Ari

As always - congrats on the new release.

But I strongly suggest that Presonus should consider a sticky or something to clearly explain the logic behind locking out the perpetual folks from new offerings like Lead Architect etc (and potentially) other items into the future.

At first glance here - it is not a good look for a company that seemed to constantly remind us that the Pro community (perpetual owners) some of whom - like me - have been here for a decade (or more) were the "bread and butter" and now - that simply does not seem to be the case.

VP

Please note that every feature in this update is available in Studio One 6.6 Professional, regardless of which license you have. Lead Architect is additional Studio One+ content, very much like other content we make available to Studio One+ users every month.

Take a look at the new Studio One+ Hybrid offer. You get both Studio One+ and Studio One perpetual as one product. In other words: with a one-year subscription, we give you a perpetual license for free.

In any case, you're not forced to move up to Studio One+, even if it's more affordable. The decision is yours which version of Studio One you use.

arndkaiser wroteIn any case, you're not forced to move up to Studio One+, even if it's more affordable. The decision is yours which version of Studio One you use.

You are right. But the benefits are mainly for new users - this is clearly the target group you are aiming for.

But you could consider a „smooth“ transition path for existing owners of a perpetual Pro license, to ease the decision.

arndkaiser wrotePlease note that every feature in this update is available in Studio One 6.6 Professional, regardless of which license you have. Lead Architect is additional Studio One+ content, very much like other content we make available to Studio One+ users every month.

Take a look at the new Studio One+ Hybrid offer. You get both Studio One+ and Studio One perpetual as one product. In other words: with a one-year subscription, we give you a perpetual license for free.

In any case, you're not forced to move up to Studio One+, even if it's more affordable. The decision is yours which version of Studio One you use.

Arnd

Thanks for the explanation and update.

I would challenge your value proposition with Hybrid - on one hand - a user does now have access to their work if they decide to cancel their S1+ sub (which is excellent) - but the perpetual license they get for free is essentially an "old" license and certainly a "retired" license as it seems (at least with how I read it) that this license is non upgradable to the next "major" S1 version - not to mention the loss of all that exclusive stuff that made them go Hybrid in the first place.

Happy to be wrong on this since it is all so new - but what is the point of having an old perpetual license around if that license version is dead in the water (like say when v7) comes out?

One scenario that Presonus has not addressed - is what if I AM a perpetual user and want to go Hybrid? Is there a discounted upgrade path for me - or do I just start at full price for a full year?

Without a full analysis for cost effectiveness - it would help to understand ALL scenarios.

VP

Vocalpoint wroteOne scenario that Presonus has not addressed - is what if I AM a perpetual user and want to go Hybrid? Is there a discounted upgrade path for me - or do I just start at full price for a full year?

Without a full analysis for cost effectiveness - it would help to understand ALL scenarios.

VP

Yes - I didn't understand the Hybrid option for someone on a perpetual licence like us Studio One Minus users. Perhaps someone can explain because I don't understand it - perhaps its just me.....

Dropdown menus still flash white sometimes under macOS
No MCU improvements :/

will there also be a perpetual license for Lead Architect available or will that stay subscription only ?

ansolas wrotewill there also be a perpetual license for Lead Architect available or will that stay subscription only ?

It appears that is sub only forever at this point.

VP

Dear Arnd and Presonus team -- I understand the market pressures about subscription models, but I think you are making a mistake by not including Lead Architect for normal, traditional perpetual Pro license users, or at least offering it for sale separately as a complete, distinct product, also with a perpetual license.

The way that you are trying to walk a fine line with the "old" business/revenue model and the "new" model via Studio One+ subscriptions, "hybrid" or otherwise, is a concern to some users, including myself. A subscription is a subscription is a subscription. Hybrid or not. And this Lead Architect Studio One+ exclusive decision highlights the issue, and I hope you reverse your decision asap.

Now I can only imagine the discussions that you have had internally about this, and you certainly have kept in mind the huge negative reaction that happened when Waves initially announced their subscription model, which resulted in a huge backlash, and you of course know the story. All other major developers are paying attention, and all are trying to find a balance now. You are obviously trying to find a good balance at Presonus, and you have watched the market closely in order to find a better way forward, but this "hybrid" subscription and the thinking behind the Lead Architect decision is not the way forward, IMO.

I can tell you that for all the good things in 6.6 (and certainly many great things in 6.5), the simple fact that you are NOT including Lead Architect for "old school" Pro traditional users is a red flag for me, and it is overshadowing the other good work you have been doing.

