Should I get Ableton or FL Studio? Pros and Cons

Ric Mukiri
August 2, 2019
Blog, Music Production
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6371

Should I get Ableton or FL Studio? Pros and Cons

should i get ableton or fl studio?

Should I get Ableton or FL Studio? Pros and Cons

Should i get ableton or fl studio?

As a beginner, trying to figure out the best DAW i.e(Digital Audio Workstation) to use, can be quite tough. Since you are not in a position to single out merits or downfalls of a each programs. When it comes to choosing a great DAW there No such thing as a best daw, it all depends on the producer and their techniques to obtaining results that he/she desires.

With that said ,both ableton and Fl studio are all full-fledged programs designed for quality production. When you are skilled musician it comes to which daw gives you more flexibility and functionality to produce great music.

Should I get Ableton or FL Studio? Pros and Cons

I have used both fl studio and ableton programs.Over time i have been accustomed to stick to fl studio for my own personal reasons. Firstly, fl studio has been in the market longer than Ableton. So it has served musicians for a fairly longer period.

Long gone are the nostalgic days in which it was known as Fruity Loops.I remember the very first day i got a copy of Fruity Loops 3 from my cousin…i couldn’t put my headphones down till late at night. Since then, Fl studio has evolved and grown to a fully functional DAW competing among many others in the market.

Should I get Ableton or FL Studio? Pros and Cons

Fl studio is fairly easy to learn as a beginner. Since the G.U.I (Graphic user Interface) is a pattern based i.e is better positioned and well designed. So the user is able to have a steady learning curve as you continue to hone in your skills with time.

Should i get ableton or fl studio?

Usage and functionality (Pros and Cons)

To be honest…you will not learn it within a day or two, but i guarantee you with continued usage/practice you will begin acquiring music production skills over time.

Firstly, Fl studio has very elaborate functions such as browser, piano roll, playlists, mixer e.t.c. However,this can be a bit tedious when it comes to page navigation’s and processes. Ableton Live has a more straight forward page design thus, more intuitive and saves time for beginner.

Secondly, fl studio has a built-in user manual/ tutorials which are under the help section Top right.They showcase in-depth steps in music production.From sound design,mixing,mastering and recording.

Fl studio also comes with free unlimited future updates once you make a purchase on any version. So once a new version is unveiled you don’t need to buy, all you need is log in to your user account and download the latest version for free.

The downside to fl studio is the frequent bugs associated to the mac versions of the program.However, i believe image line released fl studio 20 back in May 2018. This version addresses all these bugs and errors that people used to complain.

Functionality

Downside to Ableton live is it only supports 64 bit version and requires a J.bridge plugin in order to get that to work on 32-bit. On the other hand Fl studio supports both 32–64 bit no bridge needed.

Both programs support Automation of effects on the instruments but ableton live’s automation is more intuitive. All effects are build on each individual track. While in fl studio you have to create and paste each individual instances on the playlist. However,in fl studio you can have more options on automation than ableton.

Fl studio can boast of ability to self oscillate with the plugins automation. So both Ableton and Fl Studio kind of tie on automation.

Ableton vs Fl studio -mixing guide

Both programs also support stock plugins. However, Fl studio has more built in plugins that come with the version you purchase compared to ableton.

Should i get ableton or fl studio?

Both daws have Asio drivers but they fail miserably when it comes to latency issues especially fl studio. Since it focuses it’s Cpu usage on the latency compensation. If you use hardware it will compensate on this issues.

Also ableton has a more straight forward lay-out .You don’t have to go through many navigation in terms of assigning different instruments on the mixer tracks.

Ableton has a less complicated way in Midi arrangement than fl studio .This is because you have to go through a lot of navigation options.

Ableton is better when it comes to live mixes on set, that’s why Dj’s prefer it for live sets. This is due to it’s ability to use many live instruments such as samplers,live mixers, beat pads.This is an added advantage not only for Dj’s, but Music producers that are ‘hands on’ and versatile when it comes to making music using hardware equipment.

2. Audio rendering & Quality

Moreover,ableton and Fl studio support audio recording and rendering capabilities. Fl studio has a slight advantage on its ability of time stretching on a track recording using Edison plugin. Ableton has an acid-loops codec embedded in the software to fascilitate in audio rendering.

In terms of Audio rendering both Daws render high quality audio output. One downfall to Fl studio is it bounces down each individual track in stereo format instead of mono.Which is a pain in the butt for engineers in terms of track arrangement during post mixing.

Ableton is capable of exporting single tracks and groups with return and master effects applied.

Another draw back to FL studio , any effects applied to master bus are not reflected while bouncing down audio.

So Ableton has more flexibility on rendering so, it wins over fl studio on that.

3. Pricing

Both DAWS come at a considerable price depending on level of upgrade or functionality that you opt for.

Ableton 10 currently offers three editions namely. Intro , Standard and Suite. They share common features, but standard and suite have additional features such as Instruments , packs and effects. The standard edition goes for $449 and Suite goes for $749 once you convert from euros

Should i get ableton or fl studio?

When it comes to fl studio,the initial package could prove to be most important decision. As far as owning your edition music software. Since once you buy any package ,then all future upgrades version come absolutely free for that package.

Should i get ableton or fl studio?

4. Extra Features

Fl studio has mobile studio application that supports most capabilities included in the main software. This is an advantage to so many Fl users worldwide. It is convenient to put down music/song writing ideas at the touch of a smart phone.

Should i get ableton or fl studio

FL studio has a far superior piano roll mode compared to ableton, with much more intuitive controls. The natural question you probably may be asking is what does a superior piano roll got to do with anything? FL studio being an electronic Daw has more functions and tools embedded on the piano roll racks. This functions make it easier for the user to navigate his or her way through the music writing process.

Fl studios Edison can export WAV in 24 Bit version,while in the past it only supported 16 bit and 32 bit versions only.

Ableton live on the other hand has new capabilities to extend wavetable’s oscillator section by importing your own wavetables in your device.

Ability to choose different types of automation shapes, stretch and skew automation and enter precise values with your numerical keyboard.

Improvement in scrolling and Zooming – New Ableton 10.1 makes it easier to switch between detailed views and bigger editing panels.This makes it faster in editing any music work or tweaking minute details. Also enhanced pinch zooming on compatible computers and resizable arrangement Overview window.

If for any reason you cannot decide in terms which DAW to choose, get demo versions for both. <<Ableton>> << Fl studio>>

For further evaluation check these great videos for further information below.

If you enjoyed this article on Should I get Ableton or FL Studio Comparison Pros and Cons? please leave a comment or share with a friend. If you have more questions kindly contact me

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“……Both ableton and Fl studio are all full-fledged programs designed to give quality production. When you are skilled musician it comes down to which one gives you more flexibility and functionality to produce great music..”

Sources

https://www.quora.com
https://imageline.com
https://www.ableton.com/en/shop/live/
Selling music online .BLOGS
https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/live-10-1-is-here/
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ableton-vs-fl-studio/
My head
https://www.musicradar.com/how-to/11-new-features-in-fl-studio-20-that-you-need-to-know-about