I’m still using Live 10 and am wondering how good 11 is, in regards to working with hardware gear (clocking and sequencing). Is the newer Ableton still really jittery over USB MIDI, or is it more stable now? Would I also need to invest in something like the Multiclock if I want a proper hybrid setup?
Thanks in advance for any help answering these questions.
I’ve been using an Expert Sleepers USAMO to get jitter free clocks from Ableton to the outside world for the last 5 years or so and can highly recommend this solution. I don’t think jittery MIDI over USB is necessarily strictly an Ableton thing, more a MIDI over USB thing.
Boils down to your setup. No DAW is really tight, its about the computer. My MacBook is really good but I still use a sync box because I have one. I think that is the best way to record gear in, especially if you like to multitrack a drum machine in multiple takes for example.
The USAMO didn’t work well with my interface. Its cheap though. The ERM worked without any real setup and I never had to think about it again. One thing to note is that the MIDI that comes out of the ERM or any sync box is not going to be time corrected. What a sync box does is sends dead accurate clock to your hardware. It does this by using audio triggers from the plugin you run in the DAW. The midi coming out of your DAW will always be jittery. Not the end of the world with synths honestly. It is quite miniscule. But it sucks with drum machines so I always sequence those on the gear itself.
the new MacBook Pro sequences rather tightly so its not a big issue for me. Just something you shuold know - nothing really can fix jittery MIDI out from the DAW. But jittery clock timing? Yes, that is fixed for sure.
Anyone using their Macbook Pro M1 pro/max with Ableton live 11?
Im seeing annoying cursor bug, and no descriptions with mouseover on the topbar. (See video below). Tried reinstalling with no luck. Common bug for M1 pro/max users, or just me?
Same, occasionally.
Yes, also get this issue at times.
MIDI Out with note data etc. can be sent with USAMO or a combination of Expert Sleepers eurorack modules, so in that way the jittery MIDI out from the DAW can actually be fixed! 
USAMO, ERM…etc send MIDI data but it is not dead synced to the DAW clock, hence it is jittery. What these boxes do is send accurate clock via audio from the DAW to the clocks of your hardware. It is not the same as sending the MIDI jitter free.
Yeah, I’ve been reading about USAMO. Will pick one up soon and try it out.
I just want to have the option of using Ableton to sequence external gear, like my Nord Drum, and getting the timing as tight/accurate as possible.
Well, the ES solutions encodes the MIDI as audio as well using the plugin, and decodes it again at the receiving end. So you can send sample accurate sync and MIDI note messages. Or in other words, it’s as good as traditional DIN MIDI gets, i.e. 31 250 bps (bit per second).
Expert Sleepers - yep. I have not have experience with it, but it sounds like a nice solution. I just know the USAMO and ERM won’t encode the MIDI, and just send accurate sync clock.
Usamo does send jitter free midi notes as well. You only have 1 midi port though, so it still has bandwidth limitations…
i get the same thing w/ableton on an intel mac
did two full clean installs on my mbp this weekend, half split into bootcamp and macos, feels great getting rid of all the junk files and building up a lean system from scratch. really digging windows 11 actually, seems clean and nimble
went to authorize live and turns out the whole site is down. the forums and everything. been almost a day now. like fully caput. pretty rare for such a prominent company. wonder what happened? peeps are basically locked out of render and save while this goes own.
anyone else decide to go outside instead this weekend? lol
i imagine this might suck for peeps that really needed to export some files this weekend
Yesterday I wanted to do an update but the server was down, really strange that it still is.
You still can do this? Or what do you mean by that?
Maybe it’s just for people stuck in my situation, who were on the cusp of authorising
Pretty funny, I downloaded the software and installed it, then went to authorise and the site was down. Thought it was my router lol
Ahhh damn ok I see…that really sucks.
I’ve just picked up a new MBP and went to install Ableton Live 11 as the first thing on it… and it won’t authorise, guessing because of these issues. Bit of a buzzkill bummer having all this power and nothing to get stuck into… hopefully they’ll resolve it soon.
Seems fixed. At least the forum
ah, this must be why mine wasn’t updating!
