Switching back and forth between these DAWs

[Perej]

Hey

I started making some tunes a few months ago with FL, but I'm trying to ween myself off it and get to grips with Ableton instead.

I feel like I know Ableton enough to do the same things I can do on FL with it, but in FL everything is so much quicker for me.

The problem is I feel frankly embarressed using FL; Live looks better, sounds better, has better built in instruments, effects are more extensive (IMO) and it is spoken of much more highly, SO I don't know whether to keep slogging away at it or maybe I should stick with what I'm more comfortable with.

what do you reckon?

[Mammoth]

You shouldn't be getting a "better" sound from ableton..
Use whichever one that you can get creative with and get ideas down.
It sounds like fl is the better one for you but you need to know how to make it sound good
ableton is in no way better than fl it's all preference.

[Towany]

I wouldn't be embarrassed using FL, some of the best producers use it. Its all to do with figuring out your workflow and which one feels more comfortable to use.

[cloak and dagger]

I would say the quality of instruments / effects in Ableton and FL vary pretty wildly...I would say overall that Ableton has better instruments and FL has better effects, but that's a huge generalization on my part.

Anyway, the majority of good music was made on equipment 10,000x more shit than FL. Limitations in the DAW may prevent you from doing certain things, but it won't prevent you from making good music.

My advice is to stick with what works for you, which seems to be FL. But if you find yourself wanting to learn to use Ableton more, then by all means, go for it. I just wouldn't worry about giving up FL unless you actually feel like you don't need it anymore or prefer Ableton.

[nowaysj]

I get a better sound out of FL. Like for reals. Just cause I can quickly make it do what I want, when I want it done, which is always NOW! Only stands to reason that things would sound better coming out of there for me. There was a time when I was trying out cubase, and I swore everything sounded cleaner and punchier... but I think I was just tripping. (after reflective introspection, I think it did sound tighter... was working purely with audio, and the level of fast micro control is just sick in cubase)

Use whatever you like to work with. Fl is easy to use. It is fast. That is why I like it. I don't feel like landing a 747 every time I want to make a little riser, or whatevers. That said, at the end of a project, maybe FL does get a little clumsy when you are putting everything together.

Also, don't ditch live just yet. Stick with it. There are some really awesome attributes to the session view, that you just won't find in any other daw (that is currently commercially available, haha jokes).

[hxczach]

You should never be embarrassed unless you're using dubturbo.

[nowaysj]

Sigworthy, surly.

[Mammoth]

I mean shit...
I use pro tools

[coogcoo]

i switch back and forth between these two all the time.. just do your thing, if you're having an ableton kind of day (usually when i want to make a long heavy version type) then do that, if your having an fl day (all the other time) do that. there's nothing embarassing about fl btw???? why would you think that? ableton isn't any better, just different.

[RandoRando]

in ableton open up a new audio track, select "FL Studio" for the input, open up FL after that. Problem solved.

I do this, was on FL for 6 years, then learned ableton (i was mindfucked for the first day but after watching an hour or so of tuts on youtube it is now second nature to me).

So with that rewire method, do whatever you do "better" in FL and just record the audio into ableton, then do what do in ableton "better", in ableton!

oh and to control, say, sytrus from ableton. Create a new midi track, set output to "FL-Sytrus". It should automatically recognize everything.

Ive started to wonder how i got around on FL for so long after seeing how easier it was to do things in ableton, like i tried rewiring reason to FL. Had to go through all these menus, and see what number it was on reason, go back to FL blahblahblah.

I Do miss 3 things from FL though, patcher, stereo sep. knob on each mixer track, and the peak controller (havent really found a way to make an ableton peak controller :/ )

but ableton all the way for being the "host" just for its live capabilities!

[Perej]

Ahhh, swift replies! Thanks all!

I guess I get put off because I have several friends who are producers in the UK scene, and they all use logic, I mean ALL use logic.

I have no mac, so when it came time for me to start making things, I was like.... oh... what do I use then?

Ableton just feels more 'legit' to me, I can't put my finger on it exactly, but in FL like I said, I can get a nice drum pattern and some effects going within 10 minutes or so. NOT the same on Ableton, hehe.


To be honest, I think I just need to learn how to get a good mixdown (which I don't understand at all atm), then I'l know how to get everything sounding pretty tight.

