Photo courtesy of PreSonus
April 4th, 2009 – Logic, ProTools, Ableton, Cubase, Nuendo, Cakewalk, Garageband, Ardour, Reaper…these are the names I came up with off the top of my head of the available music software out there, well until I got bored and stopped. Soon, you’ll be able to add PreSonus’ Studio One to the list.
PreSonus is perhaps more well known for their line of popular audio interfaces, than for making DAWs. If you hop on over to the Synthtopia link below, you can watch some overview videos of how it looks and functions. Contrary to their assertion that it makes music production easier than any other solution, I didn’t see anything that was revolutionary over Logic or ProTools and it certainly looks a lot like Logic.
One thing Studio One has that other software doesn’t, is an integrated “mastering” environment. This is not to say that you couldn’t master in other software. In fact, I usually perform my mastering of individual tracks in Logic or ProTools using the Waves plug-ins, and then compiling in separate software. But while both higher end versions come with separate mastering software included, you would still need to open other software to compile a CD. I may not be in PreSonus’ target market, but why does a person need the mastering of a CD to be in a separate tab of the same session? With the size of audio files today, that would mean a lot of memory usage. Call me old fashioned, but I like my modules simple, separate, and speedy.
Release information is scarce, but the Studio One is expected to ship free with all PreSonus interfaces. There’s no word on if the software will be available separately to users of other hardware. For all you PreSonus hardware users out there, would the Studio One compel you to switch from your favorite DAW if it came free with your hardware?
15 Comments, Comment or Ping
Sebastien Orban
I’m curious, because I own an entry model soundcard from them. But beside that : why another sequencer ? And why does it look like so much like others ?
There’s room to innovate in the interface design I think, to give us other way of doing music. Live with his “live” view is an example of this for me (and one that I like).
So, no, not going to switch. Sorry, but at first view, not much to entice me to do it.
Apr 5th, 2009
stephan
This is one of the few articles i read here where i absolutely CAN´T agree… just because it´s so full of mistakes. have you read what’s written on the presonus website? no right? sorry, but had to be said… even if i wouldn´t change my protools setup
Apr 6th, 2009
Sean
@Stephan : I’m not sure what you find inaccurate in this post. I did in fact read all the materials on the Presonus website, as well as viewed their official videos on the Studio One before I wrote this post. Are you disputing that PreSonus makes popular musical interfaces, or are you disputing that mastering should be done in the same software, and in the same session you’ve mixed your song in? Perhaps I’ve missed something you’d care to elaborate on.
Apr 6th, 2009
stephan
For example: “There’s no word on if the software will be available separately to users of other hardware.”
… but presonus says: Compatible with any ASIO-, Windows Audio-,or Core Audio-compliant audio interface
And “Call me old fashioned, but I like my modules simple, separate, and speedy”
Well that´s kind of taste, but what i saw was much faster than any other host i know.
Sorry, but this article seems crude to me and like you won´t give it a chance, whatever it will be able to accomplish. As I said it´s the first article i read here that makes that impression to me. Keep up your good work.
Apr 7th, 2009
Sean
@stephan : You’re right, I missed the part about Studio One being available for other interfaces. As for the performance aspect of having a mastering session and song session open at the same time, it looks quick in the video, but I suspect in a complex mixing session with plenty of effects, you’d want as much memory to keep things going as possible and would have the mastering tab closed. As you stated, I probably dismissed the Studio One too quickly. Cheers
Apr 7th, 2009
SongArtist
I like the layout and workflow, particularly the drag n drop (on-the-fly) features. The other standout is Mastering to CD and other formats being fully integrated in Studio One.
What I’m waiting to confirm before purchase is…
> How well will Studio-One can handle (rec/playback/edit/routing) 3rd-party VSTi and VST plugins (softsynths and effects) particularly VSTi’s in both single and multitimbral modes?
I have a Addictive Drums, KitCore, SampleTank, SonikSynth, T-Racks3, Ozone3, Ozone4, Melodyne and various other 3rd-party plugins that I use extensively.
