Few extra things id like to mention as I edited this into oblivion and took out things which are perhaps a bit too harsh. 1. Protools doesn't accurately commit or record . It's pretty pedantic as the nulls are about -80/85 RMS but studio one bounces with plugins perfectly. Full nulls. 2. I use doctor a lot for analysis which is vst only which means I needed to install AAX and vst of plugins which annoyed me as I had 2 completely seperate locations when I needed to move plugins and tbh id just rather work with one format which doesnt rely on metaplugin to use some plugins. 3. I wanted the hardware integration but didn't want to spend half a mortgage so studio one was a no brainer as now I've got the revelator io24 for real-time dsp and I'm still trying to persuade presonus to send me the fader port 🤣 there's a lot of integration but nowhere near the price of avid. 4. I actually prefer the stock studio one plugins to protools, especially the fat channel.. And the console stuff is really good as well. 5. Protools tutorials are like scraping teeth off a pavement where Gregor with studio one is the best hands down for daw tutorials in my opinion. He makes me want to learn more due to his approach and personality. And for anybody asking why not reaper... I just can't be arsed. Worral, Wytse, hop pole already do the reaper stuff and for whatever reason I just can't stand the look of it... I know.. I know but I'm a fickle little shit at times 🤣 plus I now have a relationship with presonus which is a big thing for me as it makes me feel like I can get shit sorted if need be. I think it's very important to have a good relationship with your daw developers. And yeah that's what isn't in the video 🤓

I never liked Pro Tools, not because of the software itself but because they have always been abusive with their business practices. I only used it because it was forced upon engineers by the industry to share sessions with artists. First that blue Digidesign interface, then ilok. Studio One 5 is amazing. All they're missing is spatial audio routing which is probably on the way.

Studio one is definitely a very solid program, it’s very quick, responsive, customizable, very good cpu usage and system optimized.

I was never going to switch from Pro Tools. And then, one day I did. It was an accident. I decided to mix a song in Reaper, just to see what it would be like. Earlier brief Reaper experiences were too short for me to notice the strengths of the software, plus low price and the looks were deceiving. But one week turned out to be enough for me to surprise myself that I would be much more efficient mixing in Reaper. I've been mixing for a living for around 20 years now. Last 3 years and a half I did it in Reaper, after many years of owning Pro Tools HD rigs. I tried Studio One and I saw great potential in it, so I totally understand the switch you made.

Welcome Paul, Been on studio one for a good 10 years roughly.. everytime I go back to try another another DAW a try to see how they have progressed, it always feels like a step back compared to studio one. feels like it gets out of the way of creativity and has some nice management features.

Great to have you join the team Paul, I love the mix engine FX's in studio one to add coloration to tracks or buses(you can even use softube tape with it) specially with the crosstalk section. They've also got a lot of very interesting instructional videos posted regularly on KZfaq

Like everyone else in this thread, I’ve been using Studio One for years. I started on version 3. Not many people have mentioned, but there is also Studio One Prime and Artist which are super accessible price-wise. It was awesome to learn mixing on a free DAW. While there are other free ones, I appreciate having the tiered options. I really hope S1 becomes industry standard, I feel like we’re only a few versions away from that reality.

Another cool feature is the "MixFX engine". You can buy for really cheap MixFx engines to change the sonic characteristics "summing" all of that of a mixing console. CTC you can have a classic Neve or EMI, Retro Mix Classics gives you the "Brit console" for any kind of SSL flavor you want from the 4000s to the 9000s and the Duality, The Alpine Desk which is an API console, and the Portastudio so you can have that old cheap tape multitrack recorder sound in the whole session. They replicate the harmonics, the Desk curves in terms if you push things hard if that curves off a bit of high or low like the actual consoles did, and the "crosstalk". Sounds legit to me. I made mixes with Brainworx plugins, and the Lindell ones, then used them in conjunction with the Studio One mixfx engines corresponding to the console I was wanting to emulate, and its audio gold. Dead ringer for the actual console in my opinion. You are going to love that! I guarantee it. Would love to see a video from you about that, it is one of the best features Studio One has in my opinion. :)

Glad you joined the studio one community it’s the best! GREGOR IS AWESOME !

