Options.txt files for Live

With the "Options.txt" file we offer a way to change some of Live's options for special circumstances. These options are mainly used for developing and internal testing. However, some of you may find them useful as well.

How to use Options.txt

First you have to create a text file called "Options.txt" in the same folder where Live's Preferences.cfg file is located.

OS 9: .../Preferences/Ableton/Live [version]/Options.txt
OS X: .../Preferences/Ableton/Live [version]/Options.txt
Win: ...\Program Files\Ableton\Live [version]\Preferences\Options.txt
Win Live 5: C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Ableton\Live [version]\Preferences\Options.txt

Note that on some Windows systems the application data folder is hidden by default. Here is how to make it visible:

Windows XP/2000

Launch Explorer.
Select Tools/Folder Options/View.
Check "Select hidden files and folders."

You can activate several options in the Options.txt file but use only one per line. The syntax is very simple; each option begins with a hyphen (See examples below). If you use the wrong syntax you will get an error message when opening Live.

"Enable Direct I/O" (OS X only)

Enables Direct I/O for Live versions between 3.0.4 and 5 and simultaneously disables CoreAudio. Please note that this option is not available in Live 6 or higher.

Example: -EnableDirectIo

Note: The lowercase "o" at the end is not a typo!

"ReWireMasterOff"

Disables Live's ReWire master functionality.

Example: -ReWireMasterOff

"ReWireChannels"

Number of ReWire channels appearing in the ReWire master when Live runs as ReWire slave.

Default = 16
Min = 0
Max = 64

You must choose an even number of channels.

Example: -ReWireChannels=32

"ReWireMasterBufferSize"

This could be interesting to Project5 users. This option can be use to change the buffer size that is passed to a ReWire slave application. Currently Live use a fixed size of 256 samples. Some ReWire slaves have performance problems with such a small buffer, so you can use this option to increase the buffer.

Note: Be careful, a higher buffer size will also increment the latency of the ReWire slave.

Default= 256
Min= 64
Max= 4096

Example: -ReWireMasterBufferSize=1024

"AsioSupportProcessNow" (Win XP & Win2000 only)

This option is currently only useful if you use an Emagic EMI 2|6 or EMI 6|2 interface under Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

Example: -AsioSupportProcessNow=1