Artist now supports adding third-party VSTs and AU plug-ins, a welcome upgrade that used to be an extra-cost option, and it also now works with Studio One Remote for the iPad and Android. Artist ($99) adds more editing tools, including track folders and event-based effects, the excellent Mai Tai analog modeling synth, and the Fat Channel track plug-in that offers a bevy of mixing tools in a single interface. The impressive Prime (free) includes unlimited audio and MIDI tracks, some basic plug-in effects, drag-and-drop editing and comping, and the Presence XT sampler (really a 'rompler,' with no sampling capability). PreSonus offers four ways to get Studio One 5. And its latest update is full of welcome surprises.

But it's an inspired audio editing choice for anyone who needs a serious DAW and who dislikes Avid's subscription pricing.

Studio One doesn't scale to larger studios as well as Pro Tools. It's as if someone took Pro Tools, removed many of the unnecessary mouse button presses, and rearranged the menus and dialogs to make sense. Perhaps more than any DAW I've tested recently, Studio One 5 makes it easy to record audio, compose music, and mix, and it simultaneously feels like a mature workstation.

Studio one chord track