I got an email for Studio One 2 Producer( not professional) and on the Presonus website the update to 2.5 seems to be free. I can get the whole thing for 84.00 at audio deluxe.com. Presonus is running a month long sale so you can get Studio one Pro there for 99.00.
 
 I tried Studio One Artist  awhile back and I wasn't impressed at all. At least not comparing it to something like Sonar Producer. I already have Melodyne but it isn't integrated as well as it is in Studio One ,although I don't think the producer version gives you Melodyne.The only real difference between artist and producer is the ability to import mp3 and the use of third party vst. Producer has Rewire though which I like but it is only 32 bit :(.  On the flipside, it has VST 3. 
 
  I don't really need a bunch more plug-ins. I already have several guitar amp simms so none of that really means much to me personally. I'm not interested in a partial copy of Guitar rig or Komplete...I have a Presonus interface and they claim that it's easier to incorporate zero latency monitoring with one of their interfaces. That's a plus.
 
 They seem to have done some cool things with track comping in making takes to another comp. track automatic and a speedy workflow to combine different parts of your takes. They have taken the feeze track function to a whole new level. It seems easier to turn a midi synth into an audio track which you can edit. If you load a multi out synth it seems much easier to load a multi and have everything assigned on the fly to its own output. But this is all their own description. I am curious as to how this works in real life.
 
 I really wish they offered producer in 64 bit. The 32 bit is a real turn off. Especially since I think Sonar 64bit needs a 64 bit rewire client.
 
 I have mastering tools so I'm not convinced that an upgrade to the pro version is really any advantage....and Sound Cloud...that's nice, but it isn't  much trouble to make a completed master and upload directly to the site and we already have this in Sonar X2.
 
 Head to head it seems that there are only a few small advantages. But considering others...  Pro Tools 11 is 699.00. Studio One 2 seems to be  more user friendly and feature intensive than the likes of Magix or Reaper. Not that those are bad programs at all but Studio One 2 seems to be a little further along in development. Apple are giving a heck of a deal on Logic at 199.00. For anyone who owns an Apple that's pretty much a no brainer for the likes of Logic. Cubase seems to have set themselves back a few notches with that ugly GUI they came up with.
 
 I'm not an unhappy Sonar user, just tempted to sample the grass on the other side of the fence.
 
Opinions? Any of you use it regularly? I don't plan on it displacing  Sonar X2, but I did think that it could be an asset in some cases. Pros, Cons?
 
 

I'm a dolt I know, but I could not get my RME MIDI to be seen by StuddioJuanTwoPointFive. Gave up on it after recording exactly one audio track. Sad that I paid less than $99 for the Pro version.

I use it often, not as often as Sonar, but then I've been using Sonar since it was CWPA<G>, so I am biased.
 
I like the audio workflow a lot, but MIDI and VI stuff is still not quite there.
 
It's a very cool tool, and I am anxious to see just how far they take it!

 
 Thanks for the info guys.  I seriously doubt it was the fault of the RME Bapu...and I know you're no dolt on computers. That was a good price.  I didn't bite then because i wasn't too impressed with Artist at the time.
 
 Bill, I don't go back quite that far. I had a copy in the pre Sonar days.Pro Audio 6 I think. It's been so long I have forgotten. Had a copy of Metro for my old Mac too ;). So you use it primarily for tracking audio then?
 
 I guess the workflow is one of the things that I remember a few really being excited about. I didn't get the feel of it right away in Artist..;.but maybe I'm a dolt.
 
 Meh...maybe the grass is just fine here.
 
 

I've been using S1 for a little while.  I like the GUI and the straightforward functionality -- it seems more intuitive and coherent than Sonar X2 overall.  It just seems to be a better thought-out product, one that started out relatively recently as a clean-sheet design rather than something that's evolved over many years.
 
I've used a few third-party VIs so far (e.g. SD2) and have had no issues.  Seems pretty solid, although I don't do a lot of MIDI-based work.
 
S1 is much better for audio tuning, whether you use Melodyne or something else like Waves Tune.  These don't play well with Sonar so much.  Also, S1's audio editing is easier in many ways.  Quantizing audio, detecting transients, etc. is much more straightforward, I find.
 
S1's suite of stock plugins puts Sonar's to shame.  Nice set of tools there.  You can even do a ProChannel type of thing with mini-GUIs in the console view.
 
