Trying out StudioOne

[Cue Zephyr]

Howdy folks,

I was tlaking DAWs to a fellow recordist/producer and told me to check out StudioOne. I've been a REAPER user for years and have learned to live with it's quirks. Within minutes of using the free version I already liked it's workflow. It's a bit limited, though, especially for a control freak like me. In that regard, I doubt I'd be happy with an Artist version so I would have to reach straight for the Producer version with VST support.

I'd like to hear some users of either both (or migrated) or just S1 to give me some practical examples of how well (or not) it works.

I'm having a bit of a fit with selecting inputs on my Saffire Pro40, but I'm certain it's due to the free version.

Cheers.
CZ

[scripsit]

I'm using Studio One for recording, the Producer version.

I had used Audacity and a very early version of SoundForge for work purposes some years ago (mainly minor edits to spoken word for website applications), but had never tried any full featured DAW for recording.

I chose Studio One because it seemed competitive with the better known DAWs, at least in reviews, it was fairly cheap, and it worked on PCs (I don't have any access to a Mac). The workflow argument (particularly passing 'songs' through into the mastering environment seamlessly) sounded good to me, too.

I found the learning curve to be really steep, because I had never done anything more complicated in audio beyond cutting and pasting and whacking on some reverb, but I'm really pleased with the functionality now, and feel comfortable with most of the operations I need to carry out for recording fingerstyle guitar. I gather this learning curve issue is true of most DAWs with sophisticated capacity.

I have a few VST plugins that I've bought or had handed on to me by friends, but increasingly only use the default ones that come with the program.

Mastering is still a mystery to me (a matter of the quality of my ears, not the technical ability of the program), but I recently took a batch of 8 pieces recorded across a weekend and used Studio One's 'project' section to master and burn an album to CD, just to see what was possible. The result was better than I hoped, although I'm now convinced that mastering is definitely an area separate from tracking and mixing.

I've not had any difficulty integrating my preamp (a simple Focusrite Scarlett 2i2) or controller (Presonus FaderPort).

For me, the best thing, after struggling with learning the interface for the first few months, is that now I really only have to spend time with simpler things like microphone placement. And improving my playing, of course.

Kym

[Cue Zephyr]

Thanks for the in-depth reply.

I'm extremely worried that I won't get enough mileage out of the Artist 2 package if I'm actually switching from REAPER to Studio One. Also, I don't have access to a Mac either. I might have to opt into the limited trial period for the full version to see if I can get along with it. I do have to admit I'm already quite familiar with production tools and capabilities, but having said that, those labels that PreSonus gave to those packages might just be a trick to get more money from me.

[el_kabong]

CZ -

I'm a bit of a novice, having only used Reason, Audacity, and (way back) Cakewalk. Still, I have generally found S1 to be very easy to use.

For what its worth, it was recommended to me by a very experienced, ex-Nashville recording engineer and old-time Pro Tool guy. While he misses certain PT features, the biggest bonus in his mind is the relatively light load this full feature DAW puts on your computer.

I have to concur, as I've never had a single glitch, no matter how many tracks or plug-ins I'm working with. I'm still scratching the surface of its power, but have come to appreciate many tools, such as transient detection, beat matching, and (included in the Pro version) the basic monophonic Melodyne plug....which is very cool way to convert tracks to MIDI.

The only thing missing...for my own purposes...is a way to better use the program for live looping. I doubt seriously that I'll ever jump on Ableton, or the like, but have been looking into various VST grooveboxes. I have also successfully used the very good (and free) 32-bit Mobius looper both in standalone mode and as a plug-in using J-Bridge.

I had the opportunity to use one of my buddy's older, unused Artist licenses for a bit before deciding to jump on the fairly regular sales of the Pro version at 50% off. In fact, I believe that offer is going on now during the holiday season, so you might want to check it out.

Sorry that I don't have better technical insight to offer, but hope that helps.

Scott

[david_m]

Originally Posted by el_kabong

The only thing missing...for my own purposes...is a way to better use the program for live looping. I doubt seriously that I'll ever jump on Ableton, or the like, but have been looking into various VST grooveboxes. I have also successfully used the very good (and free) 32-bit Mobius looper both in standalone mode and as a plug-in using J-Bridge.
helps.

Scott

I don't want to derail since this is specifically a StudioOne discussion, but I'm almost exclusively an Ableton user for recroding and not live performance. I've been a PT and Logic user in the past, but Ableton provides songwriting and arranging flexibility that I just can't get anywhere else. JUst wanted to jump in and mention Ableton provides some remarkable capability as part of the creative process even if you eventually end up doing final mix and mastering in another DAW.

[el_kabong]

Originally Posted by david_m

I don't want to derail since this is specifically a StudioOne discussion, but I'm almost exclusively an Ableton user for recroding and not live performance. I've been a PT and Logic user in the past, but Ableton provides songwriting and arranging flexibility that I just can't get anywhere else. JUst wanted to jump in and mention Ableton provides some remarkable capability as part of the creative process even if you eventually end up doing final mix and mastering in another DAW.

David -

Thanks for that input. Actually, based on the reviews, I'm pretty confident that Ableton is a dandy program, even as a full-service DAW, as your comments indicate. I'd also suspect that it might be a better choice for some, depending on their personal recording or song-writing process. The more I lean towards loop based composition, I would certainly give it more consideration. I see that the standard version is currently retailing at $400 (the same as Studio One Pro). They ever get put on sale? I've also understood that most really want to go "all in" with the Suite version (at $700)...what did you do?

cheers, Scott

[Cue Zephyr]

For me, you're not derailing this thread at all. Although I've always been interested in Logic, I'm to this day still locked out of it without a Mac. Pro Tools has been a bit of a holy grail for me ever since I started recording - obviously because it's been the standard for forever. However, it's slowly losing that image. I was a fanatic FL Studio user years ago, but I absolutely despised it for recording and audio editing capabilities and workflow. I went to REAPER from there, but I've been told there's quite a lot to be had in other DAWs like Logic, PT or S1. Now I think of it, REAPER was the choice since I quickly wanted to switch to something that worked a lot quicker for recording. Well, within minutes I had it rolling.

Studio One kind of hit me by surprise. This was the second person to tell me about Studio One, and a fairly proficient home studio producer/engineer at that, so I knew this had to mean something and I'd better jump on it right away.

Even in the free version I quickly started to appreciate simpler hotkeys and easier (and intuitive) workflow. That's despite being sort of grown into REAPER through using it for years. If a DAW has me that quick, there must be something about it. I'm gonna muck around in the free version for a while and perhaps activate the full version trial when I know I'm gonna have time to use it.

What about Live then? I don't know. I remixed one song in it after having tried to learn it about five or six times. I didn't pursue learning it. I must say though, if I were to hybridize my music production from just-recordings to recording and sequencing/programming MIDI, Live would have to be it for me.

[delaorden9]

Hi, allow me to give you my opinion. I have tested S1 for some time and I think it is one of the best. As I already had a Reaper license I stick with it. Another DAW which is worth to take a look, definitely, is Acoustica Mixcraft which comes with nice plugins and it is very easy to get it on. Generally speaking all DAW's are, in a certain grade, awesome. What counts here is which one you feel more comfortable to work with. I'm using Reaper, but I have tested S1 and Mixcraft and both are great, so it all depends which one is better for your needs.