PreSonus has made Studio One, their powerful digital audio workstation, available on Linux for the very first time!
Studio One is a (closed-source) all-in-one DAW that lets you create music from scratch using virtual instruments, loops, and composer tools; capture audio from connected instruments and other audio equipment; and mix, master, and export compositions to professional standards.
It offers a fully-featured multi multitrack recording and editing environment where you can record, arrange, and edit row after row of audio and MIDI tracks; and use advanced automation, effect chains, and plugins to sculpt, manipulate, and play round with how ‘sound’ sounds.
I’ll admit most of this DAW’s features are lost on me as I’m not a music producer. But if you are, if you’re a musician, a podcast maker, or someone wanting to amp up their audio workflow using the same tools the “pros” use, Studio One is worth looking in to.
Studio One joins Bitwig, Tracktion Waveform, and REAPER, and FOSS faves Ardour and Audacity, in catering to music makers on Linux. While preferences towards proprietary software differ, seeing yet another big-name DAW add official support for Linux is, to my mind, a big deal.
Get Studio One for Linux (Beta)
The Studio One 6.5 Linux beta explicitly supports Ubuntu 23.04 with Wayland only. It also requires an Intel Core i3 or AMD A10 processor (or better), a Vulkan 1.1-compatible graphics card, and a fully functional JACK audio server.
ProSonus isn’t providing any official support for the Linux beta right now, and there are a slew of known issues and feature limitations, most of which are noted on the Studio One Linux support page.
Although Studio One is not free software it does offer a free tier called “Prime”. This is (surprisingly) liberal, with unlimited audio and MIDI tracks and access to a decent selection of effects. It’s just not easy to find – so you’ll have to sign up and select a free demo first.
Beyond that, a $99 ‘Artist’ edition ads in more tools and allows you to use 3rd-party VSTs and AU plug-ins; or you can opt for a Studio One+ subscription to access ‘Professional’, which includes costly effects like Melodyne, cloud storage for projects, and access to masterclasses and online content.
If you’re interested in sampling Studio One to see how well it runs on Linux — and you really do need a good computer to get the most from it — do take advantage of the free plan/demo first (and be aware that features/apps in other plans may not work on Linux anyway).
To download the Linux build sign-up for a MyPreSonus account (free), select the free 30-day Pro demo option in your account settings1, then download the .DEB file from your account page (and any of the .soundset files you think you want/are available to you).
Then install like you would any other DEB (the app requires a number of Qt dependencies and online activation during first run, so make sure you’re online when you’re setting it up).
Stop by the Studio One Linux forum for help/advice from fellow Linux users.
Thanks Micah
- Once the demo expires you’re then able to select a free ‘Prime’ plan; I can’t find a direct link to it ↩︎