Review: Ableton Live 6 digital audio workshop

The previous version of this DAW (digital audio workshop) software, Ableton Live 5, is already such a mature and well-crafted product that it’s hard to see what improvements could be made in version 6.

However, the new version doesn’t disappoint, retaining all the unique character of the earlier product, while adding some powerful new features, such as multi-core and multi-processor support, sound-to-picture Quicktime movie import and a new sound library – The Essential Instrument Collection. New, improved devices include EQ 8 and a Dynamic Tube Simulator and Saturator for adding warmth and dirt.

In use, version 6 initially looks much like the previous versions, with the familiar minimalist 2D graphics in two views for Arrangement or Session.

A new deep-freeze feature helps minimise CPU load, but cleverly without losing the ability to use the majority of editing features for that track while frozen. There is also the option to flatten frozen tracks into audio.

Instruments and effects can now be grouped in Racks. These Racks can be saved and re-called along with a simplified set of controls for tweaking the sound.

A new device for Live 6 is the Sampler. Described as the big brother of its predecessor Simpler, Sampler allows multi-sample playback, in-depth manipulation of sampled sounds and imports a wide range of sample formats.

New project management tools help with organisation, transfer and archiving projects. Live sets, Live clips, Racks, presets and the audio samples and movie files they use can all be organised into project folders.

As well as these new features, many of the existing tools have been improved, for example there’s instant Midi-adaptive mapping support for many popular control surfaces.

If you have any involvement in using computers to record and create music, particularly in live performance where it is perhaps un-paralleled, Ableton Live 6 is a product you shouldn’t be without. If you already have a previous version, version 6 is definitely worth the price of the upgrade.

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