Presonus Sphere. Thumbs up.

[LawrenceF]

No comment on Sphere but...

"...trying to sell you things you don't need..."

That describes about 80% of any company selling anything. If people only ever bought things they literally need (and not just want) , most DAW companies would be bankrupt in under a year.

[Hink]

For a private individuals however, subscriptions don't make as much sense. With Sphere, you end up paying $4,124 over a 25-year period. You can buy a lot of Studio One licenses and upgrades for that price - 27 paid Studio One upgrades at $149, to be exact. More if you wait for a sale. You can also skip an upgrade and continue using your current version without paying a dime, if a particular upgrade doesn't interest you.

It would be great if this thread didn't become yet another thread about the pros and cons of subscriptions.

he's the op, please do not turn this into a debate about subscriptions

[Cancel Culture Club]

I have to say I'm really enjoying my Sphere membership. It's just a really useful and enjoyable experience. The Workspaces are excellent for collaborative projects, the whole learning area with Gregor and Joe is great, the back up and storage useful and the general vibe is spot on. Thumbs up from me. I'm a Studio One and Notion user so the value for me is also excellent as I can access the whole Notion orchestra.

I'm glad you're enjoying your membership, good luck with that, as I can't further comment on it.

[apoclypse]

Let's enjoy a few moments of silence... before the usual horde of subscription haters chime in.

I have not issues with what Presonus is doing here. For one they didn't their hardest to hide their perpetual license offer like Reason Studios did. Presonus Sphere feels more like paying to be part of a community which is fine in my book. I'm not a fan of developers who go sub and give no thing of value, except a lot of fluff to cover up that they aren't adding features to the software.

[Tronam]

Let's enjoy a few moments of silence... before the usual horde of subscription haters chime in.

I have not issues with what Presonus is doing here. For one they didn't their hardest to hide their perpetual license offer like Reason Studios did. Presonus Sphere feels more like paying to be part of a community which is fine in my book. I'm not a fan of developers who go sub and give no thing of value, except a lot of fluff to cover up that they aren't adding features to the software.

Since Reason+ is "the new thing" I can understand the big push on the main page. When I go to the actual Reason Studios shop though and click on Reason, all of the perpetual license versions show up there immediately. They aren't *that* hidden.

I'm generally not a fan of any subscription service, but considering how off and on I've been with music over the years, maybe I should be. I probably could've saved a lot of money just dipping in here and there when I'm feeling creative and cancelling when I'm not.

[Reefius]

I've been tempted to try out Sphere, it seems to be great value for money, even for people who already own a license for Studio One. The only thing that's holding me back is that I'm afraid it's going to be a mess to uninstall once I cancel, not knowing for sure what came with my Studio One license and what not.
It will probably be easier to uninstall everything and then reinstall Studio One and all that comes with it.

Maybe I'm just overthinking this

[nIGhT-SoN]

For a private individuals however, subscriptions don't make as much sense. With Sphere, you end up paying $4,124 over a 25-year period. You can buy a lot of Studio One licenses and upgrades for that price - 27 paid Studio One upgrades at $149, to be exact. More if you wait for a sale. You can also skip an upgrade and continue using your current version without paying a dime, if a particular upgrade doesn't interest you.

The only thing is Studio One updates aren't released yearly, but more like 2-3 years so you'll have to update every 2-3 years if you want the latest version. Let's assume it's updated every 2 years, not 3, and the upgrade is $149. You'll pay $1862.5 for upgrades in a 25 year period.

I prefer buying then loaning because maybe you have a rough period and you'll have to cut some expenses or maybe you'll give up music (hope not), you can always sell your license, but you can't sell something you don't own.

[Cancel Culture Club]

For a private individuals however, subscriptions don't make as much sense. With Sphere, you end up paying $4,124 over a 25-year period. You can buy a lot of Studio One licenses and upgrades for that price - 27 paid Studio One upgrades at $149, to be exact. More if you wait for a sale. You can also skip an upgrade and continue using your current version without paying a dime, if a particular upgrade doesn't interest you.

The only thing is Studio One updates aren't released yearly, but more like 2-3 years so you'll have to update every 2-3 years if you want the latest version. Let's assume it's updated every 2 years, not 3, and the upgrade is $149. You'll pay $1862.5 for upgrades in a 25 year period.

I prefer buying then loaning because maybe you have a rough period and you'll have to cut some expenses or maybe you'll give up music (hope not), you can always sell your license, but you can't sell something you don't own.

