Ableton Live vs. Cubase

Ableton can be used in all the scenarios where music production is required. Whether it be professional studios or if it is home productions. It can be used almost anywhere as the features of this software can fit almost in any place. It is also used by professional teams in big companies for marketing and presentation music. I cannot think of any scenario where this is not well suited. If you're making music the professional way, Ableton is the ladder to success.

Incentivized

I have been a longtime fan of Cubase and would recommend it to anyone, whether they are just starting in recording or a seasoned professional. I find that it is really strong in the pre-production and production phases of a song. Tools like the arranger track, track versions, and the chord track make writing and experimenting very easy. I have used these tools on almost every song that I have started from the writing phase. I am able to experiment with different variations of a song, different channel settings, and even completely different arrangements all with just a few clicks. My writing process and speed have improved so much over the last few versions of Cubase. We have also enjoyed working with the mixing process. The mixers in Cubase are laid out much like a regular console. So for an old timer like me, the learning curve is very low. Cubase did a very good job with layout and labeling. Things are labeled what you would expect them to be and laid out in an order that makes sense. The other part of the mixer that makes it great is the ability to color code and organize tracks. My mix time has drastically decreased since using Cubase.

Incentivized

• Fast workflow, can go from idea in mind to actualy music in short time
• Big community, always easy to find an answer
• 3rd party bolt-ons like Max4Live

Incentivized

• Ease of use
• Clear, user-friendly interface
• Stable and glitch free

Incentivized

• VST Plugin Management - Once you get 100s of VST plugins, it is a major pain to keep them all organized.
• Replacing Moved WAVs - When you move the WAV samples, there is the ability to auto-search and replace, but it rarely works. Most often, you have to manually replace the WAVs.
• Latency - The ability to autocorrect sync issues due to sound card latency is supposedly a feature offered by Ableton Live, but I have not been able to get it to work correctly, and often have to fix the latency issues myself.
• Freeze Occasionally Doesn't Work - Theoretically, you can freeze any track to bounce it to a WAV, but sometimes these WAVs end up blank. This happens with the Access Virus TI-2, for example.
• Clicks at Loop Points - Due to quickfades, loops sometimes have clicks in them, particularly if they have a lot of bass frequencies.

Incentivized

• Shortcuts aren't easy to learn
• Can be a bit of a resource hog
• Upgrades don't necessarily have enough features to make the worthwhile

Incentivized

I haven't had to reach out to support yet, but they're great at keeping me abreast with updates, compatibility issues, new features, and tons of videos on how to use the software. I feel like they're helping me success by giving me tools I can use in my daily work.

Incentivized

Any time I've had to reach out to customer support, they've been fast to respond and answered my questions to the best of their ability. Authorization of the software is easy, and the company is great about emailing you promptly. Overall, they do a great job.

Incentivized

Ableton Live has just the right feature set for electronic music production. It offers more professional features than GarageBand, while not featuring the level of hardware integration or other high end features that you find in Avid Pro Tools. However, I prefer Ableton Live over Avid Pro Tools for electronic music and loop-based or sample-based music production. Pro Tools is great when you are in a studio that has the hardware and you are laying down track after track of recorded audio. But Pro Tools does not have any features to help with songwriting, production, composition, or arrangement. Ableton Live is made with the creator in mind so it has features like the Live view, as distinct from Arrangement view, which allow the creator to easily mix-and-match different sounds and arrangements as a way of discovering what works and what doesn't for a song. Pro Tools is better when the song is already written and you just want to record it, but Ableton Live is better when you are still searching for the eventual arrangement of the song and want to experiment with a lot of different options

Incentivized

The reason I find Cubase is best suited to my needs compared to other DAW software is primarily the ease in which the software can be edited. The MIDI integration, editing and composing aspects, in my opinion, is far superior to other software which is great when creating and / or editing projects. As I use Mac, the CoreAudio side of things works seamlessly too which provides a stable work environment for both myself and clients when working remotely over video links etc

Incentivized

• It's helped me spend less time troubleshooting and more time writing
• It's allowed me to make my studio mobile, so I can work from anywhere
• It's known in the industry, so it's easy to collabrate

Incentivized

• Using Cubase over something like Protools means that new users are more likely to be successful during training and due to this, decrease training time.
• More trained staff means that we are able to complete more projects faster instead of waiting for a more skilled staff member to become available.
• Implementation on-site for on-site recording has been very reliable and has decreased the amount of failed recordings during events.

Incentivized