Greetings Macpro Users! I have a question in regards to live electronic sets and what set-up is preferred amongst players. I am considering both the nurmark ns7 system with Serato itch or Ableton Live with the controller. I have seen several djs in my area using the Numark set up and it looks versatile for what you get as a package. However, Ableton as an interface does much more and many of my electronic composer friends swear by it! Therefore the question is this: Would Ableton be a better platform to work with with live music or the Numarks with serato? I would like to do both live and pre-composed music along with mixes of other tunes. Any suggestions would be great! Cheers! Bobby B

Hey Bobby B! Ooh.. that's a tough question. Ableton Live is extremely good. There's a reason why many of it's userbase swear by it! Having said that I'm not too familiar with the numark ns7 & serato... but it looks great, and a dj friend can't say enough good things about Serato! If possible see if you can get some hands-on time with both or a brief demo. There's plenty of videos here on Ableton Live. [url]http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorial/live8101[/url] ... and I would lean towards Live simply because of it's production and creation abilities - but it depends on you... your workflow and whether serato will cover both areas for you... Rounik

Hi Rounik! Thanks for your reply! Well, after some long thinking and several hours at my local guitar center, I went ahead and purchased ableton live 8 and the apc controller. As you and others suggested, this is a better set up for live mixing with more compositional aspects. After playing with the serato and the numarks, I realized that you need to learn to how to effectively dj so it doesn't sound generic. You have a lot more control with the apc controller and I like the fact that clips can be programmed to start on the downbeats. I will be watching the tutorials and hopefully getting up to speed so I will be bugging you guts for help:) Thanks and I will be chatting with you soon! Cheers! Bobby B

Hi Bobby! Great. I think you'll find Live to be pretty mind-blowing (in a good way of course!) Hope I will be able to answer any questions you have... though the tutorials are comprehensive! Best Rounik

Hi Rounik, I have a question about the live 8 suite. I have purchased and installed live 8 and watched Bill's tutorial and he mentioned that the suite(which I did not purchase) contains all of the instruments/plug-ins for playing? I am some what perplexed...Do I need to download the suite to have full access to the EIC plug ins or is Live 8 fully ready to go after it is installed. I also have the APC 40 which I am waiting to use before I figure the best configuration of live 8 before I attempt to use it. Thanks for your help!! Cheers, Bobby B

Hi Bobby, Which version of Live 8 did you purchase? Was it the standard Live 8? Was it a download or boxed version? Basically you can start using Live 8 now! The Suite contains more instruments and sound libraries... The Live 8 download version does not include the items marked "box only" on this page: [url]http://www.ableton.com/live-8[/url] But, sure jump straight it and begin using Live :) Hope that helps Rounik

Hi Rounik, I did indeed purchase live 8 in the box. I guess what confused me was differences between the download and the purchased box set. It makes sense now. Ok, I will get started and keep you guys posted with any questions and keep watching the videos. Cheers, Bobby B

Yes, it is a bit of a confusing situation! I think Ableton could make this area of Live easier to comprehend... That's what I love about Logic these days.. two versions. period. Still, I'm sure you'll love Live! :) Rounik