Akai just confirmed directly to me via twitter that the new Push controller (to be released end of February 2013) will require Ableton Live 9 and above to fully function:
@Akai_Pro: @glitzerstrahl ^SB I believe you should be able to manually map some features in previous versions however you need the latest version
@Akai_Pro: @glitzerstrahl ^SB To fully benefit from the deep integration.
This is really a pity. I was hoping the controller, given its price point, would be made available to users of the earlier versions of Live as well…
I guess it’s just a matter of time though before someone creates a custom midi map that let’s version 8 users take advantage of it…
Glitzerstrahl 
Just a question of time before they decide to make it the worlds second biggest dongle after the MPC Ren
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Maybe you can argue that, but I think it all depends on the musical style whether a tool like Push really becomes a must…
So far the interfaces for live have been very performance oriented. I think Push is going in a slightly different direction as it also caters to those of us that use Live primarily for composing…
Look at NI Maschine for example. Does it make any sense to use that software without the controller? For me personally it does, even though the controller simplifies things a lot…
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