Many clients ask me if my studio uses Pro Tools. My first response is, "Why do you ask, does it really matter what I use?". They usually reply with, "I just want that quality when you record me". Listen very carefully......... A wrench is a wrench, a screw driver is a screw driver, a hammer is a hammer you get where I'm going with this?
Pro Tools is the industry standard DAW for most studios around the world, however it is not the only one and in the opinion of many professional engineers it is not the best. The choice of DAW's is mainly an engineers preference. They all do the same things, the differences between them is workflow. I used to be a heavy Pro Tools user until about 5 years ago I was introduced to Presonus Studio One.
I sat in on a session with a long time friend of mine who was using it and he recommended that I test drive it for a review he was writing. So, he licensed a copy to me I installed it on my laptop and I never looked back. It took me about 30 minutes to realize that Studio One was nothing but the truth and I had to have it in my studio. It immediately became my main platform for recording, mixing, editing, and most importantly mastering. Studio One introduced me to a workflow that was fast, efficient, and extremely powerful.
What makes Studio One different? First, it's simplicity. Practically everything is drag and drop. There are no complicated button combinations to remember. The process of adding plugins and routing is intuitive and seamless. It just makes sense. In today's music industry speed is the difference between getting the job or not. Studio One works with virtually every plug in available without expensive upgrades or add on purchases. The feature I love the most is the built in mastering module. With other DAW's you have to build complex routing and tedious processes to build a mastering environment. Studio One has what's called the Project window. After completing your individual song recordings you can seamlessly export those songs in a mastering project. Once in the mastering project you can apply final processes, encoding data for CD or Digital Releases, and more. The best feature is that you can go back to the individual song sessions edit or remix them and Studio One will seamlessly update the mastering file so you don't have to re-export your song file. That alone is worth it's weight in gold.
There are so many more reasons why I love and use Studio One Professional. I invite you to check out the Presonus Studio One today!