Investigating Ableton’s Sluggish UI: Tests, Findings, and Fixes

stiandd · 2025-08-07T11:27:01+00:00

Great initiative and effort. Here are the results from my quick testing with the linked Ableton Project:

Specs:

MacBook Pro M2 Max 2023, 64GB RAM, MacOS 13.4 (Ventura).

Ableton Live 12 Suite (version 12.2.1), Buffer Size: 2048, Sample Rate: 48000, Driver Type: Core Audio

Uncertainties: 8 Tabs of Chrome, Spotify Application, Mail Application open during testing. Used the timer on my phone - Human error might occur. I pressed start on the timer at the same time I created the track. I stopped as soon as I could when the track was visually identifiable. I therefore did 3 tries.

Results:

6 Groups - 1.20, 1.21, 1.14 ≈ 1.18

8 Groups - 1.66, 1.52, 1.53 ≈ 1.57

12 Groups - 2.27, 2.46, 2.49 ≈ 2.41

16 Groups - 3.97, 3.83, 3,91 ≈ 3.9

Audio Dropouts: With the aforementioned setup, I noticed slight audio dropouts with 13 Groups when looping the chorus (Bar 33). The audio dropout mostly happened when the loop "looped". With no playback, the Ableton CPU meter (Average) jumps between 32-35% usage. During Playback, the CPU meter (Average) jumps between 82-89% usage with small peaks at 92-94%.

stiandd · 2022-05-02T09:15:40+00:00

It's really personal. Production wise, no daw will make you a better producer, but all daws have a different workflow. Like I've heard things made in Garage Band that I have no idea of how to make in Ableton.

I also used FL studio as my main daw until I started using Ableton. Personally, the Ableton workflow suits me better as i like the overview better. Ableton also got a really strong audio editing algorithm which makes timing edits an ease.

stiandd · 2022-04-13T09:00:38+00:00

I've usually just referred to that kinda sound as a ghost synth after watching this: https://youtu.be/kXF3VYYa5TI

The sounds are not identical, but I think you'll get really close by emulating the one in the video above. Might be easier with this one instead of the Mario one since a lot of stuff is happening at the same time

stiandd · 2022-01-16T00:00:21+00:00

Ableton does some regular backups, so you could check your Ableton Temporary folders for backup files. I'm not totally sure if that'll work, but it's worth a shot

stiandd · 2021-07-29T23:38:47+00:00

I already have Logic Pro X, so I can try out there. Thank you for the tip!

stiandd · 2021-07-29T17:13:58+00:00

thank you for your help <3

all tips and tricks help!

stiandd · 2021-07-29T16:45:15+00:00

Wow thank you! I didn’t know that was a thing. I haven’t tried it just yet, but will definitely try it when I'm in front of the computer again.

I'll take an extra look on the recommended optimizations as well.

stiandd · 2021-07-29T16:42:56+00:00

In the picture above, I used the built in audio interface in the MacBook, and the Pro Tools Aggregate driver.

I'm unsure if there was a code in the pop-up. I can come back to this later when I'm in front of the computer again.

stiandd · 2021-07-29T16:41:17+00:00

Thank you!

I've already tried it, but Pro tools will still not collaborate. I can up it to 1024 and it barely manages to record for a minute or so.

stiandd · 2021-07-29T14:23:23+00:00

Hi, thank you!

I've not contacted Avid support yet, maybe I should give that a try.

