Ableton Forum

guess it is time to change right now. reason: cubase really sounds much better. softer, brighter, less harsh and muddy digital.

couldn´t believe it before despite I had heard abot that issue several times, always defended ableton. but it is true.

Bye.

oh noes! and we didnt even get a chance to bake you a farewell cake

radib wrote:cubase really sounds much better. softer, brighter, less harsh and muddy digital.

Could you specify if it sounds warmer? Compare the warmth on a scale of 1-10?

I really need more warmth for my compositions. Should swithc to cubase probably, that will do it.

hm? the usual, fuller but not in a sense of clogging. there is more details, less coloring (btw, to me live sounds "yellowwhite". cubase is a slightely darkened red.). it sounds softer and wider. i guess their engine uses a higher internal resolution or at least more differenciated algorithms to make the sound feel less toylike.

aqua_tek wrote:oh noes! and we didnt even get a chance to bake you a farewell cake

i don´t like cake. but if you´d make me a fresh and half bloody steak that would be fine. there is always enough time left for that

It has been discussed before that the 32 bit floating point engine responsible for summing up and outputing all signals is the same for all mayor DAWs (Sonar is 64 bit though). So the question is if Cubase's output is sounding different or if you have rather heard Cubases effects sounding different (like compression, reverb and the like)? In both cases you're better off with Cubase, but in the latter case it will only matter if you use internal effects at all, not if you use external/VST effects.

I do wonder though, does Live follow a Pan rule? I know you can set it manually in Cubase.

are there any AB tests of playback of the same stereo files in both clients?
i think lives panlaw is set to 0. so do this the same to cubase.

i really believe that live is percieved to sound different because it looks different and feels different.

Guess I better go and sell all those cold, nasty, coloured, undetailed, narrow, clogged, low-resolution, hard, dark, yellow-white, toy-like Monolake records, Pitch Black cds and hundreds of hit tunes from Beatport then.

There are no all-valve DAWs, they all run on 0s and 1s, nothing but you in charge of the tools will give you 'warmth'.

Well, some make it easier than others! I think Cubase does provide more tools for Mastering and as such will help you better in archiving the shiney sound you are after. But on the other hand those tools want to be mastered as well, so in the end you might come out with something worse even. No Black and White here, everything's colourful (although GUIs tend to stay grey dominated).

I find that since I removed all the red or yellow coloured cables from my system and replaced them with blue and green I'm getting a much more integrated and weightier sound.

The red cables sounded much more fierce. They did impart a feeling of warmth but the sound was more irritating. Yellow cables make everything sound bland, with a far less open soundstage and unconvincing voicing plus inducing feelings of deep unease.

In contrast blue cables give wieght and authority to the sound while the judicous application of the occasional green cable adds a natural quality that is imediately noticeable to the trained ear.

I plan to experiment with mo......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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I spray paint all of my cables black. It makes my ableton sound very goth.

radib wrote:guess it is time to change right now. reason: cubase really sounds much better. softer, brighter, less harsh and muddy digital.

couldn´t believe it before despite I had heard abot that issue several times, always defended ableton. but it is true.

Are you on a Mac? It could be a known circuitry issue.

People I´m sorry when that hurts you and you gotta run into those joking gesture.

And sure, the plugs are better too but that ain´t a point in here as far as I use my own selection of a very few third party. Its about the pure signal coming from the asio. Or even using midi an 3rd party instruments. It sound better in its whole. Though it doesn´t come as surprise that most users don´t have enough taste in their ears to realize.


But go on, defend your holy grail. I´ll do come back after lunch.

i really would like to hear some carfully done AB tests.

did you blind tested both apps?