Presonus Studio One 3

[Bill L]

Anyone here use this? I picked up a Sweetwater deal on black Friday for the Professional version (normally around $400) for $200. I must say that it's a very powerful piece of software. It has a mastering suite built in, direct to mp3 mixdown, lots of good useful effects and you can import any others you like. I've been using Studio One Artist for about 10 years (it came free with an Audiobox interface purchase) and this upgrade is just fantastic. I had started using Reaper for mobile recording but the deal for the upgrade was just too good for me to pass on it. I had tried Sonar, Cakewalk, Adobe Audition (and Cool Edit) and a bunch of others. But I've always felt most comfortable with Studio One.

What do you guys use and do you like it? Just curious.

[Greg_L]

Reaper for over ten years. No reason to change. It does everything I need to do and I only use about 2% of it's capability. And it's cheap.

[JD01]

Same as Greg. Reaper does everything I need and will do mixdown to MP3 as you mention above. Millions of stock plugins that are really good. Simple to use, cheap, etc. I can't think of a reason to use any other DAW

[SweetDan]

I use and like Studio One 2; haven't found the need for, nor does my current personal computer have the horsepower for an upgrade. Someday...maybe when the computer dies and I have to upgrade that. I've got the "producer" version, which was a step up from "artist" (i.e., more built-in f/x, you can load in 3rd-party VSTs, etc.), but a step below "professional" (I don't have the mastering tools).

I arrived at choosing Studio One like this: I'd been using Audacity for years to capture music ideas and make small, painful, and not very successful steps into multi-channel mixing. Googled around for tutorials on how to do it better and reviews on what software to use. I think I even downloaded, installed, and tried out Reaper around this time (2012-2013-ish), but was so new to "real" DAWs in general that I couldn't figure it out.

There was some tutorial or presentation I found where the presenter wasn't focused on the software per se, just on how to get a good mix. Something clicked and I finally grokked what to do with a DAW. At that point I could better search for tutorials on how to achieve certain tasks in different programs (like "how to do parallel compression in {ProTools,Logic,Studio One,Cubase,...}"), and ended up picking Studio One because it's workflow, layout and appearance made the most sense to me.

[Tadpui]

If I were ever to switch away from Reaper, I'd definitely go for Studio One. I thought that it was intuitive and easy to get a project going without too much frustration and Google-assistance. I liked how it integrated tightly with my FaderPort right out of the box, and the UI is laid out in a way that makes sense to me.

If you ever want a dose of "what the f*&%", go download Tracktion 5, which is free. It'll make you feel way better about your choice to use Studio One I've never used a more ass-backwards piece of software in my life. I don't understand how it ever made it off of the drawing board.

[Bill L]

Thanks guys. I knew most here use Reaper and was just curious if any were using Studio One. I must admit to being a big fan of the software. And like Greg with Reaper, I probably only use about 1% of it's actual capabilities. I might just download Traktion just for shits and giggles.

[JD01]

Thanks guys. I knew most here use Reaper and was just curious if any were using Studio One. I must admit to being a big fan of the software. And like Greg with Reaper, I probably only use about 1% of it's actual capabilities. I might just download Traktion just for shits and giggles.

Studio One make a plugin called Redlight Dist, which is brilliant on vocals. Can't get it as a standalone though.

[Bill L]

Thanks guys. I knew most here use Reaper and was just curious if any were using Studio One. I must admit to being a big fan of the software. And like Greg with Reaper, I probably only use about 1% of it's actual capabilities. I might just download Traktion just for shits and giggles.

Studio One make a plugin called Redlight Dist, which is brilliant on vocals. Can't get it as a standalone though.

Dare I ask what the plugin does? With the in the box plugins I think I'm getting a really nice sound. But if I can improve on something, I'm more than willing to try it.

[SweetDan]

It is (or at least it used to be...maybe they removed it in v3?) one of their stock plugins. It has several different types of distortion.

[Bill L]

It is (or at least it used to be...maybe they removed it in v3?) one of their stock plugins. It has several different types of distortion.

Still there. I'll noodle around with it in the morning. Thanks for mentioning that. I usually think that stuff is garbage preset crap that doesn't really add anything. Probably time to go and experiment. Thanks again, man.

[JD01]

Studio One make a plugin called Redlight Dist, which is brilliant on vocals. Can't get it as a standalone though.

Dare I ask what the plugin does? With the in the box plugins I think I'm getting a really nice sound. But if I can improve on something, I'm more than willing to try it.

It has a setting called SoftTube which adds a really nice gentle drive to vocals. You can push it pretty hard without it getting nasty. I've been looking for a decent vocal drive for ages and that's the only one I've found that I genuinely like.

[Bill L]

I was noodling around with it yesterday and a little bit this morning. Not a bad plug. I'll try it again tomorrow while mixing tonight's rehearsal.

Maybe it's just me but looking over most of the plugins I think I only use about a handful of them. EQ on every channel (even if it's set to default/flat), a compressor on each track (very slight, like a ratio of 2.5 or so), reverb and delay on all vocals, reverb on the snare and a limiter on the master. I suppose I would like something like Red Light District on a clean vocal track (so perhaps some Pre amp plug ins) but I'm not sure I'd really use anything else. What say you? Should I be looking at some other stuff?

[JD01]

I was noodling around with it yesterday and a little bit this morning. Not a bad plug. I'll try it again tomorrow while mixing tonight's rehearsal.

Maybe it's just me but looking over most of the plugins I think I only use about a handful of them. EQ on every channel (even if it's set to default/flat), a compressor on each track (very slight, like a ratio of 2.5 or so), reverb and delay on all vocals, reverb on the snare and a limiter on the master. I suppose I would like something like Red Light District on a clean vocal track (so perhaps some Pre amp plug ins) but I'm not sure I'd really use anything else. What say you? Should I be looking at some other stuff?

I've only ever heard that particular plugin on vocals.