KVR Audio

dayjob · Post by **dayjob** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 2:16 am

Cdm has a nice write up.

https://cdm.link/ableton-extensions-beta/

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 8:07 am

xterminatorapps wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2026 9:22 pm It's just Ableton giving users stuff they have never asked for .

TBH, I'd disagree with that. Ive certainly thought there should be a better mechanism for tools which extend Live's workflow and functionality; Extensions is the better way of doing that, rather than having to insert a bunch of non-track Devices on tracks (or worse, use up a MIDI control surface slot for a Remote Script.)
Node.js wouldnt have been my choice, but I guess they're leveraging the fact that its part of Max For Live.

SebAV · Post by **SebAV** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 8:18 am

machinesworking wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2026 5:30 pm
xterminatorapps wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2026 3:52 pm Hello, I have been reverse engineering Ableton Live internals for a few months:
I have a distinct feeling that none of this is going to fix some long standing issues with Live for me.

The show instrument icon has a keyboard shortcut attached to it, but it's next to useless. Essentially the function does not work if you close the window with the mouse. In practice if you're trying to use the command, during a long session it's quite possible to mouse click close a plugin, realize the shortcut does not work now, then once again have to "prime" the key command by opening the plugin again with the mouse.

I would like Live to not lose the ability to use the key shortcut when you close the plugin window manually, no other DAW I know of does this and I see no practical reason for it to work like this.

Thank you for talking about this problem ! It’s crazy how it works

a keyboard shortcut which doesn’t work in fact, or when understand certain circonstances. A bug.

kvotchin · Post by **kvotchin** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 9:56 am

Fantastic. So glad I got back into Ableton (Suite) recently. Better timing than I knew!

noiseresearch · Post by **noiseresearch** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 1:10 pm

machinesworking wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2026 5:30 pm
xterminatorapps wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2026 3:52 pm Hello, I have been reverse engineering Ableton Live internals for a few months:
I have a distinct feeling that none of this is going to fix some long standing issues with Live for me.

The show instrument icon has a keyboard shortcut attached to it, but it's next to useless. Essentially the function does not work if you close the window with the mouse. In practice if you're trying to use the command, during a long session it's quite possible to mouse click close a plugin, realize the shortcut does not work now, then once again have to "prime" the key command by opening the plugin again with the mouse.

I would like Live to not lose the ability to use the key shortcut when you close the plugin window manually, no other DAW I know of does this and I see no practical reason for it to work like this.

This is only a workaround via Max for Live but maybe the new SDK will solve this "bug"(?), however here the device (for only with the beta at the moment) https://maxforlive.com/library/device/1 ... ndows-pack

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 1:21 pm

noiseresearch wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 1:10 pm This is only a workaround via Max for Live but maybe the new SDK will solve this "bug"(?), however here the device (for only with the beta at the moment) https://maxforlive.com/library/device/1 ... ndows-pack

FWIW, I actually told him about that a couple of weeks ago... got no reply so guess he wasnt interested.

SLiC · Post by **SLiC** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 4:28 pm

That was fast!

https://liveextensions.co/

noiseresearch · Post by **noiseresearch** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 4:49 pm

Ableton is acting pretty fast recently. Their ecosystem became pretty big (Push Tethered / Standalone, Note, Move, Max for Live, now Extensions, RNBO, Max / MSP development, Link Audio) but still coherent. Wonder what 12.5 will bring. I only want to see finally an update for Operator

dayjob · Post by **dayjob** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 5:31 pm

the ableton dischord has an “Extension Gallery” with lot’s of shared extensions downloadable usually on github or google drive.

pottering · Post by **pottering** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 7:01 pm

Show/Hide plugin windows and Open/Close plugin windows are separate things in Live.

If a plugin has a fancy GUI that uses resources visibly (beyond audio stuff), Show/Hide will just hide the GUI which will continue to use resources, Open/Close will close the GUI saving some resources.

The X in a plugin window comes from the OS (not Live) and it closes the plugin GUI (not hide).

Show/Hide shortcuts don't work for Opening/Closing.

It is a problem, but not a bug.

machinesworking · Post by **machinesworking** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 9:56 pm

whyterabbyt wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 1:21 pm
noiseresearch wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 1:10 pm This is only a workaround via Max for Live but maybe the new SDK will solve this "bug"(?), however here the device (for only with the beta at the moment) https://maxforlive.com/library/device/1 ... ndows-pack
FWIW, I actually told him about that a couple of weeks ago... got no reply so guess he wasnt interested.

Must've missed it. anyway thanks both of you.

machinesworking · Post by **machinesworking** » Wed Jun 03, 2026 10:02 pm

pottering wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 7:01 pm Show/Hide plugin windows and Open/Close plugin windows are separate things in Live.

If a plugin has a fancy GUI that uses resources visibly (beyond audio stuff), Show/Hide will just hide the GUI which will continue to use resources, Open/Close will close the GUI saving some resources.

The X in a plugin window comes from the OS (not Live) and it closes the plugin GUI (not hide).

Show/Hide shortcuts don't work for Opening/Closing.

It is a problem, but not a bug.

Works in DP, but to be fair some of the realtime engine VS secondary buffers like DP, Cubase, Reaper etc. have might play into this? Or MOTU's legacy with Mac OS has them with deeper tags into the system, at one point on OS9 they rewrote the show hide windowing functions for DPs windows.

SebAV · Post by **SebAV** » Thu Jun 04, 2026 8:09 am

pottering wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2026 7:01 pm Show/Hide plugin windows and Open/Close plugin windows are separate things in Live.

If a plugin has a fancy GUI that uses resources visibly (beyond audio stuff), Show/Hide will just hide the GUI which will continue to use resources, Open/Close will close the GUI saving some resources.

The X in a plugin window comes from the OS (not Live) and it closes the plugin GUI (not hide).

Show/Hide shortcuts don't work for Opening/Closing.

It is a problem, but not a bug.

Thank you for what could be a technical explanation of the behaviour of Live regarding vst « window ». However, in the Live user manual, https://www.ableton.com/en/live-manual ... te-windows they don’t make any distinction between what the « button », which always works, and the shortcut key do : they « show/hide » the plugin window.
I’m not sure the spécification « user story » Ableton surely has written for this feature is the same as what’s implemented, what’s why I’ve said it’s a bug. I don’t think any other shortcut for showing/hiding parts of Live interface or windows (such as preferences for instance) has such a behaviour.

Starbright · Post by **Starbright** » Thu Jun 04, 2026 12:16 pm

VOODOO U wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2026 4:50 pm
Andrei Marchenko wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2026 2:58 pm Cockos Repaer fans will going crazy
Why would Reaper users go crazy over anything Ableton has to offer? If you use Reaper you've been ahead of the game.
Nothing against Ableton of course I've been using it since it's inception but it's not up to par with Reaper as far as audio recording is concerned. For example i've always had latency issues using Live. Never had any issues with any other DAW regarding latency; just Live. And I'm supposed to go crazy for something that's been offered by Cockos for years now? Don't think so.

I mean if Live gets the latency problem right, it'll be amazing. I mean imagine the variety of js plugins and reaper scripts that can be ported to ableton now.
Also when it comes to working with audio files in Ableton: it's just a blast!
And I have worked with almost every daw (DP, Cubase, Reaper, Logic, Reason, FL Studio, Pro Tools, Waveform, Magix, Mixcraft).

Ableton Live 12.4.5: New extensions