Welcome to the family Paul! I switched from Pro Tools (after 20 years) to Studio One two years ago after trialling everything. I have Presonus Sphere which means for about £4 a week you get Studio One Pro, Fat Channel, all the software including Notation, all the instruments, sample packs, a superb built-in Console emulation and of course free updates. It has to be one of the biggest no-brainers in music production. The ONLY thing I miss from Studio One is a scrub tool, I have requested this from Presonus so I live in hope. 😎 P.S. Why don't you do some videos showing your experience of changing to Studio One showing some of the features you've just spoken about, I think it would be cool and popular.

Back in January I switched from PT to S1 after 17 years. Never looked back and I'm happy as a clam with S1. With that said, I still do all of my production in FL, but I record and mix in S1.

Welcome to the club !! I started using studio one 7 years ago and haven’t looked back

I went over to Studio one just as Version 3 was released. Used it once - just one session - and was instantly converted. It just works, easily, intuitively, musically. I've had maybe 3 technical issues with integrating peripherals and each issue was sorted out quickly and effectively. Presonus customer service is superb. I appreciate elegance in design and functionality and Presonus is, in my experience, brilliantly successful. I have two Presonus interfaces, some studio monitors and the Atom SQ controller and along with Studio One and the ever improving community it's a fantastic example of intelligent and effective integration. Using any of these things always gives me great joy. I hope you get the opportunity to enjoy this for yourself.

A great video. I switched from Digital Performer, after 18 years, to Studio One, 2 years ago and not looked back yet. I just really like how Studio One helps me be creative. As someone who works in the software development industry, I get upset at scruffy and clunky UX; software is meant to assist the user, not frustrate them.

You'll enjoy S1 mate. I used most DAW's and S1 seemed to have the best of all worlds. They all do the job but how it supports you in the creative process is totally different ball game. S1 speeded my workflow and I don't get frustrated as much when inspiration strikes and you need to get it down. Hope you enjoy it!

Love your new song: Waiting I'm already looking forward to you're next tune. All the best Paul

Welcome to the club!

It seems Studio One and Reaper are miles ahead in value/cost, constant updates, improvements, install size and general usability. automate everything, control everything in midi cc, whatever

I was a long-time Logic user, and decided to look around because of a couple of issues. I auditioned about ten DAWs, and , yep, went with Studio One. Especially because I'm not doing EDM or whatever with lots of loops, I just needed a simple straightforward studio in a box. Studio One fits that bill perfectly. Don't need the store stuff or the cloud, but they have their act together and seem to be very dedicated people.

Do whatevers best for you my dude 🤘

Thanks so much! So helpful!

ProTools was always exclusive and expensive beginning decades ago....I began with Cool Edit Pro while on Pc I think......then switched to Mac and Logic...very happy with Logic. Thanks for the video....will check out Sound One at some point. Chord finder sounds useful.

Congratulations. Studio One was the runner up for me when I switched to a new DAW after a decade using Mixcraft. I ended up choosing Reaper.

Glad to have you aboard! ♥

Welcome aboard, Paul. I love Studio One. (From a Dunoon ExPat now living in America :)

Yes, Studio One is a good choice. I also like the workflow in Live and Bitwig for some tasks. FL has some great stuff like Patcher, Sytrus and Harmor. As a retired software developer of 35 years, I love Reaper. There are so many options and different languages for automation and plugin creation, I can spend all day improving the workflow and producing nothing!

I don't know about Studio One but Reaper is mind blowing interns of versatility and customization. Further more, if you are working to picture it totally blows everything else out of the water, Heck you could edit video in there!, Do post production sound design and mixing, and produce videogame sound.. it's crazy

YOU WILL BE BACK!!

welcome to the family

reaper here 'cos it's the best.

I used protools for 17 years. I just switched to studio one 5 and I’m loving it I don’t regret it! Pro Tools was a headache 🤕 understanding my new workflow was easy and fast. I’m breezing through sessions now. The only thing I miss about pro tools is “Verifi” plugin that slows down things… other than that I’m great

Welcome to the club

S1 RULES!! great vid!

