Ableton Live 8 Review: Learn Features in Ableton Live 8.
Ableton Live 8 is possibly best version of Live to date.
The workflow is much more streamlined and the new modules make this DAW
one of the top DAWs on the market.
Improved MIDI handling and groove management make Live 8 much more painless to work with.
Live 8’s library is teeming with new samples and effects, adding a
larger arsenal to your sound library.
With a retail price of $449.
it certainly is not cheap.
However, the price tag justifies the vast of features packed into this program.
If you are upgrading from Live it will only cost you $189.
System requirements Mac: 1.25 GHz G4/G5 or faster (Intel Mac recommended), 1 GB RAM (2
GB recommended), Mac OS X 10.4.11 (10.5 or later recommended), DVD-ROM drive Windows:
1.5 GHz Pentium 4 or Celeron compatible CPU or faster (multicore CPU recommended), 1 GB
RAM (2 GB recommended), Windows XP or Windows Vista, Windows compatible sound card (ASIO
driver support recommended), DVD-ROM drive, QuickTime recommended The installation size
of the Essential Instrument Collection 2 is 15 GB.
Features (5 out of 5).
The warp engine has always one of Live’s strong points.
In Live 8, the warp algorithm is vastly with the addition of transient slicing.
This allows you to have more precise time-grid and warp-marker slicing which is a
must for musicians who do a lot of sampling.
Track grouping is also another improvement.
This allows you to group whichever tracks you want together, making your
workflow more organized and efficient.
To group your tracks, simply select the tracks you want to be grouped, right
click on a track, and click group tracks.
Once your tracks are grouped, they are assigned one master volume which makes
editing similar tracks much simpler.
There are 6 new modules in Live 8: Looper, Frequency Shifter, Vocoder, Limiter,
Multiband Dynamics, and Overdrive.
Looper allows for classic overdub recording.
It includes features such as pitch tempo adjustments, and reverse playback.
Looper is a nice addition, especially for musicians intending on using
Live for live performances.
Ease of Use (5 out of 5).
Ableton Live 8 is famous for having such intuitive and easy to use interface.
Live 8 is still arranged arrangement view and session view.
Session view allows you to launch clips quantized to the master tempo
to allow for seamless transitions and perfectly in-sync loops.
Thanks to session view, Live is simply unbeatable for live performances or just
creative jamming/looping on the fly.
There are built in lessons and tutorials make learning Live 8 extremely easy.
If you are new to Live 8 or even DAWs in general, the tutorials are a
great way to learn how to use Live.
Value (5 out of 5) At $449.
Ableton Live 8 is not cheap by any means.
Do the features justify expensive price tag.
If you use samples in your music, you will find that the warp-engine alone
is easily worth the hefty price tag.
The ability to play quantized clips in session view is also unique to Live and will
definitely make Live 8 a great investment for musicians who love to jam or play live.
Live 8 has so many features that are or are miles ahead of its competition.
Ableton Live 8 is great for with samples and jamming.
The session view is unique to Live and is a unique way to come up with new ideas.
As for live performances, Live really cannot beat by any other DAW on the market today.
Overall, Live 8 is one of the top DAWs producers and live performers alike.
Try the fully functional demo first to see if you mesh well with the interface and
to try out all the new features of Live 8.