# Studio One 4 Released, Several MIDI Upgrades Thankfully



## PaulieDC (May 22, 2018)

Studio One 4 is released ($149 upgrade from Pro 3 to Pro 4 before somebody starts pumping out discount codes, but free if you bought Studio One 3 in the past 60 days). I don't have all the specs yet, I'll be back as I get info. If anyone has info, jump in. The demand was pretty huge during the livestream, crashed the licensing servers, lol.

Here's what I know of in the upgrade so far:

Ripple Edit. Good NIGHT, about time
Better CPU multicore support, don't know specifically yet. This had better be upgraded if they want to stay in the game.
Fully dedicated Drum editor, much better than the piano roll
Harmonic Editing with a new Feature called Chord Track. It's a global track the identifies all the chords in the piece and allows editing. If you change an A Major chord to A minor (and it's the 1 chord), it reflects through the song and adjusts corresponding chords accordingly if you want. For instance, the 5 chord, E, becomes an Em, the G# automatically gets changed to G. It's all synced with Notion as well so your score is accurate. This feature is to help with composition "what if" options. This is pretty interesting, looking forward to see how effective it really is.
AAF Support. They also mention 64-bit video support for Mac and PC but I need to research that one further.
Full session integration and import like ProTools
Native 64-bit resolution and support for up to 384 kHz audio
Track Notes FINALLY
Incoming MIDI data is converted to 32-bit for smoother pitch bends, controller changes, etc. If MIDI data needs to head back out to hardware, etc, it's converted on the fly
Hugely expanded instruments and drum programming, although that'll probably appeal more to the EDM guys. We love our snobby expensive libraries, lol.
The step sequencer has patterns built in, pretty cool for non-percussionists like me that need some help.
The Mastering section has been expanded, need to find out more on that.


----------



## jonathanwright (May 23, 2018)

I'm finding a few quirks in it.

When I use the new 'Select Highest/Lowest notes' command, the resulting note selections are all over the place.


----------



## Harry (May 23, 2018)

Not much for serious film/media/orchestral/cinemeatic composers looking for midi editing on a level comparable with Cubase/Logic.


----------



## PaulieDC (May 23, 2018)

Harry said:


> Not much for serious film/media/orchestral/cinemeatic composers looking for midi editing on a level comparable with Cubase/Logic.


They really seem to focus on the EDM crowd.


----------



## robgb (May 24, 2018)

PaulieDC said:


> free if you bought Studio One 3 in the past 60 days


That's the cut off? Wow. I'd hate to be Mr. Sixty-One.


----------



## al_net77 (May 24, 2018)

robgb said:


> I'd hate to be Mr. Sixty-One.



Here I am... (Mr. Sixty-Three, TBO)


----------



## paulmatthew (May 24, 2018)

al_net77 said:


> Here I am... (Mr. Sixty-Three, TBO)


Ouch!! :(


----------



## robgb (May 24, 2018)

al_net77 said:


> Here I am... (Mr. Sixty-Three, TBO)


To my mind it should be a six month cutoff. But then one of the reasons I left Studio One for greener pastures was because they wanted $199 for an upgrade.


----------



## paulmatthew (May 25, 2018)

If I remember right , I paid over $200 for the last Ableton Live Upgrade :( For what it's worth , Studio One , Cubase , Reaper , and logic Pro all seem like a better buy regarding updates / upgrades.


----------



## PaulieDC (May 25, 2018)

al_net77 said:


> Here I am... (Mr. Sixty-Three, TBO)


Call them, ask them if they'll honor it since it's only three days, I'm 99% sure they will. They did something similar for me. Don't submit a ticket, just call them directly: 

PreSonus telephone technical support is available to customers in the USA on Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST).
+1-225-216-7887


----------



## rvb (May 25, 2018)

PaulieDC said:


> Call them, ask them if they'll honor it since it's only three days, I'm 99% sure they will. They did something similar for me. Don't submit a ticket, just call them directly:
> 
> PreSonus telephone technical support is available to customers in the USA on Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST).
> +1-225-216-7887


How many mr. days were you? I am mr. 69 (no pun intended) and after submitting a ticket they said 60 days was the max for a free update. I do sort of agree with the reply that ableton asked for 200 euro's, so in that sense the 127 usd is fair. But if you happen to be mr 69 or more as well, I would be feeling a bit sad about me not getting it./


----------



## Robert Randolph (May 25, 2018)

PaulieDC said:


> They really seem to focus on the EDM crowd.