I don't know if I'm the only one here that thinks this, and maybe you've already calculated the number of people who will not react well to your new strategy, but I can assure you that I will not be signing up for anything remotely similar to a subscription plan, even in the "hybrid" version you have just announced, no matter how brilliantly written the marketing copy is. Of course you are not forcing me to sign up -- that would be a draconian Waves-esque level of bad strategy which even Waves eventually realized was a truly terrible idea -- BUT you are forcing users to subscribe in order to get a major item like Lead Architect, which is something I'd enjoy using. But if you persist in this line of thinking, it's something I'll never enjoy since I'll never subscribe.

So I'm hoping you reverse course, correct this strategy, and consider a different solution. Here's what I suggest, including from a PR perspective, or at least something along the lines of what I'd love to see. Just some thoughts, I hope you take them in the respectful manner that I offer them:

1) Reverse course immediately on the Lead Architect issue and anything connected with a "hybrid" quasi-subscription model. It will take some good PR to get the right tone. But it's totally doable.

2) You can start by reaffirming your long-term commitment to the traditional perpetual licensing model as a distinct, top-priority in your sales/support/revenue model. You CAN make it work in 2024 and beyond. The subscription model is fine for some people, but it can't be elevated above the traditional model. Subscriptions need to be presented as an "alternative," not the exclusive way to get the best that Presonus has to offer.

3) Reaffirm your long-term commitment to "Pro" license users as first-class citizens who get top treatment. Again, it's fine if those license holders co-exist with subscription users too, of course, but the key point is that traditional license users should NOT feel like second-class citizens.

The case of Lead Architect is a perfect example. It's not a minor freebie. Something like this should not be exclusive to a subscription, "hybrid" or otherwise. At bare minimum, if you include it in the subscription, then it should also be available for a discount or for free to Pro traditional license holders AND/OR it should be available as a complete *separate* product for sale. By forcing users to essentially subscribe to get it, you are making traditional license holders into second-class citizens.

4) There should be NO exclusive products inside your subscription model that are not for sale separately (or bundled within a traditional license), *except* specific social- and/or cloud-related features which require ongoing cloud R+D and complex cloud development and maintenance. In other words, such subscription revenue makes complete sense for ongoing cloud-exclusive development and minor freebies. However, something like Lead Architect is not a "minor" freebie. Again, it should be available separately and not exclusively connected to any subscription model.

Again, I understand the market pressure, and I hope you take my thoughts in the respectful way I intend them as a fan of Studio One for many years. If you are dealing with revenue and/or inflation issues as well, I understand the pressure to resort to such things as subscription models, but this latest approach is, despite the good marketing copy, just a forced subscription move.

As for the traditional model, I would be happy to pay a little more each upgrade cycle for Studio One perpetual licenses. If other people balk at that, I would also be happy if you stratify the Studio One Product line into one more level upward, since you are now including post production features that bring it more into competition to Nuendo, for example. And/or I would be happy to purchase separate products like great synths, plugins and libraries. I would also be happy to purchase complete bundles of those on Black Friday, for example. But I won't be subscribing to Studio One+ "plus" Hybrid for sure, and ergo, the more cool synths or plugins you put into exclusive status with "Studio One+" subscriptions, the less revenue you would have from long-time users like me, unfortunately.

Cheers, and as always, wish you guys all the best, and much respect!

Since I installed the update I am having problems with one plugin : The God Particle
The entire interface of the plugin is black , every time I open a new instance I have the same problem a black interface with no settings .
I am on Mac intel , anybody else had problems with the god particle and the new studio one update ?

To ostracize long time perpetual users by only including "X" additions as subscription only is the kind of move Waves Audio pulled off and It didn't go down well at all...

I see this as a similar thing. Fender vibes kicking in here and I'm feeling like this will make people jump ship.

robertcollado1 wroteSince I installed the update I am having problems with one plugin : The God Particle The entire interface of the plugin is black , every time I open a new instance I have the same problem a black interface with no settings . I am on Mac intel , anybody else had problems with the god particle and the new studio one update ?

This is almost always graphics oriented. What resolution and refresh rate are you running?

Find it hard to believe that Presonus would start messing around with graphics subsystems when moving from 6.5 to 6.6.but anything is possible.

Was this plugin working fine on your prior version of Studio One - which version was it?

VP

Robdp wroteI see this as a similar thing. Fender vibes kicking in here and I'm feeling like this will make people jump ship.

Seems like we might need to see some people jump ship before they take the hint.