[dublerium]

Live does not 'sound' better and that's pretty sad if your embarrassed of it to be honest. It's just a tool and it's a really efficient one. Who cares what other people are using, the OP does, but what does it matter, just use what is best for you, you wouldn't wear a pair of barbed wire boxer shorts just because your peers do, dramatic example granted but same principle, if it's not comfortable don't use it. Lots of brilliant producers use or have used FL studio, take peverelist for example, I'd rate him as one of my all time favourite producers and he uses FL, his sound is spot on and wouldn't be improved by using live, probably just a bit different, if at all.

If you can lay down a drum pattern in 10 minutes in FL but not ableton, well... thats a no brainer to me.

[e-motion]

Choosing a DAW is purely a matter of preference.
FL is the workflow king, especially for drum patterns, but I think it's a bit limited in the arrangement side.
Live is another workflow king (but maybe not as much as FL for drums and other basic stuff) but has much better arrangement and automation capabilities.
Cubase has a steep learning curve, it's workflow is bad when compared to Live and FL (although it's not that bad if you know how to use it) but it's arrangement windows is just insane. You think, you make, there are no limitations. The mixer is also much better than FL and Live so that's why some people say it's quality is better (not because of the DAW quality itself but because of the ease you have when mixing).

I haven't tried any other (besides Reason, which is amazing, but once you go VST you can't go back) but I heard Pro-Tools is the mixing god and Logic is somewhere between Live and Cubase (meaning that, it has better workflow than cubase but is a bit more limited than it in arrangement).

So, just choose what you value most. Everyone, keep in mind that these are all humble opinions and most daw's fans won't agree

off-topic: I just switched from Cubase to Live. I used to produce psy-trance which I think Cubase was better, but I think in Dubstep we value workflow the most, and the change is working very well for me still miss some of the cubase stuff though...

[RandoRando]

i tried cubase and couldnt even make a sound

logic seems cool but i dont like $9000 computers

reason has quality synths, but i hate the arranging (REWIRE!)

ableton is my shit right now

FL is very user friendly and a great DAW

renoise is jfji4oeiri34534$*(&^%#2!!!!!$$$$4xxxxxxxx ....fucking alien shit

[Phase Down]

If you know how to use FL don't worry about it and keep going at it, you can sound just as professional with FL as with any other DAW, logic is certainly not an upgrade, just different software to write your music in If your friends "laugh" or make jokes about you using FL, then they probably not know that much about producing/DAW's in general.

[Killamike49]

Yeah and if anyone is all like "FROOOOOOTY LOOOOPS" Just put on some Spor. Haha.

[ehbes]

i tried cubase and couldnt even make a sound

logic seems cool but i dont like $9000 computers

reason has quality synths, but i hate the arranging (REWIRE!)

ableton is my shit right now

FL is very user friendly and a great DAW

renoise is jfji4oeiri34534$*(&^%#2!!!!!$$$$4xxxxxxxx ....fucking alien shit

What don't you like about reasons arrangement? I thinks fine

[Aphile]

i tried cubase and couldnt even make a sound

logic seems cool but i dont like $9000 computers

reason has quality synths, but i hate the arranging (REWIRE!)

ableton is my shit right now

FL is very user friendly and a great DAW

renoise is jfji4oeiri34534$*(&^%#2!!!!!$$$$4xxxxxxxx ....fucking alien shit

What don't you like about reasons arrangement? I thinks fine

it bothers me i can't ctrl+d to duplicate. blocks are not my style

[RandoRando]

i tried cubase and couldnt even make a sound

logic seems cool but i dont like $9000 computers

reason has quality synths, but i hate the arranging (REWIRE!)

ableton is my shit right now

FL is very user friendly and a great DAW

renoise is jfji4oeiri34534$*(&^%#2!!!!!$$$$4xxxxxxxx ....fucking alien shit

What don't you like about reasons arrangement? I thinks fine

it seemed simple enough, but shortcuts that worked in FL and ableton (which i thought were like universal DAW shorcuts had no effect in reason, so i just gave up).

I still use reason for its synths though w rewire

[ehbes]

i tried cubase and couldnt even make a sound

logic seems cool but i dont like $9000 computers

reason has quality synths, but i hate the arranging (REWIRE!)

ableton is my shit right now

FL is very user friendly and a great DAW

renoise is jfji4oeiri34534$*(&^%#2!!!!!$$$$4xxxxxxxx ....fucking alien shit

What don't you like about reasons arrangement? I thinks fine

it seemed simple enough, but shortcuts that worked in FL and ableton (which i thought were like universal DAW shorcuts had no effect in reason, so i just gave up).

I still use reason for its synths though w rewire

true... as my user bar suggests i kinda like thor....