Both Studio One 5 Professional and Studio One 5 Artist include a number of excellent updates that keep this DAW at the top of its class. For starters, there's the redesigned Native Effects plug-in suite. This bundle of PreSonus's staple effects and processing plug-ins features a refreshed look and compelling upgrades, most notably State Space Modeled drive stages for the Analog Delay, Rotor, and Tricomp plug-ins. Instead of relying on compressor/limiter plug-ins, you can now use Clip Gain Envelopes to correct volumes on a clip-by-clip basis. Aux Channels let you patch in external sources (returns), without the need for an audio track. Finally, Key Switches and Note Controllers support opens up more advanced MIDI performance and programming possibilities.
Why choose Studio One 5 Professional?
While PreSonus dramatically expanded Studio One 5's capabilities in general, there are plenty of additional upgrades you only get with Studio One 5 Professional. Studio One Professional is known for its massive suite of tools and instruments that already make it outstanding. These additions simply up the ante.
First, there's the Show Page, with interacts with the Song Page to provide a drag-and-drop environment for arranging content such as backing tracks, virtual instruments, entire plug-in racks, and more. Similarly, Extended Mixer Scenes let you take snapshots of your entire console state, so you can recall all settings or just the ones you want (volume, pan, mute, etc) at any time.
Another mixer-like aspect to Studio One 5 Professional is the Independent Listen Bus, which emulates the control room feed provided by large-format consoles traditionally found in professional studios. It's perfect for multi-room recording setups. Next, PreSonus added Melodyne Essential 5 integration directly into Studio One 5 Professional, expanding its integrated vocal editing tools with chord detection, chord grid, and more.
Other improvements to Studio One 5 Professional are more focused. Composers love the addition of Score View, which adds Notion composition and notation software capabilities right into Studio One — a perfect tool for anyone who prefers to work in standard notation to the modern piano roll. For the hardcore MIDI gurus, the addition of MTC/MMC sync is a real bonus. It makes Studio One a rock-solid platform for controlling and synchronizing MIDI-controllable gear.