PreSonus has announced the release of Studio One 2.5, a major update to the company’s Studio One 2 DAW.

Studio One offers an integrated approach to recording music, from tracking to mixing to mastering and distribution.

This free (to Studio One 2 users) update adds nearly 100 enhancements and features, as well as many bug fixes. All versions of Studio One 2 have been updated, including Studio One Artist, Producer, Professional, and Free.

Although the update adds some entirely new features, it mostly builds on existing Studio One 2 features, completing and enhancing functionality based on PreSonus’ original vision and on user feedback.

Changes in Studio One v2.5

  • Comping Improvements. Single-swipe comping with automatic beaming into parts makes comping much faster and more powerful.
  • Folder Track Editing. Edit directly on the Folder Track, with a waveform preview for all tracks in the folder. This simplifies workflow with large track counts.
  • Track Transform Improvements. Multitrack transform for virtual instruments. Now you can instantly turn complex multi-output virtual instruments into audio tracks and back.
  • Ampire XT has been completely overhauled. All-new cabinet impulse responses, matched with reworked amp models, results in a significant improvement in sound quality.
  • Automation Enhancements. Easier and faster editing of automation envelopes.
  • Audio Export Enhancements. Rendering multiple outputs at once results in much faster exports-a huge timesaver.
  • Re-recording from Buses. This is a completely new feature that enables you to use the output of virtual instrument or bus channels as the input to an audio track. In this way, you can print from buses or instruments to new audio tracks in real time.
  • Drag-and-drop Event Effects. Drag-and-drop workflow is even faster with a new modifier key that lets you do things like drag-and-drop effects directly onto events in the arrangement.
  • Wet/Dry Mix and Mix Lock for Effects. Built-in parallel processing on PreSonus Native Effects. For example, you can drop a compressor on a drum bus, crank the ratio, and drop the threshold to squash the drums mercilessly, and then only mix that squashed sound 20% with the original, unprocessed sound.
  • Legato and Overlap Correction (MIDI).Instantly apply or remove legato from MIDI tracks quickly and simply-a huge time-saver.
  • Check the release notes for more details.

Studio One 2.5 is available immediately and is free to all users.

In addition, all Studio One Producer and Professional users can now download a free copy of Softube’s Saturation Knob plug-in.

presonus softubesaturationknob

Saturation Knob is an easy-to-use, versatile way to add tape-saturation-like distortion to your tracks. The knob controls the amount of saturation, and you can switch between three different distortion characteristics. With the switch set to Neutral, the entire frequency spectrum of the sound gets distorted when you turn up the Saturation knob. Put it on Keep Low, and the saturation will mainly affect the lower part of the frequency spectrum, while the top end stays clear. With Keep High selected, the low end will retain its clear sound, and only the high-frequency components of the sound will get distorted.

The plug-in is provided in a Studio One Extension, and it is not necessary to create a Softube account or authorize the plug-in.

More information: PreSonus