Studio One Pro Update Releases?

[ianaeillo]

Sticking my neck out a bit, but with the best of intentions...

It's almost a year since SO 1 ver 7 was released and it will soon be time to look at those subscription renewals.

Myself, am hoping an announcement will be forthcoming of a major update or on the other hand will the subscription to Pro+ be an empty vessel that Presonus launched.
If no major update is announced is the Pro+ subscription renewal worth it?

Regards to all.

The 7.2 update was worth it for me. Literally made it the most stable daw I've worked on since PT 6.7. Absolutely fantastic update.

 

[Johnsongs]

I think they may have made a rod for their own backs - they'll need to continue the flow of useful updates/toys/tweaks if only to ensure users shell out for their renewal every year. If a lot of that sector decide to lapse for a year (or more) then revenues will drop. Maybe DAWs have almost reached Excel and Word levels of maturity and are not the cash generators they used to be.

 

[sintil8]

The 7.2 update was worth it for me. Literally made it the most stable daw I've worked on since PT 6.7. Absolutely fantastic update.

There is a lot to feel good about and we are where we are, as far as the updates, they were all solid. What's not to like.
Looking at this sensibly, we have reached the juncture tho' where a lot of early adopters of V7 will be looking at renewal or more prabably looking to see what comes out of the kitchen for the forthcoming year.
CBase last update was around $60 or $70 which leads me to believe they are discounting for volume, makes me wonder how much of the market they have been losing?

All good to talk about the positive stuff.

Kindest regards.

 

[Craig Anderton]

I'm not sure what constiutes a "major" update. When 6.5 came out with Atmos, that was a very big deal in terms of added functionality, especially for educators, students, and indie creators. It didn't require an add-on, additional cost, or a complex setup. And I love doing binaural mixes! If they'd called that update 7.0, I feel it would have been justified. But anyone who's not interested in Atmos would have considered it useless.

Recently, I've really warmed up to the Sub Zero Bass (unintentional pun intended). It's the first instrument that's seduced me into using something other than my own samples and synth bass sounds. So, for me that was a welcome addition. Others will probably never even try it, let alone use it.

As to 7.0, I'm not sure I agree it represents a major change in direction, any more than 6.5 indicated a major direction change toward movie soundtracks, schools, and art installations. Remember, there were TONS of threads in the old forum about "Studio One needs a clip launcher! Ableton Live has features Studio One needs!" so PreSonus addressed those users. Maybe the next update will cater to Death Metal fans...who knows. At least you have a choice of perpetual or subscription. Adobe lost my business when they switched to subscription-only.

Of course, Studio One isn't perfect. But since nothing else meets that standard, I'm not going to hold PreSonus to it

 

[Davey]

Maybe DAWs have almost reached Excel and Word levels of maturity

I think that might be a big part of the problem, and not just for S1. The danger is that they'll just keep throwing very average new instruments at us to make updates look bigger than they are and to justify the subscription. They are currently merging Presonus and Fender accounts and I can't get away from the feeling that somewhere along the line they will lose sight of the Studio One vibe and somehow screw it all up.

But in the meantime V7 is pretty solid.

 

[TimC340]

S One 7 works for me and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I do use several of the addons included in the Plus package, so I'll keep it going for now - although I do keep an eye on what's out there that I might acquire to replace those addons. Indeed, as a serial addon collector, I might already have loads of effectively duplicate plugins and VSTs that could replace the sub! But I like the DAW and I am happy to subsidise PreSonus to keep developing it. I'm sure subscriptions of all kinds rely on this kind of inertia to survive, and arguably few are actually good value for money - but that's a study for someone else.

But PreSonus do have to show that the move to a sub model works sufficiently well for both the user and the company to make it worth continuing. It may well be that currently they anticipate that the renewal rate will be adequate to keep the lights on without any further major updates to v7, but that's not a position that's sustainable long term. It's not just the DAW itself; the additional content also needs to receive updates and additions to keep it fresh. I hope they'll accept that and show us that they are committed to the entire package and not just the DAW.

 

[stanft]

I don't want to spread pessimism here. However, I've observed a considerable reduction in new content offered since the transition to the new model. Previously, as a Studio One + subscriber, you regularly received new soundsets or similar. This has now practically completely died down.

