What I like in Studio One

I agree with stability issues. I also had years of crashing over things as simple as dragging a clip from one track to another....or locking up just because it had been left idol for an hour or 2

mmmm, i love the smell of fresh code in the morning...

batsbrew
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT S1P VER 3.5:
 
1. project page. worth the price of admission alone.
2. IR maker. same as #1.
3. Pro EQ- very straightforward, waterfall, lots of visual info.
4. bus routing: the way it should be.
5. VCA: pretty cool for setting up automation without going to the bus.
6. ampire: sounds as good as anything else i've heard.
7. groove delay: boy is this fun.
8. multiband dynamics: could almost replace waves LPMBC.... almost.
9. Pipeline Mono/Stereo : whoa.
10. the meters. they are awesome.
11. automation: creation of curves is dead easy.
12. arranger track: way more powerful than what i had in sonar 6 pe.
13. scratch pads. whoa. don't know about these? well, i'm sorry......
14. browsing. the best of all platforms.
15. multi instrument panel, and macro control knobs. for some folks, this would be the main selling point.
16. stretching the faders in console view, all the way up to the top of the screen. whoa.
17. Macros. man, i haven't dug into this fully yet, but the idea that you can set up a deep array of multiple commands and have them all automated, in order, via a macro, is super sweet. the build process is dirt simple.
18. low latency monitoring: the way s1 does it, it's mighty powerful.
19. drag and drop functions: super easy to create sends by just dragging effects.
20. there's more than i have time for!
 

This is a brilliant list - half of which I have discovered since I switched away from Sonar, and the other half I am about to discover! On top of that, it is of course rock solid.

The only thing I wish SO could do is - the ability to drag a clip from one track to another and lock its position by holding down (say) shift as you drag - like Sonar does.

Oh, and sound on sound recording, although I'm weaning myself off that.

batsbrew

BlixYZ
I agree that the UI of sonar is better. Looking at S1 when comping layers is a nightmare. No indent, similar shades of grey. Terrible.

why have you not bothered to learn how to change the colors?
dead simple.

Watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg4d0mXRxvA I have not noticed the problem with colors. But how layers "behave" looks a bit funny.
All that "folders", "buses", "layers" and "AUX" was in any case artificial for me, so I am glad that I have left them behind and moved to natural (for computers) technology...
 

 
 
Duplicated by moderation.

batsbrew
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT S1P VER 3.5:
 
1. project page. worth the price of admission alone.
2. IR maker. same as #1.
3. Pro EQ- very straightforward, waterfall, lots of visual info.
4. bus routing: the way it should be.
5. VCA: pretty cool for setting up automation without going to the bus.
6. ampire: sounds as good as anything else i've heard.
7. groove delay: boy is this fun.
8. multiband dynamics: could almost replace waves LPMBC.... almost.
9. Pipeline Mono/Stereo : whoa.
10. the meters. they are awesome.
11. automation: creation of curves is dead easy.
12. arranger track: way more powerful than what i had in sonar 6 pe.
13. scratch pads. whoa. don't know about these? well, i'm sorry......
14. browsing. the best of all platforms.
15. multi instrument panel, and macro control knobs. for some folks, this would be the main selling point.
16. stretching the faders in console view, all the way up to the top of the screen. whoa.
17. Macros. man, i haven't dug into this fully yet, but the idea that you can set up a deep array of multiple commands and have them all automated, in order, via a macro, is super sweet. the build process is dirt simple.
18. low latency monitoring: the way s1 does it, it's mighty powerful.
19. drag and drop functions: super easy to create sends by just dragging effects.
20. there's more than i have time for!
 

Without getting into specifics, comparing the latest incarnation of S1 to Sonar 6 is apples v oranges.
 
IMHO S1 has some nice features, does seem a little snappier, but is not as crashproof as people claim in my experience. It's also fugly and overall Platinum still has it beat for me.

Starise
Sonar  comes head to head with S1. Both have similar features and Sonar is easier on the eyes.

if you have not fully jumped in and learned how to use S1P, then you really don't know.
and i don't get these 'easy on the eyes' stuff, everything about the display is editable.
 
 

StariseSo if you don't come back I understand, but I think it might help you to hang around and see what happens.

 
 
i can't help it if sonar went t!ts up right when i was building my new DAW.......
i doubt i'll be back, after spending all the time it's going to take to get as adept at S1 as i was with sonar.
but i'll still be around!
 

StariseNothing beats Sonar for me when doing  tracking/mixing. 

kinda feel the same way about Studio One now.....
 
and the project page?!!
man, how did i live without that thing!
the way it works, and the way it is integrated into the working songs pages....
wow, that's what the new sonar needs to do, PRONTO!
 
Just finished mastering my new album using nothing but the project page and a couple of Waves plugs....
 
you don't know what you are missing.
 
 

jpetersen

batsbrew
why have you not bothered to learn how to change the colors?
dead simple.

This is my issue exactly. Having to re-learning everything, just to do the same thing.

