Why is Ableton so slow to release updates?

[chk071]

I get the "don't change a winning horse" argument about Ableton Live. But it seems most people actually don't want a big change to Live, but rather quit small usability improvements to already existing features.

Agreed I don't understand why anyone would buy a DAW then demand features it doesn't have.

It happens all the time here...

[Rivanni]

I get the "don't change a winning horse" argument about Ableton Live. But it seems most people actually don't want a big change to Live, but rather quit small usability improvements to already existing features.

Agreed I don't understand why anyone would buy a DAW then demand features it doesn't have.

Not straight after you bought it, but after a few
years of use it's normal to ask for features you see in other DAWs and also like to see in the one you're using.

[machinesworking]

I get the "don't change a winning horse" argument about Ableton Live. But it seems most people actually don't want a big change to Live, but rather quit small usability improvements to already existing features.

Agreed I don't understand why anyone would buy a DAW then demand features it doesn't have.

Not straight after you bought it, but after a few
years of use it's normal to ask for features you see in other DAWs and also like to see in the one you're using.

Or it could be that you've owned it forever, watched it get xyz features and have a list of your own that you wish it did?

I bought it specifically for Session View, and live performance, I wished it kept in that direction but it hasn't been the main focus for quite some time. Not trying to ruffle feathers here, but it's obvious their main focus is IT people wanting to relax and make a beat after work. Live performance focused more on a DJ style experience rather than live performance in a broader term of that.

Specifically, Live has touted it's abilities live, and to this day there are glaring holes there. It's no argument the least efficient DAW CPU cycle wise and Racks do not offer any way to rotate through software instruments you might want to perform with, they will all be actively consuming CPU. Sets are still the only way to radically change CC settings or software instruments without an elaborate scene setup that turns on and off various things to gain some CPU back, but that has a limitation of being a simple on and off switch, so songs can only be played in a single direction in a Set. Performance of course is still possible with Live, that's not what I'm saying, but it's main focus is gone, because I suppose for most people it's no big deal.

I didn't buy Bitwig until recently and IMO so far it's cool, they addressed the multiple instrument switching issue, but again performance isn't it's main audience I'm guessing.

I've messed with and owned most of the DAWs out there, and my feeling is they all sort of lose focus, if one was geared specifically towards performance it would have Chunks from DP10, Racks from Bitwig (and CPU compared to Live), Max4Live and Session View from Live, Alchemy from Logic, etc. etc.

[Dirtgrain]

Agreed I don't understand why anyone would buy a DAW then demand features it doesn't have.

What DAW has everything one could desire? Not one to rule them all so far. Demand is a bit of a mischaracterization, generally speaking. There are things some point out as simple implementations, perhaps not knowing the complexity potentially involved. But I don't see anyone "demanding" anything.

[Dirtgrain]

WTF. It seems the only way to enable using the computer keyboard in Bitwig to play notes is that one has to use the Caps Lock key. I have disabled my Caps Lock key because it is evil. Does this make Bitwig evil? Grrrrr.

Edit: Was able to make custom shortcut for it, but still, evil?

[JoeCat]

...Racks do not offer any way to rotate through software instruments you might want to perform with...

Some of the limitations with Racks are the most frustrating for those of us using Live as a studio DAW (though I have used it for live sets also). I like to Rack up all my instruments, even just for preset creation; the ability to assign macros - even as helpful reminders as what parameter tweaks create interesting sound variations - is pretty invaluable. But there's no good way to scroll through Racks even with Push. I get the load time limitations for different instruments, but for Racks of the same instrument, smarts to prevent unloading/loading would be helpful.

In any case - you can't have everything; I suspect I'll find thing about Bitwig annoying if I decide to go that route.

[thecontrolcentre]

Agreed I don't understand why anyone would buy a DAW then demand features it doesn't have.

What DAW has everything one could desire? Not one to rule them all so far. Demand is a bit of a mischaracterization, generally speaking. There are things some point out as simple implementations, perhaps not knowing the complexity potentially involved. But I don't see anyone "demanding" anything.