The frequency with which tutorials etc. are provided as Studio One + exclusive has also decreased significantly.

All of this makes it increasingly difficult to justify the monthly costs for the subscription model.

 

[TimC340]

By definition, a subscription requires regular new content. Otherwise it's hire purchase.

 

[stanft]

By definition, a subscription requires regular new content. Otherwise it's hire purchase.

I guess that the S1 updates are the regular content now.

EDIT: I just had a quick look at the content library. In 2023, 34 soundsets have been added as content. In 2024, the content additions decreased to 20 soundsets. In 2025 .... 1!

 

[TimC340]

I'd assume that the content library was set up for Sphere, the subscription that came along with version 6 at the end of 2022. Then the move to v7 in October '24 prompted the addition of further content as the subscription became 'Plus'. Since then, almost nothing, which isn't really a good look! Perhaps the tie-up with Splice put a lid on it? Comparing Plus with other plug-in subscriptions such as Musio, EW Composer Cloud, Plugin Alliance, etc, it doesn't look great, particularly if the DAW itself isn't progressing sufficiently to, in combination with the additional content, justify the subscription for many people.

It will be interesting to see what the renewal rate is over the next few months.

 

[stanft]

Yeah ... it is underwhelming to say the least. I pay the same amount of money but get much less (the DAW updates where included in Sphere, too).

 

[TimC340]

One of the reasons I subscribed in the first place was Notion 6, as I had a need to score choral stuff for my choir and this seemed a good way to do it under the same umbrella as the stuff I used for EDM, folk and various other half-baked projects that I'd been doing in S One 4 and 5 and FLStudio. I quickly discovered that Notion was pretty much dead (last updated many years ago) and that the built-in notation in Studio One was basically Notion anyway! I moved to Dorico, which is great. There isn't a lot else in the bundle that I'd want to pay for other than the DAW updates, so I will think carefully about whether I renew in January or wait until the next big update to buy it again.

I have Komplete 15 Ultimate, EW Composer Cloud Plus, all of the free content from Labs (now Splice Instrument), Orchestral Tools, Sonuscore, Fracture Sounds, Crow Hill and a few others, so I'm not really in need of the Studio One extra content...

 

[Davey]

Yeah ... it is underwhelming to say the least. I pay the same amount of money but get much less (the DAW updates where included in Sphere, too).

I guess Sphere was not considered a success given how quickly they have dropped it. The extra stuff never appealed to me because, like most others on here, I am already overflowing with instruments, effects, samples, loops and other stuff. More than I can ever audition let alone use.

 

[Vocalpoint]

I guess Sphere was not considered a success given how quickly they have dropped it.

Sphere was not dropped - today it is simply called "Pro+"

Same deal, same content, same everything PLUS a perpetual license at the end of it all - if you choose not to renew.

VP

 

[MisterE]

I think that might be a big part of the problem, and not just for S1. The danger is that they'll just keep throwing very average new instruments at us to make updates look bigger than they are and to justify the subscription. They are currently merging Presonus and Fender accounts and I can't get away from the feeling that somewhere along the line they will lose sight of the Studio One vibe and somehow screw it all up.

But in the meantime V7 is pretty solid.

MIDI 2 hovering on the horizon, albeit still being shaken out by Microsoft (and probably Apple) and industry players, is one unignorable development that will definitely require programming attention by every DAW company with the potential to open up new areas to explore. Until then, yeah, average new instruments is a large part of what we're gonna get.

 

[ianaeillo]

I actually believe there will be substantial updates and integration to the show page and a new line of live performance fender gear - amp and pedal effect integration and stuff like that. I think we will see a pretty significant increase in their attention to the Show page, which I don't care about. But I think it'll be cool for people who want to work 100% within the Fendonus ecosystem.

So in effect, there will be Fender amp sims inside studio one, with which the parameters will control networkable amps. I believe we will see the amp sims first, possibly this update.

 

[stanft]

Sphere was not dropped - today it is simply called "Pro+"

Same deal, same content, same everything PLUS a perpetual license at the end of it all - if you choose not to renew.

VP

But without the new, additional content anymore. So ... not really the same

 

[Vocalpoint]

But without the new, additional content anymore. So ... not really the same

Cannot comment on the inclusion or lack of "new" content - simply correcting any statements that Sphere was dropped. Just renamed.

VP