Members Anderton Posted July 29, 2005 Members Share Posted July 29, 2005 When Live first came out, it seemed like a cool groove/DJ tool. Then they added more audio, MIDI, soft synth support, and more...has Live reached the point where you'd use it over Pro tools, Sonar, Logic, Cubase, MOTU, etc.? If so, why or why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 LIVE has been my DAW since version 3 I use it over SONAR, Pro Tools M-Powered, Cubase and NUENDO which are the other programs I have at home. Of course, you know I make a living demoing LIVE but I would not work on demoing something I don't believe in, when I have all that other superb software available at home, too. Anyway, I use whatever is good for the project / customer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryst Posted July 29, 2005 Members Share Posted July 29, 2005 Originally posted by Gus Lozada When using LIVE the PROS will miss the editing lists, sound replacing functions, Surround capabilities, Music Notation, Digi-Translator-alike file export and those highly sensitive faders with 1,024 steps of resolution, since LIVE 4 is 128 steps only via MIDI with a traditional controller... and because of those limitations, it might not appeal to a lot of producers/musicians. I agree with the above statement. Also, if Live would also incorperate much better metering for recording and mixing and different time format displays like min/sec. I would be hard pressed to use anything else. DP still 'feels' better to me for recording of basic instruments like drums, guitars, and vox. But for sound design, ambient tracks, and "extreme" midi sequencing....nothing beats Live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 29, 2005 Author Members Share Posted July 29, 2005 Good comments. I particularly agree about the metering. Where Live really shines are those "what if" times..."what if I tried this loop with this bass part and sang over it?" It doesn't replace Sonar for me, but for a lot of hosts, being able to rewire it in rocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mr.rob Posted July 30, 2005 Members Share Posted July 30, 2005 If you're making dancy music, or are making really twiddly music(whatever twiddly means?!), then I'd say it can. I think of twiddly music, I guess, being the type where everything is so chopped up and removed from traditional criterias of sounding good/bad that whatever degradation live timestretching takes on the music isn't a biggie.But, the one exception a twiddly person might make is when they want to tweak the minutiae of midi data, which imo, is about as fun as genital mutilation, but Live for some might not be as robust a midi and multitracking environment as they are used to; yet, for others it's a refreshing shift of paradigm, a different way to think about the role software plays in their productions.Personally I can hear a difference between audio in live and other multi tracking programs with live being lower in my admittedly limited estimations in audio quality which limits its usefulness beyond dancey and twiddly music.(I'm not sure why this is, so please don't flame me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2005 Personally I can hear a difference between audio in live and other multi tracking programs with live being lower in my admittedly limited estimations in audio quality which limits its usefulness beyond dancey and twiddly music.(I'm not sure why this is, so please don't flame me) Actually I've looked into this quite a bit. If the tempo of the original file is the same as the project tempo, the audio quality is fine. It's also fine if stretched, but only with certain types of material. Unlike Acid, Sonar, and now Cubase, Live has a more "universal" way of dealing with stretching. The Acid approach involves placing splice points at strategic transients, and if done well (although sadly, that's rarely the case with most sample CDs), the results can have few negative effects on the audio. REX files degrade the audio even less, although that process works with a much more limited range of files. Live has several different stretching methods, which helps a lot. Try some of the other options if the normal beat one doesn't work right. However, the problem with Live occurs in this type of situation: You have a drum file with a 16th note closed hi-hat pattern, but it momentarily pauses to let through an 8th note open hi-hat. You have to set the beats for "16th notes" to accommodate the closed hi-hat pattern, but because it adds a slice at EVERY 16th note, it will put a slice in the middle of the open hi-hat. This can affect the sound if the tempo is stretched a lot. This isn't a putdown of Live, because this same "problem" is what allows it to work with just about ANY file, not just one that's been carefully prepped, as you need to do with Acid, Sonar, Cubase, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted July 30, 2005 Members Share Posted July 30, 2005 I haven't added Live to my arsenal yet (it's on the list), but I have been using Acid as my DAW for a while.I'm usually just recording myself, so it has been working as good as I could want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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