Tempted to switch to Ableton only from Traktor/Ableton
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  1. #1
    Tech Mentor DJPhaidon's Avatar
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    Default Tempted to switch to Ableton only from Traktor/Ableton

    So, last night I was doing something creative, when the f'ing waveform dissapearing act with purchased AAC's in Traktor Pro happened. Mind you, this has been going on for over 6 months and still no fix to something that is not just annoying, but destroying performances. Here's the delema.

    I like how you can browse tracks, view artwork, and search all in a nice gui, unlike with ableton. But, ableton has been rock solid, and they seem to be committed on a higher level than native instruments to hammering out bugs, especially those that would cause dead silence in a performance. Only thing I don't like about ableton is that you have to warp before hand and can't simply load 4 decks at almost complete random with a .mp3 or .aac. To my knowledge, if I wanted to grab a track from my phone, upload it to my computer, and use it in a set that's in progress, it's not going to be nearly as simple in Ableton as it would be in Traktor Pro, cause I can run traktor unsynced just like a CDJ without grids or anything.

    So i guess my main questions would be, how do ableton DJ's prevent loading 2,000 or more clips for there entire playable library into a set?

    Is it possible to use RE2 or iTunes or some other music organization software to drop tracks into Ableton, but when dropped it will come up with the tracks you already warped, or even better, the project that you already split into multiple clips?

    All i've been using ableton for is for FX, and haven't delved into the possibilities, but Traktor is really pissing me off as of late and I'm looking for solutions.

    13" MacBook Pro 2.7 i7 w/dual Raid0 OWC SSDs - S4 - Ableton Live 8- Lemur- iPad 2

  2. #2
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    Take your aac files and convert them over to mp3s. I think you can do that in ableton not sure but I use WavePad Sound Editor to do this when i download on my desktop cause I have itunes on my laptop so traktor wont play them

  3. #3
    Tech Mentor DJPhaidon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimsimp59 View Post
    Take your aac files and convert them over to mp3s. I think you can do that in ableton not sure but I use WavePad Sound Editor to do this when i download on my desktop cause I have itunes on my laptop so traktor wont play them
    I know how to get the files to play, however, that's besides the point for me really. I have payed a lot of money for traktor pro to work at a performance level with the file types that is says it will work with. It has been more than enough time to fix the problem. And while it seems that traktor is steering in a closed direction, like no osc support and hid for certain companies, ableton seems to be opening the floodgates of creativity with things like m4l and bridge. The list could go on and on, but the ability to do a "traditional" set is what worries me. I can do a preplanned set of tracks all night, but If I haven't pre warped some random track that seems to fit and is in my collection, then I'm screwed with ableton right? Unless I went the serato, or vst plugin capable Dj software route?

    Or what if I want to do a wedding gig for a friend, would I seriously have to go through and warp country songs and the macarena, or can you run them unsyncronous?

    13" MacBook Pro 2.7 i7 w/dual Raid0 OWC SSDs - S4 - Ableton Live 8- Lemur- iPad 2

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimsimp59 View Post
    Take your aac files and convert them over to mp3s. I think you can do that in ableton not sure but I use WavePad Sound Editor to do this when i download on my desktop cause I have itunes on my laptop so traktor wont play them
    Never, Ever, Ever do that. Lossy compression converted into another lossy compression method = trash. All lossy compression schemes remove data from files. You never want to go through a lossy compression more than once, if at all.

    @Phaidon: IMHO, it's a lot harder to be spontaneous with selection using only Ableton. You can certainly save tracks to be recalled with warping off, so no worries about having to deal with all those tracks you don't plan on beatmatching anyway. But let's face it, Ableton's file browser leaves a lot to be desired, and without dedicated cue points in the tracks, the best option at this point is to have things pre-loaded. When splitting tracks up (best for cue-point-like behavior), you can definitely start to get a massive amount of material piling up on the clip grid.

    I love Ableton and I love Traktor, but for different reasons. The workflow that's best for me has been to Jack route Traktor into Ableton, using Ableton as my virtual mixer, where the signals from Traktor get beefed up, additional tempo synced fx, etc. I limit Ableton to four tracks of clips in addition to the Traktor decks, but don't necessarily use them at every gig. But my eq, limiting and light compression in Ableton is always active.

    I feel your pain on the aac lost waveform thing. It's f'in ridiculous that NI hasn't fixed it at this point. I keep asking about it every TOTR session, and the question keeps getting deflected, they tell me they're going to get back to me personally on it, and never do. My only workaround is that I have dropped comments in all of my aac files basically saying WATCH IT!! in bold, and never jump back or loop near the ends of those tracks.

    It actually happened to you live? I'm sorry :/
    MacBook 2.4GHz, 6GB, Traktor Pro, Ableton Live, Bomes MT, Audio Kontrol 1, Vestax VCI-100 SE Custom, M-Audio Axiom 25, Akai APC40, NI Maschine, 2x Midi Fighters (c/o DJ TechTools - Thanks!!)

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    Tech Mentor DJPhaidon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zac Kyoti View Post
    It actually happened to you live? I'm sorry :/
    ohh no, not live like in front of thousands of people, live. Recording some mix ideas that I had, jamming out, and then F'ing pissed. To top it all off, while stewing because of that I did some looking into my Korg Zero 4 some more, and low and behold, they have disappeared from Korg's site. Not like here's the files and we don't support it anymore, but as if it never even existed gone from the site. Such a bad day yesterday, lol.

    13" MacBook Pro 2.7 i7 w/dual Raid0 OWC SSDs - S4 - Ableton Live 8- Lemur- iPad 2

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