Ableton beginner - which verson?

ravendude

Hi lads,

I'm doing a few online courses (Udemy) on Ableton live at the moment, - and enjoying the little exposure I have so far.

So my question is, - I'm about to buy "some version" of Ableton but what should I go for:
- Buy a controller, eg, Launchkey and use Intro version for a while
- Just go straight in and "invest" in Suite - is this overkill for a beginner?
- Standard - is it good enough? - would I be better off spending a few bob on a controller and Intro?


I'm inclining towards Standard and a LaunchKey 25...

Any thoughts?
Thanks!

Sham Squire

Intro is very limited and IMHO you'll hit the limits pretty quickly.
Standard is probably the best version if you're not sure what you're getting into as you can buy any of the missing elements (like the amazing Sampler) as standalone add ons
Suite is a no-brainer if you are going to commit to Ableton Live. So much good stuff in there and with Max4Live you get something so deep it could be your desert island software. You could dedicate years to it and still find new uses for it. Having said that, I'm about as expert as you can be with Ableton (been using it for many years and I teach it too) and I never use Max4Live to anything like it's full potential.

The first thing to do before purchasing anything is go and download the fully functioning demo from Ableton's website and spend 30 days playing with it. Watch the help videos that come with it, they'll take you from plugging everything in to actually finishing tracks. After that you'll have a good idea of which bits you really want/need and which package is for you.

ravendude

Thanks for the advice Sham Squire. As you suggest, - I might hold off as long as I can. I'm doing a bunch of Udemy courses,- there's an "Ultimate Ableton" series which I'm finding very good so far, - so I will manage along with the trial version until done (with save disabled, - what I'm doing at the moment is hardly worth saving anyway ). I'm leaning towards pulling the trigger on the Suite version now, - the more I read about it, - but I'd say I have another month or two of going through the courses (I've signed up for the Music Theory courses as well, so lots to get through!) - so it makes sense to hold off until I have a better idea.

Stab*City

Shop around, I picked up the suite a couple years back for less than the standard version in Asia.

Intro is very very limited and i could probably give you a licence key for that to try if i can find the ones i got with my controllers.
But like you said if your leaning towards a launchkey you will get intro with that. I have the launchkey 49 decent bit of kit.

ravendude

Thanks for the that Stab,.was that off a website or some electronics type shop you picked it up in?

iLikeWaffles

I was literally just about to buy standard when I heard news that Reason is getting vst's so I thought i'd spend the money on upgrading that to version 9 and getting the free update to 9.5 when it is released at the end of the month.

I am not an Ableton user but a reason user I got intro with a midi device and it is very limiting. Tried the demo for the 90 days (new accounts) demo was suite and I found myself using the plug-ins that came with the standard version mostly. So yeah probably better off getting standard and try to use it until it gets limiting for you then maybe upgrade to suite. But it would be a while until you find yourself needing other features I think.

If you have the money for suite you might as buy but if you're looking to save standard would do the job for sure. If you have or know anyone with a student ID you might be able to qualify for a student discount also - education version is for personal use not able to make money from music produced from it I believe but honestly I would not see that being enforced.