"It's undoubtedly the slickest, most refined ‘DAW-in-a-box’ on the market": Ableton's standalone, MPE-equipped Push 3 is discounted by $499 this Black Friday

Originally conceived as a controller for Ableton's popular DAW Live, Push broke free of its black plastic shackles in 2023 to become a fully-fledged standalone instrument that packed much of Live's functionality into a slick and powerful piece of hardware, making a worthy rival for similar 'DAW-in-a-box'-style devices like the Maschine+ and MPC One.

Push 3 boasts a serious spec sheet, but it doesn't come cheap: the standalone version is priced at $1999, while the tethered controller version costs half that price. Unless it happens to be Black Friday, of course. This Cyber Weekend, Sweetwater has slashed both versions of Push 3 by an impressive 25%, meaning that the standalone Push can now be picked up for $1499, and the controller version is priced at $749. These are not deals to be sniffed at.

Ableton Push 3 Standalone: was US$1,999 now US$1,500 at Sweetwater Sound

Push 3 takes everything you love about Ableton Live and squeezes it into a standalone instrument equipped with 64 MPE-enabled pads, a premium audio/MIDI interface and 256GB of onboard storage. Not only giving you complete access to Ableton's vast arsenal of devices and effects, Push 3 can confidently act as the central hub of your entire set-up, letting you record instruments, sequence external gear, and arrange complete tracks without once reaching for your keyboard and mouse.

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Ableton Push 3: was US$999 now US$749 at Sweetwater Sound

If you're an Ableton Live user that wants to experiment with hardware control without going completely DAWless, Push 3 could be a game-changer. Controlling Live via Push transforms a traditional mouse-bound workflow into something spontaneous, improvisatory and expressive, letting you break free of the computer screen and discover a whole new perspective on electronic music-making. Play melodies, program beats, warp samples, record instruments and arrange entire songs, all from Push's sleek, rubber-clad hardware. Trust us, you'll never look back.

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We rated the Push 3 highly in our 2023 review, praising its responsive MPE pads, intuitive workflow and the seamless continuity when transferring projects via WiFi between the standalone version and Ableton Live. "This new Push is a bit of a revelation," we said.

"It’s undoubtedly the slickest, most refined ‘DAW-in-a-box’ on the market, and whether used standalone or not, the expressive pads make the ‘instrument’ claims feel like more than just marketing speak. In its latest version, Push finally lives up to Ableton’s vision of controller-as-instrument, and standalone mode is a great new way to use Live."

If you're an Ableton Live user looking to switch up their workflow, or an electronic music-maker looking for a versatile hardware alternative to a DAW, Push could be for you. Head over to Sweetwater to snag Push 3 Standalone for $1500 and Push 3 for $749 before Cyber Weekend is over.