Studio One strengths

[braj]

Well drag and drop from the sequencer to Trilian is a no-go, so that's out. But it didn't work in Reaper either It is easy to right-click a part and send it to a midi file, probably don't need to do this often anyhow, a couple times per project, so not a big deal, it works and it will be locked to the same groove that S1 uses.

ck pattern arp plus doesn't work, at least the plugin is showing that it isn't properly registered. But I could use Reaper when I want to use that I guess, or figure out some other way. I mailed the developer about it.

Consequence works fine, and complex chains routing plug>plug>plug work fine and aren't hard to set up.

[braj]

multi-channel Pianoroll

Yeah I need to explore that further, one thing I really like about Reaper is that you can edit midi right in the timeline so you can eaily line things up, but the multi-channel Pianoroll and groove system should be more productive I think.

I also ran Diva without killing my system, they MUST have improved the performance, because lat time (at 2.0.1 or something) it just crackled and that's why I stopped considering S1. But now it seems reasonable, and maybe about the same as Reaper, I can play the patches that play well in Reaper now, like Protocol plays very nicely for example. CPU isn't as much of a concern as last time I tried Studio One at least.

[braj]

Does anyone have any experience rewiring Studio One and Reaper? Besides that arp I'm not sure why I would do this but you never know, just wondering if it works ok.

[Resonator63]

If you're looking for a good arpeggiator/step sequencer FL Studio rewired into Studio One or used as a vst works well.

[LawrenceF]

Or just (maybe?) try to grab the demo again with a different email addy and reg name

I did that, thanks for the suggestion, I didn't think of being sneaky

Even though I've resisted saying that out loud out of courtesy (and it being somewhat blatantly obvious, if it works) I'm not actually sure it's "sneaky". If it works, I assume it works because they allow it work.

Cubase, OTOH, is dead rigid 30 days. Once you burn that dongle license it's done. But they will extend it if you ask though... Steiny, which is why I also suggested that (maybe?) the most polite thing to do might be to just ask PreSonus to extend your demo period?

[aMUSEd]

I thought S1 was supposed to be simple but my first attempt to actually create an album project is becoming a bit of a chore. I have ten tracks, all different lengths, each one is basically one song. But when I try and export to stems it keeps exporting them at 5 minutes each which means half of them have long strips of silence. Why can't it tell how long each track is? I just want it to export each audio clip so I can make the ten tracks I have into the ten songs in the project.

[LawrenceF]

Yeah I need to explore that further, one thing I really like about Reaper is that you can edit midi right in the timeline so you can eaily line things up,

For sure. Reaper's inline editing (inline editing in general) can be very handy indeed.

The methodology for that (lining things up) is a little different in S1. What you want to do is turn on "Follow Edit Position" which makes the cursor track the edits, like moving a midi note while watching the cursor in arrange over an audio or midi clip. Once you grab something with that function turned on, it's pretty easy to line it up with something else.

[LawrenceF]

I have ten tracks, all different lengths, each one is basically one song. But when I try and export to stems it keeps exporting them at 5 minutes each which means half of them have long strips of silence. Why can't it tell how long each track is? I just want it to export each audio clip so I can make the ten tracks I have into the ten songs in the project.

Mix files? Are you going to be importing those into a mastering project in the song page for mastering? I kinda get what you're saying I think but maybe not fully.

It won't export stems of different lengths at the same time. It will bounce files with FX in place (Transform) or export consolidated files without FX.

So maybe if you give me an idea of what you're doing exactly I can maybe give you a best case possibility. Not that it will necessarily be dead easy... it depends on what you're doing exactly. If you're going to master the files in the project screen and you've been using the song page for some editing on them first, just bounce / consolidate the files in place to make new files trimmed to whatever their lengths are.

If they have FX inserted on channels (which wouldn't make sense if you plan to master in the project screen, which is why I asked) you'll have to bounce / stem them, or Transform them, to capture the plugs.

[aMUSEd]

They don't have any plugins - just ten audio clips - each a separate songtrack. I thought it would be possible to just tell S1 to transfer them all into a project and make it an album but it keeps setting them to 5 minute lengths and ignoring the fact each audio track is a different length.

[LawrenceF]

They don't have any plugins - just ten audio clips - each a separate songtrack. I thought it would be possible to just tell S1 to transfer them all into a project and make it an album but it keeps setting them to 5 minute lengths and ignoring the fact each audio track is a different length.

Yeah... no you don't wanna do that. The relationship between the song page and the project page is 1-to-1, so that wouldn't work anyway. Just don't use the song page for that. Create a new mastering project and just drop the files in there directly.

If you were editing them in the song page for some reason (before mastering?) consolidate them first, create a new project, drop in the consolidated files.

That's what I was actually asking, why (for what reason) you loaded them in the song page. Sending something to the project page from the song page (Add to Project) assumes a mix of the tracks in the current song, not multiple mix files.

