Anyone using Live as a regular multitrack recorder?

[roby]

I have been using it as a multitrack lately, but if I had a choice, Live wou;dn't be the first on the list.t seems that the cpu load increases excessively with the more tracks you record/playback, compared to other software. And this is with warp functions turned off. I record everthing in 32-bit, so that may be a factor, but it shouldn't be. My P4 1.6 with 512mb and an external HD that adequate, can load up the cpu to 21% after running 12 tracks of audio, again with no warp and no effects or alternate routing or VSTis or MIDI running of any kind (plus my computer is optimized for audio down to the core).

Another thing I've noticed that I cannot seem to fix is that there is always a delay between the recorded audio and , let's say, a MIDI track. This is even with delay comp. on and after fixing the 'overall latency', etc. The recorded audio always has a space of a few ms.

[j0shu@]

i would think your latency would be an issue with your audio interface, not with the software itself. and really (again, depending on your audio interface) i wouldnt even try running all 32 bit wavs on a P4 1.6 with 512.

i use live as a multitrack all the time on a celeron 1.7 notebook with an audiophile USB and 687M of ram, and have noticed no appreciable latency in my audio recordings. my midi stuff doesnt always respond as snappily as i would like, but this really is an older computer/interface combo.

i appreciate the speed and ease of using live, inserting tracks, and routing midi keys to arm/start recordings. i usually use it as a sketchpad and then dice and rearrange the audio to fit my needs.

on a negative side the arranger window is not my favorite and i wish my laptop was faster, but the app still rocks for simple multitrack work.

[roby]

Actually, I never had cpu load problem when recording and playing back 32-bit files on a Win98s Pentium II 400 running Cubase VST 5. I can run over 30 tracks of 32bit files with no effects, VSTi, MIDI with the same cpu load I get in Live. Well maybe 10% more, but that's still pretty good I think.

I don't think the latency issue I'm refering is from the card itself; I know the latency issues I have with tmy fw410 but that is another story. I'm reffering to the audio that's already recorded. So maybe I shouldn't say "latency". Well, maybe I should test this one more time before I continue posting...

[Abzurd]

Yes! As previously stated it rocks.

I have an M-Audio Ozonic & have recorded a jazz band using 4 tracks simultaneously on my PC Laptop.

[j0shu@]

hmm. im impressed with a PII handling all that.

your effects/vstis will def eat up more CPU cycles than pure audio. but ive never really messed with 32 bit stuff, cause i always thought the space/cycle tradeoff wouldnt really be worth it.

maybe when i get a new hard drive/pc..

anyhow, i generally use less than 16 tracks of audio, and its when i open up FL studio, a bunch of effects, and other vstis that my proc starts to go nuts. so ive never noticed the audio side of it being so "expensive" really.

[Chris J]

I have been using it as a multitrack lately, but if I had a choice, Live wou;dn't be the first on the list.t seems that the cpu load increases excessively with the more tracks you record/playback, compared to other software. And this is with warp functions turned off. I record everthing in 32-bit, so that may be a factor, but it shouldn't be. My P4 1.6 with 512mb and an external HD that adequate, can load up the cpu to 21% after running 12 tracks of audio, again with no warp and no effects or alternate routing or VSTis or MIDI running of any kind (plus my computer is optimized for audio down to the core).

Another thing I've noticed that I cannot seem to fix is that there is always a delay between the recorded audio and , let's say, a MIDI track. This is even with delay comp. on and after fixing the 'overall latency', etc. The recorded audio always has a space of a few ms.

well 21% is OK isn't it ? when you load 12 more tracks it's not going to 42% is it ?
For the audio, I keep on saying the same thing these days, (the manual should be clearer about that)
SET YOUR MONITOR TO OFF and your delay is gone

[DJRetard]

It seems nearly everyone is using Live mainly for loop based music and live gigs. The only loops I use are usually just drum loops and I record just about everything else realtime in audio. Live's interface is so clean for standard multitracking, it enables you to work so quickly. Is anyone using it for recording guitar, vocals, etc?

I do both guitar stuff and electronica so I use Live as a traditional linear recorder and as a loop based composition tool. The problem with linear recording in Live isnt the audio side, its the midi side. Recording mind in the arrangement view needs to be looked at imo. Its very different, a bit akward from recording midi in the session view (not as good)

[j0shu@]

^
heh. sorry, but your name [djretard] is funny.

[ManxRed]

I got Ableton primarily as a multitracker (I'd been using Cubase up until recently) but must admit the prospect of being able to play around with sound samples was a big attraction and I'm hoping this adds a new dimension to my creativity.

[Chris J]

I bought live 3 for DJing, using SX for multitracking, but all my new tracks are now made in live.
I feel more & more comfortable with it, and like it more & more (when I had this exact thought yesterday night, I got a crash ), and do A LOT of multitracking.

One thing that isn't mentionned often, it looks great ! Ableton designers are really good. I love the full screen, and when you got the native plugins showing, nice to my eyes. a bit OT though ...