Ableton Live - Sample Files; The Decoding and Web Cache

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CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS 42

5.2 Sample Files

A sample is a le that contains audio data. Live can play both uncompressed le formats

(WAV, AIF, REX and Sound Designer II for Mac) and compressed le formats (MP3, AAC,

Ogg Vorbis, Ogg FLAC and FLAC).

A note on using Variable Bit Rate (VBR) les: Please install QuickTime for decoding purposes

if you do not already have it on your system. It can be downloaded from the Apple website

As Live plays the samples directly from disk, you can work with a large number of (large)

samples without running into RAM memory limitations. Please note, however, that you may

run into disk throughput problems if your disk is nearly full, and/or (on Windows systems)

highly fragmented. Hard drive rotation speed can also affect disk perfor mance. Refer to

the section on managing the disk load for more information.

Live can combine uncompressed mono or stereo samples of any length, sample rate or bit

depth without prior conversion. To play a compressed sample, Live decodes the sample and

writes the result to a temporary, uncompressed sample le. This usually happens quickly

enough that you will be able to play the sample right away, without waiting for the decoding

process to nish.

Note: When adding a long sample to a project, Live might tell you that it cannot play the

sample before it has been analyzed. Please see the section on analysis for an explanation.

5.2.1 The Decoding and Web Cache

To save computational resources, Live keeps downloaded Sets and the decoded sample les

of compressed samples in the cache. Maintenance of the cache is normally not required, as

Live automatically deletes older les to make room for those that are new. You can, however,

impose limits on the cache size using the File/Folder Preferences' Decoding & Web Cache

section. The cache will not grow larger than the Maximum Cache Size setting, and it will

always leave the Minimum Free Space on the hard disk. Pressing the nearby Cleanup button

will delete all les not being used by the current Live Set.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download