Pro Tools vs Studio One

Pro Tools vs Studio One: My Journey and Comparison (and Back Again)

I started using Pro Tools nearly 20 years ago—back when it was the only DAW capable of delivering a truly professional digital audio recording. That’s why it became the industry standard—because for years, it was the only standard. It’s like Google for search engines; there are other options, but if something isn’t broken, why change it?

However, after spending years with Pro Tools, frustration started creeping in. I saw newer DAWs introducing innovative features—things that should have been standard in Pro Tools. Why couldn’t I export stems easily? Why couldn’t I drag an entire plugin chain to another track? Over time, these limitations in audio editing and mixing became more noticeable.

Then, I tried Studio One—and I was hooked. It gave me everything Pro Tools did, but better. It had all the modern features I had been wanting, while still maintaining the fluid workflow I loved from Pro Tools.

For those of you who have followed my journey for a while, you might remember that after first switching to Studio One, I actually went back to Pro Tools for a bit. There was a reason for that—but I’ll explain why at the end of this post.

Now, let’s break down the biggest reasons why I believe Studio One is the superior DAW and why, after years of back and forth, I’ve finally made the permanent switch.

 

1. Drag-and-Drop Plugin & Send Chains: A Smoother Workflow

One of the first things that completely changed the way I worked when switching to Studio One was the ability to drag and drop entire plugin chains from one track to another. At first, this might not sound like a big deal, but if you mix frequently, you know how much time can be wasted manually copying effects from one track to another.

In Studio One, this process is seamless. If I have a vocal track with a Pro-Q 3, a compressor, and a de-esser, and I want to apply that same processing to another vocal, all I have to do is click, drag, and drop the entire chain of plug-ins onto the new track. The same applies to send effects—I can grab all my sends and move them to another track in seconds. Even better, I can select multiple tracks and drop plugin chains across all of them at once, which is an absolute game-changer when working with things like stacked background vocals or layered guitars.

Now, let’s talk about Pro Tools. If I want to copy an entire effects chain in Pro Tools, I have to option-click and drag each plugin one by one. The same goes for sends—there’s no simple way to move all of them at once. This process is fine if I only need to do it once or twice, but if I’m working on a large mix with dozens of tracks, it gets tedious fast. When you’re in a creative flow, these small workflow inefficiencies add up, pulling you out of the music and into the mechanics of the software.

2. Faster, More Intuitive Send and Return Creation

Creating send and return tracks is something I do in almost every mix—whether for reverb, delay, or parallel compression. The process is pretty straightforward in any DAW, but Studio One takes it to another level.

In Studio One, adding a send effect is as simple as dragging and dropping. If I want to create a reverb send, all I have to do is grab a reverb plugin from the browser and drop it onto the send section of a track. The moment I do that, Studio One automatically creates a new effects track, inserts the reverb plugin, and routes the send properly—all in one step.

Another feature that makes sends more intuitive in Studio One is the ability to double-click a send to instantly open the corresponding plugin. When I’m deep in a mix and want to make a quick tweak to a delay or reverb, I don’t have to waste time hunting down the effects track—it’s just one click away.

Now, let’s compare that to Pro Tools. If I want to create a send and return track in Pro Tools, I have to:

1. Manually create a new aux track.
2. Assign a send from my original track to that aux track.
3. Open the aux track and insert my reverb plugin.
4. Adjust the send level manually.

That’s four separate steps for something Studio One does in one. And if I need to tweak the reverb later, I have to scroll through the session to find the aux track, open it, and then adjust the plugin. In a big mix with dozens of effects returns, this gets annoying fast.

This might seem like a minor difference at first, but when you’re working on a mix with 90+ tracks, these workflow inefficiencies can slow you down and kill your creative momentum.

Event Effects vs. AudioSuite: The Power of Non-Destructive Audio Editing

One of the biggest advantages of Pro Tools has always been AudioSuite processing—the ability to apply an effect directly to a selected portion of audio without using a real-time plugin. While this feature is useful, it has a major downside: it’s destructive. Once you process the audio with AudioSuite, you can’t undo it unless you reload the original file or use cumbersome workarounds.

Studio One takes this concept to another level with Event Effects, giving you the same kind of clip-based processing but in a completely non-destructive way for any audio file.

For example, let’s say I want to high-pass filter a certain word in a vocal take. In Studio One, I can:

1. Select the word.
2. Open the Event Effects section.
3. Add FabFilter Pro-Q 3, apply a high-pass filter, and hear the result in real time.
4. If I like it, I can render it—but if the client wants changes later, I can undo it or tweak it without redoing the whole process.

Now, let’s look at how this works in Pro Tools with AudioSuite:

1. Select the word.
2. Open AudioSuite > EQ > FabFilter Pro-Q 3 (which takes time because there’s no search function).
3. Apply the high-pass filter and hit Render.
4. Hope I don’t need to make changes later, because once it’s processed, it’s permanent.

