So when I read the news this morning I decided with Cake gone, I  should try Studio One and test out my entire Sonar workflow. This is the result: https://soundcloud.com/dr...first-light-dr-chrispy
 
From the download of the software demo to exporting this first track took 3 hours. That included installing the whole thing and all plug ins, starting a first project, googling some UX stuff I found confusing, and then composing and recording this little ditty.
My conclusion: Studio One is VERY easy to learn. It is faster to work in than Sonar. It integrates Melodyne better. It is much more stable. It never crashed. It uses less memory and less CPU, and so can run at lower latency. It also recognized my Edirol PCR-1 keyboard and had a template for it. 
 
I tried to use some of my Cake plugins and others, and they all worked seamlessly. What an amazing, low-friction experience!
 

 
Only down sides: The UX is a bit ugly and tiny. The keyboard shortcuts are all unconventional and will take time to learn. The zoom in/out was a bit annoying.
My advice: get the full version during Black Friday.
 
 https://soundcloud.com/dr...first-light-dr-chrispy

Was that the artist or professional version?
 

The image shows the Project tab, so it's the Pro version.
 
And Artist is a 32-bit app. No 64-bit plugins. Plus, you need an add-on to use VST plugins in Artist.

TheMaartian
The image shows the Project tab, so it's the Pro version.
 
And Artist is a 32-bit app. No 64-bit plugins. Plus, you need an add-on to use VST plugins in Artist.

Really so it has to be professional then to play my 64 bit plugs ...I was looking at the artist/notion bundle for £171 at presonus

jadonx

TheMaartian
The image shows the Project tab, so it's the Pro version.
 
And Artist is a 32-bit app. No 64-bit plugins. Plus, you need an add-on to use VST plugins in Artist.

Really so it has to be professional then to play my 64 bit plugs ...I was looking at the artist/notion bundle for £171 at presonus

64-bit plugins work fine in Artist with the paid plugin add-on.

user4325874

jadonx

TheMaartian
The image shows the Project tab, so it's the Pro version.
 
And Artist is a 32-bit app. No 64-bit plugins. Plus, you need an add-on to use VST plugins in Artist.

Really so it has to be professional then to play my 64 bit plugs ...I was looking at the artist/notion bundle for £171 at presonus

64-bit plugins work fine in Artist with the paid plugin add-on.

Really? Without JBridge? PreSonus documentation specifically says that 32-bit plugins won't work in 64-bit S1 and 64-bit plugins won't work in 32-bit S1.

TheMaartian

user4325874

jadonx

TheMaartian
The image shows the Project tab, so it's the Pro version.
 
And Artist is a 32-bit app. No 64-bit plugins. Plus, you need an add-on to use VST plugins in Artist.

Really so it has to be professional then to play my 64 bit plugs ...I was looking at the artist/notion bundle for £171 at presonus

64-bit plugins work fine in Artist with the paid plugin add-on.

Really? Without JBridge? PreSonus documentation specifically says that 32-bit plugins won't work in 64-bit S1 and 64-bit plugins won't work in 32-bit S1.

What makes you think there isn't a 64-bit version of Presonus Artist? The audio-processing resolution is 32 floating-point in Artist though.

TheMaartian
The image shows the Project tab, so it's the Pro version.

Correct, it was the pro version. 
 

I caution people to not get sucked in to people toting new DAWs right now. I’m sure other software developers are circling this forum like sharks right now seeing users scurrying for something new. Not saying that was the purpose of the OP but I’m going to look long and hard before I invest my money and more importantly. My TIME.

chuckebaby
I caution people to not get sucked in to people toting new DAWs right now. I’m sure other software developers are circling this forum like sharks right now seeing users scurrying for something new. Not saying that was the purpose of the OP but I’m going to look long and hard before I invest my money and more importantly. My TIME.

These are all good points. My goal was to get first hand experience, potentially with the aim to save some money during the Black Friday sales. I encourage everyone to make their decision based on their own demoing, not on my glowing review. 
 
I guess for me, this shock today made me realize that the barrier to using other DAWs is not as high as I had thought - it's more about money than learning curve.