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

[apoclypse]

The 3.0 release cycle was all about getting Pro Tools users to switch. There was some of that in 4.x cycle with some improvements to group editing to work more like Pro Tools. I don’t see much of anything in 5.x that screams “Pro Tools feature” to me.

I’d still very much like dual pans built right into the channel mixer like Pro Tools but that’s one obvious PT feature the S1 team has ignored to date.

Yeah there are still some ProTools features they haven't added but I think they are in the "good enough" phase at this point.

[dellboy]

Let me rephrase my question as, obviously, you didn't quite understand it.

Which indicators do you see, regarding this new update, that they are "chasing Pro Tools"?

Ok, "chasing" was the wrong word. Perhaps "attracting" the Pro Tools professionals by going more in that direction. It just seems to me that they are moving more towards that type of DAW.

The emphasis on live performance - score writing - song arranging.

And - they are not trying to attract the FL Studio - Bitwig - Live crowd.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Let me rephrase my question as, obviously, you didn't quite understand it.

Which indicators do you see, regarding this new update, that they are "chasing Pro Tools"?

Ok, "chasing" was the wrong word. Perhaps "attracting" the Pro Tools professionals by going more in that direction. It just seems to me that they are moving more towards that type of DAW.

The emphasis on live performance - score writing - song arranging.

And - they are not trying to attract the FL Studio - Bitwig - Live crowd.

Live performance, score writing, and arranging? I'm guessing you've never spent a lot of time in Pro Tools!

Pro Tools isn't really great at any of those things IMO. PT is all about audio, mixing, and audio editing/comping/etc. Anything MIDI-related, or anything outside of linear audio, gets treated with second-class status.

The features you're seeing in S1 right now are more akin to catching up to Cubase, Sonar, Logic IMO. DAWs that are still geared primarily towards linear arrangement (like Pro Tools), but also have established MIDI-based compositional tools that get just as much attention as the audio if not more. I'd toss Reaper as being in this group, in it's own Reaper way.

In my head, the Bitwig, Live, FL Studio crowd is a whole other type of DAW geared more towards electronic music and/or non-linear composition. And yes, I agree with you there, that while S1 is taking some baby steps in that direction (step sequencer added in 4.0, the live arrangements features in 5.1), it's still primarily trying to live it's life in a linear type workflow and isn't interested in seriously going after users of these types of DAWs.

That said, I'd love to see Bitwig like MPE support and modulations in S1. If S1 got a full-blown clip launcher, I wouldn't complain either, but they'd probably half-ass it and give us something like the live arranger functionality we just got.

[chk071]

PT is all about audio, mixing, and audio editing/comping/etc.

That's what I thought, and that's why I was surprised that Presonus is supposedly chasing after PT.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

PT is all about audio, mixing, and audio editing/comping/etc.

That's what I thought, and that's why I was surprised that Presonus is supposedly chasing after PT.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, S1 definitely spent 3.x through 3.6 and 4.x, to a lesser extent, improving those aspects of the DAW. But lately they're doing some catchup on the non-audio side of the house.

[dellboy]

The features you're seeing in S1 right now are more akin to catching up to Cubase, Sonar, Logic IMO.

You can rule Logic out as they have already incorporated a live recorder \ launcher into the linear flow.

As a potential customer I sit in the middle ground and like what Logic did. I recently sold my intel mac but am now pondering whether to buy a new M1 mac and get back into Logic. If Presonus or Cubase included a clip recorder\launcher I would stay with windows. But that is now not seeming to be the direction they are heading in. Shame, as neither Bitwig or Live interest me.

[Cancel Culture Club]

PT is all about audio, mixing, and audio editing/comping/etc.

That's what I thought, and that's why I was surprised that Presonus is supposedly chasing after PT.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, S1 definitely spent 3.x through 3.6 and 4.x, to a lesser extent, improving those aspects of the DAW. But lately they're doing some catchup on the non-audio side of the house.

There is also a big push for Presonus Sphere. I have to admit they did implement some nice features for people that want to share and collaborate online, etc. I have a feeling they're going to keep adding to Sphere until it becomes even more popular.

[dellboy]

That's what I thought, and that's why I was surprised that Presonus is supposedly chasing after PT.

You think that Presonus would not like a bit of the pie that is a guaranteed income from the pro tools crowd ?

Year in, year out, repeatable income, because pro tool people will never switch and they know it.

[AdvancedFollower]

PT is all about audio, mixing, and audio editing/comping/etc.

That's what I thought, and that's why I was surprised that Presonus is supposedly chasing after PT.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, S1 definitely spent 3.x through 3.6 and 4.x, to a lesser extent, improving those aspects of the DAW. But lately they're doing some catchup on the non-audio side of the house.

There is also a big push for Presonus Sphere. I have to admit they did implement some nice features for people that want to share and collaborate online, etc. I have a feeling they're going to keep adding to Sphere until it becomes even more popular.

As long as they treat it as primarily a collaboration feature and don't try to force people who don't like the subscription model to switch, I don't mind. However if they for example make the Studio One v5 release cycle shorter than v4 (which was already shorter than v3) in order to push more people to move to the subscription, they're fishing in murky waters.

[Dasheesh]

studio one has been tugging at me for a number of years now. it's starting to get interesting. if i were to switch, i would probably be looking at studio one.

[apoclypse]

PT is all about audio, mixing, and audio editing/comping/etc.

That's what I thought, and that's why I was surprised that Presonus is supposedly chasing after PT.

Before 4.x they definitely were. Considering that they are primarily a hardware company focused on live sound it makes sense in that context, but 4.x definitely refocused on production and 5.x even more so. Again makes sense as they shift to making controllers like Atom.

[chk071]

That's what I thought, and that's why I was surprised that Presonus is supposedly chasing after PT.

You think that Presonus would not like a bit of the pie that is a guaranteed income from the pro tools crowd ?

Sure, but, the question is if they consciously implement features to attract the PT users.

[apoclypse]

The features you're seeing in S1 right now are more akin to catching up to Cubase, Sonar, Logic IMO.

You can rule Logic out as they have already incorporated a live recorder \ launcher into the linear flow.

As a potential customer I sit in the middle ground and like what Logic did. I recently sold my intel mac but am now pondering whether to buy a new M1 mac and get back into Logic. If Presonus or Cubase included a clip recorder\launcher I would stay with windows. But that is now not seeming to be the direction they are heading in. Shame, as neither Bitwig or Live interest me.

There is always Digital Performer if you want a more linear workflow in a powerful, feature full DAW, but still have clip launching. I've never used it but its supposed to be pretty good. It has pretty much everything Cubase and Logic does with their own cool things as well (chunks).

[apoclypse]

That's what I thought, and that's why I was surprised that Presonus is supposedly chasing after PT.

You think that Presonus would not like a bit of the pie that is a guaranteed income from the pro tools crowd ?

Sure, but, the question is if they consciously implement features to attract the PT users.

Ofcourse! This isn't even a question. They added features specifically to attract ProTools users and had a whole marketing campaign to attract Pro Tools users. They've shifted their focus over the years but they 100% were going after the PT crowd at some point. The way Layers and comping work, groups etc. You don't just mistakenly add the most sought after PT features in your DAW. Between 1.x to 3.x Presonus was actively trying to go after the ProTools crowd.

[chk071]

Between 1.x to 3.x Presonus was actively trying to go after the ProTools crowd.

Ok, but, I rather thought in regards of the latest update. I can't see much in there to attract the PT users.