What's the Trouble With Studio One and MIDI?

The bottom line is that it lacks a lot of the functions that have been available in Sonar for a long time. As far as bugs go, the current updates to lower the latency of the audio engine when used in conjunction with their Quantum interfaces has left a few hiccups. Copy/paste and rendering when using automation is hit or miss. Also, the program skips reading random midi notes since the last update. Studio One has great development though, and I'm sure they'll get it sussed. 
 
To expand the MIDI functionality of Studio One, check out the Studio One X addon.*
 
*(I originally posted the link to Studio One X, but it looks like the site has been gone for days)
 
If you're seriously into MIDI, you're much better off with Cubase. The timing and functionality has been rock solid here.
 
 

I've been talking to Rick Naqvi, VP of sales at PreSonus.  They will be announcing a special offer for Sonar users on Tuesday.
 

It depends on what you want, for me I can do everything I desire, then I'm not that heavy into midi,  but I do Drums and a bit of keyboard/synth stuff, I have no issues with it. The BEST and ONLY thing to do is find out for YOURSELF, try it, don't worry about what anyone else says, either negative or positive, THEY are not YOU. If it happens not to suit your needs, try something else, you will find something suitable.

I find setting up MIDI and instruments in SO3 is a bit convoluted compared with Sonar. It can be done but there's a learning curve. It's nowhere near as intuitive as Sonar. The top 3 MIDI DAWs are probably Sonar, ProTools, and Cubase. Not necessarily in that order.
 
Somewhere else on this forum a user posted a video link comparing the PRV of 3 or 4 DAWs that was useful.

Well, I did say probably. And only after watching the video, which put Cubase on top. I'll know more after trying out the demos.

When CW offered lifetime subscriptions, I started looking at other DAW's. Today, I can tell you that the latest up date of Studio One 3.5 is no slouch. Midi implementation, especially for composition in arrangement mode and scratch pads are ridiculous. Plugs are drag and drop (everything is drag and drop). Plugs are solid, the included sampler is very good, and for the low price of half off (and rumours of a discount for CW refugees) at the moment.

I will say that my work is very much either audio or MIDI composition/production. Studio One 3 is better at most things that count for me (stability, latency, support etc - the PreSonus community is good).

I've been through it before (not with a DAW) and I'm sure I'll have to go through it again. Cakewalk is fine, but it's on the stagnation path. The product's stability isn't matched by the company's stability, and for me (especially since I'm starting a two year project), that really matters. So I'm formally finishing up my last projects in SPlat. Everything new will be done in S1. 

All that said, is S1 all that and a bag of chips? Yeah, it's pretty solid. The interface is infinitely more navigable. There are multiple ways to navigate, I love the zero latency mode, latency monitoring, project mode. Like, it's a really serious tool. I have to say, for me personally, the interface delivers on a really smooth workflow. I used to record simple tracks in Sound Forge because I found Sonar really cranky about attaching to my outboard gear. The few times I did, I still exported to Sound Forge to speed up editing interviews. In S1 I do everything in S1. There's no need to round trip...I just go into edit mode and use the editor (which as some pretty slick features).

As for MIDI, I'm not sure what MIDI features you're missing, but it might be advisable to do a deep dive before you discount S1. I'm finding the quantize, and other performance tools really interesting (the equivalent of Sonar's midi process tools are the same, but a little different).
 
That's the best way to explain the difference between any two DAWs: the same, but different. Professionals use both. Amateurs use both. You can do 99.8% of exactly the same things between them. The difference is how the software lets you do your job, and how it handles its job. To me S1 is superior, but that's just me.

I've been with Cakewalk since whatever the DOS version bundled with a Soundblaster was. Seriously, like, 26ish years? I'm comfortable with it. It's fun. It's easy. It's mostly reliable (though progressively less in the last couple updates). I'm a little nostaglic, but mostly I worry about the staff. 

As for the company, I found it interesting the CTO (head code monkey) made the announcement. I wonder if it wasn't a matter of "we can re-fresh the code, but we need to invest in it." Gibson is like the borg: acquire, consume, expel.

In any case, we're all in the same boat. It's not like Sonar is suddenly dead. It's just not going to develop. As I've said, my past and archive access will be Sonar. Sadly, but not very, the future will be with S1.

Cheers to everyone for the help over the years (I still may need some as I retrieve old projects). And all the best to the Bakers and Staff and Cakewalk. You're definitely in our thoughts this Thanksgiving.

soens
I find setting up MIDI and instruments in SO3 is a bit convoluted compared with Sonar. It can be done but there's a learning curve.

Huh? Are we working with the same software? I downloaded the studio one demo tonight, grabbed an instrument, dragged it into the workspace and instantly created a track - it is literally a hundred times easier and more intuitive than sonar.

I have found nothing in the midi department so far that Sonar did that S1 can't do.
The problem is layout and execution of editing, routing, etc.  A different mind created S1 and it took me some video watching to see where everything was laid out.

Looked at plenty on youtube last night and seems to do everything I need it for and a bit more.

Studio one currently has a bug where midi notes are occasionally missed - 
See Presonus Answers - 
21036/some-notes-are-not-being-triggered-after-update-to-3-5-2-44603?show=21036#q21036
 
There are ways round it - using the previous version, or starting the song pointer at bar 2 seems to do the trick, and I'm sure Presonus will get it fixed at some point.
 

This doesn't exactly answer the question, but Cubase and Cakewalk were the big names in computer midi sequencing when I was cutting my teeth (I was still using C-lab Notator on an Atari ST). They added audio later. So their heritage was in midi.

Get Notion, complete integration with Presonus.

Well, for me the absence of ARA is the major, probably eliminating, negative about Cubase. I use Melodyne Editor often, and it's frustrating when it doesn't integrate smoothly.
 
***So, since S1 does have full integration with Melodyne, I'm wondering if anybody would know about S1 and whether it offers these more trivial (yet still coveted by me) features:
 
1) Varispeed (the "chipmunk effect" originally achieved by recording with the tape running slower and then playing back at normal speed) ?
 
2) Negative measure numbering (The ability to have measure one in the DAW line up with measure one in the written score; if there's material played in the measure before the downbeat of measure one, it's displayed as occurring in measure negative 1, and not as if it is played in measure (positive) 1.) ?
 
3) Custom track colour strips (I think the answer to this one is yes, but from quick peeks at Studio One this morning, the overall "look" of Studio One does seem a bit chaotic.) ?
 
4) Are the menus intuitive?
 
I know this question is impossible to answer objectively, but maybe someone might have an opinion on the following scenario: Let's say a musician inexperienced with recording on any DAW has the chance to use either Sonar Platinum or Studio One Pro for an evening.
 
 
He or she hopes to record (alone) a fairly simple short song including, say, acoustic guitar, bass, piano, a couple of voices and a Kontakt synth patch, maybe just add a little reverb, then mix and export the resulting song.
 
 
Which DAW would likely take him/her less time to work out how to achieve this, Sonar Platinum or Studio One Pro?*** 
 
I can use Sonar pretty well (ok, I admit it, not really ) but I'm wondering whether Studio One may be relatively more or less complicated (difficult to "get going" with) overall.
 
Thanks for wading through this!
LJ