What We Would Like To See In PreSonus Studio One 6
Studio One 5 was announced in July 2020 and Studio One 4 in May 2018, so it can’t be long before we see Studio One 6.
When it comes to features and innovation PreSonus rarely disappoints, with each new version offering a dizzying list of new things. Even point releases (free) have been far more than simple bug fixes, with one point release listing about 50 feature updates.
However, here’s some things we’d like to see in the next release. Our list may surprise you, it’s less about more features and more about improving existing ones.
Better Video Implementation
One of Studio One’s core strengths up until now has been the focus by PreSonus to concentrate on music makers, rather than widen their reach to post production. This means they can stay focussed on the music production environment and not have to split resources to meet the needs of several sectors of the audio production industry.
However, video is fast becoming a central part of the creative process, even for those working in music. Many professional composers working on film and TV avoid Studio One because of it’s video implementation, or lack of anything more than the most basic playback options in current versions.
Improved video playback would be a step in the right direction and would help to entice more composers and those working with video. Features could include BITC, streamers for cues, multiple video versions in the same project,even some basic video editing would be nice.
Wider Track Widths
With more people attracted to new surround formats, a lot of music mixers are now working in Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio. Given that until recently most music mixers were working in stereo it’s understandble that PreSonus didn’t concentrate on adding wider track formats.
However, in 2022 Studio One needs to support wider track widths such as 7:1:6, and all the other associated surround formats now popular in music mixing. Right now it doesn’t even support the most basic surround formats. Here are just some of the DAWs that support track widths higher than stereo:
Pro Tools - Dolby Atmos
Logic Pro - Dolby Atmos
REAPER - Dolby Atmos
Nuendo - Dolby Atmos
Cubase - Dolby Atmos
Digital Performer - Surround up to 10:2
Stereo is just part of the mixer’s deliverables in modern music mixing. Studio One is soon going to be the only mainstream DAW not offering surround mixing formats.
Audio Editing Still Needs Improvement
Studio One has made leaps and bounds in the audio editing department over the last few years. The introduction of a Studio One audio ‘smart tool’ and the work done on improving the visual appearance of audio waveforms have helped.
However, audio editing is still not as slick as Pro Tools. Some may suggest that it’s simply a lack of familiarity and those with a deep understanding of Studio One wouldn’t say the same thing.
However, we have team members who are converstant with both Studio One and Pro Tools and who would still rather edit audio in Pro Tools.
EUCON Support
PreSonus make some excellent control surfaces for use with Studio One in their Faderport range. They are tightly integrated and offer great control. Studio One also supports the HUI and Mackie protocols. However it would be great to see EUCON support so it could support some larger more professional control surfaces, in fact it’s one of the few DAWs that does not support EUCON.
This from the Avid website;
“From Pro Tools and Media Composer, to Logic Pro, Cubase, Nuendo, Premiere, Pyramix, and more, a wide variety of audio and video applications support EUCON. Get the deepest level of integration when using Avid's creative tools. You can also control multiple applications and workstations from a single surface and quickly switch between them with the touch of a button. Or even place tracks from different DAWs on the surface simultaneously.”
Again, if PreSonus want to see greater adoption of their flagship DAW by professionals, then adopting EUCON would be a step in the right direction.
Stem Export… or not in this case.
Stem Export - Or Not
Which leads us to a minor gripe about the use of the term stem in the Studio One application.
Using the Export Stem option in Studio One opens up a dialogue where one can export everything BUT stems. Stems are not the individual audio tracks that make up a session, and quite rightly a lot of audio professionals get hot under the collar when this mistake is made. Don’t take our word for it, mixing legend Bob Clearmountain took to social media to ask that the practise stop. Bob Clearmountain Says Stop Calling DAW Multitracks Stems!
Here’s an excellent article by Tom Bullen explaining more about stems.
Either give users the option to export real stems or please change the name to Export Audio… really.
What Would You Like To See In Studio One 6?
You may see a theme emerging in our list and that’s our desire to see Studio One make improvements to meet the needs of those working in professional environments.
The team at Studio One have been listening to professionals for several years now and have made numerous improvements to meet their needs, the list above shows areas they can further improve to attract them.
What would you like to see that hasn’t made our list? Let us know in the comments.