Here's, it's like listening to a kid whine about having to pick his room up... :)

well, so far,
s1p is making my happy and productive,
and i was able to let go of all that angst over what was going to, or not going to happen, to sonar.
 
 
i'd like to read some more success stories on s1.........

jude77
 I think it sounds beautiful.  I've read articles that say it's impossible to tell one DAW from another, but I swear PS1 sounds more open and defined tan SONAR.  Maybe that's a placebo effect, dunno.

As several tests have shown, basic mixing engines NULL. I mean it is out of discussion whether it is possible to tell the difference when there is no difference, digitally it is outside of the best DACs capabilities. That means even in case some alien can spot such difference in the sound, the equipment available on the earth now is unable to produce it.
All tests I have seen which try to prove the difference have "bugs", like using fixed point (24bit WAV) audio files with silence and then cranking it +100dB. So calling the differences in particular rounding and dithering.
 
Sure, as soon as you put faders or pan knobs into "the same" graphical position... Different fader curves and current pan-law come into the game. And finally when some "exclusive" FX (which does not work outside particular DAW) is in use, the sound is different. But that is not the "sound of the DAW".
 
To test, try to null 3-4 tracks mix without FXes in Sonar and S1. You will find the job is not as easy as someone can think. But after you have done that once, you will learn what are the first options/preferences/adjustments you should do/check when importing track from one of these DAWs into another. I mean that can be valuable knowledge in practice

batsbrew
well, i'm not convinced.
and if you don't get into specifics, then it's hard to discuss differences..
i simply said what i liked about S1p, the specifics i mentioned about s1p that sonar didn't do,
is still the most relevant of the list of items

I'm glad you found something you like Bat, and as I say can't hardly blame people for jumping ship given the circumstances we had.
My "easy on the eyes" comment comes from my preference for the graphic user interface in Sonar. It's just better all around to me. I don't say this entirely because I have bad eyes. I have 20/20 seeing distance and with my prescription glasses on I can see into the pores on my hand. I ordered those especially for computer work, anti-glare all of that. The problem with looking at a daw mainly comes into play over long periods of time. My job involves computers all day long. I have two 22" computer screens when running my daws and I STILL prefer Sonar to almost any other daw I've seen to date. Studio One has small fonts and a crammed looking GUI compared to Sonar. When I'm running a project I want large and spacious. Sonar gives me that. If you get used to S1 it isn't a deal breaker. You can use it ok. I don't think it has as many Graphic options as Sonar.
 
The other stuff people mention like ease of using effects. I must be missing something. I have never had an issue with effects either single or in chains. Either in the FX box or in the PC. SO3 is drag and drop. Sonar is drag and drop.
Sonar still allows you to use 32 bit along with 64bit effects unlike others. Have you ever felt the frustration of grabbing a vst instrument or effect and attempting to use it only to be told your daw won't accept it? Especially when you've invested a significant amount of money in them.
SO3 won't deal with Mp4. Neither will Ableton. Sonar...no problem.
 
I have the SO3 and I'm just not convinced it is really head and shoulders better. It is good. It is usable. It gets the job done well.It does some things better and some things it doesn't do at all.It's a nice tool to have in my box, especially for mastering albums. Other than that, if I'm staring at something for 4 hours I would rather it be Sonar. Just me.
 
 

I actually prefer the Studio One GUI.  I am still looking at it way more than most people here and it never bothers me.  I am using it on two monitors as well and having the mixer on a separate screen and fully vertically extended is very nice indeed.  It looks fantastic on a Mac especially a high res one.  It is quite adjustable in fact.  Stability is still way ahead in all areas.  External midi timing kills Sonar, end of story.  It is faster, smoother and just better as far as I am concerned.  Its gapless engine for both audio and midi are light years ahead.  Sonar never got that right.  There are tons of things you can do on the fly that Sonar cannot even contemplate.  There are free MP4 to wave converters around too.  Easily sorted that issue. Integration into Presonus hardware is amazing especially the new range of Series III mixers.  V4 is coming with some seriously amazing features. 

michaelhanson
I am currently working 2 new songs in Studio One and one new song in Sonar.  I find there are things that I really like better in Studio One, but I am still pretty much finding my way around the program. 
 
My biggest complaint right now is just the learning curve.  Some things, even after I have figured them out, I will go back after a couple of days away from S1 and I can't remember how I did it.  Having used Sonar for over 10 years, I never really have to think about what I am doing, it just became second nature.  I think once I get really comfortable working within S1, it will become second nature as well.  It really won't matter to me then, which program I am working with. 

That is exactly what I've been trying to say.  I never used more than 10% of SONAR's functions; and I'll probably do about the same with SP1-3, so I'll never really know which is the "better" DAW.  To be totally honest I'm just hating learning a new program, and, again to be very honest, I'm sure I'm interpreting that as "liking SONAR better".  Hopefully, after I've used them both for a while I'll find them both useful and great.