Going for a new computer - please, some help will be cool

[Nestor]

I’m glad I did not upgraded from Cubase 5.1 to anything else up the scale. After having tried it, I did not like the new Cubase lines, they are so different and…, I don’t know…, the “feeling” of working there with my beloved “Cubase” has changed so much that I don’t longer like it…

I am learning there are more and more people moving from Cubase Logic and Cakewalk than ever before. There is a great DAW revolution at this very moment.

As you probably remember, I went the path of Samplitude. Well, Samplitude is really, really GREAT, but it is overkill for what I need, you can do many more things you cannot do with others DAW, but I don’t need them. I was given some more trial time so I could judge clearly about it. I would have chosen it if it was not that expensive, because I was finally interested in the X2 version, because it has some production related goods, but it is too much.

But understand me well, I consider Samplitude X2 Suite in all justice, the BEST DAW in the market, independently of how you like to work, which is your workflow, etc. The sound it has, for my humble understanding, it is the best I have ever heard and its native plugins are also the best in the whole market, period.

Now, going back and forth with several DAWs out there, I am now ready to decide and I am getting Studio One 3.2, definitive answer. After working with it for about a week, I can tell it is years ahead of Cubase 5.1. Well, I guess Cubase 8 must also be years ahead of 5.1, but not in the same way Studio One is

For some reason I am not yet totally aware of as to explain it, Studio One is sort of the evolution I would have expected from Cubase to become in a version like 7 or 8.

It is a mature decision now I will stay with Studio One and will get to study and know it in depth. I feel really comfortable with it and love all it gives, it is so clear, so fast to learn, fast to use, easy, extremely well laid out, and the price it is also VERY convenient compared with the new Cubase versions and many other good DAWs like Samplitud X2.

BTW: Console Shaper really works! Amazing concept!

Is there anybody around here which works with Studio One? Cheers

[Marco]

I worked with cubase for 10 years, then I changed to logic but Not long these assholes killed the PC Version. I dont want Apple. 5 years Ago to samplitude. NOW i will try Studio one. Hope it is good. Btw Seems you went the same way ?

[Nestor]

Pretty much so, yeah… it seems we have gone through almost the same scenario...

Studio One 3.2 will really get your attention. Give it a serious try. Please, spend at least one week, you will have the best from all your mentioned DAWs at the same time. It is EASY and it is FUN. Two things that together makes your musical experience really enjoyable.

As far as I know, Studio One has the best of Nuendo and the best of Logic, mixed and melted in a fantastic intelligent way!

The more I go and try, the more I love it!

At this very moment, I am going through all the video tutorials offered by the program itself, and though the manual too, which is crystal clear explained. These guys have really thought about “US” musicians, you will find anything you need intuitively, it is a breeze to do certain tasks that would take a long time in Cubase like arranging MANY MIDI tracks at the same time, to duplicate MIDI to Audio, which is now done automatically, you can customize everything, and despite this, it is not clustered while you do it.

The included plugins are of high quality, but not the best in the market, except the “Console Shaper”, amazing device that through subtle changes really shapes the sound in a delicious way, extremely useful with drums and bass-lines.

With Samplitude, despite being so very good, the more you go, the more clustered it can get to do certain rather simple things, like rendering in different formats. With Studio One everything just flies with open wings. Yes, I repeat it, because it is so inspiring when you are composing: IT IS REALLY, REALLY FAST!!!

I am soooo glad I gave it a serious try! I am at home now, got it and will stay here

Well, as we have gone through the same DAW "towns", I guess that your next town will be, like it is for me, Studio One, it is a logical path to follow for someone who worked almost exactly the same way I did.

[Nestor]

BTW: Drag and drop is implemented everywhere, just try what you need and most likely it will work, no need to open any menu to connect anything to anything else, go and drag it to the place you need it to work, done! Channels, Busses, everyghing is so intelligent.

[Nestor]

I said it wrong and spoke too fast about plugins: Ampire is fantastic, one of the best distortions out there for guitar, very musical.

[Nestor]

I've just done my first couple of recordings and wow, I am very impressed with the sound quality! Terrific actually! I tried V. 3.0, but in 3.2 they have fixed many bugs and it seems they have bettered the audio engine itself as well, I don’t know what it is, but it is crystal clear now.

I am sure Presonus guys will keep going the right path, because they are growing up like crazy right now, so all we can expect is a better software by the end of the year, important upgrades I mean. I did not find any bug so far, fingers crossed. And again, the sound is superb, and I recognized I judged too fast their plugins. Now that I have been working with some audio files, particularly voices, I can see they are definitely up to the market standard of the best today DAWs.

I’ve also done a test stressing my PC to see how they would work together (the Studio One software and my hardware setup), the answer is: ROCK SOLID BEHAVIOUR! I loaded 70 heavy demanding MIDI instruments for the CPU, 25 heavy processing VST plugins like compressors, EQs, multieffects, flanger, chorus, guitar emulations, etc., etc., enabled multicore capability, added some crazy MIDI lines that I repeated in all the tracks at the same time, so to really stress it, and reached 14 GB of RAM and 98% of the CPU, let it in loop for a while and everything was just fine. The PC was not even stacked or slowed to do something else meanwhile like watching a video. This rock solid behavior talks about an efficient code behind the UI in Studio One and its amazing engine.