Cubase is the one for me. Integrated vocalign + Melodyne. Also the export options (job cue) is so useful. Not to mention the control room feature where you can have inserts to monitor through that stay in every session

I'm on Reaper myself, but if I weren't I'd be on Studio One for sure! I see why you made the choice, especially considering the pretty factor, although Reaper also has delicious themes to choose from, it doesn't take the place of overall design of the entire UI/UX. Congrats on your changeover, I hope it yields you many happy sessions!

S1 fanboy here, I don’t miss pt one bit🤘

Well done Paul, very exciting! Although I would have preferred you joining us on the dark side (Reaper). All the best!

I've just recently returned from making all my music on iPad using Cubasis, which I loved. But returning to PC "the big box" I took up again with Cakewalk, as I used to be a Sonar user. I like it because it's free! And it didn't take me too long to get used to the non-touch interface. But after watching this video I'm going to give Studio One a look. Cakewalk has a very busy interface, and although everything is easy enough, I think it's important to try new things.

Avid is the main problem. Pro tools came from the need to improve workflow from tape and let studios adapt to advancing workflows at a ‘Pro’ level. I have worked on sessions using pro tools 7.4 and it’s actually an amazing bit of kit with the full card system installed when it’s used AS INTENDED. HOWEVER Avid have fucked it so badly over the last 10-15 years however and have never bothered to respond to the advancements from competitors! Pro tools without the cards simply does not work! S1 on the other hand is an incredible piece of kit. Does everything I want and NEVER crashes and hardly ever complains. Constant new features and abilities to buy more time back through better workflows etc AMAZING! Fuck avid and ther pro tools I spent 10 years working with it and regret every second. WELCOME TO THE FAMILY

Reason is my DAW, when I choose a track in the sequencer I see all plugins I have on the channel with all controls instant. No clicking the EQ plugin to bring it up, no clicking the compressor to bring the controls up and I do not have to close the plugins either. This saves me lots of time and gives a huge advantage when you do complex connections in Reason as you can connect audio and control singals (CV). Sound design is a pure joy to make in Reason.

It really is incredible to see how long an anti-consumer DAW has maintained market share.

I've tried nearly every DAW and why I chose Studio One is because of the workflow and its stability. The only areas I hope they improve is getting similar CPU efficiency to Reaper and getting more video integration for seamless editing. Besides that, I am delighted with Studio One. I tried Reaper and as you said,it feels a little DIY. Once I feel like I'm focusing on the technology more than actually just creating and editing music then I don't think I'm being efficient. Lovely CPU management, but there is a serious learning curve

I went from Samplitude to Studio One to Reaper. We'll meet there in a couple of years, because that's just the logical evolution: Reaper is Studio One on steroids, without the limitations of Studio One :)

great video!!!!

hilarious and informative ... thanks Paul.

Studio One was my best music software decision ever. I love it.

Good decision, BUT: There are some downsides in S1 too. E.g. me I want the mixer window not too big, because I want to see at least two or three tracks of the arrangement above the mixer, so I do almost everything in the inspector view. Now if you create a bus, S1 does not show it in the inspector view, you first have to right click the bus, volume automation. Totally unnecessary! Sometimes you forget that, you drag and drop plugins into the inspector window and ask yourself after ten minutes of processing why it still sounds the same, well its because you did process the last channel that you had open in the inspector view. I would really like to have been at that team meeting where they decided that! If you record loopwise you will have problems with the automatic crossfades. You will have a little offset into the next event, you have to get rid of that manually, the automatic crossfades cant be deactivated. this causes terrible mess all the time. I asked the support, there aint no solution for it. To me, recording a lot of instruments into loops, this is a permanent disaster. The splitter-tool is very nice, but: after two years in S1 I hardly use it anymore, because it takes a little time and there are almost always shorter ways to get to the goal. But still I have to say, your arguments are absolutely right, workflow-wise S1 is probably the best DAW out there.

I used ProTools for a long time (2004-2020). From LE to HD, from version 7 to 2020.11. After it went subscription only I went to Studio One and it has been working really well for me. I still have ProTools installed if I ever need it - but only used it to play some old sessions.