I've been with Live exclusively since version 6. I used Acid Pro before that. I bought Live soon as it got vst support. I've grown with the program, and after 15 years I find it quick & intuitive. I write, record, mix and perform with Live. I've never felt the need to use a different DAW and I'm almost always happy when the (rare) major updates come along and the extras they provide. Live feels like a mature, "finished" product to me, but I'm sure they'll throw us some more improvements during the current cycle. No hurry tho'

[machinesworking]

Agreed I don't understand why anyone would buy a DAW then demand features it doesn't have.

What DAW has everything one could desire? Not one to rule them all so far. Demand is a bit of a mischaracterization, generally speaking. There are things some point out as simple implementations, perhaps not knowing the complexity potentially involved. But I don't see anyone "demanding" anything.

I've been with Live exclusively since version 6. I used Acid Pro before that. I bought Live soon as it got vst support. I've grown with the program, and after 15 years I find it quick & intuitive. I write, record, mix and perform with Live. I've never felt the need to use a different DAW and I'm almost always happy when the (rare) major updates come along and the extras they provide. Live feels like a mature, "finished" product to me, but I'm sure they'll throw us some more improvements during the current cycle. No hurry tho'

It got VSTi support in version 4.
Yes, it's much much better than Acid Pro.

I think that's where the difference lies, I've used Logic or DP along with Live since version 3, I've got a lot to compare it to. I still think it's a fantastic DAW, but where the heck is MPE support?

Oh, and the video support in Max4Live is amazing, changing videos with Session clips etc. Cool stuff.

[thecontrolcentre]

Oh, and the video support in Max4Live is amazing, changing videos with Session clips etc. Cool stuff.

I'd missed that. Was that new in v10? Cool.

[antic604]

WTF. It seems the only way to enable using the computer keyboard in Bitwig to play notes is that one has to use the Caps Lock key. I have disabled my Caps Lock key because it is evil. Does this make Bitwig evil? Grrrrr.

Edit: Was able to make custom shortcut for it, but still, evil?

You gotta be kidding?! How is Caps Lock "evil"?

[thecontrolcentre]

[Rivanni]

WTF. It seems the only way to enable using the computer keyboard in Bitwig to play notes is that one has to use the Caps Lock key. I have disabled my Caps Lock key because it is evil. Does this make Bitwig evil? Grrrrr.

Edit: Was able to make custom shortcut for it, but still, evil?

It's still a bit evil because with a custom shortcut you can only play when a VST plugin has the focus. As soon as you click elsewhere the keyboard doesn't work anymore.
You don't have this problem when you use Caps Lock.

[Rivanni]

WTF. It seems the only way to enable using the computer keyboard in Bitwig to play notes is that one has to use the Caps Lock key. I have disabled my Caps Lock key because it is evil. Does this make Bitwig evil? Grrrrr.

Edit: Was able to make custom shortcut for it, but still, evil?

You gotta be kidding?! How is Caps Lock "evil"?

DID YOU NEVER START TYPING AND NOTICED THAT EVERYTHING WAS ALL CAPS?
It's a key that affects the whole system which is evil.
Many times I had to toggle Caps Lock when I switched programs. Even typing inside Bitwig GOES WRONG.

[antic604]

WTF. It seems the only way to enable using the computer keyboard in Bitwig to play notes is that one has to use the Caps Lock key. I have disabled my Caps Lock key because it is evil. Does this make Bitwig evil? Grrrrr.

Edit: Was able to make custom shortcut for it, but still, evil?

You gotta be kidding?! How is Caps Lock "evil"?

DID YOU NEVER START TYPING AND NOTICED THAT EVERYTHING WAS ALL CAPS?
It's a key that affects the whole system which is evil.
Many times I had to toggle Caps Lock when I switched programs. Even typing inside Bitwig GOES WRONG.

No, never. Because I'm aware of what I'm doing.

[GaryG]

WTF. It seems the only way to enable using the computer keyboard in Bitwig to play notes is that one has to use the Caps Lock key. I have disabled my Caps Lock key because it is evil. Does this make Bitwig evil? Grrrrr.

Edit: Was able to make custom shortcut for it, but still, evil?

You gotta be kidding?! How is Caps Lock "evil"?

DID YOU NEVER START TYPING AND NOTICED THAT EVERYTHING WAS ALL CAPS?
It's a key that affects the whole system which is evil.
Many times I had to toggle Caps Lock when I switched programs. Even typing inside Bitwig GOES WRONG.