Ableton Live 12.4 streams audio between devices and lets you split stems from a selection

Ableton released Live 12.4 on 5 May 2026, and MusicTech reports it is a free update for existing Live 12 owners. Ableton also shipped Move 2.0 the same day. The update list is long: a new Learn View, device changes, browser tagging. Two changes matter most for how people actually make music. Audio can now travel between Ableton's devices over a network, and stem separation is now precise enough to become an everyday editing tool.

What is Link Audio?

Ableton Link syncs tempo and transport between devices. Link Audio streams the sound itself between devices on the same local network, over wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi. In Live, another peer shows up as an input next to your audio interface's inputs. You can monitor or record it, and Ableton says recordings are compensated for latency automatically. From Live, Push or Move, any track with an audio output can be sent, including return tracks and the main output.

Not every device can do both. According to Ableton's own notes, Live and Push can send and receive, while Move and Note can only send. The FAQ specifies Push 3 in standalone mode. Link Audio also works over localhost, between several instances of Live or other apps that support it on one computer. That could replace some of the routing software people use today.

What changed on Move and Note?

Move 2.0 adds audio tracks alongside MIDI tracks. You can record straight into a track, and built-in time-stretching keeps clips at the set tempo, with tempo and pitch adjustable separately. MusicTech reports that Note, Ableton's iOS app, gets audio tracks and recording too, and that Move can record from line-in and USB-C as well as its microphone. Sets made on Move 2.0 need Live 12.4 to open correctly.

What does stem separation do now?

Stem separation arrived in Live 12.3 Suite. It is not in Standard, Intro or Lite, and it runs locally on algorithms from Music AI, the company behind Moises. In 12.4 it processes only the audible part of a clip, and in Arrangement View it can separate just a selected portion. A new "Merge to single track" option combines the stems you pick into one new audio track. Ableton's own example is splitting out the vocal and merging everything else. Push 3 standalone can separate stems too, but only in the faster, lower-quality mode, per the FAQ.

How is it holding up for artists?

Evidence is thin and mostly anecdotal, so treat it that way. On r/ableton, one user started a thread asking others how Link Audio has gone for them, and another posted a review calling the built-in stem separation mind-blowing. We could not open either thread to read the replies. On the Elektronauts Move thread in July, one Move owner said latency was usable but still a little high even at the lowest buffer. They also needed to record other gear at the same time, gave up on Link Audio for that setup and called it more trouble than expected. Another owner said a single USB-C cable to the computer gave latency they barely noticed, with no dropouts.

Ableton's documentation backs up the caution. The FAQ says wired Ethernet is the most stable, lowest-latency option, that Wi-Fi may be less reliable, and that you should use a wired connection where possible, "especially in live performance situations". Its troubleshooting advice for dropouts and crackling starts with switching to Ethernet. Only one peer in a session can enable Sync to Incoming Audio. Public or corporate networks may block the peer-to-peer traffic Link Audio needs. And the 12.4.1 release notes fixed a bug where recorded Link Audio was not properly aligned.

What we think

Link Audio is Ableton's bet that the studio of the future is several small boxes and one network. That suits the way Move and Note are being used: as sketchpads that feed a computer, not replace it. The second-order effect is that a network becomes part of your instrument. A home studio on a decent router will be fine. A shared rehearsal space, a venue's guest Wi-Fi, or a festival stage full of phones is a different matter, and Ableton's own advice amounts to "bring a cable". For live sets, we would treat Link Audio over Wi-Fi as a convenience for jams, not something to build a show on until you have tested it at the venue. Note also that Move and Note can only send. Ableton's ecosystem still assumes Live or Push sits at the centre, which keeps you buying in at the top.

Stem separation on a selection changes sampling habits, and Ableton is quiet about the consequences. Since 12.3, Suite owners haven't needed a separate tool to split a record. With 12.4 they can take the vocal from just the few bars they want, right in the arrangement, and it lands on its own track. For learning, practising, and remixing your own catalogue or stems you have licensed, that is a real gift. Producers with old bounces and no project files can get parts back.

But the U.S. Copyright Office treats a song's composition and its recording as two separate works. Our reading: an acapella you pull from someone else's record is still part of both, however cleanly the software split it. Separation makes the sample easier to take. It doesn't make it yours. Ableton's stem separation page pitches remixes, DJ edits and mashups, yet says nothing about rights or clearance. We think it should, in the product as well as on the marketing page. The people who lose out are the session singers and session players whose performances become free raw material for anyone with Suite. Bedroom producers also stand to lose if they release an uncleared flip, because that leaves them open to takedowns or claims they can't easily answer. Use it freely for learning and for your own material. For anything you plan to release, clear it first.