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Studio One Prime by PreSonus
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PreSonus Studio One Prime FREE

By 23 Comments3 Mins Read

PreSonus released Studio One Prime, a free digital audio workstation based on the flagship Studio One music production software.

What is Studio One Prime

Studio One Prime is the freeware, feature-limited version of PreSonus Studio One.

I often recommend Studio One Prime as the best free music production tool for beginners. Its biggest drawback is the lack of support for VST or AU plugins.

What sets Studio One Prime apart is that it operates like a complete product, not a demo. You won’t encounter nag screens, time-outs, or track number limitations.

Although it has fewer features compared to the commercial versions of Studio One, these limitations won’t disrupt your workflow or pressure you to upgrade.

Instead, Studio One Prime provides a solid platform for recording and mixing music, podcasts, and other audio projects.

So, what are the limitations of Studio One Prime?

First, there’s no support for third-party VST/AU plugins, so you’re limited to the nine built-in effects and the Presence sampler for software instruments and effects. However, you can record any number of hardware instruments and effects through the audio input.

Additionally, Studio One Prime lacks features like groove extraction, transient detection, macros, and several other advanced tools introduced in Studio One 3.

On the positive side, you get unlimited tracks and automation lanes, a valuable collection of effects (including a channel strip, distortion unit, chorus, reverb, delay, etc.), multi-track comping, 1.5 GB of high-quality sample content, an excellent sample player, high-resolution audio processing, and all the other core features of Studio One.

If that’s not enough and you need VST plugin support, check out the paid versions of Studio One or consider some popular freeware options like Cakewalk or LUNA.

While Studio One Prime isn’t a full-featured DAW like Cakewalk or LUNA, it offers a fantastic all-in-one toolbox, making it an excellent choice for beginners or even experienced musicians looking for a free solution to record and mix their music.

However, because it doesn’t support third-party plugins, it may not suit those who rely heavily on virtual instruments and effects.

How to download Studio One Prime

Installing Studio One Prime can be tricky if you’re new to PreSonus software, mainly because the free Prime version isn’t available as a standalone download.

Instead, you’ll need to download the Demo version of Studio One first, then activate the Prime mode after installation.

Follow these steps to install Studio One Prime on your computer:

  1. Visit the PreSonus page using the link provided below.
  2. Register for a PreSonus account or sign in if you already have one.
  3. Download and install Studio One on your computer.
  4. Launch the software and choose the option to run the free Prime version.

And that’s it! If you’re interested, you can also try out the full version of Studio One with a 30-day free trial.

Studio One 4 Prime is free to download at PreSonus (135 MB download size, EXE installer, 64-bit software for Windows & macOS).

Tomislav is a music producer and sound designer from Belgrade, Serbia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief at Bedroom Producers Blog.

23 Comments

  1. Dee.P.Tree

     on

    Thanks Tomislav for this article.

    Yes, I agree that lack of VST/AU/ReWire support in Studio One Prime Edition is its biggest drawback. This is also true for Studio One Artist Edition. This feature has to be purchased as add-on in Artist edition-not possible to buy in Prime edition. Needless to say, it is available in Professional version.

    https://shop.presonus.com/products/software/studio-one-add-ons

    While biggest advantage compared to other entry level, introductory versions of DAWs is unlimited audio tracks, MIDI tracks, virtual instruments, and FX channels.

    https://www.presonus.com/products/Studio-One/compare-versions

    If they allow VST/AU/ReWire support, it can be a true competition to Traction/Cakewalk by Bandlab as freeware DAWs.

    Just my opinion! :) Again thanks, have a nice day..!

    Reply

    • Tomislav Zlatic

       on

      You’re completely right, sorry for the confusion. I’ll correct the info in the article. Thanks for your comment! Indeed, if Studio One 4 Prime had plugin support it would be an amazingly powerful free DAW, but it makes sense that they’re keeping this functionality for the Professional edition.

      Reply

      • Jon Perrett

         on

        I just realised how old this thread is; it is now Oct 2024. Presonus Studio One is a professional DAW alongside the likes of Logic Pro, Cubase and dare I say it – Pro Tools (hwouk Tau). The artist version is enough to get you going but the pro versions; now 7 aint expensive so worth having a pop – Try Before You Buy so to speak. I use Logic Pro 11, S1-6 and Luna oh and not forgetting Reaper. They all have their functions in my studio although I consider LP 11 as my main go to. My advice for anyone is to grab Presonus Studio One either Prime or even better the Artist version and get a taste of a real DAW. Others like Cubase, FL studio and Ableton Live are like kids toys to me and I fail to see why anyone would bother. Each to their own though. Best Free? Luna without a doubt.

        Reply

    • Tomislav Zlatic

       on

      I agree. Cakewalk Sonar is the top freeware pick if you need plugin support. I still recommend Studio One Prime to absolute beginners, though, if they have absolutely no experience with plugins. It’s a good free program to get started with recording and mixing.

      Reply

  5. Soulful Mind

     on

    Presonus is ridiculous they added things in the free version of 4 thats not in the the pro version 3. I just bought 3 right before the 4 release but right before the cutoff. Also Presonus is behind the times they just added stuff even fl Studio and Garage band have always had . you call it pro and yet no drum sequencer !! wow Sonar free has that all paid versions even 2 and 3 should of had most of the things they just added to 4. and 4 is buggy . They are one more mistake away from losing me to Ableton Live

    Reply

    • Tomislav Zlatic

       on

      Perhaps you could try contacting PreSonus asking for a free upgrade if you purchased v3 literally days before the v4 release. Might work!

      Reply

  6. SoundPorn

     on

    I downloaded this last week when they released I was super excited about the unlimited tracks. I also love the interface and it’s super intuitive. However the lack of VST support makes it absolutely unusable. I have a huge library of virtual instruments that I make music with so what would somebody do with unlimited tracks and just factory sounds? That’s just dumb, honestly. They should of made it 8 or 16 tracks with vst support. Nobody wants to make music using only a stripped down version of Presence XT lol.
    Cakewalk blows this out the water being able to support everything from vst3 to 32 bit and dx plugs. Reaper is killing both of them. And Traktion 7 is really good and comes free with any cheap Behringer digital product.

    Reply

    • Tomislav Zlatic

       on

      Indeed, plugin support is essential for music production nowadays. The free versions of Tracktion and Cakewalk Sonar definitely shine in that regard. Still, I tend to recommend Studio One Prime as the starting point for absolute beginners who don’t have any experience with recording, mixing, or using plugins. It’s just so simple to install and get started with S1 Prime that I believe it’s the perfect free DAW for novice users.

      Reply

    • Manuel

       on

      Have you considered, not using either / or but using this free program IN ADDITION to other software? It provides so much functionally and could easily save you 200 bucks for a Wave-Editior or some like that. As I don’t want to update my Studio One 3 – Professional atm I will probably install Prime 4 side-by-side to use some of the new features. ;)

      Reply

  9. bob

     on

    It could be me :) but i swear when i use this vs other daw’s somehow it sounds better. I would think the HW ect.
    would determine that, but possibly their vst’s ect. and how it processes the sound on a mix at the software level
    does this. Not saying its better than other DAWS, but it you want something basic like i did, its great.

    Reply
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