Studio One looks WAY too crude

Yes it's all about the sound and features, but the look of SONAR was so refined, and so advanced...with everything dockable and the great way you could add what you want to the transport bar among many other things. And the great way you could expand and collapse the pro channel view (itself, a huge drawing point). Excellent graphics that felt high end. The complete opposite of what I see with Presonus crude looking softare. It looks like something from about 15 years ago. So while I'll keep plugging away with Splat for a while (maybe, the idea of using dead software is not appealing, knowing how fast innovation changes), I'd like something else as sharp to the eye as SONAR is. Cubase seems to be close but I don't know customizable the transport bar is.

doncolga
Which S1 are you looking at?  I've experienced quite the opposite after being in Studio One since the Spring and peeking back into Sonar occasionally.
 
The first thing that I liked massively about S1 was track management.  It was much easier for me to very easily manage large track count projects.

the downloaded demo...it feels flat ...like basic looking software, no sort of '3 dimensionality' to the look and feel the way Splat has. Hated, hated it.

guitz
the downloaded demo...it feels flat ...like basic looking software, no sort of '3 dimensionality' to the look and feel the way Splat has. Hated, hated it.

I second this emotion.  It made it difficult for an old dude like me to read.  Even with the contrast/luminescence settings changed in the settings. 

I like the UI for Studio One...it actually looks quite current to my eyes.  Can't say I feel the same way about Mixcraft though.  Very different designs/designers.

rodreb
I felt Studio One looked "cartoony". I just finished watching some videos on Cubase and, it looks better. NOTHING (IMHO) looks even remotely as good as Sonar Platinum.

I do think Cubase and Digital Performer seem to be the most feature-laden alternatives.  However, I'm not excited about the hardware key :-/

IMHO SPlat is the best looking DAW in the marketplace.  Studio One, which I am demoing now, is not offensive looking, but the console bugs me a bit.  Overall, it's nowhere close to Splat in the looks department.  Neither are most others DAWs though...
 
I'm going to try to be focus on the functionality and workflow on my trials, then looks at appearance and figure out if it's a deal breaker.  But the SPlat graphics designers are like the Michelangelo of DAWs...
 
 

RSMCGUITAR
I downloaded the demo and I think it looks pretty awesome to be honest.

Ditto here. SPlat was probably best, but Studio One is very cool, functional.

I Tried the S1 demo and I liked the hi-dpi compatibility of Studio one, it looks much better on the 4k monitor. probably Sonar will never have hi-dpi compatibilty... also I liked the dark background on studio one midi editor, its easier on the eyes (unlike this forum's blinding background). I liked the midi edition on s1.
S1 has some parts that still look like crap, outdated, flat and boring, such as the clips/events.

I agree Studio One isn't anything like Sonar in the looks department. If you download it and open a blank project it doesn't exactly tempt me away from Sonar.
 
In order to see what it can do I recommend loading a few of the templates and getting a bit deeper into it. For me, this took it from bland to acceptable. I was on the Presonus forum and someone mentioned skins could be had but not officially from Presonus unless I misunderstood the statement.I plan to find out more about that. If possible I'll change the look of it to something brighter. My eyes follow larger numbers and lighter colors better. Once tracks are colored in SO3 it looks better. Still not as good as Sonar.
 
 The capability in SO is quite amazing. Once set up to go I can track in it fairly quickly and right now tracking audio and a few midi synths are all I really need. For those of you who record for money or plan to invest heavily in your hobby, Presonus offer some amazing gear. One such item is the new series three Studiolive mixer. Motorized faders, onboard efx that are. They market it for live work, however, it makes an excellent recording mixer. You can get into the basic verson, the 16.0.4 . In that mixer the faders aren't motorized. If you already have a decent interface the faderport might be something you could use. To me it's important to have integrated hardware if at all possible. No it isn't absolutely necessary but really nice when you have it and everything just lines up.
 
For me, SO3 will get me up and running fast. I am in daws to make music not spend the next year learning a new one that's probably even deeper than Sonar in some ways. Having a horde of tools won't help you if you can't find any of them. Yes I'll keep using Sonar, but I'm moving over to something I can trust in the future.
 
As has already been said, SO3 is still young compared to Cubase and Sonar. I like the idea of growing/learning along with it. This is an easier way to learn for me while I'm making music.
 
 
 

I'm finding that my "crude" (first impressions) are morphing into...I haven't dug deep enough.  Using the demo solid for a couple days is really opening my eyes up.   Not to mention a faderport thrown in for good looks.

I sat down with the S1 demo for about an hour last night and hated it.
 
Today I downloaded the complete manual and started going through step by step:
1. How do I loop a measure?
2. How do I create the equivalent of groove clips?
3. How do I draw in midi notes?
4. Where do I add effects?
5. How do I add a mix bus?
6. Where are my compressors?
7. What's the equivalent of LP EQ?
etc.
 
I'm not entirely sold on S1, but I did manage to find everything that I use on a regular basis except some of my plugins.  I need to figure out that.
 

tenfoot
I am a huge Sonar fan, but I have to say, Studio One is snappy! Whilst you certainly don't get the thousands of bells and whistles, you realise those decades of added features come at a cost. Studio One gets its job done with youthful exhuberence:)

Same experience here.  The very first thing most useful for me in the S1 GUI was the ease of track management with the Track List that was so easy to get to, or just keep on the screen.  I found high track counts hard to manage in the Sonar GUI...massive amounts of scrolling and clicking; much easier for me in S1.
 
Once you learn how a handful of common bread and butter things are done in S1, it's really efficient for workflow.  

guitz
Yes it's all about the sound and features, but the look of SONAR was so refined, and so advanced...with everything dockable and the great way you could add what you want to the transport bar among many other things. And the great way you could expand and collapse the pro channel view (itself, a huge drawing point). Excellent graphics that felt high end. The complete opposite of what I see with Presonus crude looking softare. It looks like something from about 15 years ago. So while I'll keep plugging away with Splat for a while (maybe, the idea of using dead software is not appealing, knowing how fast innovation changes), I'd like something else as sharp to the eye as SONAR is. Cubase seems to be close but I don't know customizable the transport bar is.

I have to say that Studio One looks crap and can't do half of what I would expect from it. It falls short in every department for me. But this comes down to personal levels, but still, It falls short for me. I got S1 to crash just by loading Kontakt! I have done the demo. It falls short of even REaper which has great ideas but just doesn't cut the mustard. I have to say, the only thing that just works for me is Sonar. And I am glad to say, it still works for me!

It is crude. I think a lot of people freaking out about Sonar have gone with Studio Wang/one without having really trialed it fully. 1) Sonar will work for years and it's the best. 2) If you do not believe that, then the next DAW will come out just as your new one becomes old. That's how it works. If I switch to a new DAW it will be Cubase just because it has most of the code that Sonar had. Studio One so far is kind of like Sonar with all the great features missing. I can imagine all the folks who have switched to S1 will disagree in order to justify what they have done. Meanwhile, Sonar still works and is million times better! S1 is a huge step backward. Pretty much anything is.