If the client later says, “Actually, can we keep a little more low end in that word?”—I’m out of luck unless I manually bring back the original clip and start over.

This is why Event Effects are so helpful for anyone who works with dialogue, vocal edits, or sound design. Studio One gives me full control over clip-based processing, whereas Pro Tools forces me to commit to changes with no easy way to go back.

4. Exporting Stems: A Simple Process (Finally!)

Exporting stems is something I do all the time—whether it’s for sending mixes to clients, preparing tracks for live performances, or delivering files for a remix. Unfortunately, Pro Tools makes this process way harder than it needs to be, while Studio One has a built-in feature that does it in seconds. Additionally, Studio One’s offline bounce capability enhances the efficiency of exporting stems, allowing for faster and more reliable performance.

Here’s how it works in Studio One:

1. Go to Song > Export Stems.
2. Choose whether to export by channel (with processing) or by track (raw audio).
3. Name the files, set the sample rate, and hit Export.
4. Done! All my stems render at once, and I can go grab a coffee while Studio One does the work.

Now, let’s compare this to Pro Tools. Pro Tools does not have a built-in stem export feature. Let that sink in for a second.

Pro Tools doesn’t have a direct stem export you have to do workarounds or set up your session in a certain way so you can export when you are finished mixing.

This is one of the most unforgivable workflow issues in Pro Tools. Exporting stems is something that every producer and engineer needs to do, and yet Avid has never added an easy way to do it.

 

5. Smarter, More Flexible Track Grouping

Grouping tracks is something I do constantly when mixing. Whether it’s for background vocals, drum kits, or instrument sections, being able to adjust multiple faders at once is essential. But the way thedifferent DAW software’s handle this couldn’t be more different—and it’s one of those things that I never realized was slowing me down until I made the switch.

In Studio One, I can simply select multiple tracks and adjust their levels all at once. No extra steps. No menus. Just highlight the tracks, move one fader, and they all adjust together. And here’s the best part—after making that quick level change, I can immediately tweak an individual track within that selection without affecting the others. It’s smooth, intuitive, and exactly how it should work.

Pro Tools, on the other hand, turns something simple into a chore. If I want to adjust multiple tracks together, I have to create a group first. That means clicking through a menu, naming the group, setting its parameters, and locking those tracks together. Once the group is created, any move I make affects all tracks equally—which is fine, until I need to adjust just one of them. Then I have to either disable the group or temporarily override it, make the adjustment, and then re-enable the group again.

At first, I didn’t think much of this difference, but after spending more time in Studio One, I realized just how often I was wasting time managing groups in Pro Tools. It’s not just the extra steps—it’s the constant start-and-stop that interrupts the flow of mixing. Instead of quickly balancing a section of vocals or tightening up drum levels, I found myself getting stuck in workflow friction that simply doesn’t exist in Studio One.

I also love how Studio One gives me the best of both worlds—I can still create permanent groups if I want that locked-in behavior, but I’m never forced to. If I just need a quick adjustment across a few tracks, I can do it without setting up anything. It’s small changes like this that add up over time and make mixing feel more natural and fluid.

6. Macros: Automating the Tedious Stuff

There’s a certain rhythm to mixing. You get into a flow, making adjustments, tweaking levels, shaping the sound, and then—boom—something breaks that flow. Maybe it’s a repetitive task you have to do over and over again, or maybe it’s a multi-step process that just takes too long. That’s where Macros in Studio One completely change the game.

When I first switched to Studio One, I didn’t think much about Macros. But after a few weeks of using them, I realized just how much time I had been wasting in Pro Tools doing things manually that could have been automated. Macros allow me to take a repetitive task, bundle it into a single command, and execute it instantly. Studio One’s macros also help avoid minor crashes that can occur with repetitive tasks in other DAWs.

For example, let’s say I need to create a reverse reverb effect on a vocal. In Pro Tools, this means duplicating the clip, reversing it, adding reverb, rendering it, and then reversing it back again. Five steps, every single time. In Studio One, I hit my Reverse Reverb Macro, and boom—it’s done. One click.

This applies to so many different tasks. Need to duplicate a track with all its settings? One-click Macro. Want to create a sidechain compression setup instantly? One-click Macro. Instead of constantly going through multi-step processes manually, I’ve built a collection of custom Macros that do all of them for me.

Pro Tools, on the other hand, doesn’t have anything like this. If you want this kind of functionality, you have to rely on SoundFlow, a separate, paid program that costs $10 a month just to get Pro Tools to do something Studio One does natively—for free.

 

7. Unlimited Undo: Fixing What Pro Tools Still Gets Wrong

Undo is one of those things you don’t think about—until it doesn’t work the way you expect it to. And Pro Tools still doesn’t get this right.