I enjoyed that. Great list of reasons and fun presentation. I look forward to seeing more of your videos. My DAW of choice is mostly Tracktion Waveform. It’s got very similar feature-set to studio one by the sounds of it. I love the chord track too, such a handy thing. I also adore Bitwig, and if I ever want a DAW specifically geared to audio recording then Harrison Mixbus is awesome. I have no desire to pay for the sub-par privilege of Pro Tools!

I've heard good things about studio one. Inwould have looked into it but I got lost in Reaper and realized its capabilities and now I'm using Reaper. Whatever works for the workflow is best for you

I switched away from Pro Tools because of the Core Audio channel count limit it had back in the days. I actually wanted to switch to Logic, but, a lot of people recommended REAPER. I created a whole custom workflow (always W.I.P.) and I’m super satisfied with the possibilties. If Pro Tools wouldn’t have that channel limit back then, I would’ve never discovered the possibilities of other DAW’s. Thanks AVID 🙏🏻

Yes!!!!!!!! Super stoked about this! Hopefully you stick with S1

AHAAAAAAAA ma man Third! you did yourself a solid one, mate! i have been using Stuio One for about 5 years now. i used pro tools for 11 years straight and I promise you now....studio one killed it! i hope you enjoy it! its going to be an easy one mate.

Being John Opposite here; I think I’m gonna buy a PT sub this month where the price i down 33%. I dont think it’s too much, as you get the entire Avid plugin suite included. Though many of them are old, there’s also good stuff. I used Pro Tools like 10 years ago, and I gotta admit there’s been improvements, especially when it comes to performance and stability, and that freeze thing is finally there, and it’s the best implementation I’ve seen. Yes it’s very manual, and yes it’s not in the frontseat featurewise, and yes Avid are f&)@ers, treating customers bad through years. And yes it’s not the cheapesr solution. But with this August offer, I don’t think it’s worse than a yearly Adobe sub for graphic designers. And it is the IS, which is the reason I need to use it, having certain projects coming up. I’ll give it a shot, see how it goes. 😉

Welcome home to S1!

HOORAY!!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Not sure PT and S1 are in the same category of DAWs. S1 has a lot more creativity and clever mastering section but I feel like it's trying to do too much. I found it totally overwhelming, and it hurt my eyes. So I sold my copy and went back to my Ableton (For creation), then PT for stem mixing and mastering. There are a few features of PT I love (The mixer, the real-time export, the workflow forces me to do better mixes). I realise you can do all these with Reaper and other DAWs now, but if it ain't broke, why fix it. For what Paul does, S1 makes a lot of sense. So I'm glad you've escaped the recent development hell Avid are in putting them 2 years behind everyone else (The pandemic hit them hard is what I was told). For example, I found a bug that made the MIDI window unusable on MBP 16" i9. So I gave up using PT for creative work. No choice. I told them 5 times. Finally, they found it and fixed it, 9 months from when it emerged. Too late. I stopped learning to use PT for creation, recording or editing. But I'm happy with my work flow even if it's a massive waste of money, too late now as my copy is NFR! Didn't tell us that when buying the Edu version.😕

I've started doing trailer music and thought about mixing in Protools so I could share my sessions. Took me a half hour to go back to Reaper. PT feels like Im going backwards and the short keys don't make sense where in Reaper I didn't even have to learn them, they were just so logically assigned.

Welcome to the club! Gregor and Joe Gilder have great vids on it. Gregor especially highlights the geeky stuff (dudes a genius) enjoy mate!

Agree 100% on all points. I switched to S1 four years ago and never looked back.

This could have easily been titled *why I switched to Ableton* 😂 And, agreed. Studio One is incredible!

I've often been tempted by S1, it sort of seems like a clean-slate version of Cubase in some ways (I'm still a Cubase user). I believe S1 was actually built by ex-Steinberg engineers who used to work on Cubase (but that's just what I read on the internet so I could be wrong), so that would make sense. But I'm still a Cubase user. S1 seems really great, but I've used Cubase since it was a MIDI sequencer on the Atari ST so it's just like using a knife-and-fork to me and it keeps improving. But gosh the licensing stuff of Cubase is still really annoyingly confusing. If not Cubase, it would be a toss-up between S1 and Reaper to me.

