Ableton Live 5 will be released later this month. That was quick — didn’t Live 4 only come out a little while ago? Anyway, version 5 has many nifty new tricks. MP3 support, tempo matching, better sampler, and plugin delay compensation are some of the more notable ones. There are also some new effects. It all sounds good and should make a great program even better.

The Ableton website has the proud new announcement: Ableton is proud to announce the release of Live 5, the team’s biggest development effort since the initial release of Live in 2001. The version 5 feature set extends each aspect of Live — from creation to production to performance — while making the program easier and even more fun to use.

DAW Features. Live 5 includes advanced and creative DAW features to satisfy any audio professional. Read more about clip Freeze, plug-in delay compensation, launchable Arrangement locators and Mackie Control support

Remix Features. Get ready to remix! Live 5 includes a host of new remix-minded features, assuring instant remix and mash-up gratification. MP3 support, automatic tempo-matching, Complex Warp Mode and the new clip transport make remixing a breeze.

Organizational Tools. Never lose ideas again! Live 5 features simple tools for saving, previewing and accessing any idea on your hard drive. Explore the new “Live Clip” file format, better browsing, new preset management, Device Groups and the new library.

Instruments and Effects. Live 5 introduces a selection of innovative new devices, bringing even more creative possibilities. Check out Beat Repeat, Phaser, Flanger, Auto Pan, Saturator, Arpeggiator and the updated Simpler.

Live 5 also brings countless improvements to existing features; for instance, you can change the properties of multiple clips at once, resize and minimize the width of tracks in the Session View, use right-click context menus for most functions and use a count-in for recording. Version 5 is even easier to learn thanks to a new set of lessons and an improved lesson reader.

Buy Live at SameDayMusic.com