Some interesting release schedule facts for the fun of it... and part of the reason why I think Studio One v4 will be released in late May or late June:
Highest bugfix versions:1.0.2
1.5.2
1.6.5
2.0.7
2.5.2
2.6.5
3.0.2
3.1.1
3.2.3
3.3.4
3.5.6
<== We are hereTime between major versions:1.0 to 2.0 - About 13 months (1 year + 1 month)
2.0 to 3.0 - Almost 43 months (3 years + almost 7 months)
3.0 to May 2018
<== We are here - 36 months on May 20 (about 3 years)
More details:1.0 to 1.5 - 7 months
1.5 to 2.0 - 6 months
2.0 to 2.5 - 13 months
2.5 to 2.6 - 9 months
2.6 to 3.0 - Almost 21 months <== this was an unusually major update IMO due to VI engine
3.0 to 3.1 - Almost 5 months
3.1 to 3.2 - Almost 5 months
3.2 to 3.3 - 4 months
3.3 to 3.5 - 9 months
3.5 to 3.6 or 4.0?
<== We are here - 12 months on May 23!Without getting into too many details, we are almost CERTAINLY due a very large update very soon. Keep in mind that the LARGEST major version gap was almost 21 months between 2.6 and 3.0, but also note they did TWO MAJOR infrastructure projects in that time, including a new graphics/interface engine AND a whole new VI engine (which forms the basis for Presence XT and Mai Tai, plus future new instruments). That kind of development is often a big investment by developers to lay the groundwork to make longer-term goals easier. Presonus has hinted as much when 3.0 was released, when they talked about the VI engine forming the basis for future instruments, and mentioned the new graphics engine. So if I'm understanding what happened correctly, 2.6 to 3.0 was actually a massive amount of research and coding. The VI engine alone could have easily taken a year or more to develop, based on what I've read of other VI developers.
So here we are, in May 2018, going on 12 months from the last major update... ALL other updates have been 13 months or less. So IMO there's a very good possibility that we're going to get version 3.6 or 4.0 VERY soon.
I personally am betting on a 4.0 for several reasons... the first and most obvious reason is that ARA 2 is going to be released very soon. It's been in beta according to many posts on the web and of course Presonus pioneered that spec with Melodyne. That was a BIG feather in their cap... and honestly made them a serious contender. They should rightly be proud of their work on ARA.
From what I've been reading in other forums, Reaper's ARA 2 implementation is basically ready once the beta process is complete, and Logic has announced ARA 2 support with Logic 10.4, so how on earth do we think that Presonus will allow another DAW to beat it to ARA 2's release? No way. Presonus will not let that happen IMO. So when ARA 2 comes out, I am 99% positive that Presonus will simultaneously release, or ALREADY have released the next version of Studio One. Presonus will NOT let Logic or Reaper win that race, as the original co-developer of the ARA spec in the first place.
And because ARA 2 is going to be a big deal, there is NO way IMO that Studio One will release it as simply a 3.6 feature -- they'll go straight to 4.0 to coincide with the major Melodyne release with ARA 2. Again, my prediction only, I have no inside info on this.
And unless Melodyne hits a big delay, that release is happening very soon, I predict by late June at the latest. An educated guess, and yes, maybe a little hopeful. And Studio One will likely be there, right from start of ARA 2.
I've got a bunch of other small reasons that may not seem significant, but when you add them up, they point to a release very soon, late May or late June as an inevitable release for Studio One v4, unless there is a huge delay with Melodyne and ARA 2. But again, since Apple *already* announced Logic 10.4 with ARA 2, I just can't imagine they'll delay very long. Of course I could be completely wrong and it might be many months before we see Studio One v4.
However, one quick additional note is that it's NOT common to see a MAJOR release from German developers during the summer. In fact, NONE of the big Presonus releases I can think of happened in the middle of summer (except minor patches) -- they usually happened right before the middle of summer, or right after. So if we don't get Studio One v4 in May or June, I don't think we'll get it until late August or the fall. But that seems way too long for ARA 2, given what I've read in other forums, so again, I'm betting May or June.
Over and out for now... if I have time, I'll post some more minor reasons that add up... but again, this is all speculation and a bit of wishful thinking. I'm crossing fingers, and I think it will be a great update, whatever it is. And if we have to wait another 6-12 months, so be it.