Welcome, brother! I've been using Studio One for almost ten years now. It's got all I need, it's great and easy to work with. I'm not a pro, though.

Hey Paul! Welcome dude! They just bring free updates that seems like an Upgrade! You will get crazy with the Mix FX! Try them!

It always scares me how much people are willing to put up with to count as "professional", based on what you described a 200$ FL-Studio version with free lifetime updates beats the industry standart Pro-Tools. I guess they invested all that subscription money into marketing instead of features. I hope a lot more professionals wander off to other DAWs, they certainly dont deserve to be industry leader with their current featureset.

I went from scratching out basic demos on FL studio up until about 3 years ago when I got Studio One. I found it so intuitive I actually got more confident in taking on production of my own music. On your advice I bought the mixing engineers handbook. I'm just about to start and HND in sound production at Edinburgh college and they run... Pro Tools 😱 I decided to take the student subscription out on it to get a bit of a head start but instead I got a headache. I'll probably only use it to bounce out stems for studio one to mix at home to be honest. Studio One's routing options are so good and easy, it all just works as you expect it too. Not having to figure out little workarounds to save some CPU means you are just able to see a composition through start to finish.

Addendum: I am also going through a DAW switch. It’s come down to a choice for me between Reaper and Studio One. I’m keen to see how things work out for you. Unrelated but kinda cool. My parents are both from Ayre. I was born a Canadian but my dad use to say I was “a Canadian boy but all Scottish parts” 😀

REAPER PAUL REAPER GOD DAMN YOU.

Never liked pro tools I have studio one pro which I use for certain things but my main daw is nuendo /Cubase . The midi is just the best .I just love the layout and functionality .wave lab of course is a first class mastering daw I’d be lost without it . I know a few engineers that use Harrison mix bus for certain things but in reality just stick to what they’re adept at . I’ve nulled out daw tests in the past and not found a difference except work flow . Times money so I stick to what I know . I’ve never even opened reaper so can’t comment.

That's the spirit!

Paul i am a composer too 😉😉😁😁 i never knew you were one, making and mixing beautiful sound is so addicting.

Pro Tools belongs to the 90's (early 2000 s) 'big' analog studios' environments ... Those setups must to sync a lot of analog gear with their digital environment ... that's where protools becomes a 'reliable' professional tool ... but today, for the 'musician's independent producers' , there are plenty of DAW setups that do what they need a lot better than with a Pro Tools configuration ... Plus, I will not recommend Pro Tools for a PC user ... If you are going to work with Pro tools users, then, send to them well consolidated stems ... sometimes, well consolidated stems can make their work more easy, than, importing a session from another Pro tools environment ...

pro tools is made for engineers. it's workflow is made for editing and recording mostly. mixing is good too. but their main issue is focusing too much on the needs of large commercial post production workflows over music studios' needs. as such other companies have made better options. logic, cubase, reaper, studio one are all incredible in their own ways. that chord feature in studio one looks super handy! I am gonna try and start making more templates in other DAWs. i really can't afford the price of pro tools anymore. i have a perpetual license so i know my old sessions will load (well until it no longer works with the OS version i upgrade to 😂).

sad that it took you that long, but you've been a brave boy. Congratz

Literally Left Pro Tools officially a few days ago. I already had Studio One 4 installed and honestly my client loved the mix he got a few months ago but it wasn't really being used. Well, My license ran out and I figured let me give this another try... safe to say I'm not going back. I'm moving all my current projects over and that's that. Thanks for the video, Paul. Hope the switch just becomes smoother.

I'm using Reaper for 8+ years now and it never let me down in any situation but I get that StudioOne is kind of the more commercial appealing DAW with comparable modern DAW features - so well done for leaving the ProTools ship and finding new DAW happiness :)

Been with P-Tools for over 20 years, I started messing with other DAW's cos Avid are not a good company and development has stalled badly... Any way I agree, over the last six months I have been playing with Studio one, and hay I really like it. I honestly believe it's now to late for P-Tools to come back, horse has bolted etc.

