Low-latency monitoring was introduced back in version 3.5 and works on both recording and monitoring audio as well as with virtual instruments. A few minor nits: It's tough to get everything on the screen at once, and the interface doesn't scale to higher resolutions the way it does in FL Studio. You can also set the keyboard shortcuts to mirror Pro Tools or another DAW to ease migration to Studio One. Studio One automatically suggests dates and names for your new projects to help keep you organized. Getting settled in Studio One is pretty straightforward if you're coming from another DAW, although it's probably a little intimidating for first-timers.

For this review, I tested PreSonus Studio One 4 on a MacBook Pro 15-inch with 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD running macOS Mojave 10.14.6.

The one exception is Melodyne, for which you get a second product key. But don't fret when you first fire up Studio One, it'll prompt you to download all of it at once from inside the program, rather than having to run all of those as separate installs. Your PreSonus account shows dozens of separate downloads for the various included instruments, loops, and content packs. You can also add third-party VSTs and AU plug-ins to Professional, although this feature is also available as an optional add-on to Artist. It switches from 32-bit to a 64-bit summing engine. Professional ($399), which I tested for this review, adds built-in Melodyne pitch correction for vocals, many more effects (including a multi-band compressor and convolution reverb), and more virtual instruments. Artist ($99) adds more editing tools, including track folders and event-based effects, multi-touch support on Windows machines, 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.

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