VP

Vocalpoint wrote

Robdp wroteI see this as a similar thing. Fender vibes kicking in here and I'm feeling like this will make people jump ship.

Seems like we might need to see some people jump ship before they take the hint.

VP

Facts! and yeah already did. Been having a blast in Ableton and using it as a primary DAW for a couple months. I did it in anticipation of what may come under Fender and sadly my instincts might be right as we go down this road a little further.

No DAW is perfect, but sometimes you have to pivot. I did from Waves and I will from S1 if need be.

Robdp wroteFacts! and yeah already did. Been having a blast in Ableton and using it as a primary DAW for a couple months. I did it in anticipation of what may come under Fender and sadly my instincts might be right as we go down this road a little further.

I use a bunch of DAWs, and I would hate to have to phase out Studio One, but I think if they continue in this poorly conceived direction, it would be a natural progression for me, sadly.

The great 6.5 release gave me lots of hope in Presonus, and evaporated my concerns of Fender dragging Presonus down, but this 6.6 news causes concerns, unfortunately. I still want to be optimistic though, I am looking forward to seeing how the Presonus team responds to concerns. The Youtube video has some interesting responses too. Let's see how this develops.

As for 6.6 fixes, I'll be curious to test if they improved the performance on the efficiency cores. As of right now, both Cubase and Reaper perform better on CPUs with efficiency cores (I'm thinking of Apple Silicon specifically but I don't recall if they had issues with Intel efficiency cores too).

So I hope they solved that, but if not, that should have been one of the highest priorities IMO. I'll check it out soon and run some tests.

bassfx wroteDear Arnd and Presonus team -- I understand the market pressures about subscription models, but I think you are making a mistake by not including Lead Architect for normal, traditional perpetual Pro license users, or at least offering it for sale separately as a complete, distinct product, also with a perpetual license.

That would be my preferred option as well, as it would be a win-win for both the owners of perpetual licenses and the subscribers. Making content available exclusively for subscribers locks out owners of the perpetual licenses, and displays a "Studio One+ first" policy. Which IMO really doesn't help Presonus Software. Or the Studio One users.

The way it is now, there are different tiers for Studio One. Studio One+ is the highest tier (subscribers get everything), Studio One Pro is the mid tier (limited content, owners don't get Studio One+ content, and can't even buy it), with Studio One Artist being the lowest tier, because it's limited in terms of features and content to both Studio One+ and Studio One Pro.

It's a shame, especially for people who bought into the Pro version, thinking they get an unlimited, unrestricted version, and now we have content which is limited to the subscription option.

See, I get that it generates the most money, but, is that really where Studio One should be heading? I don't think so. I expect the full "Pro" version to have all the content, or at least you should be able to buy additional content for it, and not have it restricted to a subscription scheme. This is clearly a preference of subscribers, and leaves the people who buy perpetual licenses behind.

It reminds me of what Microsoft did with their Office software. Office 365 (or Microsoft 365, as it is called now) not only offers more users which can use it, but, it also gets updates and UI updates which the perpetual licenses don't get, and additional support options. A clear preference of the subscribers, just like with Studio One+. I don't like this development at all, especially casual users or hobbyists benefit much more from perpetual licenses, in terms of value for money, than from subscription options. Subscription is only something for power users. And, considering how many hobbyists buy audio software...

Vocalpoint wrote

robertcollado1 wroteSince I installed the update I am having problems with one plugin : The God Particle The entire interface of the plugin is black , every time I open a new instance I have the same problem a black interface with no settings . I am on Mac intel , anybody else had problems with the god particle and the new studio one update ?

This is almost always graphics oriented. What resolution and refresh rate are you running?

Find it hard to believe that Presonus would start messing around with graphics subsystems when moving from 6.5 to 6.6.but anything is possible.

Was this plugin working fine on your prior version of Studio One - which version was it?

VP

Yes it worked fine on the same computer minutes before I installed the update , when I opened the session with the new update I noticed the issue with the god particle . I tried other daws as well and this plugin opens fine everywhere .
So far on the new studio one update the god particle seems to be the only plugin I found that has this problem

robertcollado1 wroteYes it worked fine on the same computer minutes before I installed the update , when I opened the session with the new update I noticed the issue with the god particle . I tried other daws as well and this plugin opens fine everywhere .So far on the new studio one update the god particle seems to be the only plugin I found that has this problem

Might be time for a support ticket - and remember - this is day 1 of this new update.

Bugs are part of every release and it is not possible to catch every single thing.

VP