Adding Studio One to my workflow

[Efrain]

Hi,
Just joined the forum as I’m looking to add Studio One for Mixing duties and eventually moving completely over from Ableton.
Having very random plugin scan crashes & disappearing plugins, then Ableton support is dismal. Shouldnt still be waiting up to weeks at a time for responses and trying to find a solution over a month later.
Hoping to have a more stable and better supported solution.
I know the grass isnt always greener, but I’m seeing more and more mixing and mastering engineers working in Studio One.
How is everyone’s experience? Any Ableton or ex Ableton users?
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Efrain

 

[Craig Anderton]

Studio One is amazing for creating music. It's a fast, creative environment. I write, mix, and finish songs faster than ever before. Of course it has its share of bumps, but so does all software. Fortunately, few of the bumps get in my way.

I've used Ableton Live for live performance (with control surfaces, which IMO are essential for Live) since version 1.0. My highly subjective take is that Studio One is a multitrack studio, while Live is a musical instrument. They are very different. I like them both for what they do best.

Bear in mind I also run sessions in Cubase, Sonar, Bitwig, Digital Performer, Pro Tools, and even some "outlier" programs. They all have their strengths and limitations. The goal is to find the one whose strengths best meet your needs, and whose limitations don't affect the way you work. Studio One has a brilliant design philosophy that emphasizes speed and efficiency. That works very well for me.

 

[Sombreuil]

When it comes to mixing, Studio One is one of the better softwares. It's very intuitive, fast and pretty much flowless.

 

[Jemusic]

Studio One is better for mixing and mastering than Ableton overall. It is set out in a more linear fashion and the mixing console is a big part of Studio One. The Ableton mixing console basically does not exist in the same form as it does in Studio One.

I am in the process of putting a live electronic music ensemble together and for that I bought and started using Ableton. Because of the clip launcher and as Craig says it is definitely a musical instrument first. The way midi and audio clips can be launched in any way and in scenes is excellent especially for improvised music.

I was a little disappointed at first that Studio One could not do this as well as Ableton but that has all changed with the addition of the launcher. It may not be quite as advanced as Ableton in that regard right now but it is very good though and I am sure in time they will refine the launcher more and more. It means I can stay in Studio One which I am much more familiar with, and now I will be able to use it for the live thing but in the studio it is still better and much more what we are used to for mixing and mastering.

 

[Efrain]

Studio One is amazing for creating music. It's a fast, creative environment. I write, mix, and finish songs faster than ever before. Of course it has its share of bumps, but so does all software. Fortunately, few of the bumps get in my way.

I've used Ableton Live for live performance (with control surfaces, which IMO are essential for Live) since version 1.0. My highly subjective take is that Studio One is a multitrack studio, while Live is a musical instrument. They are very different. I like them both for what they do best.

Bear in mind I also run sessions in Cubase, Sonar, Bitwig, Digital Performer, Pro Tools, and even some "outlier" programs. They all have their strengths and limitations. The goal is to find the one whose strengths best meet your needs, and whose limitations don't affect the way you work. Studio One has a brilliant design philosophy that emphasizes speed and efficiency. That works very well for me.

I appreciate your detailed response! I’m sure with how long you’ve been in the business you would have a direct line to support, but I’ll still ask how that experience has been for you.

 

[Efrain]

When it comes to mixing, Studio One is one of the better softwares. It's very intuitive, fast and pretty much flowless.

How has your support experience been?
Appreciate your reply!

 

[Efrain]

Studio One is better for mixing and mastering than Ableton overall. It is set out in a more linear fashion and the mixing console is a big part of Studio One. The Ableton mixing console basically does not exist in the same form as it does in Studio One.

I am in the process of putting a live electronic music ensemble together and for that I bought and started using Ableton. Because of the clip launcher and as Craig says it is definitely a musical instrument first. The way midi and audio clips can be launched in any way and in scenes is excellent especially for improvised music.

