jlgrimes11 said:
After I worked with it I learned some of its flexibilities (the good the bad the ugly):
That was a good summary. I think I'll reply to some points with my personal impressions
jlgrimes11 said:
1. The sample browsers. This thing stays open and you can pretty much create shortcuts for commonly used sample folders.
I can't say I'm too fond of the browser as far as managing a lot of samples is concerned. Unless I want to audition on the fly, I usually find myself dragging material straight from an external file manager. (And personally, being picky and wanting to manage files as efficiently as possible, I haven't used the Windows' standard Explorer file manager on my personal machines in something like eight or nine years
... I use
Total Commander.)
However, I think the browser in Live is great for managing plugins and storing/recalling device chains.
jlgrimes11 said:
3. Flexible audio routing. I thought Sonar was flexible but I think Live has an extra edge with the ability to sidechain and such. Problem is that its interface is a bit convoluted and is probably a turnoff for some users.
This is one of the strong points of Live to me. I don't find it any bit convoluted, it was very clear from the get go. The additional routing magic you can do with the racks, alongside with really effortless support for sidechaining plugins (when you know what you're doing), is a huge bonus.
jlgrimes11 said:
6. Impulse and Simpler softsynths. While the synths are very basic, they really are enough for most dance styles of music (including hip hop) with the advantage of being fully integrated into program (can drag newly recorded clips into simpler, impulse we are getting close to software samplers that actually sample).
Impulse and Simpler are samplers, not synths
. The Ableton synthesizer is called Operator, and it's actually quite the beast for varied synthetic sounding timbres. Alas, it's not included in the standard package but is a separate purchase.
About the stock samplers, I think Impulse is pretty much as basic as a oneshot sampler can get. I used it a lot for a while, and nowadays bring it into a project when I need just that, a no-frills oneshot solution with reroutable individual outs. Usually, I just dump my oneshots into
Shortcircuit for a more varied approach.
The same thing goes for Simpler: it's designed to be a basic sampler to offer a fast to work with creative sound-design tool for mangling single samples. At that, I find it very efficient. But... need to build a multisample? Not possible with anything in the standard box, unless you build a rack of Simplers, of course. Not exactly convenient for routine sampling, but still not to be missed as a creative method, as it can be a key to some very intriguing constructs.
jlgrimes11 said:
1. Quirky interface. Live's way of working is pretty foreign from the start. Although the interface is simple, it takes a bit of practice and good setup and reading to get going. It is like learning to drive a car again.
I think my personal experience with Live differs most in this one. I never experienced this sort of confusion. I previously had experience in the PC generation of Logic, after which I learnt Cubase. For me, starting to learn the Live interface was a joy from the start. "Oh, that's how it does this thing! How nice!"
jlgrimes11 said:
3. Basic freeze (and not as easy to do as Sonars right click approach).
On the other hand, I find the freeze quite awesome, albeit a basic one. It freezes so that the frozen material also continues to work in the session view non-linear mode, and the frozen tracks retain basic editability. You can also drag and drop a frozen track, just like that, into another audio track (making it an equal audio object with the other audio tracks) and, if you wish, drag that frozen section or parts of it straight into Simpler/Sampler/Impulse and so on. Pretty nifty.
jlgrimes11 said:
3. Copy protection. Although no dongle is involved the online registration was a nightmare to use.
This has been a problem for some people, yes. I haven't found it to be a burden (took two minutes). When I needed to transfer my activation, the team responded within an hour.
jlgrimes11 said:
5. Live is a very expensive program if you choose to get the Operator and Sampler (maybe like $600-$700), but then again so is Sonar (if you buy Z3ta, Dimension, and Rapture Sonar is very expensive) (and Reason is up there if you buy the piano, strings and drums refills).
I think Live is one of those programs that definitely warrant a good search for special offers, yes. The cheapest path is usually to buy a product with a bundled-in Live Lite version and then upgrading that to the full version. That way you can almost save
half of the asking price.
In any case, I think it's a good thing the Sampler and Operator addons are being kept separate. This way you can pay for the parts you need, and if you wish, invest the money you'd pay for Operator (for example) into another synth more suitable to your own needs.
During the years, Live has proved to be the software package I have been most satisfied with, ever. That's not only counting audio software, btw. And yes, there are many things in other categories that come close, of course, but it's hard to compare it to something completely different like an operating system...