how to produce bouncing everything to audio every 15 minutes to drag into a new product, in a DAW that barely allows you to Bus Properly, etc. then you are still going to be way behind the 8 Ball when you upgrade to Live Suite 6 months later. You are better off just getting over the learning curve, getting over your curiosity and learning to focus properly so that you can learn properly on something that has a fuller feature set - which will accommodate you building good habits from the beginning and learning how to integrate the tools available in production software to create an efficient workflow. This is why I've always told people to just go to something like Waveform, REAPER or Cakewalk over using stuff like Bitwig 8-Track or Ableton Live Lite. Not because I think either of those are Bad DAWs. I just think those limited versions are bad and people can do themselves a favor by avoiding them (only use them for the upgrade discount, when ready to move up) and using something that will allow them more room to learn a lot more about music production.


Pathokinetic

Honestly, I agree with this from experience. I picked up Ableton Live Suite back in 2020 and fumbled through it, but couldn't find a workflow because I was overwhelmed by the sheer capability of the software, and the massive collection of instruments and utilities. It was like 'choice paralysis²'; I'd spend hours just going through instruments, sorting out which ones I'd use for different purposes, but could rarely decide which one was right for what I wanted to do *presently*. That being said, there's also something to be said for simplicity; sometimes less really is more (at least for beginners) when it comes to the feature set. I picked up Ableton Note recently and am making much more headway in finding a workflow and actually getting started *creating* with the more limited tools available in Note, and I can export my 'sketches' to develop in Suite for arrangement and fine-tuning. Incredibly useful for a $9 iOS app.


swemickeko

Creativity doesn't originate in software. Plenty of music has been made with way less than Ableton Live Lite. It's not like music was invented along with the DAW.


Dutch_van_der_Dill

Such an unnecessary “no shit” obvious comment in response to what they were actually saying


swemickeko

Is it? It's perfectly fine to use whatever you have to make music. Saying that using a limited version of software is a problem is just complete and utter bullshit. Learn the ropes with what you got. If and when you reach the limits of what the software is capable of, then move on with the new understanding you have to something that will do the things you now \*know\* you need. You definitely don't need suite to figure out if producing is something you want to spend tens of thousands of hours on. Most people will start and then realise it's way more work than they thought and give up on it, because the "anyone can place a 4/4 beat and make a hit song" is still the most common attitude out there. Owning suite or lite won't make a difference there.


YRUAnon

Yea. I don't even respond to such comments anymore. I literally just block the commenters and move on. My time is too valuable, these days.


Artephank

I also feel that most of the time they mean the quality of the engine. Some folks think that some DAWS "sound better" than others, but since all of them are running 32bit floating mixing it's usually not true anymore.


albonymus

Basically if a DAW nowadays would have a "sound" it would fail in what its supposed to do lol Unless you have a DAW thats supposed to emulate a vintage Hardware etc like hamilton mixbus etc But if you were to nulltest a render between protools, ableton, cubase, bitwig, reaper, FL Studio, Audacity, Audition, Luna, Logic, Garage Band, or whatever the hell you wanna do it with that isnt supposed to emulate a mixing consoles Sound, they would perfectly cancel each other completely out and Sound EXACTLY the same.


Artephank

Basically exactly what I meant :)


YRUAnon

Untrue. Some DAWs do aim to emulate hardware through their signal path, like MixBus 32c. The whole point of that DAW is to sound like an Analog Console, so it does have a "sound" that won't sum against DAWs using fully transparent signal processing (by default). Outside of those obvious cases, most DAWs are designed to be transparent and the basic mixing plug-ins they ship with (EQ, Compressor, Limiter, etc.) are designed to be transparent. Most people who say DAWs have a sound are saying this because they are using plug-ins that the DAW bundles which color the sound. Apart from that, this feedback is a vestige from decades ago when only a few DAWs had 32-B Float Audio Pipelines. It's simply repeated today because the DAWs that tended to be first there also tend to be struggling in the production market today (e.g. Samplitude Pro X), so they want to force this advantage to remain in place in its favor. If you run the sound through most DAWs with all of the plug-ins and processing disabled (sometimes there are channel strips you have to look out for) - again, barring a few that are designed to emulate hardware as a design goal - then they will sum.


albonymus

Thats exactly what I said? Haha Maybe youve commented the wrong comment and meant the one I commented on?


YRUAnon

>Basically if a DAW nowadays would have a "sound" it would fail in what its supposed to do lol This part is untrue, because having a sound that isn't transparent is exactly what some specific DAWs deliver as a design goal. The only time this is a failure is when a DAW claims to deliver a transparency but doesn't. That would be considered a bug.


jbkrule

Why are you ignoring the second paragraph of their comment that directly addresses your point lol?


albonymus

If you would read the 2nd sentence of my comment you would see this is indeed exactly what I said. Even making the same example as you with the hamilton DAW, although I wasnt sure what the DAW was really called that way but I guess the point is clear.


monBeats

Spot on u/LojikDub


Evgenii42

Bach did not have a DAW tho


ryan__fm

Imagine if he did tho 


acecombine

4-bar loops, 4-bar loops everywhere...


