PreSonus Studio One 5.2 has been announced with a raft of new features and updates. Check out our extended video that tells you everything you need to know about Studio One 5.2.

Studio One 5.2 is the second feature update for Studio One 5 Prime, Artist and Professional. It addresses the needs of composers, producers and performing artists, and offers more than 30 new features and improvements, many of which are based on popular user feature requests.

Studio One users will find a wealth of workflow improvements, advanced mixing and editing techniques, and major new features in new areas added in Version 5. This includes additions to the Score Editor, sound variations and the Show Page. Studio One 5.2 also introduces powerful live arranging and looping techniques for studio and stage to top things off.

PreSonus Sphere users will love the integration of Workspaces inside the Studio One Browser, while new security and recovery options help take the headache out of unstable third-party plug-ins or instruments.

Studio One 5.2 is a free update for Studio One 5 users and included in PreSonus Sphere.

Studio One 5 Versions

Studio One 5 Prime (free) is the perfect starting point for students or beginners – and it’s free! Hundreds of add-ons for Studio One Prime are available at the PreSonus Shop.

Studio One 5 Artist ($99.00) offers five virtual instruments, 31 native effects, powerful editing features, third-party plug-in hosting, and a "built-to-order" set of Add-ons available through the PreSonus Shop.

Studio One 5 Professional ($399.00) is the complete all-in-one recording, mixing, mastering and live performance solution with powerful new composing, editing and arranging features.

Studio One 5 Professional SPLICE Rent-to-Own ($16.99 per month) is the ideal solution for users who want to own Studio One Professional only but would prefer not to pay for it upfront. It’s exclusive to Splice and available online in the Splice Store.

PreSonus Sphere ($14.99 monthly; $169.99 annual subscription) includes Studio One 5 Professional, Notion 6.8, lifetime free updates, plus a powerful and growing number of Add-ons, content and services – available exclusively on the PreSonus Shop and through selected dealers (XCHANGE).

All versions can be further expanded with a steadily growing number of add-ons available directly from the PreSonus Shop for even more sound content, plug-ins and feature-expansions.

Key Updates

Arranger Track on Show Page

Addressing the number one feature request for the Show Page, the Arranger Track is now available on the Show Page and allows the user to place Patch changes within a Setlist Item.

Create Patches for each sound or preset you wish to play within a given song, then assign these patches to Arranger sections of your choice (Intro, Verse, Bridge, Chorus, etc.)

For each Arranger section, there’s a choice of five playback modes: Continue, Stop at End, Skip, Loop, Loop and Continue – the latter allowing you to repeat any section for a specific number of times before playback continues with the next Arranger Section.

To top things off, the same live arranging functions PreSonus added to the Song Page are now available on the Show Page as well. While a section is in Play, click any other section on the arranger track to cue this section as the next section to play. Seamlessly – without missing a beat.

Each Setlist Item has its own Arranger Track which is automatically imported with the Song when using the “Send to Show” option on the Song Page. Alternatively, a new Arranger Track and Sections can be set up from scratch for any existing backing tracks.

Chord Track on Show Page

The Chord Track is now available on the Show Page as well. Import chords from a Song when using the “Send to Show” option - or set a Chord Track up manually using the Chord Selector.

The Chord Track comes in handy when using the Performance View or Studio One Remote on a mobile device. You will never forget a chord progression again.

Updated Performance View

Alongside the changes to the Show Page in Studio One 5.2, the Performance View has been updated for even more control of your live performance.

Arranger Track and Chord Track are now always visible in the upper area of the screen. In addition to the Macro Controls view, two additional views have been added:

In Patch View, all Patches for a given Player are shown in a grid, allowing you to quickly recall Patches for your virtual or real instruments, effectively turning Studio One into a powerful master \(keyboard) controller.

In Arranger view, a grid of all available Arranger sections is shown, allowing you to launch looping or non-looping sections or cueing the next section for playback. Set each section to loop, and Studio One turns into a powerful loop launcher!

Studio One Remote Update with Show Page Performance View

With Studio One Remote 1.6, our versatile and free touch remote for mobile devices turns into a master controller for live performance!

The same Performance View available on the Show Page in Studio One is now available on Studio One Remote.

But that’s not all. With multiple devices connected to the same computer running Studio One, each player can now control their individual Patches – without interference.

Score View – Drum Notation Support

A new drum map interface can be found in the Track tab in the score editor. A drum and note name can now be quickly mapped to a corresponding notated pitch. The intended pitch can be dragged up and down in a special preview window, with further options for assigning a custom notehead and drum technique.

