Ableton or FL Studio?

Performance & Techniques Music Production
1

Ableton or FL Studio?

I’m starting to really get into producing but before I get familiar with FL ,I wanna know everyone’s opinion on why one is better than the other , Thanks

2

ableton has better instruments and far better sound quality, i use ableton for all my production… but what it really comes down to is what you like and feel comfortable using :smiley:

try both and the one you use the most is your sequencer

3

Better built in instruments, perhaps. I’m not fond of a lot of the stock ones in FL, but then again when there are many available online, sticking to stock plug-ins is kind of unnecessary.

And what specifically are you referring to about sound quality? Rendering?

4

i love abletons instruments and effects, but i love my vst’s too and of course hardware instruments are a must :smiley:

5

Ableton all the way.

6

On there other hand, you can do A LOT with just the built-in features that follow that little load-box (That holds samples and some envelopes and that, yknow?) and a 3xOsc or some other stripped down synth. I’d love a 3xOsc in Ableton, as I don’t have accses to suite :c

Download the demos and try. Don’t listen to a single word any one here says, you can make killer tracks with both FL and Ableton. Only advantage Ableton really have is that its designed to be used as a performance tool, but other than that its pure workflow differences.

7

Okay thanks guys. I’m gonna try Ableton tomorrow, just finished my first track in FL and it sounded like static even when I had my friend mastered it (He’s a sound Engineer) SoI’ll tell you my verdict after I come up with a track in Ableton. Also, what’s everyone’s opinion On Reason 5??

8

FL Studio is great in my opinion for beginners and amateurs but for professionals: The choice is clear… Ableton.

(I personally use FL Studio due to the fact that it’s cheap and I started looking into producing when I was 12 and from my understanding back then, Frooty Loops was the only software out there for amateurs and I"ve remained loyal to them since because I’m far from a pro and I DJ mostly)

9

Yeah I’m 16 so It was cheap but my friend who’s going to school using Ableton gave me the program so I’m trying it out. I love producing music even though I suck at it XD That’s why I want the best . :stuck_out_tongue:

10

If you guys only knew the pros use FL Studio… and what tracks are made in FL Studio…you would shit logs, not bricks.

The program is as only as good as the person operating it. :smiley: 9th wonder, lex luger, and deadmau5 all use fl studio :slight_smile:

11

Actually Deadmau5 is using Ableton now, He said so himself on his webshow

12

flstudio is like ‘Tomy, my first DAW’

13

I have both…

I started on FL (last version i have is 8)
and moved to Ableton.

I mostly used FL and occasionally dabbled in Ableton and then after a few weeks/months I found I was always using Ableton.

Now I sometimes dabble in FL its interesting transferring the lessons I have learned in Ableton back to FL. I always export wavs from FL and finish in Ableton though or use FL as a VST from Ableton.

Comparing the 2 apps FL has some really quirky interface ideas (like re-arrarranging effects in a chain)
Also I always feel cluttered with a mess of tiny popup windows scattered across my screens in FL

Ableton interface is fairly unique but is IMO almost perfect for working with.
I love Ableton’s effects chain and how you can build racks of instruments and effects, also the 2 views.
So many things are easy to just drag and drop and copy and paste.
Sidechaining is super easy compared to FL.

I find the Ableton resources ie you-tube tutorials to be higher quality (although there are masses of fun FL tutorials out there)

I would recommend Ableton to anyone, but I wouldn’t diss anyone for using FL though and the latest version looks like it has some cool stuff in it.
I ignore silly rumors about the FL sound rendering engine

14

Haaa, me too. I’m also sixteen and suck at producing tracks on the computer. But It’s all for fun anyway right? :slight_smile:

I’ve produced a few tracks on my PIANO with all the bells and whistles. Yes Piano, not keyboard. And I’m much better on that, its got the full digital mixing board, a billion soundpacks, and I naturally feel more ‘at home’ on that . (I’ve been playing classical piano for 8+ years)

15

Oh, where to start…

I’m not saying Ableton is bad. At all. It’s a great program, I’ve just been using FL longer.

  1. The ability to freely rearrange effects on a track is pretty awesome (but not unique to FL)

  2. Having a large screen obviously helps workflow, but that’s true of any program. The Tab key is your friend. Or the Function keys.

  3. FL’s mixer allows you to use any mixer track as a Send, and then you can route any track to any other track, so building FX chains is just as easy.

  4. You can drag and drop pretty much anything these days in FL 10

  5. Sidechaining is super duper easy in FL.

Let’s say you’ve got a Kick on Track 1, and a synth on Track 2 (for a classic example.)

  • Select Track 1
  • Right click on Track 2’s route icon and select “Sidechain to this track”
  • Add FL Limiter to Track 2
  • Click the Comp tab for FL Limiter
  • Right Click on Sidechain box, select Track 1

Done. Adjust settings to your liking. Bonus: FL Limiter has a great display of the waveform and color codes what the plug-in is doing to it, so I find it ridiculously easy to get it where I want.

And yeah, tutorials are iffy most of the time for FL, imo.

I really do need to go back and give Ableton another try. I’ve just got my workflow down for FL so well it’s hard to learn other programs lol

16

I know How you feel right now as I’m trying to make a Dubstep song on Ableton XD The interface is quite different and Is gonna take some getting used to but I kind like it’s feel if you get what I’m saying

17

You can run FL in ableton. I use FL to run vst synths and maybe building some drum loops in ableton

18

For me I use both.I started out with Fruity Loops 2 way back in the day so I am comfortable with it.I prefer Ableton though as I just love how the program feels and operates.Learn both.Use both.Knowing both programs gives you 2 weapons in your arsenal

19

never was a big fan of fruity loops but FL Studio 10 completely changed my mind. It is really good and i’m happy with its process

20

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

Try both, see what you prefer.