Hello friends,

I noticed today that Ableton and FL Studio really sound a bit different when it comes to sound generation with VSTs.
I can open Ableton and FL at the same time and had the same preset loaded and the same tone playing.

I'll take the OsTIrus VST3 as an example. In Ableton it sounds a little more direct, crisper, a little higher and the stereo field is more centered. So "In Your Face"

In FL Studio it ripples a bit and the sound is spread out a bit more on the sides and therefore loses some energy.
The differences are minimal and probably not audible to normal listeners with smartphones.
But in the end it's the amount of VSTs and effects and how they work together that matters.

What could that be about?

 

Oh no, please...
It is always In Your Face, not In Your Ass.... In any DAW

 

I have a theory

me too

 

Panning laws would be the first thing that comes to mind. In FL, you can monitor low-quality or high quality; the same for render; also the routing and parameters from individual tracks all the way up to the master buss.

 

Panning law is pretty much the reason. I've tried so many DAWs and they all have different Pan Laws.

 

I'll go with passive aggressive trolling as first guess. So compare other DAW versions doing the same thing. Right now, you know two are different. But one is "right" and one is not, if they are different. Which one least closely matches the others? Look at what is different with the other. Figure out which one you want to accept as "Perfect" and use it. Like you would picking out a reference track.

 

Thank you bluerover and devilorcracker for the useful answers. You're right. FL has planning laws in the Project settings which definitely changes the sound.

Most people don't hear the changes because their ears didn't learn it.
I grew up with 90s music and analog Synths from the 90s. So I know how analog Synths can sound. With Osirus and Ostirus we have the power now to get the pleasant sound back.
And for myself I hear every detail from that.

The panning law in the Project is standard.
The other setting makes the panning even more wider.
Maybe I try today to fit the sound on the master.
I like the sound from ableton, but the Workflow from FL.

 

This is bait, I guess.

 

Yep, I've noticed that certain VSTi synths tend to sound slightly different depending on the DAW. But I'm not sure that these differences are preserved when you render the track. It's probably down to the way DAW's handle real-time playback.

 

If you only have one instrument playing and the volumes and pan laws are set the same, there really shouldn't be a difference as it is simple math and the results should be the same. If you have more plugins and effects on different channels, the sound might be slightly different if latency compensation is not perfect. You might end up with phasing issues as a result that could be perceivable.

Then again, if you think there is a difference, you should be able to bounce both of them, flip the phase of one of the parts. They shouldn't null each other out completely.

 

Last edited: Jun 21, 2024

Different DAWs might have different pan curves and automation response curves, for example, which might cause a comparison to not null into infinity, but really close (which should be negligible either way). If you're not messing with anything but VSTi, linear processing fx and the volume faders you should be fine. This test was made countless times throughout the years, apart from these aspects described here, DAWs don't have a "sound" (with a few exceptions like Harrison Mixbus).

 

Hey hey,
thank you very much for the hint with the DB.
I really think, Ableton is a bit louder in the standard Template.
I turned the ableton channel to -2.2 db and voila.
99,9 % the same sound

The rest is placebo now :D

There could be also a chance, that the new SoundID version mixed up a bit my ears.
I Downgraded to the version before 5.11.0 and voila.
Results are fine now.

Have a nice day

 

0% of those original synths nor the emulation is analog, and very few synths from the 90s were?

 

Til the virus was an analog synth

 

Aside from Pan Law and matching all the settings appropriately (which I imagine was the issue), let's not forget different software is... different software. How processing of FX and audio may just well be different between software. I think @clone is right on the money, don't think about it--just pick one and work with it.

 

You're not hearing a difference in sound.
You're seeing different stuff on your screen...different workflows, colors and schemes trigger different emotions subconsciously. Your brain tries to make your hearing match your emotions.
Your brain is always doing this. Always.
Null tests have completely killed all arguments that DAWs sound different.
Every time you ignore the NULL test you are actively choosing to ignore reason and go with your gut.

They LOOK different. They evoke different feelings/vibes in you. That's it.
USE THAT. I bet you make different music in FL than you do in Cubase or Ableton.
The music I make in Reason is always more ethereal for some reason. The workflow and available sounds just lead me in that direction.

There's nothing wrong with any of this. If you say the DAW sounds different, NULL test be damned, then it does.

 

Because Ableton's UI is grey. Think about it : the software doesn't need any CPU cycle to render useless colors (whereas FL looks like a ghetto candy store).

Therefore, it is only logical to conclude that the sound would be more direct : the processing is purer, there are less 0s and 1s in it.

Bitwig, for instance, is so colorful that sometimes the processing gets too muddy (too many 0s and 1s) and you can even hear some reverb in there, even if you didn't put it.