Studio Pro 8 - Discussion Thread

[Surf.Whammy]

New member here. Currently have Studio One 6 and heard about the new major update to Fender Studio 8.

Went to sweetwater and found an upgrade for only $99, and got that.

I have the license key now, but.. I cannot find where to download the installer. I've logged in to the new Fender site and see all of my old Presonus orders/products, but of course Studio 8 isn't listed there since I got the license form Sweetwater (and later saw where I could get the same license from Fender for the same price, ugh)

I've looked all over the My Gear section as well as the public facing Studio 8 page and cannot see where to download the installer.

Sweetwater's instructions only pertain to entering the license key, and they do not have links to download the installer directly. Support is referring me to Fender.

I am beyond miffed.

Anyone have any useful or helpful info on getting the installer? I don't really want to spend another $99 for a second license just because I couldn't find the installer.

It took me a while to get to the correct location, as well as to change my PreSonus account to a Fender account.

This is probably different from what you are experiencing, but you mentioned you saw all your PreSonus stuff, which at least in theory is encouraging.

Did you go to this website:

https://my.fender.com/home?

Did you see the attached web page image?

This is all that comes to mind . . .

 

[crowdaddy304]

Hate the new mixer... And the GUI changes overall.

A few instances of Slate Digital VTM causes audio distortion followed by crash of the app. The same session works fine in S1 7.2.3. Hard pass for me, for now at least.

Slate plugins causing problems for me as well. I sent some diagnostic reports in on a ticket but I’ll be on hold as well until it’s resolved.

 

[fmays]

I'm following up only to let this be a warning for anyone else thinking of upgrading via a license key purchased from a third party.

The instructions on the link you provided right above say to find the product I just bought and then obtain the download there. I did not buy the product (upgrad) from Fender, it was bought from Sweetwater. Therefore, Fender doesn't know I have it, and the Studio 8 product is not listed under my products.

I have no actual way to download this software.

Sweetwater put me into a support queue and said the wait would be long. I later found out wasn't being staffed at all, so I would have waited hours and nobody there would have answered.

The migration from Presonus to Fender made this upgrade path more confusing than it needed to be, and Sweetwater should not be offering license keys for products they cannot themselves provide (and which license keys are said to be invalid when I enter them at Fender's website)

Try this link... you'll need to logon but it takes me to the download page.

https://my.fender.com/products/detail/1781

 

[TheNeil]

Thanks to the team for keeping this product alive.

I do think it's a bit underhand to announce switching to a time-based multiple-a-year release model, then just put out a Version 8 after all the V7 early-adopters had their 1-year of 'updates' expire; but I also don't imagine that was the development team's decision, and I'm just glad to see this app continuing to grow.

Sorry if this has already been reported, but I'm seeing a pretty significant bug: I can't select 'No Audio Device' for the Recording Device in Audio Setup. If I try selecting it, the app just glitches for a second, then goes back to whatever I had selected before.

Would be great to see this fixed.

I'm on Studio Pro v8.0.0, macOS 26.2. No external audio devices currently connected (Steam Link's 'Steam Streaming' software Mic & Speakers are the only other options aside from my machine's built-in mic & speakers).

 

[Vocalpoint]

Sorry if this has already been reported, but I'm seeing a pretty significant bug: I can't select 'No Audio Device' for the Recording Device in Audio Setup. If I try selecting it, the app just glitches for a second, then goes back to whatever I had selected before.

Can I ask what the use case would be for using S1 with no audio device?

VP

 

[TheNeil]

Firstly, if it's an option, it should work; but to answer your question: mixing, mastering, making backing tracks, using just loops/beats, working with the chord track. Basically anything which doesn't involve actively recording a live audio signal. Plenty, honestly.
Saves processing and improves performance having it switched off. Also, it's otherwise constantly accessing the mic, which macOS isn't fond of.