I've been on studio one since v1. I left Protools 8 after 1 days with Studio one. It's so intuitive. Whatever I think, I can do it in S1. Welcome home Paul!

I effing love studio one, i’ve been using it since V2… The only thing keeping me from deleting all my other DAWS and only using it is the lack of a pre-fader Freeze track option for tracks and busses. The track transform feature is cool but needs some improvements and it doesn’t fully replace a traditional freeze option in my opinion. Freezing up tracks and busses at the end of a session is a good way to archive a session for years. I have cubase sessions from almost 20 years ago I could open up tomorrow because I have all the tracks frozen and they’ll sound pretty much exactly the same. Obviously it’s better to export all the tracks for archiving but for keeping a session future proof, it’s the best option i’ve found.. and Pro Tools, even though they were so late to add the feature, has implemented it the best of any of them, allowing you to freeze aux tracks as well as regular tracks. If studio one adds this one feature, it’s game over imo. Hear me nowww Presonus!!!

Why not Reaper, the most stable and it can all do you want it to do. Best CPU performace with plugins I´ve ever saw! You should try your mentioned Plugin and I swear it be half of Studio One again.

I'm still using Reaper. Love the ability to oversample. Other capabilities too.

It was good hanging out a bit at NAMM Paul. Hope you had a good time in LA and flight back. Alex ... And yes PT, aside from the business model end intimidating energy of the company, it's just pixelated and not easy for me to see as well as modern daws. Hurts my eyes. It's not the most important thing but it just doesn't give me joy working in it. I feel I'm trapped in 2008.

You have to check the Fat Channel Collection bundle that comes with Sphere membership. A review will be very well recieved.

Reaper is the way to go. S1 and logic are great for creating songs. Reaper is the way to go for mixing and more technical mixes.

Because Reaper is infinitely better

I've used over 7 DAWs and studio One is definitely top 3 in my list. Nice video everything was on point

I have used studio one for 8yrs now... Tried them all apart from logic cos im pc not mac. I think the best daw is the one you know how to use the most. I think studio one for me has always been intuitive to use for me personally. If i didnt know how to do something on studio one (i was on cubase for 5years before i moved to studio one) some good tutorials to help and i personally found that I could figure out how to do things myself very quickly. I tried a dual type daw approach for a year during covid because i found that reaper was the only pc daw thats cpu performance was a fraction of studio ones and so wanted to mix in reaper for that reason alone. I wish i had started with reaper tbh but because i dont find it to be very intuitive to use i had to bite the bullet and mix maily in studio one. In the last years i have noticed studio one getting improvements in cpu but i also built my own pc so its gard for me to tell... One thing for sure though is that reaper seems to beat them all in cpu and for this reason i wish i had started with reaper tbh studio one is great for ease of use. Thanks paul

ProTools is the most unstable and buggy software I´ve used for television broadcast.

I dropped them all. They ALL suck compared to Reaper.

I'd really love to hear you do some breakdowns about 'the sound of waves' plugins. I only have a few that I still use anymore, but I feel like this is an often talked about phenomenon that I've yet to see any data justifying or explaining what is going on. They tend to flatten the sound, particularly their analog emulations, and their more recent ones have gotten better about it. I'm just curious what make them sound that way.

This is the first I've come across your channel and good to see you using Studio One. Studio One is certainly not perfect but it's always evolving, I think it's often forgotten how new S1 is to the market compared to other DAWs so it's still a work in progress. But the thing I really like is the connection with Presonus so if something isn't working as you would expect then it's good to know that there are people who will actively listen. I would like to see more people from the Industry work as Beta testers for Studio One as there a few features implemented that I have questioned, but I'd rather work with a company that wants to develop a DAW rather than one that just does things for the sake of it. It does feel that in the main Presonus listens to it's user base which is somewhat of a rareity these days :)

I wonder how many industries have the absolute worst, feature lacking backwards software option as their industry standard. And the fact that it's in all the big studios is how AVID are able to get away with the worst DAW and slowest to innovate being the most expensive.

