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Old 02-07-2018, 09:28 PM
Joseph Hanna Joseph Hanna is offline
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Default Pro Tools 2018 and Studio One

I suspect most here are firmly invested in whatever DAW they've grown accustom to but for the sake of discussion I thought I'd take a moment and update (for those interested) in my current thoughts about the two latest upgrades for Presonus and Avid in my humble home environment.

First it's important to note my day job is, and has been, Pro Tools. I know it inside and out and top to bottom and I'm laboring in it 6 days a week. I'm also a former employee. So that said it took a leap of faith to take on a new DAW when I decided to try the Studio One 3 demo. Last weekend I upgraded both the Studio One and Pro Tools software. I was simple force to upgrade Pro Tools because I needed to work from home especially on weekends.

Here's some thoughts;

The first thing that comes to mind is Studio One allows for a re-mapping of quick keys to the Pro Tools map. Seemed like a lifesaver since my brain is permanently wired to Pro Tools. But then I realized that the quick keys and macro's in Studio One are eon's and eon's more usable than P.T. You probably can see where this is goin'. After eagerly anticipating the new changes in Pro Tools 2018 I discovered it's just the same old, tired, slow software it's been for several years now. Studio One does utterly everything more efficiently, quicker, more intuitively and on virtually every level. It's leaner, faster, smoother, smarter, it handles soft-synths Titanically better, the midi editing is decades ahead, it drags and drops almost everything, the ability to create macro's is mind boggling and the kicker above all kickers is the new Studio One Pro 3 allows for virtually ZERO latency in native mode. It's uncanny.

If I want to drag and drop an Omnisphere "pre-set", not just the plug-in, I can select the pre-set I want (let's say the Hollywood Strings patch) and Studio One will instantly, not only create an instantiation of Omnisphere but auto load the Hollywood Strings patch into the session. The same with plug-in's. If I like a compressor setting (by and large) I can drag that compressor setting onto an existing track and it will not only open the plug-in but install the patch automatically. In short the capabilities and over all work flow is thoroughly 2018.

In contrast Pro Tools 2018 is anything but. It's cumbersome and slow and despite the shinny new spin the Avid reps pranced about on down in Anaheim the other week it does virtually nothing new. The native latency is unbearable. It handles soft-synths like it was ten years ago. The work flow is 1995. The software feels old. It's sadly just a piece of software that (for whatever reason) has failed to keep up. Since I have a history with Pro Tools I'm genuinely bummed about what has happened here. I can honestly say I've made a decent living with the software.

Is there anything good? Yes. The audio editing is still the absolute best in the business and by a massive amount. Nothing and I mean nothing has come close. Audio Suite destructive FX's (when you get your head wrapped around it) is enormously powerful.

I'll keep Pro Tools. Partly out of need to work from home, partly because of the audio editing and quite honestly partly out of respect for what was the absolute "king of the hill" DAW.

I guess time marches on.
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Old 02-07-2018, 09:41 PM
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Stevien Stevien is offline
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Old 02-08-2018, 08:59 AM
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KevWind KevWind is offline
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Joseph , Interesting to read.

When Avid switched to the subscription model I did investigate a couple of other DAWs . I had been using Reason but almost always Rewired to PT and while I liked the VI's that came with it, I found the both the midi editing and especially the audio editing to be archaic compared to PT. I still have Reason 8 and still use it slaved to PT, occasionally.

I also tried Reaper on the demo period because it appears to be very popular among home recording enthusiasts but honestly for me ( perhaps because of so many years of PT) the workflow was so cumbersome and non intuitive, and even the nomenclature so foreign that I checked it off the list of possible alternatives

Actually I tried Studio One 3 for the demo period last year and was fairly impressed. But I didn't really do any in depth audio editing. I did decide however if I ever decided to switch it was probably the top candidate.


Since I did reup my PTHDN subscription I am good until Jan 2019 but after that will depend on what if anything happens with PT.

I have not tried PT 2018 yet I am still on Sierra on my studio Mac Pro and now Mac High Sierra is 10.13. 3 and PT is only qualified on 10. 13. 2 which I am not sure how to get

Just out of curiosity what interface do you use at home?
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Old 02-09-2018, 05:35 AM
sonicland sonicland is offline
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10 year PT user, reluctantly switched to Studio One a couple months ago. Absolutely no regrets, it is light years ahead of Pro Tools
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Old 02-09-2018, 09:12 AM
Joseph Hanna Joseph Hanna is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
Joseph , Interesting to read.

When Avid switched to the subscription model I did investigate a couple of other DAWs . I had been using Reason but almost always Rewired to PT and while I liked the VI's that came with it, I found the both the midi editing and especially the audio editing to be archaic compared to PT. I still have Reason 8 and still use it slaved to PT, occasionally.

I also tried Reaper on the demo period because it appears to be very popular among home recording enthusiasts but honestly for me ( perhaps because of so many years of PT) the workflow was so cumbersome and non intuitive, and even the nomenclature so foreign that I checked it off the list of possible alternatives

Actually I tried Studio One 3 for the demo period last year and was fairly impressed. But I didn't really do any in depth audio editing. I did decide however if I ever decided to switch it was probably the top candidate.


Since I did reup my PTHDN subscription I am good until Jan 2019 but after that will depend on what if anything happens with PT.

I have not tried PT 2018 yet I am still on Sierra on my studio Mac Pro and now Mac High Sierra is 10.13. 3 and PT is only qualified on 10. 13. 2 which I am not sure how to get

Just out of curiosity what interface do you use at home?
For my home interface I have (on loan from the company) an Antelope Discrete 4. I don’t need much, if anything, at home by way of converters and the Antelope is waaaay nicer than I’d ever require. I used an M-Box Pro previously and for years.

I think beside the absolute fact that the work-flow in Studio One is the best, smoothest, most in-depth, well thought through in the business, what surprised me most was, despite the fact that there’s a Pro Tools quick key template, I quickly realized the Studio One quick key template although utterly and on every level different was like everything else in the software in being much more intuitively laid out. So I went about the task of trying to teach my brain to work on Pro Tools during the day and switch to Studio One in the evening. There have been times where I got stuck learning Studio One quick key stuff and had to look-up the answer on YouTube but without doubt the investment is well worth it.

On a similar note Studio One’s Macro editing bar is so in-depth and so enormous easy and time saving I’m, even after all this time, still kinda giddy at what can be accomplished with a touch of a button.

Like I said earlier Pro Tools is and has been a major player in not only my career but my success in that career. I’m not nor have ever been one of those die-hard Pro Tools bashers. And truth be told I’ll still use it at this point until I retire. This in no way is a purposeful knock on that software. But honestly when you really begin to explore what Studio One is offering it becomes painfully clear one is an obviously dated, cumbersome, somewhat slow DAW solution the other the absolute polar opposite.

My two cents and YMMV.
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