Given that the last full version number was 12, it might come as a surprise to you that Image-Line has just released FL Studio 20. However, there is a reason for this: 2018 marks 20 years of the software (if you include its FruityLoops days), and this re-numbering also provides a neat way of avoiding a potentially unlucky (if you believe in that sort of thing) version 13.
Perhaps the biggest news is that FL Studio is now available as a native 64-bit application for Mac, with support for both VST and AU plugins. Projects made on PC and Mac are interchangeable, with the interoperability extending to third-party plugins that are installed on both platforms.
In terms of functionality, FL Studio now supports different time signatures, with unlimited time signature changes for both the Playlist and Patterns. There’s also in-situ audio rendering of specific clips - useful when you want to conserve CPU power - and the Playlist now supports multiple Arrangements (an arrangement being a layout of audio, automation and pattern clips). In addition, Plugin Delay Compensation has been rebuilt from the ground up, with manual and Auto-PDC now able to co-exist.
Elsewhere, several existing features have been refined and improved, and there are new and updated plugins. The audio recording options have been extended, and customer-requested workflow improvements have been implemented.
Existing FL Studio users will get version 20 for free on the back of Image-Line’s lifetime updates policy, while prices for new customers start at €89 for the entry-level Fruity version. Find out more and download a demo on the Image-Line website.
