RECORDING January 2023 - 24

REVIEW
PreSonus
Studio One
Version 6
This latest update gets " personal "
REVIEW BY BILL STUNT
T
their
he relentless, or should that be restless,
PreSonus development march continues
apace with the release of version 6 of
flagship DAW-Studio One. True
to
PreSonus tradition, most of the new tools,
workflow enhancements and interface tweaks
are in response to user requests. With a
focus on workflow-enhancing customization,
PreSonus is calling version 6 the " most
personal upgrade yet. "
Who Is That?
You can now create and recall multiple unique artist profiles for your
clients and collaborators on the Start Page. Profile information-name,
genre, website address, etc.-gets embedded as ID3 tags in any of
that artist's exported content.
Get to Work
When you're ready
to work on something
fresh,
the new Smart
Templates get you up
and running in a jiffy
by loading an appropriate
workspace
for
the selected task. There
are Smart Templates
for recording sessions,
beat creation, mixing, mastering, live performances, podcasts and
more. There is a drop zone where you can drag files you want to
preload. I have been using this feature for collaborative projects, trading
stems back and forth. The chosen project opens with tracks laid
out and a mixer preloaded with inserts and sends routed and, when
appropriate, a set of native plugins.
Put a Pin in That
Diving straight in, the crisply refreshed Start Page
features some great new organization tools. Rightclicking
on a document in the Recent Files list reveals
a snapshot of the song, show or project showing
time, track count, tempo, key and more. " Pinned "
documents can be grouped, bringing these essential
or favorite items to the top of the menu. Songs, Projects
and Shows can be sorted into custom folders without
resorting to an external file view making for effortless
and logical organization.
I open dozens of Studio One documents on a typical
day. These new organization options represent a significant
timesaver.
24 RECORDING January 2023
As I Recall
The new Track Preset function lets you store and recall comprehensive
track and channel settings like input assignment, volume, pan,
inserts, and bus and send assignments. These presets can also apply
to a group of channels. I started using this function immediately and,
within a few days, had a set of handy presets for complicated vocal
and instrument chains and complete multi-channel drum setups. I recently
created a preset with four preconfigured and calibrated busses
for a Michael Bauer-like mix workflow.
Within the revamped Studio One browser, you can create custom
folders to organize plugin and instrument presets. Presets can be marked
as favorites that, once marked, are mirrored automatically inside
a new Favorites folder that resides at the top of the respective list. I'm
happily repurposing the time I no longer spend scrolling through my
lengthy plugin list.
RECORDING January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of RECORDING January 2023