Cubase 12, amazing DAW to also consider.

Hey Paul, I've mainly only ever used SO (although I have tried several other DAWS). Reaper is great but far to "nerdy" for me. SO is the happy medium: loads of functionality but easy to navigate and use.

Oh wow! I've been dabbling with Studio One myself. I've been through the wars with DAWs man (hey that rhymed). I used Logic for 8-9 years on Mac, then switched to Windows in 2019 (cos fuck the planned obsolescence of Mac), and ever since then i've been trying to find my perfect replacement DAW. Here's what i've spent good amount of time with: Reaper, Studio One, and Cubase I've also dabbled a little with Ableton but not really. Here's what i've discovered (in chronological order)... 1. REAPER: --Pros: Best CPU performance and slickest coding. I can the load the most plugin instances with this one. You can load the software in like 2 seconds, click BAM it's open. The exe file is like 16mb. Also has unique features that other DAWS don't have. Active devs + Awesome company philosophy. Best community, very helpful and engaged. TONS of options. You can do anything your imagination allows. It's deeeeeeeep. --Cons: TONS of options. So many that it's overwhelming. It feels clunky to use with all the options, it's hard to develop "visual muscle memory" because so much functionality is contained within lists within lists of options, which doesn't suit my brain style. I also don't like the way the interface looks or feels to use. Feels too "windowsy" or something. I know you can get custom themes but it still doesn't change the "windowsy" feel. Also researching themes is a whole rabbit hole in itself. These cons are unfortunately deal breakers for me personally because it gets in the way of my inspiration levels. It's too "heady". Which is a shame cos i really wanted to commit to it cos of the pros i mentioned. So then i moved onto... 2. STUDIO ONE --Pros: Great all-rounder. Great CPU performance (Reaper #1 tho). To me S1 is some kind of happy medium between Cubase and Ableton. It has half of the intuitive/streamlined feel of Ableton, and half the "digital console" power/quality of Cubase. Which is probably the place that feels right to me. Good amount of powerful/useful features without being so much that it drains your CPU, or your head. Nice (but not amazing) interface, better than Reaper and Cubase anyway (for me). Doesn't feel windowsy. Most of the features are little things that incrementally add up. Maybe the biggest pro is that it doesn't have any "deal breaker" weaknesses. --Cons: No major weaknesses. The main weakness is probably that it's kind of a jack of all trades, master of none. The v6 upgrade was underwhelming and makes me wonder whether the company has plateaued, have they run out of ideas/innovation? I wish the plugin manager was the same as Cubase's, in that you can set the ORDER that plugins are in the folders (not just alphabetical), and i wish i could create multiple themes/templates of your plugin folder layouts, like in Cubase. And i wish you could add the same plugin to multiple folders rather than just 1. But then a gun mixing engineer aquaintance raved on about Cubase and listed all these compelling reasons why it's amazing and it motivated me to try it out.... 3. CUBASE (what i'm using recently): --Pros: Super powerful features. Probably the best DAW as far as feature quality that are built in, and how useful and smart they are. That's the main pro, and it's a HUGE one. Too many world-class features to list. This one's a small one, but the VST manager is the best i've found, it's so easy to oder your plugin folders and pull up the right plugins easily when the situation calls for it without having to think. MIDI Remote options and the macro stuff is also the best i've used. (There's definitely more pros than this but i got sick of typing lol.) Edit: Oh yeah, the "control room" feature is awesome, you can put all your metering plugins on that and it sits outside of the song. --Cons: The foundational code that they're building on top of is old and outdated, and so it has its limitations. E.g. it is super CPU resource hungry. This unfortunately is starting to become a deal breaker for me because my projects grind to a halt once i get to like 12-15 plugins (i7-8700 CPU), dropouts etc. It's maddening. No idea whether the problem is with Cubase or with the way my computer in particular interacts with Cubase, but it is what it is, and it sucks. The other 2 DAWS don't do it. It's like a Ferrari engine in a horse and cart, or something. For MY computer anyway. It's a shame cos i was reeeeally ready to commit to Cubase. It's also a bit buggy. The most buggy out of the other 2, not in a way that is a deal breaker, just in a way that makes you raise an eyebrow. I don't hate the interface, but i don't love it. It has a bit of Reaper about it as far as there being lists within lists of options, lots of windows. It's laid out in a way where you gotta switch between windows to access things you need. E.g. if you have your arrange window + mixer window visible at the same time, you can't see your inserts, sends & routing AT THE SAME TIME on a channel, you gotta switch between 3 separate mixer views. OR alternatively you can load the mixer window as a full screen thing, then you can see it all laid out, but then you can't see your arrange window anymore so you gotta switch back. So there's a lot of clicking around to view the things you want. It's probably something you get used to after a while, but so far i'm finding it to be a bit clunky (better than Reaper though). And obviously if you're using 2 screens then it wouldn't be a problem. So even though i think Cubase is great, and i bet if i really knuckled down and learned the ins and outs, it would really allow for some really amazing audio wizard possibilities, BUT i can't fucking stand it when it starts glitching and dropping out riiiiight when i'm in the ZONE with a song. Flow breakers are deal breakeres. So now i'm thinking i'll switch back to S1 and commit to that, since i already know it doesn't have any of the major deal breakers QUESTION -- did you try out any other DAWS other than Studio 1? What were your impressions? Particularly interested to know if you tried Cubase or Reaper, and how you compare them to S1

