Live started as application for live performances. I never did live performance, but I can imagine you need everything as quick and as agile as possible. With that in mind, they developed pretty unique app that was reliable and well suited for this purpose. (Thanx to it's clever session view thing.)

I believe it was around version 5 or 6 when people started to use Live for classic production as well. I guess main reason was unification of user interfaces used inside and outside of their studios. Around version 7, Ableton implemented better EQ, more cool devices and suddenly people found out, that it's in fact really good and solid DAW.

That quickness of performance tool just reminded. Everything is right under your fingertips and pretty much everything happens in one single window. That's what created Lives amazingly quick workflow. For example setting sidechain compression is question of 3 mouseclicks.

Next thing, that wows you, is its modularity. It's not pure modular DAW, but it has this racking option, that makes it really easy for you to get creative. Wanna layer X synths in one track? No problem. Wanna have several effects on one track working in parallel? No problem. There is not much of possible craziness you couldn't do with it.

Drum racks are amazing too. It's so logical. One track on outside and new track inside of it for every single hit. Easy, clear. Group tracks (available from version 8 I think) allows you to buss several of your tracks completely. If you need some conventional bussing or effect tracks, classic sends also available. ...and everything still happening inside of the one very window.

Unfortunately version 8 went a bit wrong as well. It's great version, best yet, but it has been around for three years or so. Other DAW developers worked hard on new versions. Some functions like vector automation curves, 64-bit instruction code support, or creative stuff like integrated pitch correction are painfully missing in Live. It's great on it's own now, but development should speed up a bit. So point down for that.

Anyway, I'm using Live as my one and only DAW for few years and having no intentions to change that. May be Bitwig can shake this opinion a bit, but that's question of future. Lot of DAWs claim they're quickest way from your brain to the finished track, but imho Live is only DAW you can really agree on that.

Ableton Live is genuinely the most innovative music production tool and DAW I have ever used.
It looks and works both creatively and functionally and offers something completely different from the competition.
It offers brilliant options to those who create Electronic music such as Electro, House and Drum and Bass. The built-in synths are brilliant and extremely easy to learn for those who are new to music production.

However, it actually genuinely is so unbelievably powerful at the same time.
The loops provided as Live 'clips' are an excellent basis for inspiration, but also offer a great creative tool.
Personally I do not use it for DJing and personally I find it hard to visualize DJing with it. However it is PERFECT for live performance.

The global clock function means everything, whether it be audio or midi, clip or sample plays perfectly in time. This is brilliant for me, as I make Electro and House, which is very repetitive by nature, but it gives me real insight in keeping the track alive and the Clip View works as a brilliant palette of ideas.
Its GENUINELY innovative and so natural to work with, especially when layering up parts and working through build ups in songs. Chorus parts are are bliss to create as complex riffs can simply be copied and pasted with all the automation data, and effects go with it.
Its totally fully featured and I would recommend everyone to it. Its so brilliantly creative its unlike anything I've used before.

And there are absolutely tons of tutorials online and on the website and its bursting with features and I have NEVER had it crash on me. Stable as anything and totally brilliant to work with which I suppose is key as they tout it as a Live performance tool, hence the name.
It works with VSTs as well which opens a lot of doors for me as I otherwise wouldn't have a working VST DAW host.
I have created entire tracks without ever leaving Ableton and I will be using it for as long as I can conceive. Absolutely brilliant piece of software.
A must have purchase for Electronic musicians.

I've been using Live 4 to do pretty much everything since its beta version was released in the summer of 2004. With previous versions (since 1.5) i only used Live on stage for live sets, but 4.0 added just the tools i needed to make the switch to Live as my primary host application.

In my experience, it is THE most versatile application in the audio software industry. I use it to write my own tracks, mixdown/master other people's tracks, DJ, and also do live performances ("live pa's"). The fact that i can do all of these things seemlessly in one singular application is a true testament to its versatility. And the biggest bonus there is i stay very productive since i'm using the same interface for everything.

When considering Live 4 for your audio tasks, the biggest mistake one could make is letting Live's simplicity fool you into thinking its not as powerful as other applications. But in fact, this simplicity often makes it MORE powerful than other applications. Behind the simplicity is a very intuitive editing, mixing, and writing tool.