I was a little disappointed at first that Studio One could not do this as well as Ableton but that has all changed with the addition of the launcher. It may not be quite as advanced as Ableton in that regard right now but it is very good though and I am sure in time they will refine the launcher more and more. It means I can stay in Studio One which I am much more familiar with, and now I will be able to use it for the live thing but in the studio it is still better and much more what we are used to for mixing and mastering.

Appreciate you sharing these details. How has your support experience been?
Thanks!

 

[Jemusic]

Studio One support is excellent. There are a number of places one can learn from. The manual is a good place to start. Plenty of videos from Joe Gilder and Gregor. Plus this forum is very good too. It is one of the best DAW forums out there with some very nice, helpful and smart people here with a lot of experience who are very willing to help.

 

[lokeyfly]

Great points to all, and I'm sure a lot more points will come in favor of Studio One. That, and heeding caution to the bumps in the road that Craig pointed to with any DAW. My only added contribution, and I'll keep it to a few is I usually ask the person wishing to change over is "What is exactly your DAW needs, be it constructing music from start to finish, (finish, including mastering your compilation of songs, which is a HUGE plus with Studio One). Are you very comfortable around Studio One's clip launching? (minimal strength for Studio One at present). Are you knee deep in the workflow of your present DAW? (playing hopscotch with DAW's isn't always best for ones creative strategy, though with a few weeks to months that can be fixed with lots of hands on).
Another question, what is your genre, and end game? In other words, that doesn't determine the DAW you choose, but it does pose the question of what do YOU SEE, that makes Studio One fill your needs. Because "more and more mixing and mastering engineers are using S1?" While I'd hope that is true, such users reside in and around Pro Tools (by a ridiculously huge margin). Not because PT is better, per se. But the industry lends itself to that. That said, Studio One is becoming a rising star in both it's mastering page, and more and more production houses acquiring Studio One. That, and home producers are using Studio One more and more.

Lastly, you mentioned your changing your DAW is largely due to your missing plugins, crashes, and lack of support. Hey, that's never good, but Ableton Live like most any DAW is largely very solid. They wouldn't have so many customers otherwise. Is it just possible, your computer is having some instability issues, or the amount of your diligence to keeping it run lean with little other software to get in the way, might be a factor?

My points aren't to send you away. Far from it. But one has to ask, while you're testing the fellow user's waters (commendable), will your computer, and workflow improve now with Studio One?
I think your workflow will improve (minus the lesser clip launch capability). I think you'll love the extremely lean approach to Studio One, once you are familiar with it. But I'm not sure about your scan crashes, and missing plugins. Support will vary from place to place. While you won't wait weeks for Presonus support, your best bet is simply stay away from support, altogether.
Anyway, good luck to you, and I hope you find results with whatever DAW you decide to stay with.

My experience with Studio One, has been seamless, mostly logical contributions, no boat anchor additions to the program, and most importantly, results. As a DAW, it's the equivalent of a carpenters skill saw. Bzzzzz...

 

[Efrain]

Great points to all, and I'm sure a lot more points will come in favor of Studio One. That, and heeding caution to the bumps in the road that Craig pointed to with any DAW. My only added contribution, and I'll keep it to a few is I usually ask the person wishing to change over is "What is exactly your DAW needs, be it constructing music from start to finish, (finish, including mastering your compilation of songs, which is a HUGE plus with Studio One). Are you very comfortable around Studio One's clip launching? (minimal strength for Studio One at present). Are you knee deep in the workflow of your present DAW? (playing hopscotch with DAW's isn't always best for ones creative strategy, though with a few weeks to months that can be fixed with lots of hands on).
Another question, what is your genre, and end game? In other words, that doesn't determine the DAW you choose, but it does pose the question of what do YOU SEE, that makes Studio One fill your needs. Because "more and more mixing and mastering engineers are using S1?" While I'd hope that is true, such users reside in and around Pro Tools (by a ridiculously huge margin). Not because PT is better, per se. But the industry lends itself to that. That said, Studio One is becoming a rising star in both it's mastering page, and more and more production houses acquiring Studio One. That, and home producers are using Studio One more and more.

