---
title: System Requirements
description: "What do I need to use the KeySwitch & Expression Map? Is it running with Ableton 9, 10 or 11? Please find here answers to these questions."
url: "https://www.swub.de/software/support/article/keyswitch-expression-map_system-requirements/"
updated: "2025-01-06"
category: Manual
tags:
  - Ableton Live 10
  - Ableton Live 11
  - Ableton Live 9
  - Ableton Version
  - CPU
  - Hardware
  - M4L
  - Max For Live
  - RAM
  - System Requirements
---

# System Requirements

### Max For Live

The KeySwitch & Expression Map is a Max For Live device.

Max For Live is part of the Ableton Live **Suite**. If you use Ableton Live **Standard** you have to buy an add-on license to use this device. Ableton Live **Lite** and **Intro** do not support Max For Live!
Please find more information here:

[https://www.ableton.com/en/live/max-for-live](https://www.ableton.com/en/live/max-for-live)

[https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/206407124-Buying-Max-for-Live-](https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/206407124-Buying-Max-for-Live-)

### Ableton Version

The device works with **Ableton 10**, **11** and **12**.

Only if you use the new color themes (e.g. Immaterial or Angst Robot) in Ableton 12, I discovered a problem with the readability of the font color. This will be fixed with the next update, which will be released in March 2025.

Generally, it works also in **Ableton 9** and **Max For Live 7**, but there are some bugs or functions missing you should be aware of:

- Ableton Live 9 uses another font which causes some minor issues in the design.
- You cannot reset a value with a double-click on a live.numbox.
- If you want to define a MIDI note for the key switch, there is a bug with sharp notes. They are displayed and you can set them with the mouse, but it is not possible to type a “#” with the computer keyboard.
- Since Ableton Live 9 does not yet have the ability to chase MIDI notes, the key switch settings are only applied after the timeline cursor has passed the envelope's breakpoint. So you cannot jump through the timeline and the good articulation, instrument or MIDI effect is played directly.

### Hardware

The device has no effect on your computer's CPU. Therefore, you can use it on any system and there are no hardware requirements.

However, if you intend to use the KeySwitch & Expression Map to work with many tracks and a lot of articulations for each VST instrument in your projects, I would recommend that you have at least **16 GB** of **RAM**. Especially older VST players often preload a lot of a sample into the memory because there were no fast SSDs (Solid State Drives) in their days. This can quickly sum up to several gigabytes.

The device itself also requires about 65 MB for each instance due to the high number of parameter boxes in the KeySwitch Editor, so that you can comfortably create your key switches and easily change them at any time.

How did I measured that? I loaded the device into 100 tracks. Then I subtracted the approx. 800 MB for Ableton with 100 empty tracks and divided the rest by 100.