Studio One

I have S.O.V3 Pro. I've only played with it a little (the same fior Reaper 5.0).
 
I have not recorded anything with it yet just getting a handle on the "mixing" aspects first. The arranger functionality has me intrigued.
 
I bought a one month $15 groove3 pass so that I can go through the S.O.V3 tuts before I really dive in. That was cheaper than paying $48 to own the series. I doubt I need to own the series.
 
I never expect to convert from SONAR but will use all my other DAWs, including Mixbus3, depending on need. 

I also have Mixbus 3 which has some some features - I wish it would display larger.... Anyway Sonar is still my go-to even though I still have the ancient X1 Producer but I will catch up..!

Imho has some nice features but midi (quantize specifically)  seems to not be as intuitive and smooth as Sonar. I have a couple of versions of Studio One on my system, the one that came free with the Presonus hardware purchase and a free upgrade that was given to me shortly after that, a few years ago. The most attractive thing in the most recent version (Studio One 3)that is an enticing incentive is the Scratch Pad and Arranger Track. As for using your third party non presonus plugins in the base version, forget about it, thats a no go. Just my thoughts.
For me Sonar is an easy and obvious choice, in comparison. Depends on your needs and workflow of course.

Several years ago I got a version of it when they had a REALLY cheap sale on. I remember playing with it but not really experimenting too much. Might be time to try and dig it back out.

bapu
Except many (upstairs) gripe about workflow. Isn't that what ostensibly sets one DAW apart from the others (on an individual user basis)?

I never use the word "workflow". That makes it sound like some assembly line job where an efficiency expert stands over you with a stopwatch and a clipboard. This isn't work!
 
(To those who do it as a full-time profession: before you call it "work" look around you - there are folks out there slaving away at real work. You sit in a comfy chair in an air-conditioned room with subdued lighting, and at the end of the day the fruit of your labor is not a bucket of coal or somebody else's clean toilet, it's something that enriches the world.)

bitflipper

bapu
Except many (upstairs) gripe about workflow. Isn't that what ostensibly sets one DAW apart from the others (on an individual user basis)?

I never use the word "workflow". That makes it sound like some assembly line job where an efficiency expert stands over you with a stopwatch and a clipboard. This isn't work!

+1000.1

Clean toilets don't enrich your world?

Yes, they most certainly do. But I'm glad I don't do it for a living.
 
I had an epiphany many years ago. I was returning home from a trade show and pushing a stack of anvil cases on a hand truck across the parking lot at the Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix. I had a suit and tie on and it was 110 degrees. I was tired and sweating profusely and feeling sorry for myself.
 
But then I looked up and saw a roofing crew working atop the parking garage in those hellish conditions, and I thought to myself "no matter how bad I've got it, at least I'm not a roofer".
 
I, too, sit in a comfy chair. Most of my work happens inside my head, figuring out how to make imaginary things look real. I solve problems on the phone, often dealing with clueless users and self-proclaimed computer experts named Jason (they're all named Jason, or Brett and they all have tattoos). At the end of the day, my back aches and my eyesight's blurry.
 
But I still maintain it isn't work.

Je suis un roofer 

Getting back on track here - I have Studio One 2 Pro after upgrading a few steps at a time from Artist that I got with my StudioLive 16.4.2 mixer.
 
I do believe that you can download a trial of their full version and see if you like it.
 
If you do mostly audio, it may be for you, as it boasts allowing you to get things done fairly quickly amid their 'no bloat' slogans.
 
But what ultimately sent me elsewhere was the lack of MIDI options and tools and even more so - their purposely ignoring the repeated requests of us MIDI users who were already in their loyal customer base.
A good number of us got fed up with waiting for them to listen to us and simply moved on after each update and version kept letting us down.
 
They didn't seem to care. At that time, they were doing really well, and a few 'drifters' didn't matter I guess.
 
I do a lot of MIDI and I find Cubase to suit me most. So I drifted away from both Sonar and Studio One and bought Cubase which, for me, has every possible thing I'll ever need in it - and more.
 
As for posting about another DAW here,
 
'Discussion focused on non-Cakewalk music software'
 
^^^^^ This is the subtitle of the section that you're in, so you can 'lift the lid, pop your head safely up and come out of the garbage can now'. 
 

One area in which S1 excels is the built-in effects suite.  Sonar has some good stock plugins, no doubt, but S1's are way ahead IMHO, both in their consistently pleasant look & feel as well as sound quality.
 
If Cake ever comes out with channel strips as good as the new modeled ones available for S1 (VT1 and RC500, both given away recently in a PureMix promo), that'll attract some serious attention.  Those things are impressive.
 
Cheers,
Eddie

jimusic
 
...If you do mostly audio, it may be for you, as it boasts allowing you to get things done fairly quickly amid their 'no bloat' slogans.
 
But what ultimately sent me elsewhere was the lack of MIDI options and tools and even more so - their purposely ignoring the repeated requests of us MIDI users who were already in their loyal customer base.
A good number of us got fed up with waiting for them to listen to us and simply moved on after each update and version kept letting us down.
 
They didn't seem to care. At that time, they were doing really well, and a few 'drifters' didn't matter I guess.
 

My feelings in a nutshell. 

I bought Studio One 3 as an alternative to Cubase and the lack of a drum editor/drum maps is a non starter to me.  After using Cubase's Drum Editor since the Atari days, it is hard for me to work in Studio One with MIDI drums.