Presonus Studio One Professional is a top-tier digtal-audio workstation (think Logic X) with some unique and time-saving features. My favorite feature, a super-handy module for organizing and mastering albums, has been joined in the new version 5 by a clever take on organizing and managing a live performance.
Presonus has also unveiled Sphere: an online rental and collaboration service that delivers the entirety of the company’s music software portfolio for a remarkably affordable $15 a month. Even if you’re a diehard user of another DAW, that warrants a serious look at a very powerful suite of music tools.
Design and features
By today’s standards, there’s nothing startling about Studio One’s design. However, at its inception in 2009, it was the first traditional track/mixer DAW to adopt a drag and drop, paned design—you drag effects and instruments to the timeline to add them to tracks (or create a new track). The various areas of the program (timeline, browser, editors, etc.) fit together without overlapping like panes in a window.
