Studio One future?

[antic604]

Looking at the development of S1 over the last 2-3 years i can't help but wonder what is the long-term goal for them? Basically we can split DAWs into 2 (fuzzily separated) groups: creative DAWs like Reason, Live, Bitwig and FL and traditional DAWs like Cubase, Reaper, Logic.

Now I suspect that S1 will try to bridge that gap, considering the features added since v3, like:
- Extended FX Chains which are similar to Racks (or Layers or Combinator or Patcher)
- pattern sequencer
- overhauled beat-friendly sampler and drum machine

Really, if Presonus only added some internal modulation system and clip launcher, then they'd be able to steal a lot of users from 'creative' DAWs group. It already seems to be a 1st choice companion DAW for a lot of them, because it's more streamlined and focused than Cubase or Logic, while retaining core functionalities considered a must for recording, mixing and mastering.

Am I onto something, or am I seeing things?

[oneway]

Well, you could check back in a couple years and you'll find out, won't you?

The people I see getting "peeled off" of creative DAWs like FL Studio and Ableton are leaving because they just can't record and edit audio properly when they need to add vocals to their session. And real commercially successful songs have vocals.

If you offer those people a way to do that well (already have it) and a doesn't-get-in-the-way creative workflow (they're still ironing that out) then you're gold. I think they're going to flesh out the Pattern System instead of clip Launchers and stuff. They just made it so you can save and share and recall patterns- doubt they're gonna launch ANOTHER non-linear aspect of the program.

[antic604]

Well, you could check back in a couple years and you'll find out, won't you?

Yeah, that's definitely one way to do it...

[anomandaris1]

No poly aftertouch (useful for recording various keyboards and electronic drums) and MPE support.
Various glitches (some visual only, but still annoying).

[Meffy]

Antic, I'll bet you'd trounce me at chess every time. You've got that "thinking several plies ahead" thing that I can't, or don't, do. That's doubtless part of why I'm useless at most business-related things too.

Interesting topic.

[roman.i]

I see it as a "poor man Cubase/Pro tools" right now, but the trends looks like in one or two versions they will close the gap and start getting more commercial users from third world countries and the US. They've got a great "lite version" distribution network with their audio interfaces, good pricing and marketing, a serious company behind the product, the software feels polished and intuitive. So it's just a matter of time, it's going to explode in popularity once it gets all the features, and take users mostly from Pro tools and then from Cubase.

[chk071]

Studio One has always been a traditional DAW, even more so than others IMO, building on what DAW's like Cubase offer, and trying to expand on that, and make things easier/produce less clicks, so, I can't imagine that changing in the future. It's appeal and strengths are a streamlined feature set, classic workflow and GUI, and ease of use. I don't think we will see any experimental stuff, and that's a plus in my book.

[recursive one]

The problem with Studio One is that it was already near perfect at v.2. It took me a year and a half to upgrade to v3 and it was some compatibility problem what forced me to do this, not that i actually needed any of the v3 features.

Now I don't see any freaking reason to upgrade to v4. Studio One 3 has everything i need from a DAW.

[andypryce]

It is a great overall DAW with workflow as priority which attracts most of the people.
Cubase and Logic might have more to offer but Studio One has killer workflow features that put them behind. They kind of seem bulky and heavy compared to S1.
It is hard to guess where they are headed. One update you get pattern seq next an updated amp etc
One mostly neglected area is media composing so we might see those features with V5

[antic604]

No poly aftertouch (useful for recording various keyboards and electronic drums) and MPE support.

Good points, but I'm sure they're coming

Antic, I'll bet you'd trounce me at chess every time.

