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FL Studio is a self-contained software studio. As such, it contains everything you need to record, arrange, mix and produce a finished track (minus the computer and an audio interface of course). Unlike Propellerhead’s Reason -- a closed, self-contained solution -- FL Studio can make use of third-party VST and DirectX instrument and effect plug-ins. That said, a selection of competent synths and effects comes in the box.

At the core FL Studio 6 is crammed full of new features (more on these later), but Image Line have also invested a significant amount of time and effort in improving and rewriting elements of the core application. Although many of these changes are behind-the-scenes, they’ve facilitated some of the more visible improvements, and helped to create a better, more next-gen platform for future development. FL Studio now feels less like a vanilla Windows application, as the old menus and pop-ups have been replaced with ones that match the application’s overall look and feel more closely.

MIDI inputs

More than mere eye candy, some of the new menus also offer improved functionality. The Generator preset menus, for example, can now be organised into sections or even displayed in a tree structure, making it easier to quickly find a given preset when the creative juices are flowing. MIDI support has been improved, and as a result, FL Studio can now accept multiple MIDI inputs simultaneously. Users no longer need to resort to convoluted workarounds involving third-party MIDI utilities.

Crucially, it’s finally possible to connect and use a MIDI keyboard and control surface at the same time. What’s more, the MIDI synchronisation clock can now be sent to more than one output port at the same time, although FL Studio does still lack any support for MIDI System Exclusive data, restricting its compatibility with external hardware. The mixer window has received a host of improvements. It’s now possible use more than four send channels at once, as any of the 64 input channels can now be reconfigured as a send channel.

In addition, it’s now possible to re-arrange mixer channels within the mixer window, making it easier to stay organised and in control during complex mixing sessions. The sample browser has been revamped and now features two different search engines for quickly locating samples and Generator presets. Unfortunately, search results have to be stepped through one at a time -- they don’t appear as a complete list -- but the browser now remembers its state between sessions, which is a welcome improvement.

Step Sequencer

Sequences in FL Studio are programmed either in the step sequencer or the Piano Roll window. The step sequencer has seen only minor improvements -- it’s now possible to replace a Generator without having to copy and paste any of the sequences that trigger it. The Piano Roll, on the other hand, has been updated in a number of ways. Most significantly, it now has a dedicated snap setting -- the one on the main toolbar now only applies to the Playlist window, where patterns are arranged into complete songs.