New Product: Ableton Live 7 DAW and Performance Software
Dec 23, 2007 10:54 PM Asher Fulero (Writer)
Those creative programmers
at Ableton don't sleep much, so they can release a major upgrade every year.
Live 7 ($499 download or $599 boxed, including the Essential Instrument
Collection 2; www.ableton.com) brings new levels of precision and fidelity,
including an enhanced audio engine with full 64-bit summing at all points
across the program, POW-r Dithering and optimized sampling-rate conversion.
MIDI timing has been improved to reduce jitter, and new memory management
delivers higher track/device counts and better performance with large sample banks.
Dynamic Tube and Saturator (as well as the add-on Operator instrument) now have
High-Quality modes for anti-aliased output, EQ Eight has a sleek new interface
and 64-bit mode, and the updated Compressor offers new models based on a
vintage feedback compressor. Compressor, Gate and Auto-Filter now have a freely
assignable sidechain, and the new Spectrum device provides real-time visual
analysis of any audio signal.
External audio devices and
effects can now be inserted into device chains; tracks can display multiple
lanes of automation at once; and the new Tempo Nudge makes it easier to
manually sync Live to music on the fly. Support for time-signature changes, REX
files and video export are also welcome additions. The new Drum Rack offers a
huge drag-and-drop sampler with 88 slots and is prepared to handle the new
Session Drum patches from Chocolate Audio and Drum Machine patches from
Puremagnetik. Three new add-on instruments ($159 each) designed in
collaboration with Applied Acoustics Systems offer a wide range of emulation:
Electric models classic electric pianos and more, Tension models physical
strings and resonant bodies and Analog offers a vintage synthesizer model with
all the real-world tone. Finally, the giant Essential Instrument Collection 2
has been expanded to provide great starting points for any audio project.
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