Doubt that, my kids beat me at chess. But thanks

I see it as a "poor man Cubase/Pro tools" right now

That's a bit harsh, but on the other hand I think it's a right strategy - I mean how many Cubase owners really use all those bells & whistles? 10% if I'm being generous? For me the beauty of Bitwig - and Live to a lesser extent - is that the former doesn't have any top-bar manus and in the latter you almost never need it. They give you 95% of necessary stuff right on the screen or under right-click. Studio One - compared to Cubase or Reaper in particular - seems very similar in this: they're focused and streamlined, probably at the expanse of more sophisticated stuff. I actually caught myself getting upset over some feature missing or needing workaround in this or that DAW, only to realise that I probably need it once every 15-20h, so why should I even care? If something takes me 10s instead of 1s but I need it once every few days? I can live with that.

I don't think we will see any experimental stuff, and that's a plus in my book.

Yeah, clip launcher might be too 'exotic' and Sketch Pads fulfill at least on of the roles already: a convenient place to store & try out ideas without "polluting" the main arrangement.

But internal modulation system, i.e. a set of LFOs, MSEGs, Env. Folowers that you can attach to ANYTHING, etc. would be an awesome way to distinguish S1 from Cubase or ProTools (Reaper already has those in the most basic form). And I don't think they're "experimental" stuff at all! If for instance you have a flute sample and want to add a vibrato to it, the easiest way is to put it into a sampler and add an LFO modulating the pitch, whose depth is controlled with an MSEG envelope triggered by a MIDI note (and maybe its own depth by velocity?). Didn't you ever run out of LFOs or Envelopes in a VST? Or wanted to modulate depth or parameters of an FX in some rhythmical manner? Or wanted some thing to get slightly random but still largely contained within a range? Internal modulation systems are not only for procedural ambient and dub techno, but can work in any genre

It's weird how people try to say X features belong here & Y belong there. I wouldn't mind Bitwig getting audio comping, pitch editing or video & notation support, even if I would never touch them myself.

[antic604]

They kind of seem bulky and heavy compared to S1.

So much this! I've a 144Hz screen and I think it's the only DAW where I actually feel the fluidity and how "light" it seems in comparison especially to Cubase.

One update you get pattern seq next an updated amp etc. One mostly neglected area is media composing so we might see those features with V5

That's another thing I like about S1 that's similar to Bitwig - you never know what you're getting next

[roman.i]

That's a bit harsh, but on the other hand I think it's a right strategy - I mean how many Cubase owners really use all those bells & whistles?

I don't think these are "bells and whistles", in some parts Studio One just doesn't have anything compared to Cubase. Take for example the MIDI editor in Cubase in context of manipulating chords. In Cubase it can detect a chord and manipulate it in any way you want. I think Studio One has zero features for chords in the MIDI editor. I think it's a deal breaker for a composer.

[antic604]

I think Studio One has zero features for chords in the MIDI editor. I think it's a deal breaker for a composer.

I believe this particular area got on par - or better - than in Cubase with v4

It can detect key & scale from existing material and apply chord track edits to BOTH midi and audio tracks.

https://www.musicradar.com/how-to/how-t ... hord-track

[oneway]

I think Studio One has zero features for chords in the MIDI editor. I think it's a deal breaker for a composer.

I believe this particular area got on par - or better - than in Cubase with v4

It can detect key & scale from existing material and apply chord track edits to BOTH midi and audio tracks.

https://www.musicradar.com/how-to/how-t ... hord-track

Cubase does that too, that’s about rock bottom as far as Cubase’s features in that area go. It’s a definite shortcoming but the amount of people it affects is relatively small (remember, most DAW users are hobbyists) and those people don’t use everything that Cubase offers in that area either.

I have a feeling they’re going to implement And improve compositional features like that one at a time until people are happy with the feature set there. They probably will never have ALL the features of Cubase in that area but, again, who uses ALL of them?

[roman.i]

I believe this particular area got on par - or better - than in Cubase with v4

It can detect key & scale from existing material and apply chord track edits to BOTH midi and audio tracks.

https://www.musicradar.com/how-to/how-t ... hord-track

Cubase also has this feature, but I was talking about the MIDI chord editor: