Why you left Ableton?

[Obsolete236871]

Assuming that by "small, mid-resolution screen" you mean 20-something inches and 1440p then indeed Cubase struggles, because it doesn't properly support high-DPI screens - ...

No, not at all a high-DPI screen, on the contrary! I guess it's a "low resolution" screen in today's terms: I'm using an older, maybe 18 inch screen, I guess it's not even 720p resolution.

I did run Cubase for years on that screen (6.5 version) and recently updated to 10.5. Whily I like the fact that Steinberg tried to implement a one-screen approach, for me the current interface does not really work so well on that lower resolution screen. I guess they packed more buttons etc into it by default, because they assume everyone uses at least 1080p display by now. So I guess I need to find a way to customize the interface and remove some of the buttons that clutter the interface.

[jclosed]

Short version - I like Bitwig more than Ableton Live.

Long version - I started using Ableton Live years ago, because of the clip-oriented design. But I had a reason to love that kind of design. You see - Before I switched to Ableton Live I was using another DAW that had a clip-based structure. I am talking about Cakewalk's Project 5. That DAW had everything I needed to be creative. I used it as a kind of scratch/design pad alongside Cubase (that I use for mixing/mastering). Unfortunately Cakewalk stopped active development at some time, and the DAW was not longer supported. Yes - It was working, but nobody could guarantee any new Windows version or even a simple Windows update could not break the entire application. The only DAW that had a clip-based design and looked close to Project 5 was Ableton Live. While I really deeply hated that you had to switch constantly between Session and Arrangement view, and drag and drop between those two views was an real PITA, it was workable enough for me to keep using it.

And then Bitwig popped up a few years ago. At first it looked like a kind of Live clone to me, until I took a better look. And then it hit me. Here was a DAW that was closer in design to Project 5 than all other DAW's I had seen before! And it was more modern, up to date, and had far more potential than that old Project 5. For a time I followed the development of Bitwig, but was a bit reluctant to buy an full version at once (Bitwig had no "Lite" version at that time).

Things turned around when I bought a new Nektar keyboard. There was a free 8-track version of Bitwig included with this keyboard, so I installed it and started to play around with it. The DAW made me feel directly "at home". It was if I was getting my beloved Project 5 back, but this time on steroids. It did not took a long time, before I "bit the bullet" and bought the full version of Bitwig. That was almost one and a half year ago.

From that time of purchase I started to use Bitwig more and more, until I realized I had not touched Ableton Live for almost a year. I still had version 9, but did not wanted to spend money to update to version 10. After thinking about it for a while, I made the decision to sell Ableton Live to someone that could use that DAW better than I did. So - I sold Live a few months ago, and am happy with Bitwig. That last DAW fits me better than Ableton Live ever did. Maybe it would be different if I had not used Project 5 all those years ago. Who knows?

But that's how it is. And this is the reason I do not longer use Ableton Live. I simply do not own it any longer, and do not feel any urge to buy or use it ever again.

[oonabe]

I left Ableton and cannot really remember why I did, I remember I didn't like how tempo changes worked if your song is not attached to a fixed bpm number and that I had constant issues setting up my ASIO drivers.

Now I was thinking of going back to Ableton Live because I'm currently on Reason and Reason doesn't support MPE just to find out that Ableton doesn't either

[antic604]

Assuming that by "small, mid-resolution screen" you mean 20-something inches and 1440p then indeed Cubase struggles, because it doesn't properly support high-DPI screens - ...

No, not at all a high-DPI screen, on the contrary! I guess it's a "low resolution" screen in today's terms: I'm using an older, maybe 18 inch screen, I guess it's not even 720p resolution.

Oh, if that's the case then indeed it's about time to invest in new screen. A good 1080p or (bigger) 1440p will make hell of a lot difference.

[thecontrolcentre]

Happy Live user here. Been with Live since v5 with no plans to switch ...

[pandashake]

For me, lack of x64 version and dual monitor support for the longest time and the steep upgrade prices from one version to the next kept me from going past Live 8. Then Presonus launched Studio One which is much more transparent in their development and communication than Ableton. Never looked back after Studio One Professional v2.

[ckam03]

If pweeple leave a daw like Ableton it's because they're lookin' for somethin' that cannot be found, somethin' that has a magic button dat does all Z work for you. Ya wastin' ya time. Do tha work ya-selves, spend time developin' ya skills. You dig? Dont blame the tools is wha-I'm sayin'.

Who do I blame then for Ableton not having MPE? You? Jesus?

I dont think not havin' one feature warrants leaving an entire daw. Ya gotsta looks at Z features it does have and how they're bwetter dan other daws

In your opinion. I've looked at z features and they most definitely are not better than all other DAWs so looks like I made the right choice!

[nix808]

MAX for Live bangs
-no issues
heh

[oonabe]

If pweeple leave a daw like Ableton it's because they're lookin' for somethin' that cannot be found, somethin' that has a magic button dat does all Z work for you. Ya wastin' ya time. Do tha work ya-selves, spend time developin' ya skills. You dig? Dont blame the tools is wha-I'm sayin'.

Who do I blame then for Ableton not having MPE? You? Jesus?

I dont think not havin' one feature warrants leaving an entire daw. Ya gotsta looks at Z features it does have and how they're bwetter dan other daws

Depends on the feature and how much you need that feature for making music.

Sometimes you cannot take advantage of some of the most useful features of your MPE hardware device because the DAW doesn't support it, and maybe you've spent three times as much money in that device than in the DAW itself, so I think that could be reason enough for many people to leave a DAW and go for a different one.

[ThomasHelzle]

Was good for a couple of years (V4-V8), initially was bliss after Cubase VST, compared to Bitwig now feels like old news.

Cheers,

Tom

[CrystalWizard]

I haven’t, yet. Been using Live since version 4. I wanted a DAW that was intended for live performance. I’ve noticed it crashing more after about v6 so much less useable for live music (i haven’t upgraded to 10, though which i hear is more stable.) I started on Reaper for tracking and mixing and i’m much happier about that tool for that job. I may stay with Live (esp for live performance) but i don’t feel like i’m getting the value i want from the upgrades. Bitwig is seemingly what i want to start using because it appeals to the sound mangler in me.
So then it would be:
Reaper: tracking acoustic and electric sounds
Live: live performance and finishing up many half done tracks
Bitwig:sound design and experimentation
and, when i grow up i want Nuendo and opportunity to do post production.

[Winstontaneous]

Hey CrystaWizard!
I left Ableton at about 11:30 last night because it was time to go to bed.

[Distorted Horizon]

Actually I installed my live lite 10 because of this thread

Maybe.. MAYBE I could buy a license of live.. Not because I like it but there's just tons of people using it so in the name of collaboration..

[tooneba]

Because annoying dominating dubstep crowd makes other user look like idiots who keep recycling soulless noises over and over.

[Kinh]

If pweeple leave a daw like Ableton it's because they're lookin' for somethin' that cannot be found, somethin' that has a magic button dat does all Z work for you. Ya wastin' ya time. Do tha work ya-selves, spend time developin' ya skills. You dig? Dont blame the tools is wha-I'm sayin'.

Who do I blame then for Ableton not having MPE? You? Jesus?

I dont think not havin' one feature warrants leaving an entire daw. Ya gotsta looks at Z features it does have and how they're bwetter dan other daws

In your opinion. I've looked at z features and they most definitely are not better than all other DAWs so looks like I made the right choice!

ezpecially if you've only looked at them instead of tryin' dem out