I'm still on version 2, nothing wrong with it. It might be missing a few features and some usable plugins and devices, but nothing that would make or break my workflow. I rely on my own editing, sound design and plugin chains to achieve what I want to hear. I really don't rely on the DAW to do much more then record and function like a mixer for what I'm laying down.

I used to play the game of trying different DAWs and upgraded every release date. But, as time went on, I learned that you can spend the rest of your life twiddle and tweaking around on new stuff only because of the lack of musicianship.

I'd rather spend my time getting better at the art of making music then becoming a technical nerd in search for the golden environment with every imaginable feature possible. I guess I no longer rely on the DAW, plugins, videos, forums, etc. to inspire me. I just get down to working on improving the music I create, there's no subscription for that or version number I'm limited by.

[antic604]

...I just get down to working on improving the music I create, there's no subscription for that or version number I'm limited by.

Although I fully agree with your post (not really living by it, though ), one could argue that:

• we ourselves are only renting those bodies we're inhabiting for the duration of our lives,
• subscription is the cost of keeping one alive, so you can also stop at any moment and stop the rent,
• version number is how old one is, i.e. higher is usually better and thus one might not be able to do something today that one will in 5 years when they've acquired more knowledge & experience (aka "features"), ergo one's limited by version number

Damn, I don't recall signing up for this shit!

[danielh02]

I was looking over the list of instruments included in Sphere and noticed a lot of instrument expansions for Notion. Are those usable in Studio One itself?

[ReleaseCandidate]

I was looking over the list of instruments included in Sphere and noticed a lot of instrument expansions for Notion. Are those usable in Studio One itself?

No, aren't.

[Cancel Culture Club]

...I just get down to working on improving the music I create, there's no subscription for that or version number I'm limited by.

Although I fully agree with your post (not really living by it, though ), one could argue that:

• we ourselves are only renting those bodies we're inhabiting for the duration of our lives,
• subscription is the cost of keeping one alive, so you can also stop at any moment and stop the rent,
• version number is how old one is, i.e. higher is usually better and thus one might not be able to do something today that one will in 5 years when they've acquired more knowledge & experience (aka "features"), ergo one's limited by version number

Damn, I don't recall signing up for this shit!

I guess it all depends on where you are in your journey with music creation, and what you feel you need and want in order to support your musical endeavors. Everyone has different needs and expectations, so it would be hard to predict for someone else.

I believe that the amount of time you spend doing something has a big factor on your future decisions, based on your passed experience and knowledge. While always being tempted by something new and exciting... Because who doesn't like fun, inspiration and new creative outlets?

[BoogerSnot]

If you use multiple DAWs a monthly subscription is a nice option to have, if you’re just starting out and/or are looking to save money. Allows you to work on and create a song in one, then move to another once you’re done and your subscription runs out.

[kidslow]

I also give Sphere a thumbs up. I found value in it, and saved me money off the alternatives. I am no fan of software subscriptions, but I've given Adobe money over the years for subs and found value in Splice when I used it, so I'm not anti- either. There is a place for them, but only after all other alternatives have been exhausted.

Cross-posting from my post in the S1 5.5 thread ...

I came to recently use Studio One for post production dialogue cleanup & sound design, and the ability to import and export AAF gave me a viable path between Adobe Premiere from the editor and handoff to Pro Tools for the sound engineer. Cost me $15 total, for one month trial plus a month of Sphere, which was all the time I needed. Much cheaper alternative to using Reaper with either Vordio or the full AATranslator, either of which would have run over $100- and were what I was planning to do.

Not sure I will buy a full version of Pro 5. Definitely won't continue with my sphere sub, but the price for what you get with Sphere is very reasonable, and I am likely to sub again in the future for a month or two on a project. And there's no great penalty for month-to-month, unlike Adobe who charges almost twice as much if you want to pay on a monthly basis.

[jamcat]

I give PreSonus a thumbs down on Sphere.

The reason is because they are making some video content available only to Sphere members as a way to try to coerce perpetual license holders into subscribing.

I already own several current PreSonus licenses so there is nothing for Sphere to offer me.

If these videos were somehow some new service they developed for Sphere, that would be one thing. But they aren’t. They’re the types of videos they used to make available to all users. So they’re not adding something new, they’re just taking something away for users who paid in full outright. And that is pretty slimy.