[braj]

I just tested out the Melodyne integration, it is slick so I have send Presonus an email to find out if I can crossgrade to Pro via my Reaper license and order from zzounds.com . I think I am sold. Thanks for the advice everyone, especially on getting the demo working, because that tells me more than any videos can really.

[koolkeys]

EDIT: DOH! Just saw that you did get the demo extended, but I'll leave my post below in case it helps at all. I should have read the latest posts before posting mine!

I haven't read any posts from the third or fourth pages, but here is my experience.

Reaper has the strengths you already know about. Yes, it's flexible. Yes, it's tweakable and efficient.

However, Studio One, for me, just clicks. The way everything is drag and drop is great. While other hosts have it, no hosts go this far. You can do the little things like when you have a plugin window open, you can switch between all the plugins on a track using tabs inside of the plugin window. And you can reorder the plugins on the track without ever opening up the mixer or inspector, again by dragging and dropping the tabs inside the plugin window.

Plus, things like the Melodyne integration are fantastic. Keep in mind that this is NOT just an included Melodyne plugin. Instead, how would you like to analyze a clip with Melodyne, then alt-drag that analyzed audio clip to another track as a MIDI file? You can do that. Or using the Melodyne analyzed track as a groove template for other tracks. And S1 is always aware of what Melodyne is doing, and vice-versa. If you make a change to your audio file, it is reflected in Melodyne, etc. The whole thing is very automatic and you won't find the integration like this ANYWHERE else, at least not yet(the technology will be available to others at some point, if not already).

The way you can drag audio clips directly into the browser to save them to your computer. No dialogs, no options menus, just quick drag and drop saving of audio files(though, of course, the other methods are available).

It goes on and on, but you get the idea. I have never seen a more well thought out DAW host in terms of least possible steps to get the job done. Want to save an effects chain? Just drag the chain directly from the track into the browser and boom, it's there wherever you placed it.

And then you have pro level features like the groove quantize which lets you analyze and adjust transients directly on the track.

If you have a clip on your timeline that you want to use as a groove template, just drag the clip directly to the quantize panel and boom, done. Then just select the clips you want to apply that groove to, hit "apply", and done.

Plus, Studio One Pro/Producer includes the mastering view, or "Project" view, which is fantastic for allowing you to master and produce your CD, or upload it, or whatever, and you can make changes in your projects and they are automatically made in the project view with no rendering needed.

Studio One may not have every feature in the book, but I have just not seen a host that is this easy and intuitive to use. Sure, I use other hosts, including Reaper, regularly. But why not just use 64-bit Rewire to Rewire Reaper within Studio One, eh?

You have great controller mapping, some very unique tools for warping your automation, etc. Plus, with 2.0.5 you have custom macros with a customizable macro toolbar, and lots more.

Plenty of strengths, and while not perfect, it's very powerful.

Also, you mentioned that though you like the customization of Reaper, you like the way you can't do it in Studio One. And I agree. IMO, Studio One gets it right out of the box in terms of interface. There is no need for a custom theme as it is a very well thought out GUI. Of course, I do like using various Reaper themes, but with Studio One, I have never once thought of it or desired that ability.

I use both programs, and love them both. I hope you can get your demo extended!

Brent

[hibidy]

Yeah, if I could use S1, it would be my main squeeze almost certainly.

The improvements in version 2 are substantial.

[koolkeys]

I thought S1 was supposed to be simple but my first attempt to actually create an album project is becoming a bit of a chore. I have ten tracks, all different lengths, each one is basically one song. But when I try and export to stems it keeps exporting them at 5 minutes each which means half of them have long strips of silence. Why can't it tell how long each track is? I just want it to export each audio clip so I can make the ten tracks I have into the ten songs in the project.

Are you trying to export the files to your system somewhere? Have you tried dragging them from the timeline directly into the file browser to save them? You can shift select multiple files and drag them all out at the same time and it will export them.

Or maybe I'm missing something, in which case, never mind!

Brent

[braj]

@Brent, yeah I'm about there regarding buying it, I'm just waiting for confirmation from Presonus that I can get it from zzounds with Reaper giving me the crossgrade discount. And the fact that Reaper is so lightweight itself makes the thought of rewiring it on occasion not too scary. And the only real reason I may want to do that is probably for incompatible plugins. That CK Pattern Arp Plus doesn't work right now is my only real disappointment, and that may not have anything at all to do with the host, I'm awaiting some word from the developer.

I'm a little confused regarding 'midi plugins' ie. exactly what is the difference between them and Catanya for example? I also get a bit confused about how the tracks relate in the timeline vs. the mixer, in Reaper they are all 1 for 1 so I need to get used to that. I know a lot of people say Reaper's UI is confusing but I am really comfortable with it for the most part.