What is also amazing about Live is for all its power and versatility, it is still a very young application. It still lacks some features that many high priced DAWs brag about having (full PDC, instant freeze, dual processor audio engine support), yet for these shortcomings i still find it to be more appealing, inspiring, and just plain fun to use than any other application out there. And that says alot.

Live 4 is the app I've been waiting for. After looking for plug-ins to handle loops adequately for other DAWs, trying some DAWs that do loops well but are convoluted in other ways for a long time, and working with multiple apps Rewired together to try and accomplish what I want sonically, I've found that Live 4 has just enough of everything I really need in a uncluttered UI that is intuitive and (so far) never frustrating.

I'm a guitarist primarily and don't want to get too bogged down with learning a very complex application, and Live 4 makes me feel like I'm in control of my music more than anything else I've tried. The addition of Midi instruments in Live 4 really made the choice to get Live 4 clear for me.

My first foray into sequencing was with a Dr. Rhythm drum machine cv'd to a Roland SH-101, and Live 4 both takes me back to my roots using patterns to build songs and takes me forward with a UI that does away with a lot of old concepts like most other DAWs.

I know most people see Live 4 as a DJ type app, but I find blues and jazz work just as well with Live as any other DAW and gives you the ability to try out new ideas much more quickly than other applications. Unless it is missing some features you absolutely need like video authoring, you should definitely give the demo a try.

Live 4.0 takes care of the previous problems noted with midi and VST hosting.

When I work I tend to switch back and forth between Acid and Live and thus generally compare one with respect to the other. I can say that the midi capability of Live 4.0 greatly exceeds that of Acid! 'Midi clips' sync perfectly with 'audio clips', sit in the same visual space (scene), and function in much the same way as do audio clips. Copying them and moving them cause no operational glitches in the application as is often the case in Acid.

I work better with Acid's linear track zoom and navigation than Live's. However, Acid's 'one sample to a track' policy posses problems with overlap and alignment of different samples in linear track space after more samples are being used than the number of tracks that can be displayed at once. Live's 'any sample on a track' policy solves this.

Live also seems to host a wider range of VST effects than Acid. Dropping apps like FL Studio VSTi and Kinetic into Acid is a non-starter, while it works seamlessly in Live.

I guess all this just points out the relative age of the two apps and the power of more recent programming and compilation techniques. I would also say that Live 4.0 compares quite favorably to other (more expensive) hosts in terms of features, workflow, and robustness; and can thus serve as an economical substitute.

It is simply the best loop based live tool ever created !
You can do anything you want with loops and everything in real time.
Ideal solution for DJ or 'electronika' orient musicians who want to play live with it.
Don't believe ? Download the demo ! It is a full version, only save and render to disk is disabled.

One remark on the previous review. Live CAN load loops directly from CD.

Rony

Ok, so Live is not exactly a full featured host. It won't host your VST instruments, and its rewire implementation is rudimentary. There is precious little use of midi at all.

Live, however, is nearly perfect at what it was designed for -- a live mixing environment for loops. Like Acid, it will timestretch your loops to fit nearly any tempo; unlike Acid it can be done in a spontaneous and creative freeform manner. You don't need to paint your loops in or determine start and endpoint, or even track settings --- just load the loops into the matrix and turn them on as needed (and via midi if you choose).

To me this is Live's real strength -- it requires very little planning to get a song going. All you need to do is get a few loops running, arm a track and start recording (via rewire or asio). Jam. Have fun. Make some mistakes. When you are done, your recording becomes a new clip (loop), which can be edited and (better yet) divided into multiple other clips -- all non-destructively and without duplicating the recording. Awesome! To the best of my knowledge this system is unmatched anywhere else.

Now the "downsides". First, Live's loop preview is not as good as Acid's. Loops only run once in preview mode until you load them into a clip. Also, Live will not preview or load loops from CD at all. Finally, Live does not record or edit midi in any way. Oddly, I have come to appreciate this. I simply use other apps (Fruity Loops or Muzys) for my midi needs, then rewire them together. I honestly don't even want my midi sequencer to bother with audio anymore. Live does it soooo much better.