* The other questions are:
> Does Studio One include professional quality audio quantize and transpose such as ‘Elastic Audio’ (time/pitch stretching) and can it be done on the whole project (song) and not just per-track basis)?
> Good workflow / editing of envelopes.
> Easily handle 100 or more audio tracks with at least twelve instances of 3rd-Party effects plugins (VST) on a Core2 Quad PC? (my DAW setup can do that now using SONAR)
What I have mentioned above are key areas I think will determine Studio One success. It has to compete with the likes of for example… Cubase, Nuendo, Sonar, Ableton, Logic, DP, Reaper, ProToolsHD.
So far, Studio One looks great according to the specs and after viewing the videos! But hands-on experience will determine it’s fate.
Jun 25th, 2009
chitownmack
Ive been using this for about a month. After 2 weeks it became my DAW of choice. I have it connected to my Projectmix I/O and the only problem I had was configuring MIDI output but I figured it out after some trial and error. The project mix works with my Ableton and Protools setup so it was just unfamiliarity on my part. We’ve recorded 2 songs on it and put it through the wringer and it is more stable than Protools and doesnt use nowhere near as much CPU. Ive really taking a liking to it and the plugins are better than I thought. I have issues in Ableton and Protools in MIDI where it doesnt record all the notes. I personally think this is a Projectmix issue but none of those problems exist in Studio One when using TruePianos. I was overly impressed with the whole thing. The one issue I had was you cant change the color of the GUI so you are stuck with the ugly blue-ish gray. As for recording audio, of course it sounds the same as all the others cause thats depended on all the outboard gear. Ive only used Protools and Ableton for the past 5 years so I dont know how it compares to Sonar, Logic and Cubase but it will be my go to DAW from here on out.
Sep 25th, 2009
Sean
@Chitownmack : Thanks for the review! It looks like it’s a serious contender in the DAW market.
Sep 26th, 2009
Ralph
So far I have been using the trial version and I like it so far. First noticeable difference is that the DAW loads much faster than sonar (I use a quad pc). Also the design is much cleaner and easier to use than sonar 8. I love the ability of dragging modules into the track view and the ability to move them around (this is one of the main reasons I am wanting to move away from Sonar 8).
Oct 28th, 2009
Wardak
The writer needs to review the above article lots of misinformation. It’s wise to research before reviewing a subject do away with baseless speculations. Also try and be a little bit more objective. You sound like a scared Pro tools sales person. If that’s the case you have every reason to.
Oct 30th, 2009
Daniel wayne
Man,i just have too say”preSonus studio one pro”,kicks major butt. have been using it since jan 2010.i found it at the namm show.it has proven very easy to run and record.i have been using sonar 8 and that DAW is too confusing .ti say the least.lol and i have also owned protools 7.4 which was pretty cool but i had the same issues as sonar.i’ll be the first to say”im not a computer wiz.so my problems with those daws are probably because of that.lol that being sad,i have been using the DAW called MAGIX MUSIC MAKER 16.this is a very cool and EASY as hell to run.and i wouldn’t go back to the rest………..until “PReSONUS STUDIO ONE PRO”.im a true believer in this DAW now.it makes it fun to work hours now…lol cool, im a fan for sure…lets rock!
Mar 21st, 2010
Sean
@Daniel Wayne: When the newest Studio One build comes out, I’ll have to review it for his site!
Mar 23rd, 2010
Wintersun
Ive been a Protools user for 15 years, A Cubase user for 20 and a logic user for about 10 and i have made the switch to PreSonus.. why ?
Well its like this, the others have lost their way, and are bloated and too menu heavy. PreSonus lacks some stuff, but what it does its the best at, so i will be writing my music with Presonus from now on, its a very veruy quick program and doesnt crash, theres room for improvement but im sure these guys are already on to that.
Mar 28th, 2010
Bill
Just wanted to add that Groove3 just released two volumes of training videos for Studio One.
Nov 6th, 2010
Hiphop Production Training Videos
Its not a bad daw imo
Dec 2nd, 2010
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