FL Studio vs Ableton

Splinters

Hi folks, just wondering if theres anybody with experience of both who could give an objective view on the pros and cons of both. I guess more so Im curious if theres any part of the workflow or process you find easier in FL Studio.

Im a Live user, and very happy with it. Im not really feeling limited by it or looking to switch. Ive just heard a lot more "professionals" using FL studio lately and wondering if there was any merit in looking into using both.

I remember when FL Studio was just Fruity Loops and was regarded as something of a toy but it seems to have matured a lot since those days. Ultimately Im aware you can probably achieve the very same results in both so Im not so much looking for "which is better", just of theres any part of the FL Studio workflow you prefer.....just curious.

dyer

what matters in the end is what you prefer.. so dabble with them both and you'll have your answer

Splinters

True, and as I said Im not looking for "which one is better" as Im well aware its much more down user knowledge then the software itself.

Im not feeling limited by Ableton and can confidently do anything I need to. Id just be curious to hear from anyone familiar with both if theres any part of the FL Studio workflow they prefer and why.

Logical Fallacy

I started out with FLStudio and made the move to Ableton at some point last year ( i can't really remember when).

Being honest, i prefer Ableton...smoother workflow and I can more intuitively do the things i want to do. Midi Mapping is much better, automation is much easier...I like being able to create clips in session view, live jam the track and then tweek in arrangement view.

I can't really think of anything from FLStudio that i miss at this point tbh.

Splinters

Ahh good stuff, exactly the kind of reply I was looking for. Its good to hear Im not missing out on anything anyway.

I fully agree about the benefits of the session and arrangement views, I dont know how I ever managed without them. My only real gripe with Ableton is not being able to record automation with the performance in session view. Its grand, I do all my automation in arrange view now and its works just fine, just sometimes feels like Im doubling up on work. Hopefully thats something they'll address in Live 9 (whenever it makes an appearance)

krd

Splinters wrote: »

Im not feeling limited by Ableton and can confidently do anything I need to. Id just be curious to hear from anyone familiar with both if theres any part of the FL Studio workflow they prefer and why.

I think once you know the various techniques, there's not a huge difference between any of the DAWs. It's more about knowing the techniques.

When Fruity Loops, was just Fruity Loops, people were making professional recordings on it. I remember really early versions of it. If you worked hard at it, and figured out what your doing, which some people really did, you could make pro-recordings.

I played around with DAWs for years, without a clue about what I was doing - or should have been doing. I realise now, you could do a lot in any DAW, even an old one, if you just sat down and thought the thing through.

Logical Fallacy

Splinters wrote: »

Ahh good stuff, exactly the kind of reply I was looking for. Its good to hear Im not missing out on anything anyway.

I fully agree about the benefits of the session and arrangement views, I dont know how I ever managed without them. My only real gripe with Ableton is not being able to record automation with the performance in session view. Its grand, I do all my automation in arrange view now and its works just fine, just sometimes feels like Im doubling up on work. Hopefully thats something they'll address in Live 9 (whenever it makes an appearance)

I've got a BCR 2000 with all the FX I use and any other random automating requirements i might wanted mapped to it...so when i'm live jamming the track i just control everything from there and record it all...then i just need to tweak it.

Makes stuff a lot simpler and i find i tend to be more aggressive/inventive with my use of things like Reverb and Delay for example.

graham_k

When Fruity Loops, was just Fruity Loops, people were making professional recordings on it. I remember really early versions of it. If you worked hard at it, and figured out what your doing, which some people really did, you could make pro-recordings.

I played around with DAWs for years, without a clue about what I was doing - or should have been doing. I realise now, you could do a lot in any DAW, even an old one, if you just sat down and thought the thing through.[/QUOTE]

Couldn't have said it better myself! I used FL for a number of years, with no exact idea or method of how to produce a song, and was convinced the software wasn't up to scratch quality wise. So I made the switch to Cubase, and coincidentally began to really delve into mixing tech, the results were phenomenal.

But a recent stint on FL taught me, it's all about knowing the ins and outs of your software and plug-ins rather than your DAW of choice. I will say though, I think the ability of FL to control automation is lacking somewhat.

DC10555

I've used both and honestly I'd like some sort of mutated hybrid edition "FL-LIVE-STUDIO" lol, I started off in FL Studio and loved it, when Scratch Live introduced The Bridge I moved over to Ableton. I love the work-flow in Ableton but maybe it's because I've gotten used to it over the last year or so, I also miss things in FL studio like how you can slide notes in the piano roll, I'm also a fan of the Master Limiter that FL has, I've always found it solid but then again saying that I used it before I learned about having a decent mastering chain. The FL plug-ins are a lot more visually pleasing too.

Out of all the things I miss from FL though the main one is export to MP3, sometimes you just want to bounce out a quick copy to send to someone or post it to Soundcloud but you can't do that in Ableton which its a little annoying. >_>

Radiosurfer

+1 about the export to MP3. It is a pain in the arse to have to convert from Wav to MP3 every time.

There are a number of problems with Ableton that need sorting but it's far and away my DAW of choice. I love the workflow and the fact that I can reconstruct my studio creations when performing live with midi controllers. I too use the BCR 2000 and it's amazing, just a pity they couldn't make it lighter and flatter.

I have used (and continue to use) other DAW's but if I had to choose one to use it would be Ableton. It's workflow is the fastest and most straightforward of all and at the end of the day your DAW is just a tool to get your ideas from your imagination to the speakers. Anything that speeds up that process and generally stays out of the way is the best DAW in my opinion.

paulo6891

Do you have both? You could always rewire one into the other to make the best of both worlds? Not completely sure it works with these 2, but I know Orjan Nilsen uses FL inside of cubase anyway

rayzercork

i used FL for a few years and i love how quick & easy you can lay down beats on it, however i hated recording audio through the mixer and didnt like the mixer too much either. i moved onto reaper in the end and in some ways now i find FL to be kinda backwards when it comes to small things like zooming and general editing.