This map will then be saved with the song and be saved and recalled separately as a preset. A General MIDI drum map preset is included as standard in 5.2 - a time-saving starting point for naming and mapping your favourite drum libraries.

Notes can then be placed into the drum score with a useful drum name label appearing in the cursor before entry. The new voice selector can also be used to assign drum notes’ stems up or down - so that hi-hats would have stems up, and bass and snare drum would have stems down. Or Studio One can analyse incoming note information (such as from the drum editor or real-time record) and assign the notes into different voices automatically.

New symbols in the score editor complete the feature to allow open/closed/half-open techniques to be added.

Score View – Guitar Tablature Support

There are now options in the score editor's Track tab to select either 'Standard+TAB' or 'Tablature'. If 'Standard+TAB' is selected, Studio One will show linked standard notation and tablature staves for the same instrument - handy if you need to converse in both languages!

If 'Tablature' is selected, then the only tablature is seen, and rhythmic stems are then added to the tab numbers. Different tab tuning presets can then be chosen, from Guitar and Bass to Mandolin and Ukulele.

Notes can be entered directly onto the tablature staff with the tab numbers then typed in or entered on the linked standard notation and automatically translated into the tab. Tab notes can be dragged onto different strings to automatically update or be double-clicked to be manually edited.

Score View – Voices

Notes can now be entered into multiple voices for a single instrument. A new Voices icon in the Score Editor toolbar allows up to four voices per staff to be created. Select the desired voice, then enter notes and rests as normal - Studio One will automatically handle stem direction and rest positions. For existing notes, a new ‘Send to Voice’ tool allows the notes to be reallocated to the other three available voices as required.

Access Workspaces from Browser

Addressing the #1 feature request from PreSonus Sphere customers, workspaces are now available directly from the Studio One Browser.

In the Cloud tab, a new item, "PreSonus Sphere", has been added. Within PreSonus Sphere, subsections are available for Workspaces (folders you created or shared with other users) and Collaborations (folders that other users shared with you).

Transferring files between Studio One and PreSonus Sphere is as easy as dragging any item from the Arrangement or Browser to a folder inside a Workspace. Vice-versa, items inside a Workspace are downloaded when dragging them into the Arrangement or a local folder.

Alongside Workspaces in the Studio One Browser, support for custom folders has been added. Folders can be created both inside the Browser or from the PreSonus Sphere website. Typical folder options such as add, rename or delete are available as well.

Compatibility with Apple Silicon Macs

With Studio One 5.2, the latest generation Apple mobile and desktop computers using “Apple Silicon” ARM processors are fully supported in “Rosetta 2” compatibility mode.

Other Standout New Features

Live Arranging With Arranger Track

Arranger Track has just become more powerful with the addition of live arranging. Test a different playback order on the fly without having to drag Arranger Sections? Simply double-click an Arranger Section while another section is playing and Studio One will seamlessly transition from one section to another – without skipping a beat!

Live arranging is available both from the Arranger Track timeline and the Arranger Track inspector. It works great when combined with loop playback mode and “Loop follows selection” enabled. Arranger Sections can even be controlled from any hardware controller or Studio One Remote.

Improved Tempo Detection

Working with audio loops that are lacking tempo information is easier than ever with Studio One 5.2. Studio One applies a number of different methods to determine the original tempo of an audio loop. With the new tempo approval options in the Event inspector, it only takes one click to confirm the correct tempo, double tempo or half tempo.

Splitter Tool Improvements

One of the most powerful mixing features in Studio One, the Splitter tool allows you to run multiple parallel signal paths within the same channel. With Studio One 5.2 using the Splitter is now easier than ever.

Simply drag a new Splitter from the Plug-in Browser to any Insert slot to split the signal path of that channel, then add more plug-ins to any of up to 5 paths. Splitters are now shown inside the Inserts section of the console, so it only takes a quick glance to identify which channels use parallel processing.

New Revelator Native FX Plug-ins

Customers who purchased our new Revelator USB microphone with DSP now have access to native versions of the built-in DSP FX.

Safety and Recovery Options

Studio One still is one of the leanest and most stable DAWs available. However, you may still run into problems with third-party plug-ins, instruments or program extensions that cause Studio One to crash. Studio One 5.2 can’t fix problems outside of Studio One but it can help you isolate and solve the problem: If Studio One quits unexpectedly, a new “Safety Options” dialog will open the next time you launch Studio One.

This window will give you hints to the cause of the problem (like a defective or incompatible plug-in), direct you to a logfile for tech support, and provide solutions how to avoid this from happening again. Options include disabling specific plug-in services, startup actions (such as loading your last song) and more.

For full details and information on the Studio One 5.2 release, head over to PreSonus’ website.