Review: PreSonus Studio One Pro 7

LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL

Studio One 7 has introduced a much-requested Clip Launcher. It’s not hugely different to what can already be achieved in the Arrange Window, especially with the Scratchpad function, however users who need this sort of workflow have embraced this (and more than one comparison to Bitwig has been muttered). The idea is a separate window where every component of your song, represented as the ubiquitous ‘clips’ can be re-arranged, compiled or added to a playlist, and sorted into ‘cells’, all to create alternative versions of the tune which ultimately are transferred back into the master arrangement. Straight away, you can see how this can benefit composers working with a zillion bite-size clips, looking to try different ideas without impacting the main arrangement or getting lost in too much experimentation.

SPLICE THE MAIN BASS

Full integration with Splice is now a part of Studio One 7. Splice is a vast online library of samples for EDM producers and normally you’d be trawling through endless sounds in an open browser separate to Studio One – never ideal. Now, there is a window directly into the Splice database inside Studio One and it includes a function to search for samples similar in tone, tempo or type to your current content, reducing search times significantly.

SERIOUS STEM SEPARATION

This is an interesting one, and I’ve seen it’s being incorporated into a lot of DAW software. In SO7, Stem Separation can be applied to any audio file, splitting that file into four stems of Vocals, Drums, Bass and Other. You can then remix the stems – obviously with the option to leave any of them out. Not so long ago, this would’ve been frowned upon when less scrupulous, amateur performers aspired to source ‘backing tracks’ that were sans vocals. On the other hand, I can imagine musicians with historic mixdowns they’ve always wanted to fix – maybe redo the bass line or remove the vocalist who ended up divorcing the drummer. I experimented with a few tracks and the results were… ah, mixed. While removing the different instruments from each other was certainly achieved, the separate stems soloed had that slight ‘underwater’ artifact that was a hallmark of early NR processors, and you’d likely not use them individually. However, chuck the three non-vocal stems back together and you got an impressive backing track indeed. Hmm…

ADVANCED TEMPO DETECTION

This is another function that for me kind of falls into the ‘rescuing old tracks’ category. Studio One 7 can accurately detect and map out tempos of any file, and among other things this allows creating a click track for re-recording or adding tracks, or perhaps programming MIDI. It also gives you a more accurate base for quantizing wave file tracks. It works well and will be another huge time-saver.

A GLOBAL TUNE-UP… OR DOWN

Next to the Transport controls is a global Transpose button. Studio One has always been very good at transposing audio tracks individually – within reason – and of course MIDI is a cinch. This Transpose button takes out the laborious process of applying values to each track, and there is a field to exempt any track from the process such as MIDI drums.

TAKE FLIGHT WITH DEEP FLIGHT ONE

Deep Flight One is a new virtual instrument that runs as a standalone or inside the existing Presence player. It has a focus on drones, soundscapes and atmospheric synth patches with the standalone VI offering user-friendly parameters to create your own sounds without having much knowledge of the science behind it all. It’s no Absynth, but there are plenty of patches that give you that kind of palette, and Deep Flight One is a handy addition to Studio One’s already comprehensive collection of virtual instruments.

AND THERE’S MORE

There are over 30 new features in Studio One 7, many of them improvements to workflows and functions that the user base has been requesting and don’t exactly smack those unfamiliar with the DAW in the face as dealmakers. Suffice to say they’re the kind of fine-tuning changes welcomed by some, and incomprehensible to others.

SO WHAT’S THE DEAL?

PreSonus is claiming ‘One DAW for all’. Sound familiar? More to the point, it’s canning the freebie Prime version of S1 and the introductory Artist version. There will only be the one Studio One Pro, available as a perpetual license, or Studio One Pro+ which is exactly the same except it’s the subscription model that gives you access to extra loop libraries and some plug-ins. Getting rid of cut-down or free versions simplifies the pricing structure. Another surprise – the DAW will no longer be named by numerical versions. There will be no Studio One 8, for example. It’s just going to be Studio One Pro with a version identifier. On top of this, PreSonus is promising a much faster cycle of free updates, aiming for four per year, while also offering a paid-for update annually. Offering – this is an important point that sets it apart from the Pro+ subscription version. If you own a perpetual license, you don’t have to upgrade. SO7 will continue to work for anyone with a perpetual license for as long as you want. PreSonus promises that users will always have a working version on their computer. The concept is that the DAW will have the full support of PreSonus while users can choose to purchase or ignore those annual updates depending on whether any new content appeals to them. It’s also a subtle difference to what’s happened in the past, when buying each new version as they become available created the perception that older versions are somehow obsolete. Possibly, PreSonus is quietly acknowledging that genuine innovation is becoming harder and harder to develop, and creating big-ticket new features is difficult. Users might happily sit on their version of Studio One for two or three years before being tempted to fork out money for some appealing update.

TIME TO CONSOLIDATE

I see Studio One 7 as a wise investment for everyone. All things considered, and regardless of the EDM-heavy improvements in this Studio One release, the DAW is still a platform that provides almost everything any musician or producer would ever need. Those traditional studios haven’t really been left out – it’s just that Studio One has already catered well and truly for that crowd. The plug-ins, the virtual instruments, the GUI… it’s all there in spades without much need for third-party add-ons. The caveat for mine is still the lack of any decent virtual drum instrument along the lines of Addictive Drums or NI’s Studio Drummer. Studio One has Impact with a few acoustic kits and lots of electronic patches, but nothing to rival dedicated drum VIs.

With the streamlined pricing, the policy of keeping the DAW current and frequently up-to-date rather than suggesting a form of obsolescence comes with each release, and that promise of always providing a fully working version, all combines to make me believe this a good time to consolidate your Studio One into this Version 7 and put your feet up for a while. Sure, there are a ton of features many users – yours truly included – will never use. Isn’t that how all the DAWs are these days? What I do use is top-notch and gives me excellent results. If upcoming paid-for updates don’t tickle my fancy, I can confidently wait for the next release knowing my current version isn’t going to crash or freeze because it’s ‘old’.

In a way, the ball is back in PreSonus’ court – figure out some kind of mind-blowing new toy that I can’t resist. Otherwise, with PreSonus’ blessing, after this update I’ll be saving my money.