I’ve been using Harrison Mixbus 32c for the last couple of years. For mixing, I really like it - the limitations of the fixed bussing scheme don’t bother me, and the VST implementation (apart from total lack of VST3, 32bit bridging & ARA capability) is very good in terms of signal flow & flexibility of routing inputs & outputs.
For recording and production it’s a bit less brilliant, though. While I have successfully recorded & edited tracks from scratch in it, and there are some very well thought through things like the automatic crossfades and translucent waveforms etc, the virtual instrument and midi editing is pretty rudimentary and slip editing multitracked drums can be a slow process.
So, because I’m thinking about doing some more modern production with electronic percussion, virtual instruments etc, I thought I’d get Studio One.
So far I’ve hardly had time to do anything with it. But… I’m surprised the Console Shaper, which is a plugin that operates on every track & bus, is so coloured. I was expecting something quite subtle but there’s an obvious character even with the gain turned down. I’m not totally sold on it, but further investigation is needed.
I also think Mixbus 32c must do more under the hood than I thought, because I noticed when I was adding plugins in Studio One, even before I’d touched a knob, that I could hear quite clearly the analogue modelling of, say, a Neve preamp or the difference between MJUC’s 3 compressor modes. On Mixbus, I wasn’t really aware of that. I wonder if that’s because Mixbus was already doing some analogue modelling through the channel EQs, so the extra difference of adding a modelling plugin was less. Hmmm.
Anyway. I will add more to this thread as and when Studio One either pleases or frustrates me.
Harrison claims to do component level analog modeling in their channel and bus emulations and that’s why it’s such a cpu hog.
I love mixing with Mixbus, but never really liked recording tracks with it. I visit the Harrison Mixbus forum and that seems to be the consensus, most people track with other daws and then mix down.
Hey Josh, sorry I just saw this thread. It came up on the “Suggested Topics” section of the forum. While I’m certainly no expert, Studio One is really the only DAW I’m using. It just “worked” for me as soon as I demoed it a few years back and I’ve never looked back. I’m sure you’ve run across these, but just in case you haven’t, here are a few sites to check out. The Presonus forum is pretty active too and there are lots of helpful folks on there and you can usually get answers pretty quickly.
Well, I’ve been using it for working on rough demos, and haven’t really put it through its paces on a full mix, but I like it. Everything’s been intuitive so far, special mentions going to the plugin manager, which is nice for organising things, and the tempo map - drawing in tempo changes (I use them a lot) is a dream, and it’s great being able to quickly add/change the shape of the curve between different speeds.
Oh, I actually used that earlier in the year! I needed to make a DDP master for a client, and used the demo of Studio One Pro (I didn’t buy it 'til a few months later) to do it. Yeah, I was impressed.