 

[Vocalpoint]

Firstly, if it's an option, it should work; but to answer your question: mixing, mastering, making backing tracks, using just loops/beats, working with the chord track. Basically anything which doesn't involve actively recording a live audio signal. Plenty, honestly.
Saves processing and improves performance having it switched off. Also, it's otherwise constantly accessing the mic, which macOS isn't fond of.

Respectfully - you want to "mix" or "master" or "make backing tracks" - and do all that with no audio device present whatsoever?

Again - not sure I understand how any of that is possible without a way to hear what you are doing.

VP

 

[Gerran]

Can I ask what the use case would be for using S1 with no audio device?

I was wondering that too, but I believe in MacOS it's possible to have a different input audio device from the output device. Than, it would make sense to not have an input device ...

 

[TheNeil]

Ah, I see the confusion here: This is for Recording Device, not for Playback Device (which also doesn't seem to have the same bug).
I'm not that much of a psychopath

 

[Vocalpoint]

I was wondering that too, but I believe in MacOS it's possible to have a different input audio device from the output device. Than, it would make sense to not have an input device ...

Got it.

OP made it sound like he wanted to use this awesome DAW and not hear anything at all.

Not sure that I buy the "saves processing and improves performance" vibe - but each to their own I guess.

VP

 

[SwitchBack]

Firstly, if it's an option, it should work; but to answer your question: mixing, mastering, making backing tracks, using just loops/beats, working with the chord track. Basically anything which doesn't involve actively recording a live audio signal. Plenty, honestly.
Saves processing and improves performance having it switched off. Also, it's otherwise constantly accessing the mic, which macOS isn't fond of.

My advice to Mac users is to definitely install 2-channel BlackHole. With BlackHole as its recording device S1/SP won't pester the built-in mic anymore, and as a bonus it can record any audio playing on your system.

 

[Crossinger]

My advice to Mac users is to definitely install 2-channel BlackHole. With BlackHole as its recording device S1/SP won't pester the built-in mic anymore, and as a bonus it can record any audio playing on your system.

I'm not saying this as a warning, but merely as a tip or personal experience: a few years ago, I installed BlackHole on my Intel Mac and experienced some strange problems. After I completely uninstalled everything, the problems disappeared. So my recommendation is: if new gremlins appear on your computer after installation, it could (also) be due to BlackHole.

 

[Gerran]

OP made it sound like he wanted to use this awesome DAW and not hear anything at all.

You had exactly my trail of thought...

 

[SwitchBack]

I'm not saying this as a warning, but merely as a tip or personal experience: a few years ago, I installed BlackHole on my Intel Mac and experienced some strange problems. After I completely uninstalled everything, the problems disappeared. So my recommendation is: if new gremlins appear on your computer after installation, it could (also) be due to BlackHole.

I never had problems but I did skip a few updates. Did you note the version giving issues? It may have been something they resolved by now.

 

[Crossinger]

I never had problems but I did skip a few updates. Did you note the version giving issues? It may have been something they resolved by now.

Yes, hence not exactly a “warning”. I can’t recall the exact version, but it must have been a 0.2.x.

 

[carlosjuvandes]

And the copy plugin settings changed too, and I don't think is more easy to use. We've to press the arrow on the top right and then press the copy icon...

 

[danam]

After reading this discussion and some others (like on facebook) I feel sorry for the many people that almost had a nervous breakdown because a software has been renamed. I cannot tell if the team in Hamburg is more micro managed since Fender bought PreSonus in 2021, but from a user perspective not so much has changed in comparison to the years before that happened. New features and UI changes have been discussed sometimes ridiculously emotional and with wild speculations about the future of the software as always since I use S1 (2015). Same with some business decisions (especially the introduction of the optional subscription service). But what can you do? AFAICT the DAW market is not an easy place to make money (anymore?). Which major DAW has not been bought by a bigger company? At least the price of one year of updates is now 99 bucks. And personally I got that lately as part of buying a new faderport 2, seems fair to me.