In Studio One, the user interface integrates undo functionality seamlessly: it applies to EVERYTHING. If I accidentally add a plugin, change a setting, adjust automation, or modify a send, I can hit Undo and instantly go back a step. Even better? There’s an Undo History panel where I can scroll back through every single change I’ve made and undo anything I need, even if I made the mistake 30 moves ago.

In Pro Tools, undo is weirdly limited. Sure, you can undo simple things like moving clips or changing fader levels, but there are so many things it won’t undo. If you accidentally add or remove a plugin? Too bad, no Undo. If you tweak a parameter inside a plugin and don’t like it? Nope, you have to manually reset it. If you delete an entire vocal chain by mistake? That’s gone forever.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been deep into a mix, made a quick adjustment, and thought, “Oops, that didn’t work—let me Undo that,” only to realize that Pro Tools doesn’t allow it. Instead, I had to manually retrace my steps, reload plugins, or redo automation changes from scratch.

And this isn’t some new issue—Pro Tools has been like this for decades. Meanwhile, Studio One has been doing it the right way from the start.

8. Dolby Atmos: Built-In vs. Overcomplicated

Dolby Atmos has become a huge part of modern music production, with more and more artists demanding immersive, 3D mixes. If you’re working in Atmos, the difference between Studio One and Pro Tools isn’t just a matter of preference—it’s night and day.

When I first started experimenting with Dolby Atmos in Pro Tools, I quickly realized how much of a headache the process was. Unlike most DAW features, Atmos mixing in Pro Tools isn’t built into the software. (until recently) Instead, you need to use a separate piece of software: the Dolby Atmos Renderer. This means:

1. Downloading and installing the Atmos Renderer separately.
2. Setting up a complex routing system to make sure Pro Tools and the Renderer are talking to each other.
3. Manually bouncing and importing files to check how things sound outside of the session.
4. Keeping track of multiple exports just to create a final Atmos mix.

It’s tedious, frustrating, and way more complicated than it should be—especially when you’re trying to focus on being creative.

Now, let’s talk about Studio One.

Studio One was the first DAW to natively support Dolby Atmos mixing, which means you don’t need any extra software, weird routing setups, or workarounds. It’s all built-in. You can mix in Atmos directly inside Studio One and even export the final render without ever leaving the DAW.

When I first tried Atmos in Studio One, it was a huge relief. No more jumping between multiple programs, no more clunky routing, and no more wasted time troubleshooting software issues. Everything just worked. I could focus on placing sounds in a 3D space and crafting an immersive mix—instead of fighting with the software.

Why I Briefly Went Back to Pro Tools (And Why I’m Sticking with Studio One for Good)

After making the switch to Studio One, I was convinced that I had finally found the perfect DAW. The workflow was faster, everything felt more intuitive, and I wasn’t dealing with the same old frustrations that had plagued me in Pro Toolsfor years. But then, around Studio One 5.5, something started happening that made me rethink my choice.

I began running into crashes and plugin issues—particularly with third-party plugins. Some plugins wouldn’t load properly, others caused Studio One to freeze, and I found myself spending more time troubleshooting than actually mixing. When you’re working on multiple projects a week and have tight deadlines, you don’t have time for software headaches.

As much as I didn’t want to, I decided to go back to Pro Tools. I knew it wasn’t as efficient, and I knew I’d be giving up all the things I loved about Studio One—but at least it was stable, right? And with tools like SoundFlow, I was able to mimic some of the workflow improvements that made Studio One so great.

But here’s the thing: I was still frustrated.

Even with SoundFlow helping me automate some tasks, Pro Tools still felt outdated. I was still dealing with slow exports, tedious routing, and limitations that shouldn’t exist in 2024. And on top of that, Avid wasn’t making any real improvements to fix these issues. It felt like I was stuck using software that was only “the industry standard” because people were too used to it to leave.

Then, Studio One 6.5 dropped.

I decided to give it another shot—and everything had been fixed. No more plugin crashes. No more stability issues. Everything worked smoothly, and I finally felt confident enough to make the full switch back to Studio One. That was over six months ago, and I haven’t looked back since.

Final Thoughts: The Digital Audio Workstation That Lets Me Work Faster

Here’s the truth—both DAWs can get the job done. You can mix, master, and produce music in Pro Tools or Studio One. But after using both extensively, I’ve realized that Studio One just lets me work faster, smoother, and with fewer headaches.

It’s not about fancy features—it’s about workflow. And for me, Studio One makes everything from mixing to exporting to creative processing feel effortless.

So if you’ve been sticking with Pro Tools out of habit, I get it. I was there for almost 20 years. But I’d encourage you to at least try Studio One and see if it makes your workflow better. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about what DAW is “industry standard.”

It’s about what lets you focus on the music, not the software.

That’s why, for me, Studio One is home.