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FL Studio over Ableton Live

Submitted by Arp on Tue, 04/21/2009 - 16:47
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 I bought FL Studio 6 years ago, when I applied for some support-oriented job with them (they ran away when I responded with $20/hr - apparently they really wanted a cheap intern).  I figured I should at least own the software so they wouldn't think I was some crack-using ass.  This is quite unlike Ableton, with whom I interviewed a couple of years later (with Gerhard Behles & Dave Hill), who took it in stride that I used a crack and seemed more interested in finding a good employee.  As a nice gesture after the interview, they gave me a license to Live 4 & Operator.  

That's how I ended up with my legitimate software.  I did like FL Studio for awhile, then some stupid midi issue soured me on it and I switched to Live.  I still kept an eye on it since I had lifetime free updates.  I must say that's a huge positive for it.  I spent $149 on the Producer Edition and they just keep adding cool features, including the recent addition of Synthmaker that bumped the Producer Edition price to $199.

I think (if I recall correctly) that Live started off as $299, then updates have been $100-ish per version.  I'm too lazy to look this up, so I'll be happy for someone to correct me.  But like FL Studio has their Ultra Super Mega Jumbo edition that includes every synth they make, Ableton has the Live 8 Suite, which includes 3 nice synths by AAS plus a bunch of nice samples.  (I forgot to mention that Lounge Lizard is one of my all-time favorites).  For a shade under $400, I can upgrade to Live 8, get the 3 synths and a lot of other stuff.  If I want to use Live, it's not a bad deal at all.

But I'm sticking to FLS for now.  I was using Live exclusively when I stopped producing and don't want to use Live 5, nor pay anything to upgrade.  FL Studio has some cool things that I want to play with, like Slicex (an upgrade I hope from my previously beloved Phatmatik Pro), the Love Philter, pattern clips (finally) and all the Synthmaker stuff.  And I have missed the Peak Controller, which is a really clever creation.  FLS & some new VSTs will be fine way to get back into the groove.

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