So, I administrate the largest realtime chat for EDM producers on the internet (5k+ active users). I don't make EDM at all, but that's another story...

We have exactly *one *user that makes EDM in Studio One. That user also makes a wide range of other electronic genres. Our total membership has 1.2% Studio One users, and nearly all of them do film scoring or orchestral in it.

Almost nobody else on the server discusses Studio One or has any interest in it at all, largely because it's missing a number of features they rely on.

We held a special event for the Studio One 4 announcement and the overwhelming opinion was that it was a complete letdown and offered nothing interesting (this is in the context of an EDM production chat).

So if Presonus is really trying to focus on EDM makers.... they're not doing a great job.


----------



## Phillip Dixon (May 25, 2018)

Robert Randolph said:


> So, I administrate the largest realtime chat for EDM producers on the internet (5k+ active users). I don't make EDM at all, but that's another story...
> 
> We have exactly *one *user that makes EDM in Studio One. That user also makes a wide range of other electronic genres. Our total membership has 1.2% Studio One users, and nearly all of them do film scoring or orchestral in it.
> 
> ...


Just out of intrest
What is the daw of choice for EDM.


----------



## ThomasL (May 25, 2018)

Harry said:


> Not much for serious film/media/orchestral/cinemeatic composers looking for midi editing on a level comparable with Cubase/Logic.


I'm not missing much (pre 10 year Logic user). What are you missing in Studio One? I'd say the new patterns in Studio One is great for staccato string "arps" in addition to drum programming. Patterns, notes and the chord track (with tighter integration with Notion) is enough for my money. ARA 2 and the rest is just a bonus


----------



## Robert Randolph (May 25, 2018)

Phillip Dixon said:


> Just out of intrest
> What is the daw of choice for EDM.



1,824 users using FLStudio. 35%
1,794 users using Ableton Live. 34.4%

It's about pretty close to what I've seen from other online DAW polls from communities that have heavy EDM communities.

I think it's important to not conflate this with _electronic musicians_. There's LOTs of people that make electronic music, or use loops/samples/VIs heavily, but don't make electronic _dance _music.

I can't offer specific stats based on that since we don't track exactly what type of music people make. We only track what DAW(s) they use, and maintain a context of electronic _dance_ music production.


----------



## jonathanwright (May 26, 2018)

I must admit, I was in the 'nothing for me here' camp when first watching the screencast.

However, after completing my first project using Studio One 4, I've come to see the new additions as _tools_, rather than being anything genre specific.

Sample One XT is a really useful sound design tool, especially as it's simple to record from VI's directly. I created a couple of wacky atmospheres very quickly.

I've discovered the pattern editor is very useful for orchestral/hybrid percussion work. I was writing an action cue, so loaded up an ensemble percussion patch and managed to create a great 'groove', along with variations and endings, all within about 10 minutes.

I'm going to experiment with a few of the Hans Zimmer Percussion instruments too, as being able rename notes to correspond with the percussive elements being played - as well as save them as presets - should make it much easier to call up an instrument to program in the future.


----------



## muziksculp (May 26, 2018)

jonathanwright said:


> I've discovered the pattern editor is very useful for orchestral/hybrid percussion work. I was writing an action cue, so loaded up an ensemble percussion patch and managed to create a great 'groove', along with variations and endings, all within about 10 minutes.
> 
> I'm going to experiment with a few of the Hans Zimmer Percussion instruments too, as being able rename notes to correspond with the percussive elements being played - as well as save them as presets - should make it much easier to call up an instrument to program in the future.



That's super cool ! Thanks for the helpful feedback. 

I just installed S1Pro4 last night, spent around 30 minutes using it, I found it very snappy, so far no issues, and launches super fast as well. (Cubase takes so much longer to launch). I will also try to see how the new features can be useful. 

Cheers,
Muziksculp


----------



## maestro2be (May 26, 2018)

Any noticeable improvement on CPU usage and spreading across high core count systems?


----------



## Robert Randolph (May 26, 2018)

maestro2be said:


> Any noticeable improvement on CPU usage and spreading across high core count systems?



I tested this fairly thoroughly on macOS, and no difference.


----------



## jonathanwright (May 27, 2018)

Just discovered you can drag a MIDI part to the Sample One or Impact windows, and it will automatically be rendered to audio and mapped.

Handy.


----------



## PeterKorcek (May 27, 2018)

Hi Jonathan, can i ask if you experienced some performance improvements with the new version? I really like the concept and many things S1, but the performance of VSTs compared to C9 and reaper is subpar.


