

You can save as many projects as you want, and there are no nag screens, but you can't add third-party plug-ins.Īrtist ($99) adds more editing tools, including track folders and event-based effects, multi-touch support on Windows machines, the excellent Mai Tai analog modeling synth, and the Fat Channel track plug-in that offers a bevy of mixing tools in a single interface. The impressive Prime (free) includes unlimited audio and MIDI tracks, some basic plug-in effects, drag-and drop editing and comping, and the Presence XT sampler (really a "rompler," with no sampling capability) with 1.5GB of instruments. PreSonus offers three versions of Studio One 4. Studio One doesn't scale to larger studios as well as Pro Tools, and is still missing some key features, but it's an inspired audio editing choice for anyone who needs a serious DAW and who dislikes Avid's move to subscription pricing for support. It's as if someone took Pro Tools, removed many of the unnecessary mouse button presses, and rearranged the menus and dialogs to make sense.

Perhaps more than any DAW I've tested recently, Studio One 4 makes it easy to lay down beats and record audio, and it simultaneously feels like a mature workstation.

