Studio one 4 vs Ableton Live 10
Comparing studio One 4 to Ableton Live 10 is sure to be a feisty one. No DAW out there is exclusively perfect. They all have great qualities so let us take an objective look at Studio One 4 and Ableton Live 10 to see which DAW actually outweighs the other.
STUDIO ONE 4
PreSonus Studio One 4 is designed to integrate a recording model that is traditional with modern music production tech using a beat and groove orientation. Studio One 4 has grown to become arguably the most popular DAW in modern day music tech and comes with proof that attention was paid to its details.
FEATURES
Harmonic Editing
Audio and note data can be altered with Chord Track and new ideas along with new compositions can be tried out with Harmonic Editing. You can also design older parts to take on a newly modified chord progression. Chord Track is a songwriting perfectionist as it works with both audio and instrument tracks, making the task of trying out harmonies very simple. With the Chord Selector, the MIDI controller can easily switch chords on the go.
Auto Chord Detection
The workflow is very smooth. If you have an idea for a chord progression, you do not need to take a pause to figure out what you played so that new additions can be made. Studio One 4 comes with auto Chord Detection which will extract chords from tracks.
Patterns, Impact XT, Sample One XT
Studio One Patterns offers you a wider range of avenues for expression with its ability to merge parts of an instrument automatically. The Musical Editor gives your workflow a significant measure of seed and depth. It has a premium Drum Editor that allows you to edit drum parts on the go as you get inspiration. It also comes with a hi-tech macro system that allows you to control notes more effectively. Impact XT also comes with more than 20 features which make its drum module very effective for the creation of beats and loops.
PROS
- Creative songwriting, smart tools and, arrangement tools.
- Studio One 4 will not create a new song whenever you have to move from a MIDI clip right to audio. Bouncing a specified part will place a MIDI clip in a track that’s new
- Studio One 4 has a page set aside for mastering and this is obviously very beneficial especially if you’re trying to round up with the production of your song.
- Its components are easily understood by producers and virtually everything is tied to drag and drop.
- In the studio one 4 Digital Audio Workstation, you do not have to deal with too many windows or play around with your mouse excessively.
CONS
- It performs a ReWire host function but not a ReWire component function.
- Inability to individually quantize/delay notes
- It offers no MP3 support
ABLETON LIVE 10
The release of Live 10 came with very high expectations. This DAW is known to be very versatile which comes from its dual view. Its cool features make it a great DAW for live performances and studio production.
FEATURES
Capture:
Capture is a simple idea that is very useful in dealing with the psychological red light syndrome. Live 10 keeps track of everything you play once you arm a MIDI track
New Additions:
Wavetable is a newly added synth. It also comes with three new effects and it has been altered to increase music production speed. Its sound libraries have also been redesigned.
Groups within Groups:
Now you can have a simplified overview by simply folding tracks and groups together.
MIDI Editing
Users can edit multiple MIDI clips thereby giving you better control over the relationships in music.
- It comes with better browser collections that let users see the elements that are used more frequently.
PROS
- Users can quickly experiment with effects
- Allows users mix and mash audio clips or MIDI on the go while keeping them synced
- Curves can be added to automations of which some can be duplicated fast.
- With Max for Live, audio effects, synthesizers and more can be customized.
- Its new EQ comes with a spectrum analyzer that is integrated.
- Samples can be played, sliced or sequenced in multiple ways.
CONS
- Very unstable as plugins can cause the whole process to crash.
- It is the most expensive DAW
- Terribly shoddy-looking interface with small fonts that is uncomfortable.
- Lacks a return to beginning button
- Its punch-in happens to be not so great.
- Switching from one track to another is very slow
NOW LET’S COMPARE
Ableton Live 10 is a very cool DAW but one major drawback is that its audio-recording features are limited. It restricts users to just sixteen MIDI and audio tracks and only 4 sources can be recorded at the same time. However, in Studio One, an unlimited amount of MIDI tracks and audio tracks can be recorded by users.
Studio One 4 is very solid and performs efficiently even whether it’s a high or a low-spec computer. Also, whenever a plugin delays in processing a sound, the DAW will detect and automatically compensate for the gap. However, Ableton Live 10 has plugins which can blow up the whole song production process and this can be frustrating to producers.
Sometimes you might desire a delay only on one word and so on. In Studio One 4, you do not have to open a separate track or clip-print which will make you consume a lot of space. However, Ableton Live 10 seems to be faulty in this aspect.
In the aspect of workflow, Ableton Live 10 is great to work with using samples and it helps users develop live sessions and more but it does not let you construct sounds that are more personal due to its double-layout design. However, in the studio one 4 Digital Audio Workstation, you do not have to deal with too many windows or play around with your mouse excessively which gives music makers the freedom to modify in real time.
| Parameter | Studio One 4 | Ableton Live 10 |
| cost | V | × |
| Beginner friendly | V | × |
| interface | V | × |
| Ease of download | × | V |
| Item-based automation | × | V |
| themes | V | × |
| Multi-track MIDI editing | V | × |
| VST3 | V | × |
| Customer Support | V | × |
| Project interchange | V | × |
| Software updates | V | V |
| VST2 | V | V |
| Multi-track Audio editing | V | × |
| Third-party learning | V | V |
