PreSonus is attempting to woo beginners and students with Studio One 3 Prime, a free version of its cross-platform DAW.
Based on the full version of Studio One (version 3.0.2 of which is also being released), this is described as a "feature-rich digital audio workstation". It won't time out, and it lets you work with an unlimited number of tracks, plugin inserts and virtual instruments.
You also get some bundled content: the Presence XT sampler ships with a 1.5GB library, and you can call on the PreSonus Native Effects plugins. The big downside is that there's no third-party plugin support, though you can purchase additional sound and loop content from within the software.
A list of feature highlights is below, and you can download Studio One 3 Prime right now from the PreSonus website. There's also a comparison chart that shows the differences between Studio One versions.
Studio One Prime highlights
- Studio One Prime does not time out, feature a nag screen, or limit the number of songs you can create.
- Record and mix with no limit on the number of simultaneous tracks, plug-in inserts, or virtual instruments.
- Create songs quickly with Studio One's fast drag and drop workflow, and newly enhanced browser for accessing backing tracks, plug-ins and more.
- Get inspiring sounds with the new Presence XT sampler featuring a rich 1.5 GB sampler library.
- Sweeten your mix with nine PreSonus Native Effects™ audio plug-ins that cover all the bases.
- Access the power of a real DAW with real-time time stretching, resampling, and normalization; single and multitrack comping; multitrack track transform (advanced freezing), and Control Link controller mapping.
- Expand Studio One Prime with more Presence XT libraries and professional loop content, purchasable directly from within the Studio One browser.
- Experience the full power of Studio One by converting Studio One Prime into a 30-day demo of Studio One 3 Professional at any time.
