Ableton Live 5 gets a top review in the October issue of Future Music magazine. They have always had good things to say about previous versions of Live, and they think this new version is a huge improvement on an already great program. They give Live 5 their Platinum Award for general all-round excellence. It scores 8 out of 10 for value for money, 9 for build quality, ease of use and versatility, and a perfect ten for quality of results.

They say that no other program matches Live 5 in its intuitiveness and ease of use, and praise its “inventive integration of live performance into the DAW paradigm.” When they start talking about “paradigms” you know they’re getting serious. More usability does not mean less power though– this version is “the best Live yet; version 5 takes this deceptively powerful system to new heights.”

They conclude by wondering if any of Ableton’s competitors will ever catch up with Live 5. “There’s still nothing out there like it, and with Ableton genuinely basing most of their high-velocity development program on user feedback, it’s hard to imagine that there ever will be.” You get the impression that only one program will ever overtake Ableton Live 5 — and that will be Ableton Live 6.

Buy Live at SameDayMusic.com