Concerning V8: People should be patient. Major releases almost always seem underwhelming at first. But minor releases catch up for the most part. What I noticed: Many features (arrangement and channel overview, some new FX) are a consequence of the transfer feature in the lightweight Fender Studio app (which works fine on tablets). And that makes sense: Fender had to do something to compete with GarageBand/Logic and Cubasis/Cubase. For now Fender Studio is audio only, but I guess that will change.

Even in this thread people still cite that old interview wit the former Fender boss. He talked about the manual for the Artist version (!!!) being 149 pages too long. People feared that S1 will be reduced to a DAW for children or something like that. And what happened? Some (IMO irrelevant) new templates were included, Artist was cancelled with v7 and a very basic, tablet ready DAW that complements the flagship product was introduced. Again: Makes sense to me.

Of course there are some things that also bother me a little bit:
- I would really like to buy the Alpine Desk MixFX for max 30 bucks (I don't care about the other two of Retro Mix Legends, I tried them at my 1 month subscription test I did once), but it is only available as part of the subscription service. It is not THAT good to justify the annual fee and I don't want/need anything else from Pro+.
- The tightrope act between catching up in terms of features to the older, more established DAWs and actively innovate features that make people switch has its negative side effects: newly introduced features are often not polished or versatile enough and it takes the devs very long to make them really competitive and user friendly. But this was always the case with S1.
- Some renaming (like song to session) is not done consequently enough. It is called session now, but the file ending is still .song.
- The Fender logo is too big everywhere, haha

 

[lokeyfly]

Honestly, this discussion never ceases to amaze me. I mean, if this software was called Studio One 8 (which, effectively, that's what it is) and not Studio Pro 8, would that be OK?
Guys, it's a simple slight name change. Fender have owned Presonus since 2021. Has everything been OK since then?
I know people will moan at every new version, but this is too much.
If you're not happy with aspects of the software, then moan about that, but a little name change?

Well, on my behalf, I only mentioned the name change on top of the rudimentary things I've always reiterated since v2.3 that Studio One still need, but they still can't seem to find "logic" (choice of word, no accident) to ever include in such an elegent DAW.

I'm not going to add those missing essentials* Studio One has always severely needed here because its been tiresome. Expecting results now is over.

My position going forward in this forum anyway barring any unforseen circumstances is that I'll genuinely enjoy Presonus' Studio One Pro 7 for several years ahead. That might include some other DAW or video apps which steer my music or clients workflow in a positive direction. I've always been thankful for the contributing minds around Presonus, and what they've accomplished.

I hope all you passionate folks find only the best for what ever it is you do. That includes either this new Fender version of a DAW, some other version, or any tools that allow you to build on your craft.
I'll continue to enjoy this forum, its founders and members. I'll also assist at times where I can offer additional knowledge or words of encouragement to people getting through the process of song writing, or technical assistance. I'm always (time permitting) looking to provide encouragement or a path for users of a DAW, or studio and mix/master tactics. It's a big part of why I enjoy Craig Anderton who's been doing that very thing for quite some time. C'mon, he's made a living at it, and also happens to be a great guy!
I'm always available to any messages, tech-talk, laughs, and critique.

If I could add one point on a productive front, I'd simply say, don't put too much stock into a new DAW release. Let your creative gift take you past ANY such release. Weather you have or have not passed along to them money. Now what has been passed along to you?

Let's make this such a great and productive musical year! No matter what tools we use!


* When I state "essentials", please, no comments on everyone having their own idea of what essentials are. I've been doing this for a long time. Those components have been in most every other DAW or sequencer since the 80's, 90's and remain in place today.

 

[OutrageProductions]

IYKYK

 

[TheNeil]

My advice to Mac users is to definitely install 2-channel BlackHole. With BlackHole as its recording device S1/SP won't pester the built-in mic anymore, and as a bonus it can record any audio playing on your system.

Thanks for the tip.
I’ve been fine until now with just selecting ‘No Audio Device’ for Recording Device (not Playback Device ) and not needing any third-party components; but I’ll keep it in mind.
This option has been freshly broken by v8.0.0, so hopefully they’ll fix it soon.