The core Studio One software comes in three flavors:

• Prime, the free version
• Artist, the version targeted at home studios
• Pro, the full-fledged version

In this section, we will compare these versions in detail.

Keep in mind that this book aims to provide extensive coverage of the functions and features of Studio One. Therefore, depending on the version that you decide to work with, you may find that some of the features described in this book are not available in your system.

Free and lightweight – Studio One Prime

Prime is the free version of Studio One and as such it offers tremendous value compared to free DAW alternatives from other vendors. You can record and edit audio and MIDI, arrange and produce your tracks, and mix and master your song using the same intuitive drag-and-drop interface and rock-solid audio engine that made Studio One such a great success.

Prime offers some nifty features that make life easier, and definitely not expected in a free program, including the following:

• “Comping” and creating the perfect take out of several recordings
• MIDI retrospective recording (for those moments when you run into a great idea while noodling on your keyboard and say “Oh, I wish I recorded that!”)
• The Arranger Track, which lets you easily move and copy entire sections of your song (such as the intro, verse, chorus, etc.) within the project to try different arrangements and create different versions of your song (radio-friendly versions, extended versions, etc.)
• The Pattern Editor, a game-changer in drum programming with an intuitive interface reminiscent of classic drum machines

However, unless you are willing to settle with a very modest production style, you will likely soon run into some limitations, the most important of which are as follows:

• Only two inputs can be simultaneously used for recording.
• A very limited set of included (stock) effects plugins, which is only exacerbated by…
• No support for third-party plugins, not to mention…
• A very limited number of virtual instruments. Prime only comes with Presence, the Sound Set of which is not significantly better or worse than similar entry-level instruments found on competing DAWs, but you will probably not want to rely on it exclusively in your productions.

Verdict: Prime offers an amazing set of features for a free program. It’s an excellent choice for someone who would like to try their hand at computer-based music production, or for someone with zero budget. But considering today’s music production standards, you are soon likely to run into limitations.

The power of simplicity – Studio One Artist

Artist is aimed at people who want to create their own music and podcasts in a home studio environment. Definitely one of the best contenders at its price point, Artist provides a streamlined workflow, a simple interface, and an easy learning curve. With Artist, you’re free from all the limitations we listed for Prime: you can add third-party effects and instruments and use as many simultaneous inputs as your sound interface will allow.

The most important asset that Artist will bring into your production arsenal is a seriously good set of effects plugins. Although you may now add third-party plugins, chances are you will not need to.

Artist also comes with a solid set of virtual instruments, namely Impact, Mai Tai, Mojito, and SampleOne, as well as the aforementioned Presence. We’ll talk about these in detail later in this chapter, but suffice it to say for now that these instruments will give you enough horsepower to produce great-sounding tracks for most EDM, pop, and hip-hop styles.

You may establish a long and fulfilling relationship with Artist if your goal is to create modest productions or podcasts in a home studio environment. The scenarios in which you may reach its limitations and wish to upgrade to Pro include, but are not limited to, the following:

• You want to work with the Chord Track and Harmonic Editing to automatically detect and manipulate harmonic content in your song
• You want to use Score View to notate your song
• You want better control of the mastering process through the Project page
• You want to take your productions to the stage using the Show page
• You want to work with video

Verdict: Artist is an excellent and budget-friendly choice for those who wish to create modest music productions or podcasts in a home studio environment.

Here comes the flagship – Studio One Pro

Studio One Pro is the DAW that does it all. Well, almost. If we compare Pro head to head with all the other DAWs from all other vendors combined, there are still some things that it cannot do, but the gap is very marginal and it is getting smaller with each new version.

With all that functionality under the hood, you would expect Pro to be a pain to learn, but thanks to a very intuitive user interface, and with the help of this book of course, it’s a breeze.

So there’s actually no reason not to go for Pro, other than budget considerations. Having said that, Pro is much easier on the wallet compared to the flagship products of most of its competitors, and major discounts are available throughout the year.

Having worked with all major DAWs, the feeling I get when working with Studio One, and one that I hear a lot from colleagues, is that the development team really listened to feedback given on other DAWs and used it to create the — almost — perfect music production software.

Verdict: If you can afford it, get Studio One Pro. If you can’t afford it, wait until Black Friday and get Studio One Pro.

Note

You can find an up-to-date comparison between different versions of Studio One at https://www.presonus.com/products/studio-one/compare-versions

In this section, we explored the different versions of Studio One and compared the feature sets offered by each. But the choices at your disposal do not end here. Coming up, we will take a close look at another enticing alternative: Studio One+. By the end of the next section, you will have all the information you need to decide which option is best for your needs and your production style.

The choice between core versions of Studio One is fairly straightforward. Now let’s take a deep dive into Studio One+, which brings many more features to the table, and see whether it is the right choice for you.

Studio One+ (formerly known as Sphere) is a subscription-based model that gives you access to Studio One Pro and almost every other kind of software developed by PreSonus. This includes Notion, a powerful music notation program that tightly integrates with Studio One, as well as a huge list of sound effects, virtual instruments, Sound Sets, and loops that are not available when you purchase Studio One Pro “normally.”

Since the inception of Studio One+ and its predecessor, Sphere, PreSonus has really beefed up the package to make it more attractive. Thus, a subscription will get you extra goodies, such as access to exclusive online events and educational materials, cloud storage, cloud exchange and collaboration tools, live streams, and so on.

Studio One+ brings in a lot of extras to sweeten the deal, but how about the price? At the time of writing, the cost of an annual subscription to Studio One+ is half the cost of purchasing a regular license for Studio One Pro. In other words, it’s like purchasing a new license for Studio One Pro every other year. If you like the majority of the additional content and plugins and they match your style, this is definitely a good investment. But keep in mind that you can purchase Studio One Pro as a one-off and selectively purchase any extra content further down the line.

Verdict: Give yourself a couple of days to check out the extra content and listen to the demos on PreSonus’ website. If you think you would use at least 30% of the extra content in your productions, go with a Studio One+ subscription. If not, purchase selectively.

The best way to decide whether a Studio One+ subscription is the right choice for you is to take a close look at all the extras that come with it and see whether they will be useful for your production. We will examine the main ingredients of this package in the following section. Be sure to also visit PreSonus’ website to listen to the demos and hear them in action.