I’ve been a Cubase user for something like 15 years (anyone else remember this)?

Over that time I’ve been frustrated and/or curious enough to try out different hosts. Never has anything even nearly tempted me to switch from using Cubase. It’s not that I think Cubase is amazing, far from it, but familiarity is everything, and somehow nothing I ever tried was different enough to warrant a switch. All hosts were, in my humble opinion, fairly equal.

I had tried Ableton Live at version 5, thinking it was radical and new, and that it looked fun. Somehow it never stuck though. So it was with mild interest that I started fiddling about with Live 8, and for the first time in 15 years, I can really feel this becoming a main tool for me.

I’m not going to make any rash statements about ditching Cubase. I’ve been doing this long enough to realize that there isn’t ‘one host to rule them all’, but for writing electronic music, Live’s workflow and features are amazingly well honed. Drum racks take all the pain out of building drum kits (so much so that Guru in almost becoming redundant – although it does still have a few tricks up it’s sleeve), the built in ‘slice to midi track’ system is sheer beauty and I love the way you can save just about any effects chain or instrument setup as a preset.

Which is bringing me slowly round to my point. The APC40. The hype around this thing is huge, and I don’t mind admitting that I’m suffering mild to moderate gearlust over it. Considering how tight Live’s workflow for making electronic music, the addition of a dedicated controller can only boost that.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s got one already. Good points and bad (the bad is often more interesting!), and watch this space because I’m pretty sure it won’t take me long to crumble and buy one.