Lastly, you mentioned your changing your DAW is largely due to your missing plugins, crashes, and lack of support. Hey, that's never good, but Ableton Live like most any DAW is largely very solid. They wouldn't have so many customers otherwise. Is it just possible, your computer is having some instability issues, or the amount of your diligence to keeping it run lean with little other software to get in the way, might be a factor?

My points aren't to send you away, be defensive, or turned off. Far from it. But one has to ask, while you're testing the fellow user's waters (commendable), will your computer, and workflow improve now with Studio One?
I think your workflow will improve (minus the lesser clip launch capability). I think you'll love the extremely lean approach to Studio One, once you are familiar with it. But I'm not sure about your scan crashes, and missing plugins. Support will vary from place to place. While you won't wait weeks for Presonus support, your best bet is simply stay away from support, altogether.
Anyway, good luck to you, and I hope you find results with whatever DAW you decide to stay with.

Appreciate your response and all the points you made.
I’ll start off with the ableton issue. I’m running on a Mac Studio M2 Max with 32Gb of Ram and all plugins have been loaded within the last 6 months and all have been updated regularly. The crashes are random and not the same plugins over and over. Im suspecting something with my Ableton install is corrupt and have deleted and rebuilt the database and even the preference and config files. Still working at snails pace with Ableton.
As far as what I’m planning on using DAWs for, my plan has always been to add something to take on Mix and Master duties. Been seeing so many people on Studio One including a fair amount of ex pro Tools users.
Ableton would continue to be used as it’s been so perfectly stated by you guys in this thread, a musical instrument. I don’t use it Live and no need for clips. My comment of eventually moving completely over to Studio One is solely based on all the similarities in functionality that have been added. Once my creative needs are met with Studio One I would shift over.
As far as support, I know no one is perfect. But in my reading ive seen more positives from Studio One users. And I’m very encouraged with all the great replies I’ve received on my post here.
I saw a promo for FaderOne that includes a full copy of Studio One Pro 7 for the same price that just buying the software would be. Seriously considering taking advantage of that.
I’m really just getting started again so I have the luxury of time and no deadlines. This is all purely for fun. I used to do all this for real back in the 80’s and early 90’s. Then stepped away completely.
Again thank you very much for taking the time to reply and provide insight.

 

[Sombreuil]

How has your support experience been?
Appreciate your reply!

With full transparency, it's been good. There was this one time where it took several weeks to get an answer, but at that time the latest version of Studio One had just come out, so my ticket wasn't their priority.

 

[Efrain]

With full transparency, it's been good. There was this one time where it took several weeks to get an answer, but at that time the latest version of Studio One had just come out, so my ticket wasn't their priority.

Thanks for sharing. I’m very encouraged. And with the FaderPort promo that includes a copy of Studio Pro 7 it’s like I’m getting it for free.

 

[lokeyfly]

I’ll start off with the ableton issue. I’m running on a Mac Studio M2 Max with 32Gb of Ram and all plugins have been loaded within the last 6 months and all have been updated regularly. The crashes are random and not the same plugins over and over. Im suspecting something with my Ableton install is corrupt and have deleted and rebuilt the database and even the preference and config files. Still working at snails pace with Ableton.
As far as what I’m planning on using DAWs for, my plan has always been to add something to take on Mix and Master duties. Been seeing so many people on Studio One including a fair amount of ex pro Tools users.
Ableton would continue to be used as it’s been so perfectly stated by you guys in this thread, a musical instrument. I don’t use it Live and no need for clips. My comment of eventually moving completely over to Studio One is solely based on all the similarities in functionality that have been added. Once my creative needs are met with Studio One I would shift over.
As far as support, I know no one is perfect. But in my reading ive seen more positives from Studio One users. And I’m very encouraged with all the great replies I’ve received on my post here.

