Ah, Ableton Live Lite, the quintessential foundation DAW / recording software, functional, solid, and a fantastic way to start, but eventually, you’ll start to wonder what life is like beyond. Enter Ableton Live 12 Standard and Suite, here to take your musical aspirations from “Well, at least it works” to “Holy digital synth waveforms, this is incredible.”
Expanded Sound Libraries
More sound packs!
Live Lite gives you a couple of sound packs, like a restaurant offering you a free bread roll before the actual meal. Standard and Suite, on the other hand, drop an entire buffet onto your plate, with a staggering variety of instruments, loops, and presets to drown in until you forget what fresh air feels like as you immerse yourself in the delicious audio goodness.
Advanced Editing, Work Smarter
Time is money, save your time with amazing controls.
Recording multiple takes, slicing them up, and stitching together the best bits is a vital part of music production. Live Lite lets you do this the way a caveman might try and piece together a broken vase, painfully, manually, and with questionable results. Standard and Suite streamline comping and linked track editing, making everything feel like a well oiled machine and even making our pro audio copywriter want to upgrade his basically steam powered MacBook to a model which can support Live 12 (The requirements aren’t that high, his is just very old).
Max for Live, The Audio Playground (Suite Only)
Basically, build your own VST(S).
Ever wanted to build your own effects, synths, and devices? Of course, you have, because why settle for pre-made tools when you can Frankenstein together something wildly unique? Max for Live, which is exclusive to Suite, is your golden ticket to musical experimentation where if you can think it, you can most likely build it. It has the power to build full on synths & workstations, to audio units to replace your studio outboard effects and powerful MIDI utilities. Just to show how powerful this is, The Access Virus Ti2 Polar’s Total Integration software hasn’t been supported on modern MacOS systems for some time now, but, someone has made a full editor in M4L which gives you all the functionality of the original VST Plugin companion, but you can actually use the thing with modern Mac Computers.
Feature Comparison, The “What You Get” Rundown
| Feature |
Live Lite |
Standard |
Suite |
| Key Features |
Limited |
Full |
Full |
| Software Instruments |
5 |
13 |
20 |
| Packs |
2 |
16 |
33 |
| Presets, Samples, Loops |
3+ GB |
38+ GB |
71+ GB |
| Audio Effects |
16 |
42 |
58 |
| MIDI Effects |
10 |
13 |
14 |
| MIDI Tools |
0 |
14 |
14 |
| Modulators |
1 |
6 |
6 |
Ableton Live 12 Editions
Notable Features, The Cool Stuff
- Audio to MIDI Conversion:
Take a sound, turn it into MIDI, and make it unrecognizable. Science!
- Audio Slicing:
Like chopping vegetables, but for drum beats… Or anything else you want to throw in there, vocal line perhaps? (Serriously, that is fun)
- Linke, Track Editing:
Edit multiple tracks at once, because who has time to click through them individually and this way you can see your bass line + your leads are matching up.
Suite Exclusive Features
- Max for Live:
See above, audio playground, make what you can think of, mad scientist etc.
- Additional Instruments:
Wavetable, Operator, Granulator III, if it sounds fancy, it’s probably in Suite.
- Extended Sound Packs:
Need a full orchestral brass section? Some exquisitely recorded woodwinds? Suite’s got you covered with a crazy amount of samples and packs.
Making the Transition
But, how do you upgrade if you already have Lite?
Upgrading from Live Lite is so easy it barely warrants a paragraph, but here we are. Ableton offers discounted upgrade pricing, meaning you don’t have to sell a kidney to get your hands on Standard or Suite. Live 12 Standard is the way to go if you want a serious upgrade without drowning in features, while Suite is for those who want the whole enchilada, complete with all the studio bells and whistles. More sounds, more tools, more everything. It’s like upgrading from a toy keyboard to a grand piano that also makes dubstep wobbles.
You’ll find a lot of products, such as midi Keyboards & controllers, actually come with a copy of Ableton Live Lite. But have you lost that code? Don’t worry, if you’ve purchased a product that contains Ableton Live Lite, but have misplaced your license key, don’t worry! Ableton have a form you can fill out to be sent a new one, simply navigate to this link, choose your product, and upload your receipt.
MIDI Controllers Great With Ableton Live
Final Thoughts
In a word: yes. In more words: If you like making music and want better tools to do it, then upgrading is a no-brainer. Live Lite is great, but Standard and Suite are the full-course meal compared to Lite’s appetizer. Whether you’re crafting beats, scoring films, or making experimental noise, Ableton Live 12 has something for you.