HA!! This is great! Studio One is great! I was about to migrate from PT to S1, but having to doubleclick on plugins (to reopen plugin windows) in the mixer drove me crazy, and presonus wouldn't care, because my feature request did not get many votes. Working in Reaper now. Happy. Thank you so much for all the info, esp regarding PT bouncing unreliability. Best of luck, sir!

Welcome to the S1 Family! You'll definitely have a lot of fun. I'm own multiple DAWs, S1, Live, Bitwig, Reaper & Mixbus. Each with its own use. For those saying reaper is a no-no, I was there a couple of years back, and I wish I'd taken the Reaper route. When you get a Reaper theme that works, learn the software, set-up a workflow that works for you? Yours good to go. Saying it looks bad yet you can do something about it sounds like an excuse. I've recently moved all my mixing and mastering work to Reaper and left S1 for large scale compositions. And editing! Damn! The ARA integration in S1 is amazing. Not to mention Macros. Point is, learn whatever you can learn. It puts you ahead, if you knows what you're doing.

Lots of studio one folks in here with the same story. Well here's one more. I mived from Ptools to Logic in 07 and from Logic to Studio One last year. Very Happy with it. Light weight, intuative and well organized. I was moving around the software and getting shit done within a day or so.

I finally jumped ship from PT to S1 about 4 years ago because Avid really doesn't give a flying f about the home-studio user. Condescending PAID support tickets closed as resolved before even getting feedback (that the proposed solution is not applicable, they didn't read the problem) and then contacting SWEETWATER tech support to fix those issues (by contacting Avid) multiple times. Enter Studio One... Installed. It just WORKS! "Update available" click and it just WORKS! PT required uninstall/reinstall and then pray your sessions will open unaltered. S1 has never frozen or crashed, never choked on a plugin or MIDI device, never interferes with another program's drivers/DLLs. Learning curve was ZERO, and after recording producing a complete album in S1 (including CD mastering and meta) in just a week, the only thing I have done since with PT is export a few unfinished projects. I don't even mention PT to prospective clients anymore (and only one has asked if I am a PT studio). The ONLY thing I miss is being able to draw a waveform, which I rarely used (but it was cool).

I knew this was coming. Awesome! Hope youre doing Ok Paul Reaper guy here. The customization is amazing. I can literally do anything and everything id ever want. At first it was intimidating to be honest- but after getting used to it for a couple I adore it. Been about two months and Im so much faster on it than anything ive ever used Also, about acoustica stuff. On Ableton one instance of Ivory 5 would take 55-60% CPU. Id get crackles with that plugin being the only thing running….and my computer is a beast. In fact before I switched acoustica was essentially unusable to me. In reaper it uses 12-15% CPU without breaking a sweat. It also almost never crashes. Shit loads faster. It feels light on its feet, but powerful as hell