History and changes

Comparing saves

What did you change between yesterday’s save and today’s? Compare marks it in the arrangement: new and deleted tracks, moved clips, edited notes, changed automation and every parameter you turned.

A set compared with the save before: unchanged clips dimmed, two new bass tracks outlined in green, a deleted clip as a red dashed outline, a moved clip, three automation lanes, and the list of all 20 changes. — A save compared with the one before. On the right, the list of all changes, opened from the bar above the arrangement.

Starting a comparison

Click ± Compare in the bar above the arrangement. The shown save is compared with the save it was saved over.
Or ⌥-click another save in the History: comparing starts with that one.

Comparing stays on while you click through other saves and projects, until you click the change count or choose Stop Comparing.

What to compare with

The menu next to the button, labelled “vs.” and the other save’s name, picks what to compare with:

Save Before: the save this one was saved over.
Saves of This Project: any other set, with its backups in a submenu.
Other Set…: any .als on your Mac, also from another project.
Don’t Compare.

Your pick stays while you step through the project’s saves.

What the marks mean

In the arrangement	Means
Dimmed clips	Unchanged.
Green outline	New: a clip or track that wasn’t there.
Amber outline	Changed: notes, sample, warping, clip settings.
Blue outline	Moved, with a faint ghost where it was.
Red dashed ghost	Deleted. Deleted tracks show as a tinted lane of ghosts.

Track headers get a badge: + for new, − for deleted, or the number of changes. A hollow ? means a plugin’s settings changed, but the plugin stores them in a form that doesn’t say which.

The count above the arrangement says how many changes there are in all. Only tracks with changes hides the rest.

The list of changes

The changes on a vocal track: volume from −3.3 dB to −2 dB, reverb decay time from 1.20 s to 1.90 s, and the delay’s Dry/Wet automation with its earlier curve dashed under the new one. — A track’s changes: the device, the parameter, before and after.

The changes in a MIDI clip: two notes added, one removed and one edited, drawn as a small piano roll. — A clip’s notes: added, removed and edited.

Click a track’s badge for its changes: each device and parameter with its value before and after.
Click a changed clip for what changed in it, with a small piano roll for notes.
The list button above the arrangement lists every change of the set, from the song (tempo, Main track) to single knobs, with a summary like “+3 tracks · 120 clips · 54 notes · 12 values”.
Click the arrow next to a change to show it in the arrangement.

Automation, before and after

Press A to show automation lanes while comparing. A changed lane draws the earlier curve dashed behind the new one and marks the bars that changed; its change dot opens the track’s list.

Listening to A and B

When either save has a recording from the plugin or a approximate preview, A and B appear above the arrangement. A plays the shown save, B the other, from the same beat. Switch while playing to hear exactly what your changes did.

A save without a recording plays its approximate preview, so A and B work for saves the plugin never recorded too. The compared save’s preview is rendered right after the shown one’s, and B can be chosen once it’s ready. Hold the pointer over A or B to see whether it plays a recording or a preview.

Good to know

Compare works on the sets themselves; Live doesn’t have to be open.
Many plugins store their settings as data without names. Als Preview then shows that something changed in the plugin, but not what.
Comparing isn’t available in Quick Look.