----------



## jonathanwright (May 27, 2018)

Hi Peter, I can't say I've noticed much difference on my system (Mac), but I didn't have any issues with 3.5 either.

For me, S1 is probably level with Cubase in general usage, but Cubase loses at lot of points as the UI gets laggy and slows down once I have a certain amount of VI's running. 

The S1 UI stays smooth and responsive no matter what I throw at it.


----------



## samphony (May 27, 2018)

jonathanwright said:


> Hi Peter, I can't say I've noticed much difference on my system (Mac), but I didn't have any issues with 3.5 either.
> 
> For me, S1 is probably level with Cubase in general usage, but Cubase loses at lot of points as the UI gets laggy and slows down once I have a certain amount of VI's running.
> 
> The S1 UI stays smooth and responsive no matter what I throw at it.



Is that your experience with a mixed VEP and daw host setup or do you base your experience on daw hosted sample libraries?


----------



## jonathanwright (May 27, 2018)

samphony said:


> Is that your experience with a mixed VEP and daw host setup or do you base your experience on daw hosted sample libraries?



I've recently moved away from using slaves/VEP, so this is based on all instruments running within the DAW.


----------



## PeterKorcek (May 27, 2018)

Hm, interesting, I am running windows custom desktop computer and here I see Cubase performing better the more VIs I am adding to the project. Will eventually upgrade probably anyway, we'll see. thank you


----------



## InLight-Tone (May 27, 2018)

Has anyone made a large disabled template in SO4 of say 500+ tracks to see if save times have improved?


----------



## jonathanwright (May 27, 2018)

PeterKorcek said:


> Hm, interesting, I am running windows custom desktop computer and here I see Cubase performing better the more VIs I am adding to the project. Will eventually upgrade probably anyway, we'll see. thank you



Aha, if you’re on Windows you may find Cubase better, it seems to be moving backwards on a Mac these days!


----------



## jonathanwright (May 27, 2018)

InLight-Tone said:


> Has anyone made a large disabled template in SO4 of say 500+ tracks to see if save times have improved?



I haven’t tried that yet. But I eschewed a disabled template in favour of creating a track preset system, which works well for me. I like how in S1 you can drag multiple presets into the project at the same time, essentially enabling a modular template system.

It’s not for everyone, but it suits my workflow. I’ve gone into a bit more detail here:

http://www.jonathanwrightmusic.com/studio-one-instrument-presets-large-orchestral-projects/


----------



## InLight-Tone (May 27, 2018)

jonathanwright said:


> I haven’t tried that yet. But I eschewed a disabled template in favour of creating a track preset system, which works well for me. I like how in S1 you can drag multiple presets into the project at the same time, essentially enabling a modular template system.
> 
> It’s not for everyone, but it suits my workflow. I’ve gone into a bit more detail here:
> 
> http://www.jonathanwrightmusic.com/studio-one-instrument-presets-large-orchestral-projects/


Yes I'm basically following your lead on this. I was doing a similar thing in Cubase but Media Bay is slow and constantly churning making it a hassle to use.


----------



## jonathanwright (May 27, 2018)

InLight-Tone said:


> Yes I'm basically following your lead on this. I was doing a similar thing in Cubase but Media Bay is slow and constantly churning making it a hassle to use.



It’s become a bit of a nightmare hasn’t it? I tried using presets in C9 but it Media Bay ended up scanning for 2 minutes every time I launched it. Crazy!


----------



## InLight-Tone (May 27, 2018)

jonathanwright said:


> It’s become a bit of a nightmare hasn’t it? I tried using presets in C9 but it Media Bay ended up scanning for 2 minutes every time I launched it. Crazy!


Yes completely, something got screwed up it seems. It's basically unusable right now. Not that I ever liked the tagging system that it offered. Studio One is much more straight forward...


----------



## paulmatthew (May 27, 2018)

Robert Randolph said:


> 1,824 users using FLStudio. 35%
> 1,794 users using Ableton Live. 34.4%
> 
> It's about pretty close to what I've seen from other online DAW polls from communities that have heavy EDM communities.
> ...


Agree with this . I produce trance , psy and tribal and I'm in Ableton . It's pretty much Ableton , FL Studio and Logic Pro if you're producing EDM these days .


----------



## madfloyd (Jun 5, 2018)

I don't understand why Studio One doesn't focus more on midi support. If you're trying to compose orchestral music, it's a PITA since you can't easily work across multiple tracks like you can in Cubase.


----------