[Nestor]

There is a 25% off right now, perfect for people like me with Cubase 5.1, one of the qualifying DAWs they give the discount to:

http://blog.presonus.com/index.php/cate ... -discount/

[Nestor]

I have learned to live with the MIDI problems encountered in Cubase 5.1 when I worked with it. I had to eventually fix positions after playing, it was a bit annoying, not that terrible, but depending on the musical passages, that would take me a lot of time. This is not happening in Studio One, it is 100% tight, rock solid tight, and I am so glad for it, no more fixing work after playing. BTW, Protools is full of similar problems with MIDI.

I am becoming a real fan guys…, this is a SERIOUS option.

I have been sold already!

[astroman]

after all it comes down to personal workflow
if the user interface appeals to you - fine
I'm more or less an audio-only guy who needs just a convenient reel-to-reel replacement and stick with SAW-Studio for that reason
(which is as different from S1 as can be...)
the drag and drop of Studio One isn't my cup of tea at all, but many users like exactly that feature
have fun with it...

cheers, Tom

[Nestor]

That’s true Tom, we have different needs and so different workflows.

I work a real lot with audio but I work even a lot more with MIDI. The way S1 headless MIDI it is really smart and fast. It is not as deep as Cubase, but this “complexity” in the methods MIDI works today in Cubase would hardly be use because there are other ways to do the same thing in a much easier way, like handling separated MIDI messages, split signals, external instruments, and the interchange of projects with other DAWs, which is sometimes a nightmare with Cubase. The only people I see using the full range of MIDI features in Cubase today, would be guys not playing real instruments experimenting with electronic music.

With Studio One I have reached this phrase and its wonderful meaning: LESS IS MORE, and I really like this philosophy. I like simplicity, clear separation between elements, and if possible, I want to know at every moment where I am in the software and where I can go from this particular point I am on, to the extent of forgetting about it. In Samplitude I got lost many times… I like when instruments and the PC and the DAW itself disappears to give place to music and only music.

I feel released and confident again now as I go along with Studio One, because the more I know it the more I feel comfortable and reassured. I feel I am understood as a “musician” not as a software engineer or even an audio engineer

Samplitude is fantastic, yes, most of all if you are an audio engineer working at a studio for other people, that is to say, where “inspiration” is none of your business, because it is so “mentally involved”, becoming even to be an intellectual challenge to use certain features if you work with music and video together, so inspiration dies in the path while you are trying to understand why there are 12 clicks to do a step which should be simple.

Studio One, in the other hand, is like a very enthusiastic child that understands on the fly what you want, and gets involved with every game you propose him to play with you, so it is very fun to use. Samplitude is like an adult you need to explain everything every time, and he may disagree with you, so it is tiresome even if it is much more mature than Studio One. Now, if you want to have fun traveling to somewhere in the world, go with a mind related to childhood, not to adulthood, everything is going to be great and new all the way!

The drag and drop option, after you know what you want to do, it is a very convenient way to automate your work, it is fast. For me FAST is like GOLD.

I do have fun with my DAW but I also “work” with it, so this is my main reason to use it. I need for it to be practical, not a load I have to carry on my back, and sometimes I don’t even think about what I like when working, but strictly about what I need to achieve it.

Today I don’t feel like going into months and months of DAW training again, like I did with Cubase, which I arrived to learn and grasp in such detail after so many years of using it, since version 1.1…

Then there is the “mind” thing or “mind approach”, which is “how” your mind relates to things, that is, your way to what you will call a logical path. I realize sometimes that what is logical for me, it is illogical for the way somebody else understands the same thing.

If someone is interested in music beyond technology, Studio One is one of its best possible ways to reach it.

[Marco]

My first turn with the DAW Story of my life was the twentyfour by Steinberg on my Atari st1024.

And you will Not believe it, I was happy with it. I had a syncronizer and a 4 track cassette Deck hahaha a alesis hr-16 and a DX7II!

AND I WAS HAPPY

[Marco]

Today,? Dont ask my because of my Equipment!

[Nestor]

Many people had a hard time going from Atari to PC, because of how confortable and stable the system was... Today everything is much more complicated, but much more powerful too... I'm still VERY happy with Studio One 3, it's really fantastic!

[Marco]

Today we are adults and the Atari is a PC

[Nestor]

What a mysterious phrasing...

[Marco]

Means everyting went good! And the best is, scope has survived after creamwares death.

[Nestor]

Well, Anabella, you should start writing poems apart from doing music Sorry, I did not get you, and yes, absolutely true…

So? What about Studio One, are you there? I am totally satisfied with it.

[astroman]

I've learned that I have to learn ...
sticking with SAW Studio all the time - it looks kind of shabby but is the least eyestress of them all DAWs
really took a while to find out the software doesn't have to act according to your own very first idea about a topic...
because there may be better or more efficient ways

cheers, Tom