Fender Studio Pro 8.1 - Discussion Thread

[Arionas]

Very good update.
Score editor improvements are very useful and welcomed.
Sound variations new attack feature is excellent.
Vocal Tune plugin is also a nice add on.
Default project name on export mixdown is also a nice small one.
And much more.
Bravo Fender!
The only serious thing I'm waiting now is a solution for the randomness of the automation instability during mixdown, if they didn't already corrected in v8.1 - I have to check it when I find some free time.

 

[JX-84]

Studio Assistant looks useful for quickly checking the manual.

Sadly there's no Upgrade Plus option to update to 8.1 and get 12 months of Plus. If I want that, I have to buy a full perpetual license again (or pay monthly). That's whack.

Guess I'll just RTFM, lol.

 

[TimC340]

I had this issue as well. I'm certainly not going to subscribe to something without an opportunity to try it out first. All attempts to separate stems resulted in failed downloads and then I got the same message that the free trial had ended. Very disappointing.

Moises has a permanent free tier, so as a workaround you can sign up on the website then sign in in the DAW. You should find all the free aspects of the program available to you and, if you like it, should then be able to exploit the Fender-associated discount for the paid tiers. I'm sure they'll fix the issues of signing up via the DAW fairly quickly - and I'm equally sure that's a problem at Moises' end.

 

[Skijumptoes]

Sadly there's no Upgrade Plus option to update to 8.1 and get 12 months of Plus. If I want that, I have to buy a full perpetual license again (or pay monthly). That's whack.

Yes they've basically devalued the product in an attempt to simplify it so that everyone pays roughly the same per year. It's kinda smart, and risky all at the same time. As those who only want perpetual and update once every 3-4 years are getting a bargain really.

Personally, I'm eyeing up one of the new motion controllers, and you probably get 12 months of plus and a new perpetual license with one of those so i'd imagine quite a few people will go that route too?

Plus my audio interface ADAT's failed on me over the weekend so may have to look into a new interface too. kinda considering trying an Quantum HD and I think they throw in 12 months plus and a perpetual with that too.

It's so different to how other DAWs are priced, due to that hardware integration and pricing model. In some ways it may cost the same to buy a new piece of hardware each year and sell the old one than it is to pay the yearly plus price.

 

[JX-84]

Yes they've basically devalued the product in an attempt to simplify it so that everyone pays roughly the same per year. It's kinda smart, and risky all at the same time. As those who only want perpetual and update once every 3-4 years are getting a bargain really.

Personally, I'm eyeing up one of the new motion controllers, and you probably get 12 months of plus and a new perpetual license with one of those so i'd imagine quite a few people will go that route too?

Plus my audio interface ADAT's failed on me over the weekend so may have to look into a new interface too. kinda considering trying an Quantum HD and I think they throw in 12 months plus and a perpetual with that too.

It's so different to how other DAWs are priced, due to that hardware integration and pricing model. In some ways it may cost the same to buy a new piece of hardware each year and sell the old one than it is to pay the yearly plus price.

I forgot about the bundled licences, good point!

I was looking at the Quantum HD8 yesterday, the Presonus branded version has a bigger discount on it. Definitely going to think about it

 

[TimC340]

I forgot about the bundled licences, good point!

I was looking at the Quantum HD8 yesterday, the Presonus branded version has a bigger discount on it. Definitely going to think about it

I nought the PreSonus-labelled Quantum HD2 just a week or so ago. Got it for £220 (around US $290, although taxes are included in UK prices) as opposed to the Fender version at £410-£480 ($535- $620). It included a Studio Pro 8 perpetual licence. Fender couldn't apply that as though I'd bought a new year's worth of perpetual (though I still don't understand why not!!), but talked me through registering it as a new account so I now have another year of free upgrades.

 

[ant_chapman]

As my "perpetual" licence requires me to pay to get 8.1, can anyone comment on this from the changelog :

[macOS] Certain 3rd party plug-ins suffer GUI lag

I've had terrible problems with frozen GUI on some plugins, probably since v6. Worst offender is Slate Trigger2. If I turn off graphics hardware acceleration, the GUI moves again, but the refresh rate across all devices and the mixer really suffers.

Can anyone confirm they've noticed any difference? I'm definitely not paying £90 to find out it doesn't fix the issue, and I sure as hell have zero interest in any of the AI stuff.

 

[Dan H]

Not crazy about the Home tab in the browser (was that there before?). You can hide the Moises and Splice tabs, but then the links still appear in the Home tab...

And allow me to hide the Studio Assistant toolbar button. If I don't have it I don't want to see it...

Otherwise, glad the updates keep coming.

 

[Vocalpoint]

Not crazy about the Home tab in the browser (was that there before?). You can hide the Moises and Splice tabs, but then the links still appear in the Home tab...

And allow me to hide the Studio Assistant toolbar button. If I don't have it I don't want to see it...

+100 on all of the above.

I should be able to hide everything I do not want to see and it goes without saying that Fender should get with the program and automatically remove any UI elements that could not EVER apply (like Studio Assistant) to anyone on a perpetual license.

It's almost like they actually believe that leaving it there - is going to somehow make me change my mind and move to a subscription model?

For a company that was once the king of UI efficiency - leaving this button visible is both a waste of space AND a head scratcher - all at the same time.

VP

 

[Jeff]

Ok, $99 is pretty cheap, I went for it.

 

[Vocalpoint]

So, as a 8.0 user I have to pay to upgrade to 8.1, after six months of having 8.0. Well, this was done in a many that has upset lots of 8.0 users. I really like the DAW but the way it's been portrayed has left a lot of us perpetual users somewhat confused.

