Subject:acid pro 6 and ableton live 5

Posted by: isabelle

Date:7/23/2006 8:40:59 AM

hi everyone,

A simple question ... What is the difference between ableton live 5 and acid pro 6?

Can anyone tell me ??

Thank you

isabelle

Subject:RE: acid pro 6 and ableton live 5

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:7/23/2006 9:28:46 AM

ACID Pro 6 is more a post-production tool with a little more flexibility in the file format department, while Live can be used as a live instrument.

As I understand it, Ableton announced Live 6 with some new features.

Note that ACID Pro 6's stretching engine is different from that of Live's. You can't expect ACIDized loops to be "read" properly by Live and vice versa.

Also, ACID Pro's GUI is more "to the point" vs. Live's "super-pretty" GUI.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: acid pro 6 and ableton live 5

Reply by: dabb

Date:7/23/2006 9:43:17 AM

Ableton Live 5 is a great application, give the demo a try and you won't look back. You can use any acid audio files with no problems at all. It is less cluttered than Acid's menuing screens. Also unlike Acid does not crash and is a very clever program with excellent support.

dabb

Subject:RE: acid pro 6 and ableton live 5

Reply by: filterthing

Date:7/23/2006 7:18:05 PM

wow, it crashes less than acid? Funny, acid never crashes on me, so then live would have some kind of negative crash rate. That sounds cool, I will have to try it.

Why are you even on this forum dabb?

to answer the original question. Try them both and use which one you like best.

I tried live and could not get into the interface. I could be a troll here and say I thought it was like a fisher price toy, but I won't. Oops, just did.

Subject:RE: acid pro 6 and ableton live 5

Reply by: thenoizzbox

Date:7/23/2006 9:40:05 PM

I completely agree filterthing. I also tried Live and couldn't get passed the toy-like interface. As for Acid crashing, I don't remember when that last hapened to me. Acid Pro 6 has been rock solid even on my aging computer.

It also really irritates me how the Live 6 marketing videos on their site keep saying only Live does this or that when the features are already in Acid like Live's Elastic Audio and Warp Markers vs Acid's Stretch Markers for Loop clips for example. Or Live's Clip Grooves vs Acid's Groove Maps. Live has other unique features so I mean, why does Ableton feel they need to lie about being the only app having basic stuff Acid has been doing better than anyone for years...

In any case, Live and Acid are very different apps aimed at different kinds of users anyway so comparisons between the two are pretty much irrelevant. I don't play live anymore but when I record and arrange my songs, I much prefer Acid's streamlined and efficient UI to Live's.

For me, music creation is a lot more comfortable on a linear timeline. When i open Acid up to record I usually already have jammed up the song's structure into shape on guitar and will have started creating my drum parts in my virtual drum machine (Beatcraft). All I need to do at that point is import my rendered Beatcraft drum tracks/loops, layout my basic structure and start laying down guitar tracks, record bass (MIDI triggering SoundFonts) and add some keyboard tracks/textures. I've tried many DAWs including Sonar, Reaper, Cubase, Tracktion and Live and Acid Pro 6 is still the one I prefer by far. It fits my workflow the best of all and the new more efficient sound engine in AP6 is giving a second life to my computer which I will only be able to replace in a few months. Also, did I say it was rock solid for me...

Subject:RE: acid pro 6 and ableton live 5

Reply by: drbam

Date:7/24/2006 6:15:22 AM

The people that I know personally using Live do so on a mac. I think this is an area where Sony dropped the ball. If Abelton can create a cross platform app like this why not Sony? Of course, who could have predicted that Apple would ever move into the ever increasing market share they enjoy today. And, the new intel chip obvously changes much in this regard, but I've got a powerbook and an ibook that I'd love to have my Sony apps on. :(

drbam

Subject:RE: acid pro 6 and ableton live 5

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:7/25/2006 6:28:47 AM

> In any case, Live and Acid are very different apps aimed at different kinds of users anyway so comparisons between the two are pretty much irrelevant

Yup. They sure are two different beats. Since they both have downloadable trials, you can try them both and see which one fits your workflow. I have tried Live several times (I have the lite version that came with my M-Audio FW-410) and I’ve gone through the tutorials and a week later I can’t remember how to use it. The interface is the most convoluted thing I’ve ever used. I HATE applications that think I have time to learn all new GUI interactions just because they want to be cute. I just can’t get use to it. Your mileage may vary. ;-)

~jr

Subject:RE: acid pro 6 and ableton live 5

Reply by: switchman

Date:8/6/2006 1:56:01 AM

i agree completely. i approach my daw's as a songwriter primarily. when i discovered live 5, i was won over instantly. however, after tweaking it a few weeks, i realized it was much more efficent at letting me change up drum breaks in realtime than it was in letting me lay down fresh ideas.
if you are approaching music as a songwriter, you want a solid foundation for your ideas, not a novelty to remix your own songs as dance tracks.
i respect ableton for what it is; primarily a remix tool for dj's and live bands who want to play with remix sounds. for all the faults of acid though, i always come back. it is still the most comprehensive and easiest daw to use across platforms. just try exporting ableton into anything and you;ll see what i mean...

Subject:RE: acid pro 6 and ableton live 5

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:8/6/2006 6:08:24 AM

I bought Live 4 and couldn't get used to the gui and the workflow even after trying for several months. The latest version of Live has some excellent features but if a host doesn't feel right to work with then all the features in the world aren't going to change that.

Try both demo's for as long as you can to get a proper feel for the host. I was tempted by a Live special offer at the time and regret not trying the demo for longer before I buying it.

Subject:RE: acid pro 6 and ableton live 5

Reply by: stuffedspacedog

Date:8/22/2006 2:48:18 AM

I've been with Acid since v3 and Live since v2. For some reason the marketing of Live always persuades me to buy an upgrade, but if I look at actual work (I compose and produce in one process in the host and master in Samplitude) completed in the past two years:

Acid Pro - 4 albums, 3 ballets, c. 12 pieces for TV
Live - nothing, nada, zilch

It's not just the interface, or the work flow... it's kind of everything! Whenever I use Live I suddenly start to feel imprisoned in a multi-coloured brightly lit rotating box filled with squealing 4/4 beat samples. I know that's not actually the case, it's just how it feels!!

So double hurrah for Acid Pro. And double hurrah for everyone that actually enjoys using Live!!