Ableton Live -OR- Cubase ?

[zerg]

i was using fl studio for 2 years ... and now i thing it's time to get some serious software

 

so can u help me to decide ????

 

Cubase or Abelton ??? which is better and why ???

 

(i 'm making psy-trance on my pc ... :posford: )

[Jikkenteki]

I own and use both and would say for all intents and purposes they are pretty even in creative potential. My preference for creating music is Cubase, but Live is more than up to the task as well. For ME (and only me) some very general good and bad points might be...

 

Live:

+

Generally easy to use. Only two major screens

Warp feaures for audio easy to use

Excellent for both live and studio use

Midi mapping to controllers very easy

Includes a small but usable drum sampler (good for new guys who haven't bought something else yet)

No dongle so easy to use on the road

-

Monitoring on the mixer is difficult for knowing exact levels

Automation is easy to record, but I find it difficult to precisely edit, especially with bpms and such

Older versions had some audio quality issues, but they've been cleaned up in the last couple versions

Manual isn't the clearest on some various points so some features can be a bit tricky to figure out at first

Generally solid, but a few vst's have made it crash on me, usually with the program just suddenly and completely disappearing

Need to buy more synths and effects as the included bunch is a mixed bag

 

Cubase:

+

Depth, can do just about anything with it

Offline effects processing

Exactly level monitoring and adjustments on the mixer are simple and easy

Automation and be edited exactly very easily

Very flexible

On my computer, my purchased copy is very stable, but your mileage will vary depending on your setup and the "source" of your copy

-

Depth, it can overwhelm a new user quickly

Dongle, fine for studio use, but not something I like to take on the road.

Need to buy more synths and effects as the included bunch is a mixed bag

No drum sampler included

Has a number of different windows you need to get used to.

Midi mapping can be difficult for controllers.

 

 

 

There are more that other people will surely add more and disagree with everything I've said so keep in mind that a lot of this is very individual.

 

Many people say that Switching to Cubase is difficult, but I think this mostly an issue for people who haven't used any audio sequencer to any real level of depth knowledge-wise. Like you I used Fruity for a number of years and generally knew it inside out. Because of that I found the transition to Cubase actually extremely easy. Live was pretty easy for me to use straight out of the box as well, but I did have to fight with it and manual on a few obvious points that I found weren't so clearly documented at first. For me the generally imprecise monitoring on Ableton Live is kind of the deal breaker for me in making it my "main" production sequencer, although I use it on the road for that often and then usually rewire or import the parts into Cubase to finish it up.

[zerg]

hmmm ... tnX m8 !!! i tried live and with some video tut. i know it a little and it's not so hard

 

but cubase seems to me wery hard i don;t know why >>> maybe because his serious and cold interface ???

 

so any way i need to study each one for some time ... that;s why i'm interested to know shud i give my time to one or another ...

 

peace :drama:

[Colin OOOD]

For me the generally imprecise monitoring on Ableton Live is kind of the deal breaker for me in making it my "main" production sequencer, although I use it on the road for that often and then usually rewire or import the parts into Cubase to finish it up.

This might be interesting for you then... Live 6 Session View: grab the horizontal dividing line just above the faders and drag it upwards. Then, with audio tracks, if they are at their minimum width, make them wider.

[Jikkenteki]

This might be interesting for you then... Live 6 Session View: grab the horizontal dividing line just above the faders and drag it upwards. Then, with audio tracks, if they are at their minimum width, make them wider.

Sweet, thanks! I was aware of the audio track widening thing, but I never thought to drag the fader channel longer. You learn something new everyday. And to think I've been using Live since version 2 (hangs head in shame).