Ableton Live 12.4 is Out Now

Ableton Live 12.4 is now available for download. Free for all Live 12 users, this update introduces new ways to create and collaborate in Live, plus new features and improvements for Push, Move and Note.

Source: Ableton Live

Ableton Live 12.4 Link Audio

Live 12.4 introduces Link Audio, letting you and your peers stream audio between compatible devices on a local network in real time. In Live and Push, audio from other players appears directly as an input, so you can monitor and record external devices and apps without additional hardware, cables, or manual latency compensation.

Source: Ableton Live

One important thing to know is that Link Audio is not just a single switch. To use it, both Link and Link Audio need to be enabled, and connected peers appear in the new Link drop-down menu in Live’s Control Bar. Incoming audio from another Link Audio user can then be selected as an input on an audio track, which needs to be armed before you can monitor the signal.

Ableton has also added a dedicated Link page in Live’s settings, where users can manage audio sharing, device name, latency, incoming audio sync, and connected peers. For the most stable experience, Ableton recommends using a wired LAN connection. Wi-Fi can work as well, but the quality will naturally depend on the stability of the network.

Updated devices

The new version of Erosion lets you blend continuously between sine and noise modulation and mono and stereo noise, and offers real-time spectrum visualization. The previous version of the device remains accessible in older Live Sets as Erosion Legacy.

Erosion has also received a useful under-the-hood improvement. Ableton says the device’s algorithmic latency has been reduced to 2 ms, down from around 5 ms in previous versions. That may sound like a small technical detail, but it makes the refreshed Erosion more responsive and easier to use in real-time sound design chains.

Chorus-Ensemble has been updated with a few new controls that make it more flexible. The previous Classic mode is now called Chorus, and two new parameters have been added: Time and Taps. Time lets you set a fixed delay time for the chorus lines, while Taps switches between a single-tap and two-tap delay structure. The single-tap option is especially useful for simpler, thicker chorus sounds inspired by classic hardware pedals, while the Auto setting helps preserve compatibility with older presets.

Delay also gets a more flexible modulation section. The LFO Rate can now be set in Hertz, milliseconds, or tempo-synced beat divisions, giving users more precise control over both free-running and rhythmically locked modulation. There are also seven LFO waveforms to choose from, plus a new Morph parameter for reshaping the selected waveform.

Source: Ableton Live

Stem Separation improvements

Stem Separation, which came to Live Suite in 12.3, is more flexible and intuitive in 12.4.

In Arrangement View you can now separate a specific time selection of a clip, rather than processing an entire clip each time. If you only want to retain some of a clip’s stems – for instance, everything except the vocals – you can now ask Live to combine the ones you want to keep into a single clip, rather than create a separate track for each processed stem. And a new unified progress bar shows the progress of the entire operation, rather than per stem.

There are also a few useful technical improvements under the hood. Exported stem files now retain the same bit depth as the source material, and on computers running macOS 26.3, Stem Separation can use the GPU instead of the CPU to speed up the process.

Source: Ableton Live

Learn View

Learn View, the successor to Live’s Help View, guides you through the basic workflows and core concepts of Live, combining short videos with written explanations. You can track your progress by checking off lessons as you complete them.

All of the available videos are also accessible via the Learn View playlist on YouTube. New modules will continue to be added in the future and can be released independently from Live updates, so you don't have to wait for a new version of Live to access new content.

Lessons can also be filtered by topic, and video tutorials can be opened in a separate Picture-in-Picture window, making it easier to follow along while working inside Live.

Updates to Push

Link Audio and MIDI Mapping, new in 12.4, make it even easier to connect, play and control your gear with Push. You can now create and modify MIDI controller mappings from Push Standalone, customize which control scripts your connected MIDI device uses, and deactivate control scripts entirely to make space for your own custom mappings. MIDI mapping is also partly accessible via Live on Push 2 and the tethered version of Push 3.

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On Push Standalone, Link Audio lets you receive audio – either from individual channels or the Main output – from other Link Audio-enabled devices in real time. Link Audio also allows you to send audio – either individual channels or the Main output – from Push Standalone to computers running Live or to Link Audio-enabled devices on the same local network.

Live 12.4 also lets you do more with Max for Live devices on Push 2 and 3, with the option to add more M4L device parameters to the Device View.

Quick Tags improvements

There are also some useful Browser improvements in Live 12.4. Quick Tags now lets users create new tags, parent tags, and tag groups directly from the Browser. This is a small but very welcome workflow update for anyone who spends a lot of time organizing samples, presets, plug-ins, and custom sound libraries inside Live.

Max for Live changes

Max for Live has received a more technical update as well. Live 12.4 includes Max 9.1.4 and adds a new Max for Live Developer Mode in the Options menu. There are also new parameter visibility options, including Visible and Visible (Not Stored), plus additional parameter behavior settings for developers who want more control over automation, undo history, and preset storage.

Arrangement View / smaller workflow improvements

Live 12.4 also includes a few smaller Arrangement View workflow improvements. On macOS, Cmd-clicking in the Arrangement can now temporarily disable the grid for more precise off-grid placement of the insert marker or time selection. Ableton has also added a new Copy Time command, available with Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + C.

Wavetable voice count

Wavetable has also been expanded slightly in this update. The instrument now supports up to 16 voices, which gives users more room for larger polyphonic patches, layered chords, and more sustained synth parts without cutting voices as quickly.

Core Library additions

The Core Library has been updated too. Live 12.4 adds new Audio Effect Racks, including Vocal Strip Complete and Guitar Amp Stack, alongside new Drum Racks by KUČKA. Ableton has also added new presets for the updated Erosion, Chorus-Ensemble, and Delay devices, giving users a quick way to explore the refreshed effects.

Control surface and hardware support

Live 12.4 also brings a few control surface updates. The update adds support for the Akai MPK mini IV, while Launchkey Mini MK4, Launchkey MK4, and Ableton Move now support changing step duration directly in the step sequencer. Move’s control surface integration has also been improved with support for audio clips in Note Mode.

More for Move and Note

Live 12.4 is being released alongside Move 2.0 and Note 2.0, introducing audio tracks, Link Audio and two new devices.

You can now add audio tracks to both Move and Note, add audio clips from the library, record directly via microphone or (on Move) line-in or USB-C, and warp the resulting sound with an algorithm that maintains the pitch of the original sound while altering the tempo – or vice versa.

Auto Shift and Erosion, two effects from Live, are now available on Move and Note, opening up new possibilities for processing vocals and coloring sounds.

Finally, Link Audio lets you stream multi-channel audio from Move or Note to Live and Push in real time.

Bug fixes and stability

As usual, Live 12.4 also includes a long list of fixes. Some of the more notable ones include improved stability when using certain Soundtoys plug-ins, fixes for Undo-related crashes, better handling of MIDI files that contain only meta events such as tempo or time signature data, and improvements to clip looping, fullscreen behavior on macOS, and Live Set recovery.

For more information about what the new Ableton 12.4 update brings, please visit the official website.