I only had about half an hour to work with it yesterday…My very first thought was that it feels a LOT like Logic Pro. I’m impressed with how easy it is for a first time user to find their way around here. I almost didn’t even need the manual. Usually the first thing I do with a DAW is re-organize as many of the core functions and navigation key commands to work like Pro Tools. Enough to where I can whip up a quick song or two using half Midi VI’s and half recorded sources. And then I spend a couple days finding the rest of the stuff discovering as I go. I typically keep a groove3 window pulled up on my tablet and a youtube window on my laptop so I can bounce around to different categories of training materials without too much trouble. Looking forward to getting to know this DAW better over the next few days.
I must say I’m impressed with the extra assets. I feel like the plugin and VI library is pretty robust. S1’s macro command options are lacking in pro tools, and the mixer layouts are much more flexible than logics. I don’t think the arrangement tools are quite as insane as Abletons, but they appear to be on par with Cubase and possibly DP. It definitely has Pro Tools beat in this area.
Sadly there is no Eucon support, so that means I’ll have to mix with a keyboard and mouse. But that’s ok because the publishing companies I’m buying this to collab with aren’t going to be doing long intensive mixes anyway.
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So first impressions on studio one remain pretty good. After the first several days of playing with it in little bits of free time I’m still finding it to be stable, organized, and easy to use.
This software still feels more like working in Logic than anything else for some reason. But with folder and file systems with searchable plugins acting more like Reaper and Nuendo which I think is a good thing. Being able to favorite and create folders is a feature I feel is badly lacking in Pro Tools. Two non-negotiable must have’s for me are the 1176 and LA2A emulators, and I like both of the better than the stock Logic ones. The BF blackface in Pro Tools is horrible.
I did find the Pro Tools map key commands for S1 in the preferences which are conveniently included in the software. I still had to modify a number of key commands to get it to match Pro Tools closer.
Studio One’s workflow editing and navigation commands are not as deep as those in Pro Tools HD. The tools are simplified for ease of use. I’m ok with this, and I was well aware of it ahead of time. So I didn’t waste too much effort trying to get Studio One to operate on the same level in that regard.
I can’t find any references to S1 having a node based design Midi design GUI like Logics environment, or Max for Live. I’m also not going to bother trying to get S1 to perform any film or video related functions. I’m looking forward to checking out some of the arranging tools, but I’m not expecting much from the score editor here.
I did get some of the VI’s up and running. It took me a minute to figure out the drag-and-drop to instantiate stuff. But I kind of like it. Reminded me of Reason in some ways. Over the next few days I’ll be messing around with VI’s and midi recording, and seeing how the vocal/guitar take comping works. Another of the big questions I have is how it will compare to Logics audio editor engines. In other words…how capable is this DAW when you isolate a clip within a track, in terms of tuning, warping, time stretching, processing that isolated clip.
I started using S1 in version 2. I came from cubase so there wasn’t that much of a learning curve, lot of key commands are the same.
Only thing I noticed about moving from 3 to 4 was all the colors, autocolor is nice, don’t have to worry about it. Otherwise it works the same for me.
One thing I do like and use is import data, to grab tracks and settings from other songs.
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