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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Ableton Live

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/AAbleton headquartered in Berlin offers Ableton Live, the company's flagship digital audio workstation and audio editing suite.

    $79

    Sibelius

    Score7 out of 10
    N/AAvid offers Sibelius, a musical notation, creation, and publishing application.N/A
    Pricing
    Ableton LiveSibelius
    Editions & Modules
    Live 10 Intro
    $79
    Max for Live - Crossgrade
    $79
    Live 11 Intro
    $99
    Max for Live
    $159
    Live 10 Standard - Students & Teachers
    $269
    Live 10 Standard
    $359
    Live 11 Standard
    $449
    Live 10 Suite - Students & Teachers
    $449
    Live 10 Suite
    $599
    Live 11 Suite
    $749
    Live 10 Intro - Push
    $799
    Push + Live 10 Standard - Students & Teachers
    1,068
    Live 10 Standard - Push
    1,078
    Push + Live 10 Suite - Students & Teachers
    1,248
    Live 10 Suite - Push
    1,278
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Ableton LiveSibelius
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Ableton LiveSibelius
    Considered Both Products
    Ableton
    No answer on this topic
    Avid Technology
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Ableton LiveSibelius
    Small Businesses
    Descript
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Descript
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Ableton LiveSibelius
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    7.2
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Ableton LiveSibelius
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Ableton
    Ableton Live is a perfect fit for loop-based music like electronic music of all varieties. It is especially suited to minimal techno and IDM, but is really suitable for any style of music that relies extensively on loops and samples. Ableton Live is also well-suited for sequencing out loop-based music through its Live view, while the Composer view allows for enough arranging features that you can take a song from concept to completion fairly easily. Ableton Live is less well-suited for fully recorded music that has no sample-based or looping components. It is less well-suited for non-electronic genres, although it is perfectly fine, but many of the features would not be useful or necessary in these cases.
    Incentivized
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    Avid Technology
    It is simply easy to use and serves the function that it needs to serve. Once you get the hang of the basic functionality and a few of the keyboard shortcuts, it will be extremely easy and quick to write out music. The option to go back and transpose to another key without writing the whole thing out again is crucial.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Ableton
    • Session View: This is the biggest advantage of Ableton. It provides you this view in which you can create different tracks for the same part of the song. For example:- If you are making the chorus of the song, you can save one thread. Now if you want to try and listen to a different drum set in a new thread, you can simply do that and listen to the new track while preserving the older one. Once you are satisfied with what you're listening, simple record the same in arrangement view and you are done. You can switch to the arrangement view and listen to the final song.
    • Pre-installed instruments and loops:- Ableton's library which is included with the software itself while you purchase it is amazing. I bet you will ever need third-party plugins for it. It comes loaded with hundreds of loops and number of instruments which are completely professional and free to use.
    • Amazing Graphical User Interface:- Even if you're a beginner in this field, Ableton can be learned within a few hours. The basic functionality of this software is very easy to understand and use. Of course, advanced stuff comes with practice but the basic functioning can be learned and within a few hours you are producing your own music.
    Incentivized
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    Avid Technology
    • User Friendly
    • Compatible with other software/music programs
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Ableton
    • Version 10 chews up all my CPU but prior versions didn't
    • Midi channel automation isn't intuitive, have to make an instrument group
    • New version install should overwrite older versions
    Incentivized
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    Avid Technology
    • Barrier to entry could be a bit lower.
    • Options for types of arrangements are somewhat limited and the interface is a bit convoluted.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Ableton
    I haven't had to reach out to support yet, but they're great at keeping me abreast with updates, compatibility issues, new features, and tons of videos on how to use the software. I feel like they're helping me success by giving me tools I can use in my daily work.
    Incentivized
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    Avid Technology
    Once Sibelius is purchased, the user is given one year of unlimited free customer service to help in using the product. After that first year, users can either pay to utilize customer service with questions or use online helps, which are very helpful. One of the bigger issues I had was getting the sounds to work properly because my Internet connection wasn't consistently working well enough to accommodate the large files, which were taking up to 10 hours to download. The download would fail, and then I'd have to start over. I wanted to get a CD sent to me but was told this would be very costly, and so I declined. I wasn't happy with the lack of customer service in that situation but was eventually able to get the files to download and the software working properly.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Ableton
    I cannot say that the other programs listed aren't capable. They surely are. But for what I do and my workflow environment, Ableton suits my needs better. I know a lot of people that use Pro Tools and Logic Pro. They are both very powerful programs. I have knowledge of how to use them all. Going into different studios and collaborating with people, you need to know at least the basics of them all. But for me and my studio, we will continue to primarily use Ableton for the foreseeable future.
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    Avid Technology
    I have not used Finale exclusively, but I know friends/colleagues who have. In the past, it was complicated to transfer and edit any of the music they created for me because it would not transfer to Sibelius. As a result, I would have to request the edits I wanted and ask them to make the changes themselves. If I wanted to make any changes later, it was extremely inconvenient to do so, and I often chose not to, as I did not want to bother anyone other than myself to do any edits after-the-fact. Though it is now possible to transfer Finale files to Sibelius through creating .xml files and then importing as .sib files, the files still do not entirely retain all of the integrity of the original composition (as completed in Finale). Sometimes text and markings are missing, microscopic, or shifted once opened in Sibelius. Text fonts must often be edited. When working with other major music publishers, it has been extremely convenient and helpful to have the same software.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Ableton
    • Ableton Live allows me to rapidly sequence multitrack music as needed, without getting stuck at any step of the process.
    • Ableton Live also allows me to quickly export or upload to SoundCloud for easy sharing. This is a big time-saver.
    • The only negative ROI I can think of is the cost. There are competitors like Reaper that are much more affordable and have many of the same features.
    Incentivized
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    Avid Technology
    • Digital files are easily distributed to customers/no shipping costs.
    • Collaboration with other sheet music retailers has been established and maintained.
    Incentivized
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