Sonar has some nice features that S1 does not, such as the Smart Tool and the built-in ability to run 32-bit plugins.  I've customized S1's default keyboard shortcuts a bit to resemble those I've become accustomed to in Sonar, such as hitting "s" to split a track.  This partially makes up for the lack of a context-sensitive Smart Tool thingy.
 
The S1 Professional version can be demoed, which I highly recommend doing.  Some users have issues with performance, such as CPU spikes, but this seems to be very system-dependent.  So I'd say a full demo is essential before making the purchase.  Good luck!
 
Cheers,
Eddie
 

Starise
 Bill, I don't go back quite that far. I had a copy in the pre Sonar days.Pro Audio 6 I think. It's been so long I have forgotten. Had a copy of Metro for my old Mac too ;). So you use it primarily for tracking audio then?

 
I ended up switching to Cakewalk when I finally had to acknowledge that the Amiga wasn't coming back<G>!
 
I use Studio One for audio only projects, or projects that do not make heavy use of MIDI and VIs. I may be the dolt, but I don't think they are finished with their MIDI code yet<G>! At least I hope not! As mentioned previously, the workflow for audio is really nice - sometimes it is good to come in to the game a bit late?
 

Starise
I guess the workflow is one of the things that I remember a few really being excited about. I didn't get the feel of it right away in Artist..;.but maybe I'm a dolt.

 
No, doubt your are a dolt... I think Presonus may have miscalculated exactly how to package features, the different levels make no real sense to me, but then I am not a marketing type<G>!
 

Starise
Meh...maybe the grass is just fine here.

 
I think the grass is lovely here... I'm pretty lucky in that I seldom run into the problems others have reported. I have no doubt they exist, I've just managed to dodge them! I would like to see more attention paid to the whole Audio Snap piece, I find it difficult to use, and sometimes it is simply not up to the task. I also wish they'd come up with something like Expression Maps or whatever that feature is called in Cubase. Oh, and better tools for drawing in automation might be nice... but that's pretty much my list.
 
If I had not had the opportunity to buy into the top level package early on I don't know that I'd have made the leap. As it is, I am glad that I did, but my life would not be poorer had I skipped it.
 
If that helps at all<G>...

I love it, does everything I need. Less features but I haven't had a crash or hang in over 2 years. And a genuinely gapless engine, I rarely press stop
Hth

Starise...
 
You can get S1 2.5 Artist at Musicians Friend for $29.99

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/presonus-studio-one-artist-bundle?pfm=rv

I have it (not Artist)...it's good...some nice features...don't like the workflow as well as X2, but it get's the job done

Studio One is 64 bit. Under pressure the program behaves much better than most. It is very very stable and it never falls over really. Something that is important to me when working to tight deadlines.
 
Midi is fine. I have quite a large midi setup externally and it all works a treat with the external hardware.
 
They are not late to the game. The original coders worked for Steinberg  back in the 80's so they have a wealth of experience.
 
It can do many things Sonar cannot. eg jumping midi tracks on the fly when looping/recording/playing etc.. Best takes/layers/comping available. Great automation. etc true gapless engine. It goes on.
 
It is not feature laden. That is the whole point. It has a solid framework that just works right now and they expect you to have many third party plugs that will work with it usually perfectly eg synths and extra plugins.
 
It is NOT fussy about computer specs and interfaces, it will work with everything pretty well.
 
It is the only DAW that has been re written from the ground up and they took two years off to do it, something many DAW companies could not do these days.
 
It is one of the most reliable and stable DAW's in the world right now.

Studio One was suggested to me as an alternative when a project I was working on wouldn't work in SONAR.  I downloaded the fully functional demo, transferred the audio and midi files and loaded up the exact plugins that I was using in SONAR.  I finished the project without a hitch.  
And my Melodyne Editor is integrated right into the program with ARA support and the Audio Bend tool was a great help in editing.
 
For the record, after I upgraded to a RME soundcard, the project would play in SONAR X2 as well.   However, by that time I had bought the competitive upgrade to Studo One 2.5 and completed a second project in it.  Now I would say that it is my goto DAW program.  The features that SONAR has that it doesn't have, I never used in the first place.  And I like the S1 mixer view better.  Another thing that I thought I would never need was the gapless engine.  Once I experienced it in S1, I got to where I really liked it.