Ableton Live 8 review

£339
Price when reviewed

Suite 8 is a big application, consuming 45GB disk space and taking hours to install. This procedure really should be more automatic than it is; we found some components were still missing after we’d manually worked through scores of installation files. At around £550, it’s also more expensive than the flagship versions of Cubase 5 and Sonar 8, but the quality of its virtual instruments means it’s not overpriced. The cost of Live by itself continues to creep up, though, as does its upgrade price.

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And for all its strengths, Live isn’t yet ready to dislodge Cubase for conventional multi-track studio recording. Despite the new ability to crossfade audio clips, our attempts to edit a multitrack drum session or to combine multiple vocal takes into a single best-of performance revealed that Live still lacks many of the subtle niceties that make these tasks so much easier in Cubase.

There are many tasks, and people, for whom Ableton Live 8 is perfect, however. Its aptitude for live performance remains peerless, and online videos of the new Akai APC40, a hardware controller designed specifically for Live, look fantastic. Live isn’t just a niche performance tool, though. Its aptitude for loop manipulation and the Suite’s fantastic instrument bundle make it the best choice for electronic music production. Meanwhile, the Session View’s non-linear approach to arrangement means it’s a superb choice for anyone who composes as they record, regardless of the genre they’re working in.

Details

Software subcategory Audio production software

Requirements

Processor requirement N/A

Operating system support

Operating system Windows Vista supported? yes
Operating system Windows XP supported? yes
Operating system Linux supported? no
Operating system Mac OS X supported? yes

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