Ableton or FL Studio?

[Club Collective]

Every major update for ableton (Ableton 7 - ableton 8) costs money but they are far between.

Just out of interest, what do you use mate and why?

[stijn]

I use FL and I'm trying out ableton

so far I find the following pro's/cons
FL
+easy to have oversight, there's just mixer,sampler, track(or what it's called) and piano roll and they're all fullscreen and very straightforward
+easyer to use with the mouse, especially piano roll
+comes with a lot of awesome instruments, I really love sytrus which is probably the most versatile synth out there! also poizone is nice for quick arpeggiated stuff
+sample browser thingy is really straightforward and much more intuitive
+comes with a lot of fx, making chains is very intuitive
+all plugins look like "real" tabletop devices, there are even stompboxes, all very intuitive
-there are limitations to the mappability, some parameters inside instruments can't be sent to an automation clip
-not good for playing live
-rearanging effects chains by moving effects up and down one step at a time sucks
-pressing ctrl+z only works for drawing notes and such, not for replacing a sample or instrument and not for some parameters

ableton:
+map every parameter to whatever key/midi-note you like instantly
+play livesets
+recording midi patterns is quicker
+drum-rack is an instrument instead of seperate samples
-building a drumrack takes more time I keep replacing the whole drum-rack by accidentally doubleclicking a sample I may or may not like to add.
-the piano-roll is just complete and utter crap! It's just a small square in the right corner and moving notes around sucks, when I try to select a note it just shortens to where i click it.
-The BUY MORE STUFF options in the menus are screaming too much, I aint no f*cing apple user!
-the standard synth is limited and not nearly as intuitive as sytrus.

so my advise basically:
If you want to use midi equipment: ableton
If you want to use mouse or especially touchpad: FL

EDIT: sorry for bumping old thread btw, but I think there's still plenty of people who have to make this decision.

[Jester]

It's not the software, it's the user.
Deadmau5 uses FL Studio ffs.

Try both, see what you prefer.

100%

[Bunford]

I use Cubase Pro 8. However, that is cos I used Reason 1-5 and then switched over to Cubase and stuckk with it since. It feels comfortable for me and does everything i could need.

ALL DAWs, whether it is Cubase, Ableton, FL Studio, Logic, Sonar, Samplitude etc are all just a tool to bring it together. You can achieve the same with ALL of them if you put the work in. However, the question for me is more about which one gets you to your results quicker.

Out of the two you suggested, I can see FL Studio being an appealing choice due to price and lifetime free updates (including major upgrades, not just step upgrades) and has a very easy and user friendly interface. Ableton does allow you to dig under the hood a bit more intuitively, but that is just my opinion.

If i was a beginng, i would probably invest in FL Studio. Once you know you are set and learn the skills, you can easily switch them over to another DAW and it is just about learning a new workflow. I regularly use Cubase, Reason, Ableton and Logic, but is solely because I have them so I can. If i only had Cubase (or any of the others), I wouldn't be worse off in production terms (unless it is only Reason due to lack of VST support) and could achieve the same result just in different ways.

Just my tuppence worth, and a difficult one to advise on as which DAW's workflow 'clicks' with you is a very personal thing and you will only know by playing with them (i think they all offer trials).

[markyyoung]

Ableton has a smoother workflow.

[smallste]

Am not to sure if any one has yet mentioned this, but you can get Abelton on a free full feature 30 day trial, so if you haven't already check it out.

[Anwarbeatz]

Sound quality alone makes ableton a better DAW. And the things you can do in ableton are upon endless.

[ImNotDedYet]

FL Studio 12 just officially came out. I don't know about the features, etc. I'll stick with Live because I love and jive w/ Live's workflow, but I do own FL Studio. (and have no plans on using my lifetime upgrade to download and try out the newest version)