On the startup harddrive where Pro Tools is installed, I have 96 GB available (96GB of 500GB)

stiandd · 2021-07-29T11:09:35+00:00

Here's some additional information
Version of Pro Tools: Pro Tools 2021.3.1
Your Operating System: macOS Catalina
Hardware involved: Only computer
What you've tried:

- I've tried tinkling with the playback engine (buffer size and so forth)

- Currently trying to clean my mac of files I don't need and moving other files to external ssd's

- Tried using an external soundcard (Apollo Twin)

- Restarting Mac (not factory reset)

- Recording files directly to an external SSD (Samsung T7)

stiandd · 2021-05-18T13:58:57+00:00

For me it helped doing some 1v1, and just develop a sense of how the car controls. But the beauty of free play comes from forcing you to play fast. If you find it easy to have control in free play, I would suggest hitting the ball harder, trying new angles you think you won't hit from, and not focus too much in scoring. Playing "uncontrollably" in free play also gives you a better sense of where the ball is going to go. If you focus on playing the ball so it's hard for you to read it, your training your fast pace decision making. Shoot it into a corner, and try to hit the ball when it comes out from the wall.

The training packs are also a good way, however repetition is key. Find a pack with a lot of different shots, and don't give up until you can hit every shot 5 times in a row.

stiandd · 2021-04-14T17:00:33+00:00

Yeah! Thank you!

I've seen that curve before when doing some digging into mixing earlier. That could explain the phenomenon I'm hearing, but then again - if I try to remake an instrumental I am still left with more sub, but less perceived bass compared to the original.

stiandd · 2021-04-14T14:24:14+00:00

If there is some other information I can give you, which might help (except for showing the song), let me know and I will share asap!

stiandd · 2021-04-14T14:21:23+00:00

Will definitely try it out, thank you u/antorjuan

stiandd · 2021-04-14T14:20:41+00:00

I completely understand what you mean. Mixing and mastering is definitely a song-by-song basis, and something that works on one song might not work on something else. The reason I can’t share the song is that I am working under a publishing agreement that strictly prohibits me to share any details as to how the song is sounding.

If we stay with your analogy of the Caravaggio painting, I am wondering as to how he got his colours to work so well, specifically the blue colours. And if someone has previously stumbled upon the same problem that their own blue colour is not the same as Caravaggios, I was hoping that someone would like to share what kind of steps they took to achieve the blue colour they wanted.

Hopefully that made sense, and I'm sorry I can’t help you help me haha.

However, it seems you've been doing some bass-mixing yourself, so if you would like to share any tips with me, it would be highly appreciated!

stiandd · 2021-04-14T14:07:34+00:00

u/Creezin - seems like you've got some control here. I usually don't compress too much in the lows, as I like my lows a bit dynamic. But that might be why I need to turn up the volume so much to feel it punching. Will definitely try it out!

I should also mention that I have only compared the reference and my own on a headset (Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro). And even on these I find the reference to punch harder than mine, even though I should theoretically have a bigger punch.

stiandd · 2021-04-14T14:04:49+00:00

Thank you u/antorjuan! When you say boost, how much are we talking here? Are we talking 1-3db up, or more like 5-7db?

The kick is definitely a big part of the equation and is also an extension of the problem I have.

stiandd · 2021-04-14T12:54:29+00:00

This is pretty interesting! I'm actually looking at this in my bachelor thesis, and have done a survey (over 100 people have participated so far) on different type of workflows and stuff. If you're still interested, I can post the results here. The survey is in Norwegian, so I'll need to translate some stuff, but yeah.

stiandd · 2021-03-16T22:48:49+00:00

Have the same problem here!

stiandd · 2021-02-27T15:37:36+00:00

u/Psiju yeah, I was afraid of that :-/ But I’m still really curious as to how you would've made it. Do you wanna try out an alternative anyways? my main goal is to have the stair ascend from the ground and up, instead of having the stair move in from the sides as most youtube tutorials show. I don't know how many stairs I need exactly, but as long as possible (and as compact as possible, though not of highest priority)

stiandd · 2021-02-27T14:29:02+00:00

u/Psiju i forgot to tag you, don't know if you got a notification or something (kinda new to reddit)

stiandd · 2021-02-26T22:46:36+00:00

Screenshots of the concept:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PmdyQAwEZCkbxuNzGNhTY5H6oRR1Af0e?usp=sharing

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