Why you switched to Studio One?

[jamcat]

Why did you switch to Studio One?

Was it because you were tired of the instability and crashes from the big name DAWs, or their arbitrary limits on routing and how many plugins you could load on a track?

Was it because you were sick of the convoluted, inspiration-killing process you had to go through just to set up a new song, start recording on a new track, or load a plugin in your old DAW?

Was it because you just wanted to drag a VSTi or effect into the arrange window and get on with making music?

Was it because of the superior audio engine and Mix FX?

Was it some other reason, or a combination of reasons?

[J. Smith]

It was FL Studio's cumbersome workflow with recording/audio.

[ATS]

it just clicked with me. Like every way I thought something should work, worked that way.

[THE INTRANCER]

Because the development of the DAW and company I spent years with was getting worse...and thus I wanted to move to somewhere else with something more standard and professional, to do what I wanted to do.

[e@rs]

it just clicked with me. Like every way I thought something should work, worked that way.

+1. I don't seem to get that out of Cubase 10...

[inkwarp]

it's smooth and quick.
it also just happens to have the exact feature set I would use if I had to customize it. As a result, I've produced a lot and that's the main thing.
I do still use others but this is the best 'all-rounder' for me by far...

[antic604]

It's smooth and quick.

This! ^^^

I've not switched entirely (I'm Bitwig guy), but while researching for a companion linear DAW I tried both Cubase and S1 and it's no contest, for me. Obviously Cubase is much deeper & feature rich, but at the expense of complexity, clunkiness and overall slowness both in terms of fluidity of the GUI, but also how you often need to navigate complex, multi-level menus, settings and prefrences. S1 might be limited, but it just happens to have almost the ideal feature set for what I'm particularly after AND few things I *need* that Cubase doesn't have or they're poorly implemented there, e.g. excellent high-DPI support, multi-instruments, extended FX chains, integrated mastering suite. Its focus on drag & drop or the minimal and contextual menus really pays of in terms of speed - I don't think I ever used any of the top-bar menus to do anything, which (in my book) is a big plus. And because it's quite new, there's no obvious parts that scream of legacy code and/or outdated UI, which gives off a vibe of it being a really coherent tool, unlike Cubase which seems - again, to me! - like a collection of loosly related, wonkily put together bits & pieces.

[dellboy]

I bought Studio One and Cubase to demo them long term with the idea of jettisoning one of them when I had made up my mind.

I still have both but tend to just instinctively fire up Cubase most of the time even though its cluttered and much less streamlined than Studio One.

Nothing wrong with Studio One, its a great DAW and very easy to learn, and it will do everything that is needed with ease but I guess it sometimes takes more than that to explain why humans like one thing and not the other.

[oonabe]

I didn't, I tried it but it didn't click with me

[chk071]

I definitely think that Cubase's GUI is superior to Studio One's. It's also more configurable. Actually, I'm quite surprised every time again how much you can configure in it...

The downside are the ones which have been pointed out frequently here: Too much clutter. If I take a look at the inspector alone, it is cramped full of stuff, and behaves strangely as well IMO. Like, I wished that you could have several of those "drawers" opened at the same time, for example. I also dislike that the main track information gets closed when you open up the bottom lane with insert and send effects etc. The media rack is a nice addition for something Studio One had for a long time now, alongside the option to show preview pictures of the instruments (guess who had that before Cubase as well ), but, I dislike the many different ways to add instruments. And, I don't see the point of the VSTi rack at all. IMO, that's redundant, and just adds to too much clutter. Of course, as Cubase is configurable as it is, you don't need to view all that. It's still there, and adds to the less streamlined feel.

You know, I like both DAW's, and, I'm a bit split every now and then, but, I really feel like Cubase needs a serious rework, and get a more slim and streamlined feel. I just hate clutter, and Cubase has loads of that, and I always realize that again, after I "get over" the nice GUI. IMO, Cubase would do good to maybe take a year off their usual release cycle, and really rework some parts of Cubase, so that it feels like a more round experience. I also had some issue with Cubase AI 10.5 in terms of plugin GUI rendering performance. NI's Massive X sometimes lags behind, when you drag the plugin window. That never happened in Studio One here. All in all, the application feels heavy. Not to mention that there are still issues when I close projects... either it takes a few seconds to close Cubase, or it won't close at all. Not good.

I'm quite happy about the feature set of Cubase AI though. I really wonder if there's much I'd miss when I work with it, apart from the obvious stuff, like lack of sidechaining. It even has plugin freezing now, which, IIRC, Cubase LE didn't have the last time I checked it, at version 8 or so. At least, it's nice to have when I feel the need to check it out again. I must admit that it's fun to learn, and, you really feel like you discover new things every time you boot it up. That's something I don't have that much in S1.

If I would have to do some OS comparison, I would say that Cubase is like Windows, and Studio One more like Mac OS. Streamlined and focused on a clear and straight forwards workflow, while Cubase gives you loads of features, and configurability. They both have their pros and cons, and use cases.

And, Reaper is Linux.

[dellboy]

I bought Cubase Pro because it was so cheap at the time, but I could quite happily live with one of the lesser versions.

It is very cluttered and has lots of redundant legacy stuff kicking around, but there is just something about its interface that I love and that Studio One just does not do for me.

[dellboy]

And, Reaper is Linux.

One of lifes truisms.

[chk071]

It is very cluttered and has lots of redundant legacy stuff kicking around, but there is just something about its interface that I love and that Studio One just does not do for me.

Yep. That's pretty much it, in a nutshell, for me too.

Shame you can't Frankenstein that GUI into Studio One.

[antic604]

And, I don't see the point of the VSTi rack at all. IMO, that's redundant, and just adds to too much clutter.

It's for when you have a multi-timbral instrument (like Kontakt, Halion, Halcon, etc.) and want to have the instrument sit somewhere separately and receive MIDI signal from several tracks. S1 actually has the same feature, but without dedicated "rack" - you just put the VST on an Instrument Track and note clips on MIDI Tracks that are routed to it.

but there is just something about its (Cubase's) interface that I love and that Studio One just does not do for me.

I tend to agree on that one, especially after v10.5 got really nice flat look and more vibrant colours (or lack of gradients makes them pop out more). I think the main "issue" with S1's GUI is that the default color palette is either muted & dull or obnoxiously bright and tacky, like it's going through some kind of filter that's found on "artsy" movies. Cubase just goes with bold, sharp primary colours and I think this appeals more universally to people.

[Doc Brown]

I've been trying the latest SO the last couple of days and so far I like it a lot except for the midi editor. How in the heck can I click on the editor where I want and zoom in to the midi notes? Zoom seems to be random and not the behavior I expected?