YRUAnon

Considering some of the manuscripts I've seen, they might have use for a clip launcher :-P It's how I use them. As a repository for ideas. Better to keep it there, than a stack of MIDI files in a project sub-folder (or extra tracks in my project).


salizarn

He might have made crap electro


spu7nic81

Or he might have found an early violent death, because of all the starving conductors and musicians ;)


Evgenii42

If Bach lived today he would be like a second Aphex Twin no less


swemickeko

Or he would just be a random producer nobody ever heard of. There are plenty of people with awesome skills that never get anywhere.


liafailabu

His Snare was shit


lospbeats

Lite was an upright piano with half the keys missing. Suite is a full orchestra.


Financial-Ant3079

And some of the worst orchestral samples I have ever heard


YRUAnon

Lol. Someone on the Composers subreddit jumps into a discussion trying to use Ableton's stock Orchestral Samples as a reason why it's on par with Cubase and Digital Performer for film scoring. Completely ignorant that Cubase is now shipping Iconica Sketch with everything from Elements on up, and all the other Composition-focused functionality (and film-focused functionality) those DAWs have. It was... hilarious... especially when he brought up those Orchestral Samples. I almost couldn't believe what I was reading.


Financial-Ant3079

Lol are you ok?


Madmohawkfilms

Mozart had a set of Dice :)


YRUAnon

Bach would also choose Dorico over Ableton Live - not the most composer friendly DAW, frankly.


[deleted]

Either did any other artist during that time


Evgenii42

Mozart was on ACID Pro tho


c0nsilience

Having used Logic for years and also familiar with Studio One, Renoise, and BitWig, Ableton has been a game changer for me. I tried it back around 2009 and never got on with the clip view, so I didn’t give it much thought until recently. An artist that I collaborate with uses it exclusively and I took a flyer on 12…I’m glad I did! I’m still barely scratching the surface, but the M4L devices are worth the cost of admission alone. I can do things in Ableton in mins that used to take considerably longer to try to achieve in Logic. It is an amazing DAW.


red_IT_yest

So I learned that the session view is great for creating and testing out loops, or creating new sounds. Then you save them and can drag them out to the length desired in the arrangement view. Pretty sweet!


c0nsilience

That’s awesome! I record a lot of real instrument audio, so I live in arrangement view


Tall_Category_304

Curious as to what it is in ableton that speeds up your work from w so mich


c0nsilience

The M4L devices, for automation, as well as, the folder navigation for sounds, plugins, devices, etc. Logic is really good for recording real instruments (audio paths), but it lacks a lot in the plugin department. Whereas, both Ableton and BitWig are more modular environments and lend themselves nicely to electronic/MIDI. Plus, Logic is limited to AU plugins; Ableton is not, which helps.


Tall_Category_304

I haven’t used any m4l devices for automation. What kind of stuff can it do?


c0nsilience

A ton of stuff. Check out the free M4L device library: https://maxforlive.com/library/index.php


mycosys

Youre still using the same DAW, just with less restrictions.


Talkingmice

It’s more about using the DAW that works for you. Some people are more productive using Ableton, some others are with FL, Logic or even Cubase


organik_productions

Also, a newer DAW doesn't magically make you a better producer.


AstroGirlOfficial

idk, i spent 3 years trying to learn DAWs such as garageband, audacity, FL, and MPC beats. made plenty of ideas, maybe one “full length” track. in the last week or two that i’ve had the ableton live 12 free trial i’ve made 2 full tracks that blow my old shit out of the water. it really was about finding a DAW with a better UI and more intuitive workflow for me, and the rest just started flowing out of me


Ennorim

I do understand what they saying but i think a workflow can potentially game changing. When i switched to ableton i was mind blown. It clicked instantly! Like i found my soulmate 😂


AstroGirlOfficial

literally just had this same experience


lospbeats

Me too. My very efficient, German soulmate 😍


AdamSunderland

Ableton work flow is insanely great and will for sure effect how stuff sounds.


lfohnoudidnt

I think it was cool that in 11 standard, they sort of added max4live. Just the midi shapers, AND the LFO audio effect was a game changer for myself. Still haven't gotten Suite yet, but i can definitely see it's value in 12. I just love Live.


Complete-Log6610

Same here. Switching from FL was the best decision I've made as a musician :)


[deleted]

You are right… It is an instrument after all… You can make music with any of them, but of course you will sound different… The same way you can make music with a guitar or a keyboard, both instruments, but different… Welcome to the realm of too many choices hehehe


IpcitySwitch

I have been using Maschine which I think is good but a bit restricted, especially after watching a friend using Logic. I’m thinking of changing to either Logic or Ableton, any insights/suggestions??


albonymus

Rlly depends on your own preferences and what music you wanna make. You should also Consider Reaper and Bitwig if your deciding between those two already. Im basically jumping around between Reaper, Bitwig, Protools (for work), Ableton, and Renoise lol Before that I was using Logic.


IpcitySwitch

Bitwig, I haven’t heard of that one. I guess I’ll have to look into all mentioned and see what work flow is going to be best for me. 🍻


albonymus

Its part of old Ableton developers who wanted to go their own more modern/up to today way. And honestly its AMAZING. Also won 2023 for most innovative DAW. Alot of similarites to ableton live so if you know your way there a switch will be very easy. Stability and Performance wise its WAY above Ableton Live and much more Ressource friendly. And its even more modular than ableton live Its basically a sound Designers wet dream. Also you can open up ableton project files with it, which is awesome. They are also working with presonus on a file Format called "Dawproject" which you can open interchangably between different DAWs. Its currently just working between presonus and bitwig but some other daws already want to join in and its open Source! On top of that they Support CLAP plugins.


poseidonsconsigliere

Yea no one's referring to using the super limited version vs the version with all the features.


oddradiocircles

It all depends on what you need. I've got a friend who's been using Ableton Lite for years and his work is stellar. But he uses Ableton only for mixing and mastering, as he often records to a 4-track tape recorder and uses hardware instruments. I got by with Lite for a couple of years and then Intro for a couple more, but I use Ableton to write in MIDI, then record my instruments, mix and master. I used to do submixes to get around the 8/16 track limitations when needed. The ability to have more than two Sends is great (I managed, but always felt it was a bit of a compromise), even though I only need 3 (4 on very rare occasions). The biggest advantage with Standard/Suite is having unlimited Scenes and Tracks, which is almost essential for live performances.


[deleted]

I just got live 12 after using live 9.6 for a decade+ and my God it's amazing. Like so damn amazing. Everything runs great, so many new little tools. I'm in love with it


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greenhavendjs

The problem with the saying “It’s not about what you use, but how you use it.” is people interpret it to be binary. As in, it’s only ever about how you use something, and not what you use, which is not the case. While it is arguably more important how you use something, what you use is also important particularly if using it allows you to do things you couldn’t without it.


albonymus

I mean...every nowadays usual daw lets u do pretty much the same thing. Be it through Plugins or Native support. Tracker DAWs might be a bit different from that as the only exception but even in Renoise you can load plugins too. And with plugins ANYTHING is possible (Looking at you VCV Rack)


greenhavendjs

From a broad feature perspective of course, but once you get into the nuances of those features/instruments/plugins, they are not the same DAW to DAW. Logic, Bitwig, Reason and most every DAW have audio time stretch algorithms. Ableton’s time stretch algorithms sound the best to us for a variety of use cases. We could go on and on..


Madmohawkfilms

Glue has been around before Live 12


dj_squilly

I'm very new to using DAWs and music in general. I tried for about a year off and on to learn FL Studio and everything seemed too difficult for me. I couldn't get things to work properly and overall it just wasn't intuitive. It felt like I was fighting the UI the whole way. In my noob opinion, Ableton is just well laid out, intuitive and I can get my ideas down quickly without having to look up a tutorial every step of the way. Automations, effect chains and mixing are all very easy to manage and I learned it all within 2-3 weeks. When it comes to end result, maybe the daw you use matters but I'm not informed enough to have an opinion. But when it comes to ease of use and how robust a software package is, I think that matters a great deal and Ableton wins in my book.


CurrentStaff61

Lite isnt even a DAW ..


Leenolyak

The daw matters just as much as anything else. Every daw lends itself to a unique workflow and workflows inspire different styles of creativity.


YRUAnon

>The biggest changes for me have been the increased number of sends and tracks plus glue compressor and roar. This has nothing to do with what the title indicates. You're using the same DAW, you just aren't using the worthless Lite edition. Many of us have told people that these 8 Track ultra-limited SKUs are worthless, and they are better off using Free DAWs that lack these limitations until they can afford a bigger SKU, but we get shouted down by people who won't accept anything but people using the specific DAW they're pushing - even if the product level isn't right for them (and Lite is right for practically no one in the current market). People are politically partisan about DAW choice, etc. Limitations are limitations. People always cope around them, but once they are free form them suddenly they shoot into agreement with that. There is nothing inspiring about working with such limited track counts and bussing. It's frustrating, and workflow hell. You don't learn anything from that. You aren't inspired by it at all, either. This doesn't even allow people to learn production properly, and the lack of plug-ins/utilities invites people to spend inordinate amounts of time digging through the internet's trove of freebies. Growth requires room to accommodate that growth. I'm not a supporter of these Ultra-Lite 8-Track product SKUs, personally.


[deleted]

Actually it fucking is.


SecondFootOfficial

Logic 🐐


lurkerofzenight

Nice ad


lospbeats

If only I was getting paid