Just a few short years ago, PreSonus‘s then-new Studio One software was the new kid on the DAW block — a fresh upstart coming into an arena already populated with mature, full-featured, well-supported apps. But, despite the odds, Studio One has not only survived but flourished, and with the recent release of version 3, it has reached new heights of maturity and power. But the new features, plug-ins, and instruments in version 3 don’t come at the expense of what has made Studio One so great — the fact that it’s incredibly fast and easy to learn and use.

One of the highlights is the new Arranger track, which allows you to work in a sort of “pattern” format, where each section of a song (verse, chorus, solo, bridge, intro, breakdown, etc.) becomes a pattern that you can freely move around to experiment with new arrangements. Another great songwriting tool in version 3 is Scratch Pads, which are alternate timelines, where you can store song arrangements, sections of song, ideas, or whatever — think of it as a second (or third, or fourth) timeline where you can freely experiment without losing your original idea or arrangement. Scratch Pads are also great for capturing inspiration and organizing ideas for remixes or different edits of a song.

Studio One 3‘s browser has been greatly enhanced, which makes finding the musical material and content you need much faster and easier. New Extended Effects Chains let you route signals in parallel and series to create complex audio paths — it’s a sound design dream! Likewise, Multi Instruments allow you to stack multiple soft synths and instruments to create layered and split sounds, yet you manage and play them like a single instrument. To take charge of all that power, the new Macro Panel has eight knobs and eight switches that can be assigned to critical parameters.

Speaking of instruments, Studio One 3 introduces Mai Tai, a new polyphonic analog modeling synth; Presence XT, a full-featured sampler; and a brand-new synthesis and instrument engine for maximum performance and sound. New processors include Note FX for processing instrument tracks, Rotor rotating speaker, and Bitcrusher for low-fi effects.

Studio One 3’s mixer has been improved with resizable faders, color channels, synced track and channel order, channel focus, and so much more. Plus, automation curves are supported, the tool palette has been enhanced, and there are dozens of other improvements. The new highly customizable user interface offers multi-touch (on a compatible monitor), support for Retina and 5K displays, as well as tons of workflow enhancements.

I’m very excited about Studio One 3 — and I’ve really just barely scratched the surface of all that is new and cool in this release. If you’re looking for a fast, efficient, powerful, easy-to-use DAW that offers tons of flexibility, then you’re definitely going to want to check this one out.

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