Studio One 5 Available Now (5.3 Out June 29th, 2021)

[Fornicras]

I use an SSD with Studio One (and everyone should do the same, it's 2021) and my plugin scan took 3 mins the first time I scanned 400 plugins and now it takes 3 seconds whenever I start Studio One. It's fast enough. And if you don't want that just disable it. Processing, loading/saving projects, loading samples, exporting mixdown, etc. is incredibly fast for me, at least it's much faster than FL Studio. It exports a song of 4 min which is all midi and has tons of plugins as inserts in 90 seconds FFS.

I think I should also mention that I have 9900k and 64gb ram.

Loading Projects in Studio One is a lot slower than Cubase and slower than Cakewalk. The larger the project gets, the worse it gets. So, I'm going to assume you're exaggerating.

The VST scan definitely takes more than 3 seconds on my machines. Both of them, and I definitely don't have 400 plug-ins installed. That sounds awful, regardless of the DAW.

Another thing that pisses me off is the MODAL dialog that pops up if you have a MIDI Controller with an On/Off Switch and start up the DAW with it turned off.

I didn't use Cubase or Cakewalk so I don't know but it doesn't feel slow for me. My projects don't usually have more than 25 tracks though.

VST scan takes less and less when I open Studio One, right now it's showing 2.8 seconds for 400+ plugins. It took longer than that when I first installed SO5 and scanned them of course. But now, it's not a problem. (all VSTs installed on a fast SSD)

You can turn that behavior off by unticking this box in "External Devices" section:

[billcarroll]

Hit 'N' to disable grid snapping. I know, it's weird they did it like that

BTW, you can create your custom macro that will disable snapping, perform the bounce and enable the snapping back.

Thanks I'll be giving this a go tomorrow when I get back to the DAW!

What are your quantize settings set to?

Not been at the Daw for last days so can't check but does that affect how long a bounce will be ?

I believe it will bounce a length based on your quantize settings if snap is enabled

[BONES]

I don't like the way it handles virtual instruments. Everything on tiny tabs in one window, and no Synth Rack.

You have to be kidding me? The Rack in Cubase was the reason I didn't buy it in 2002. It's a horrid kludge that you just happen to be used to. It's redundant in both Cubase and Studio One.

Things like Kontakt and SampleTank I like to put in Synth Rack and then create my own MIDI and Audio Tracks, Busses, etc. Studio One forces you to use an Instrument Track for every virtual instrument.

What other possible reason could you have for adding an instrument into the project? If you are going to use it in the piece you are working on, it is going to have to be in a track/channel. If you aren't going to use it, why bother loading it into the project?

Also, you can't set up an external audio editor.

But you can edit audio in Studio one.

And that awful VST scan on every boot up.

The first time you start it in a session, it takes a while but after that it races through it in a couple of seconds. It is also something you can turn off in preferences, if you'd rather only do a scan, manually, when you've installed something new. It's been a while since I fired up Cubase but my recollection is that it wasn't any faster to start.

2021 and still no List View/Event Editor.

That's because List views and event editors are from the 1980s.

I use it largely as a backup on my laptop, but it will be uninstalled the second the Cubase Dongle Divorce comes through and I can install that on two PCs (confirmed to be coming).

Really? You do realise that the whole big advantage of something that uses a dongle is that you can install it on a hundred computers and it will work with all of them, provided you have the dongle plugged in. I bet you work on a Mac, don't you?

Personally, I find Studio One is less mousing around than other DAW's I use or have used. Tons of key commands and the ability to create macros and then map them to key commands saves me tons of time and mousing around. Just my opinion of course.

Menus save me the most time. e.g. If I want to add an effect to an instrument, I click on the triangle in the channel strip and select it from the menu. I don't feel any need to set up macros for anything, I find it all very straightforward and the workflow is plenty fast enough without having to waste any time learning hotkeys or setting anything up.

Not sure what a "synth rack" is ? Is that something like Reason rack ? What DAWs have a "synth rack" ?

It's something Steinberg put into Cubase 20 years ago, to try and make it easier to work with VSTis when they first invented them. It was the clunkiest workflow imaginable and was soon replaced with better options.

2. That completely nixes all categorization for the plug-ins. Everything is in one huge list. Not optimal, or even close.

If that's the case, you've pressed the wrong button, you can disable thumbnails without losing other options. It was just about the first thing I did when I started using S1.

3. My system is running off a PCIe 4 SSD. My Sample Libraries are on a PCIe 3 SSD. Even still, Cubase loads the equivalent template and projects about 5x faster than Studio One 5.3 on my laptop where the system is on a PCIe 3 SSD and the Sample Libraries are on a Samsung T5 external SSD. My storage speed is not the issue.

That's interesting because I really don't notice much difference in loading speed at all. I honestly couldn't say if one was faster than the other. What I can say, though, is the way S1 allows you to load as many projects as you like and flick between them shits all over Cubase. Having to manually activate the project you want to work on feels so clunky and ancient.

[AdvancedFollower]

For me the VST scan takes just over a minute for 846 plugins, but the second time I launch Studio One, it only takes 4.5 seconds. I guess it's cached in RAM the second time. I'm running an old Samsung 850 Evo SATA SSD, though. Thinking the first scan might be faster with a newer PCI-E NVMe SSD.

I tried disabling the plug-in scan on startup, but this seems to cause some plugins (mostly Waves...) to not show up.