What - exactly - has you confused (or upset)?

Each perpetual license "transaction" (regardless of what date you bought it) has exactly one year of updates included.

If/when your year runs out - you have a choice to make. Anti up for another year of updates OR carry on with your current version - until the end of time if you choose - completely free.

While v8.1 is a tasty Feature Update - that has nothing to due with sand running out of your perpetual hourglass. You want more updates - you need to pay for them.

This is not a secret - nor is it some sort of clandestine hack to make you miserable.

It has been the standard since introduced with the launch of v7 on Oct 9, 2024

VP

 

[JX-84]

I nought the PreSonus-labelled Quantum HD2 just a week or so ago. Got it for £220 (around US $290, although taxes are included in UK prices) as opposed to the Fender version at £410-£480 ($535- $620). It included a Studio Pro 8 perpetual licence. Fender couldn't apply that as though I'd bought a new year's worth of perpetual (though I still don't understand why not!!), but talked me through registering it as a new account so I now have another year of free upgrades.

£220 is crazy! Can I ask where? Lowest I can find is Scan for £299.

 

[parityflux]

Don't know why there is no auto check on startup for the additional extensions, this would solve so many problems and user questions. [...]

Of note, when I installed 8.1, it asked me (or implored me...can't remember) if I wanted to update 3 plugins while it was installing or 1st-running. Splice and Stem Separation were two of them. I don't use either of these, but it wanted to update them, so there is that.

 

[parityflux]

I have no problem with integrated AI. That was not the intention of my post. As I said, it is all about focus. And I have a problem if relevant bugfixes are not coming for years, but instead I get a lot of shiny AI features. They just don't fix the timing issues

This. Precisely.

 

[TimC340]

£220 is crazy! Can I ask where? Lowest I can find is Scan for £299.

It was a one-off B-stock item I found on eBay! Can't remember the shop - it was a little local music shop somewhere down south, but they had an impeccable 100% rep and point blank refused my lower offers, so they knew what it was worth. I was a little concerned that the serial may have been already registered (and it wouldn't have been a disaster if it had been) but it was all good with Fender. I had actually bought one earlier in the year from Andertons for £259, but Fender had withdrawn the 'Perpetual plus 6 months of Plus' offer that it was sold to me with, and the internal packaging was damaged so I sent it back (Andertons got a rap over the knuckles for advertising it with that expired offer). But this latest buy had the one year of perpetual (no Plus) offer attached and it was good.

 

[jpettit]

I’m surprised one of the biggest advancements in Fender Studio Pro 8.1 didn’t get mentioned.

FSP is the only DAW that can create a 2 page only score using repeats, endings, and flow control that stays perfectly synced with the linear timeline of a 3-4 minute common form song. (V1,C1, V2 C1, B, V1x 2, Outro)

Every other DAW still prints flattened, many page linear notation. FSP is the first where the score actually follows both the score musical form and matches the linear arrangement.

For anyone who needs accurate and usable charts, this is a major breakthrough and deserves more visibility.

 

[Skijumptoes]

I nought the PreSonus-labelled Quantum HD2 just a week or so ago. Got it for £220

Is that the one with the ADAT's on the back? That's incredible price, imagine if you wasn't an FSP owner already what a deal that is!

Don't suppose you've tried a guitar through it? I have my eyes on that model too, as I like the thought of having a small unit with monitor control volume by my side, which can then ADAT out to my rack.

 

[JX-84]

It was a one-off B-stock item I found on eBay! Can't remember the shop - it was a little local music shop somewhere down south, but they had an impeccable 100% rep and point blank refused my lower offers, so they knew what it was worth. I was a little concerned that the serial may have been already registered (and it wouldn't have been a disaster if it had been) but it was all good with Fender. I had actually bought one earlier in the year from Andertons for £259, but Fender had withdrawn the 'Perpetual plus 6 months of Plus' offer that it was sold to me with, and the internal packaging was damaged so I sent it back (Andertons got a rap over the knuckles for advertising it with that expired offer). But this latest buy had the one year of perpetual (no Plus) offer attached and it was good.

That's a brilliant deal, well done!

I'll have to peruse the b-stock offers myself. I'm surprised at Andertons, they are usually pretty good.

 

[parityflux]

FSP is the only DAW that can create a 2 page only score using repeats, endings, and flow control that stays perfectly synced with the linear timeline of a 3-4 minute common form song. (V1,C1, V2 C1, B, V1x 2, Outro)

I agree this is very cool. I look forward to trying it out and seeing how it plays out for jamming with others.

Since this always seems to get in my way: I really wish there was a computational quantize function on the score where you can limit the visual representation (only) to not include 64th notes, or even 32nd notes. I'm not quantizing my regular work just to print a score for my own quick re-use. I can certainly do that for preparing a score for others, but in the flow, it is usually not worth the effort unless it is a part or two.
Two relevant feature requests:
Quantize View Option
Major Improvements Needed for Score View: Manual Tempo Marks & MIDI-Score Sync Stability

 

[Stuart Welwood]

My first impressions of FSP 8.1:

1. Improved scoring tools look great. Chord diagrams, too! I really like it when the native tools are upgraded.
2. I was hoping to see the native stem separation get some further development. Instead, we get Moises.
3. A bug (Level Meter infinite peak hold not working correctly after reopening file) I submitted about a month ago apparently didn't make it into this release. Hoping for a fix in 8.1.1.