All excellent points, Efrain. Ah, so it may be an issue with how Ableton is running with your M2 with inconsistencies. Understood. Sorry to hear their support isn't up to what it should be. Hey, now's a good time to dive in to Studio One. You can always ask here, and there are also some M2 users getting on very well with S1 from this forum. As you can probably surmise, I had to ask a few broad based questions in order to understand the snags you were experiencing. Thanks for detailing that further, and enjoy! You'll really like the direct results and streamlined functionality of Studio One. I came from many years with PT, and a host of other DAW's and have found Studio One to be a staple now.
Best,
James

 

[Efrain]

Studio One support is excellent. There are a number of places one can learn from. The manual is a good place to start. Plenty of videos from Joe Gilder and Gregor. Plus this forum is very good too. It is one of the best DAW forums out there with some very nice, helpful and smart people here with a lot of experience who are very willing to help.

Very encouraging! I’ll have to check out those videos. I’m assuming YouTube?
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Efrain]

All excellent points, Efrain. Ah, so it may be an issue with how Ableton is running with your M2 with inconsistencies. Understood. Sorry to hear their support isn't up to what it should be. Hey, now's a good time to dive in to Studio One. You can always ask here, and there are also some M2 users getting on very well with S1 from this forum. As you can probably surmise, I had to ask a few broad based questions in order to understand the snags you were experiencing. Thanks for detailing that further, and enjoy! You'll really like the direct results and streamlined functionality of Studio One. I came from many years with PT, and a host of other DAW's and have found Studio One to be a staple now.
Best,
James

I appreciate you take the time to ask! Sometimes things that are staring one in the face are the least obvious. I’ll continue with Ableton support on that front but looking like it’s the right time to add Studio One. Especially with the FaderPort v2 promo that includes a full copy of Studio One Pro 7. It’s like I’m getting the FaderPort for free in the end.
Thanks again for your time!

 

[Jemusic]

If it is any help to the OP I have the same setup as you for the M2 Max etc..By the way its a good idea to put your specs in your signature. That greatly helps us troubleshoot any issues for you.

I have got a large set of plugins and software instruments and have experienced no issues at all running them all with Studio One. No crashes or anything. Its been a blissful experience so far.

 

[Efrain]

If it is any help to the OP I have the same setup as you for the M2 Max etc..By the way its a good idea to put your specs in your signature. That greatly helps us troubleshoot any issues for you.

I have got a large set of plugins and software instruments and have experienced no issues at all running them all with Studio One. No crashes or anything. Its been a blissful experience so far.

Just added the signature. I too have a large amount of plugins and at first was thinking I hit some sort of limit. Appreciate you sharing your experience.
Everyone’s positive and informative responses made up my mind and I just ordered FaderPort v2 that comes with a full copy of Studio One Pro 7 for the same price as the software alone.
Thank you!
Efrain

 

[ianaeillo]

I once had a support issue where I discovered a bug in the morning that I had a huge project due. I wrote an email explaining it and the urgency of the matter.

No joke I get a call 45 minutes later with the head of customer service asking me if I figured it out. No. Dude screenshared into my Mac, duplicated the bug, figured some stuff out on his end, and pushed me a variation of some new build with the fix in three hours. I got the project delivered on time and Presonus gained a customer for life.

 

[lokeyfly]

I once had a support issue where I discovered a bug in the morning that I had a huge project due. I wrote an email explaining it and the urgency of the matter.

No joke I get a call 45 minutes later with the head of customer service asking me if I figured it out. No. Dude screenshared into my Mac, duplicated the bug, figured some stuff out on his end, and pushed me a variation of some new build with the fix in three hours. I got the project delivered on time and Presonus gained a customer for life.

Impressive, Ian. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[Efrain]

I once had a support issue where I discovered a bug in the morning that I had a huge project due. I wrote an email explaining it and the urgency of the matter.

No joke I get a call 45 minutes later with the head of customer service asking me if I figured it out. No. Dude screenshared into my Mac, duplicated the bug, figured some stuff out on his end, and pushed me a variation of some new build with the fix in three hours. I got the project delivered on time and Presonus gained a customer for life.

That’s first class support! Appreciate you sharing the experience.
My FaderPort should arrive today and once i register it im supposed to receive a key to the included free Studio One Pro 7. All for the same price as just the software. Not sure how useful the FaderPort would be but its essentially free.