Ableton Live Review

Pro's Of Using Ableton Live 
The navigation is very fast and it comes with very powerful automation. It comes with an inspiring clip-based composition and live workflow. It also comes with a ton of samples that you can use.

Con's Of Using Ableton Live

• You can't fix the pitch
• It does not have a notation view (which is disappointing)
• You can not do track comping

Overall
The bottom line is ableton live is an all in one answer for making music live but I would say that it is more for electronic sounding music and it's not basic therefore it is not for everyone. It really is different from any other DAW out there so there is a bit of a learning curve that you will have to get use to. But what most people like about it is that it can do everything that you need.

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Ableton Live is what I like to call one of the 'big dawgs' in the game of making beats and recording live music. I would really only recommend this for people who are looking to record live music. This is not to say that it can't be used to produce traditional beats because it can. But it was made to cater to the needs of producers who want to record live performances. It all boils down to the interface, it is totally different from other DAW's out there. So if you decide to use the Ableton Live software prepare yourself for a learning curve. 
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The one thing that Ableton offers is their clip-based tool to build tracks and it is pretty awesome once you dive in and start playing with it. You can really fall in love with Ableton and start to use it as your only audio editing software for creating new music.
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Pricing

​Pricing and SetupAbleton comes in three different versions
Intro Version: $99
Standard Version: $499
Suite Version: $749

The Intro Version comes with 16 audio and MIDI tracks. Also, it has eights scenes for inputs that you can use at the same time for recording and two inputs are for returns and sends. Finally it comes with a 4GB instrument that uses four virtual instruments. It also has plugins (21 effects) to mix your beats.

The Standard Version is like having the intro version on steroids. It comes with an unlimited amount of tracks and 256 inputs with 12 of them can be used for returns and sends. Another feature that I like is the audio warp and slicing. It has 33 audio effects and 11GB of sounds and audio to MIDI option.

The Suite Version is extremely powerful because it comes with a lot more realistic samples packs. These can be used to create orchestra sounds and an analog synthesizer. It has 54 GB worth of sounds 36 audio effects and 11 different instruments. This version are for the big boys.
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​Let's Start The Review of The Ableton Live 9.74

We are are going to look at the suite version that comes with the 54GB worth of sounds that you get from their website. What you will need is time because it will take a while to download the 29 packs because you can only download and install one at a time but it's worth it at the end. Why? Because you will be getting so many more sounds and once you find your groove it will be very easy to create the music you like.
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​Lets Talk About The Interface

The main focus of Ableton Live are it's two views, the Arrangement and the Session. I like the fact that you can go back and forth between the two by simply pressing the tab key. It makes the flow so much easier. You can control the tempo, the meter and other items that will help you loop from the top strip. The bottom of the windows will change whenever you highlight something. So if you click on a clip you will notice that all the knobs and sliders that you need will show. Then you can use the tools to edit and cut up the sound the way you like. A huge benefit of using Ableton is that you can put all the tools that you will be using on the screen at the same time. Once you get use to this it  a real time saver.

Live isn't that similar to other DAW's out there but one major difference is that it allows you to make changes  to the sound in real time, so you don't have to stop and start the audio. This is what really sets it apart from the other DAW's out there. Being able to flow from groups to tracks to set off whatever clip you want in real time is amazing.
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​Improvements Made To Ableton

• ​The plugin latency compensation has been improved tremendously
• The Simpler editing system
• You can link together with other users using Live at the same time, while being on different machines
• The metering and beat slicing have been refined
• Ofcourse they have added more sounds
• Push hardware controller is more sensitive to the touch
• ​You can see the waves more clearly
  

How Does It Record

What most people like about Live is are the clips because you can put automation inside of them. You no longer have to do this manually anymore with ableton live. Other DAW's only have an audio to MIDI conversion but not Ableton live it gives you so much more. You can convert your music into many different MIDI sounds. The fact that you can take all types of sounds and change them to basically whatever you want is very exciting. It is actually easier to change sounds in Ableton than any other beat making software on the market. I really can't express how powerful of an option this is.

I've mentioned this already and I must state it again, the most difficult thing to get use to with Ableton is the look and feel because it's different from all other DAW's. It really does take some time to get use to but once you understand how it works you will be creating new music more efficiently. The secret to Ableton is to patient with yourself and to practice using it as much as possible.

What Ableton Live Does Not Do

• You can't comp tracks
• You can't record multiple takes of vocals
• You can't correct pitch
• It's not simple to do fades and crossfades like it is in Protools
• It doesn't read SysEx
• It doesn't work well with other external synthesizers

Ableton Live is pretty much is for recording live performances but not really. Although I mentioned what it does not do above, Live prides itself on being an all in one DAW. They believe you don't need anything else in order to create some cool sounding tunes and honestly they are right.
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​Lets Get Into Mixing and Instruments

​What You Get in The Suite Version

• You get more than 3,000 instruments you can work with
• You get five virtual synths
• Three different samplers
• A whomping 400 drum kits
• They also give you royalty free loops (Over 4,000)

The Conclusion On Ableton LiveAbleton live is for the big boys and not beginners. I recommend that only people who need to record live music use Live. Because it is totally unlike any other DAW out there. If you are looking for other music making programs take a look at Pro Tools and Logic X or maybe even FL Studio.

I recommended those because they have similar DAW and they are industry standard for traditional recording. But if you want to have an all in one system that stands alone Ableton is for you.