[chk071]

I always thought the "second scan of the day" was only a quick scan. It is indeed much faster than when you boot up Studio One for the first time after you booted your computer.

Anyway, never had an issue with it. I'll go grab a drink in the meantime.

[apoclypse]

I've never had issues with S1's VST scan, it's speedy. Since you can turn it off if you want I see it as a non-issue.

As for being slow. Having used Cubase before I find S1 loads projects about the same. If you are a Live user, S1 and Cubase are running at light speed in comparison when it comes to loading projects. It may not even be that much slower at loading projects than other DAWs but without a progress bar to show you what is happening it leaves you kind of in the wind and that makes it seem even longer.

A lot of times the progress bar is just a placebo to let users know something is going on. Giving them a spinning wheel with no information makes it seem like nothing is happening.

[Serhii Kot]

I have some thoughts. Interesting to hear yours. Let's imagine this hypothetical situation.

What if Presonus will drop Studio One 6 in the next couple of months, and breaks its usual update cycle. But the new feature set will justify an update.
What will your emotions be?

(My thoughts are that it can justify buying their subscription offer if the update cycle will be less than 2-3 years, but my feelings about this are mixed. Or maybe paid 5.5 update with significant feature set).

[Fornicras]

Which youtube/twitch channel can you recommend that makes R&B and Trap beats with Studio One?
I want to see how their workflow is.

[BONES]

What's so special about "R&B and Trap beats" that you need to see anything specific? We're all making music and we all do it pretty much the same way. Go and watch Gregor's videos.

What if Presonus will drop Studio One 6 in the next couple of months, and breaks its usual update cycle. But the new feature set will justify an update.
What will your emotions be?

I probably won't care because I like it the way it is now. I can't think what they might put into it that would make me feel like I absolutely have to update.

[Dark Lights]

I've seen one YT video, where the guy said that the Room reverb was drastically improved in v5. Is that true?

[chk071]

What if Presonus will drop Studio One 6 in the next couple of months, and breaks its usual update cycle. But the new feature set will justify an update.

I'm pretty sure that they will stick to their 2 years cycle now. All signs point to that.

So, Studio One 6 -> mid 2022.

[AdvancedFollower]

I have some thoughts. Interesting to hear yours. Let's imagine this hypothetical situation.

What if Presonus will drop Studio One 6 in the next couple of months, and breaks its usual update cycle. But the new feature set will justify an update.
What will your emotions be?

(My thoughts are that it can justify buying their subscription offer if the update cycle will be less than 2-3 years, but my feelings about this are mixed. Or maybe paid 5.5 update with significant feature set).

Well those would still have been features that they could have included in a free 5.5 update but chose not to, so my feelings would be that they'd be trying to push everyone to their subscription model by diminishing the value of the perpetually licensed product.

If this happens, I would move to another DAW. I already have licenses for FL and Reaper, the former having lifetime free updates and the latter one of the most generous upgrade policies in the industry. There's also the free Cakewalk that's still evolving and improving. Basically there's too much competition for PreSonus to be able to risk such a move.

[antic604]

What if Presonus will drop Studio One 6 in the next couple of months, and breaks its usual update cycle. But the new feature set will justify an update.
What will your emotions be?

That depends on the features added and thus would be very subjective.

I'd pay today for a suite of modulation devices (LFO, MSEG, Env. Follower, etc.) or shared Arranger Track regions. Those two would actually complete S1 for me.

On the other hand if it was something about notation or Show Page, I just wouldn't care and probably would just postpone the upgrade.

[Fornicras]

I have some thoughts. Interesting to hear yours. Let's imagine this hypothetical situation.

What if Presonus will drop Studio One 6 in the next couple of months, and breaks its usual update cycle. But the new feature set will justify an update.
What will your emotions be?

(My thoughts are that it can justify buying their subscription offer if the update cycle will be less than 2-3 years, but my feelings about this are mixed. Or maybe paid 5.5 update with significant feature set).

Well those would still have been features that they could have included in a free 5.5 update but chose not to, so my feelings would be that they'd be trying to push everyone to their subscription model by diminishing the value of the perpetually licensed product.

If this happens, I would move to another DAW. I already have licenses for FL and Reaper, the former having lifetime free updates and the latter one of the most generous upgrade policies in the industry. There's also the free Cakewalk that's still evolving and improving. Basically there's too much competition for PreSonus to be able to risk such a move.

About a month ago, I thought about getting Sphere but looking into it I didn't see myself using the tools they provide with Sphere so I go ahead with crossgrade for $180.

Now that I'm used to Studio One and use their plugins quite often, I can see myself using Sphere, but it just doesn't make sense if you have the Pro license already. They should offer half the price if you own the pro license IMO. Why should I pay the same fee with someone that has not paid for the license? Feels like it's a ripoff when you think that way. It's about $16 per month with my local pricing, if it was $8 per month I'd get it without hesitating.

I'm also the type of person that always loves to use the most updated version of a software. So I think I will buy SO6 when it comes out even though I will not use the features they add, so Sphere makes sense to me.

[antic604]

Why should I pay the same fee with someone that has not paid for the license? Feels like it's a ripoff when you think that way. It's about $16 per month with my local pricing, if it was $8 per month I'd get it without hesitating.

Just sell the Pro license. You should be able to get ~$200 for it. That basically gives you Sphere for 2 years at half the price

You can also buy yearly Sphere sub for $149 at audiodeluxe.com (once it's in the basket):
https://www.audiodeluxe.com/products/au ... membership