Question

Asked before on Oct 15, 2016 but so far no adequate answer, therefore asked again:

PreSonus representative, please read this question thoroughly and fully go in depth regarding the matter prior to closing this question and let me know if you need further information from me or other users!

The current (or default) behaviour of the Stop [Num-Pad 0] key, equal to a Stop botton of an external device like a MCU, CS18, etc.:

1) When you press Stop for the first time the playback stops or the playhead goes back to the last playback starting point, depending on the setting Transport > Options > Return to Start on Stop, or with the Alt 0 key combination.

2) So if Return to Start on Stop is disabled, like transport behavior that most people use or want to use, when you press Stop for a second time, the playhead position returns to the last playback position. This is the best setting allows a flexible workflow for all situations.

3) Now when you press Stop another time the playback goes all the way back to ground zero of the timeline, so 00:00:00.000. This also happens when you press Stop for the second time if Return to Start on Stop is enabled. Most of the times this is not the desired behaviour and very inconvenient. When you have the Arrange View follow the playhead it even a bigger nag, then it drags you right out of the part where you were working at. Especially when that is e.g. a 2 hour live show or a double CD album.

Besides, there already IS a key for that, which is by default the [,] key or any key that is assigned to Return to Zero. So the behaviour is not even undesired but also redundant.

Please remove this functionality or, if any user would use this triple Stopping, add an option in the Preferences to enable/disable.
May I remind you that in Logic Pro X the behaviour is that when you press it a 4th time an accidental use of another pressing of Stop is recognized and the playhead again returns to the last position and toggles between these 2 positions each time Stop is pressed after.
Nevertheless I prefer to be able to disable the automatic functionality described at 3).
Thanks!

Answer 1

I could not stand it any longer and abandoned Studio One for this to work in Logic, which goes to 00:00:00:00 as well BUT returns to the last playhead position when you press Stop again, which it fine.

The nag in Studio One was simply costing too much time and, not to forget, valuable mood.

Answer 2

I definitely understand what you don't like about it, but perhaps it would help the FR more if you explained the use case where this comes up for you. I don't run into this often because I usually only press Stop once on my Transport. Are control surfaces triggering multiple stop messages or something?

I think it could be a good option, I just feel like a real-world example of when a user might send multiple Stop messages might help.

Answer 3

Real-life situations:

- You sit with a customer and you play a piece of the production you are working on. Then there is the lovely lady of the house that comes in for coffee. A moment of distraction... it is better to stop listening for a moment and put the cups on the desk. Now it is time again to continue, and it is not necessary to play the thing from the top, just continue listening is fine too. After listening to the piece the custormer wants to listen to it straight after. You press stop twice, play and bang, you are playing right from the start without grabbing a mouse or trackpad whatsoever.

- OK, I went a little over the top but this is daily bread in a studio. Here is  another one, you are dubbing any recording. An artist plays a piece of music. After he or she is done and there is a little uncertainty what to do next, you press stop. Then there are 2 choices, let’s record anorther take or why not continue listening and record the other piece of music straight after listening to a few bars and not to miss anything of the song. In the last case you just press play. Re-record? Press stop again and record the other take. Again without fiddleling with e.g. the mouse to get the playhead back again.

- Now you thought you had not already pressed stop again to go back, but actually you did. This is the moment after which impatience kicks in. Not with you, because you are busy to zoom in and out to find the exact spot were you were before you were brutally kicked back to timecode 00:00:00.000, but with the artists and even more likely with the producer, if any.

It feels a bit needless to go on, anyone with a lot of studio experience knows by now what I mean and the way it works right now is blocking the workflow and leads to inefficiency.

I sincerely hope PS is willing to pick it up.

Answer 4

Ah, good point about the pause between tracking the first take and the second. I could see that coming up for people with Return to Played Position disabled if a user hits Stop twice expecting to go back to do a second take and then accidentally hits it again after a pause in the session to discuss the next take or whatever.

Personally, I think making the 2nd/3rd Stop commands (depending on your Stop return behavior) toggle between the Song Start and the Last Played Position would be a better adjustment than an option.

There's also this feature request that could help some folks: http://answers.presonus.com/23018/return-cursor-last-chosen-start-position-option-key-command

Answer 5

Thank you for the feature request. 

If anyone else agrees or disagrees, please VOTE!

The developers pay close attention to those that are voted on the most. 

You are allowed one vote. You can change your vote later if you choose.

(Here's some helpful info on how to use the voting system)

Please vote the original question / feature request. 

Please DO NOT Vote on THIS response!

Answer 6

This behaviour is immensely annoying. I use Faderport 8 and I'm forever pressing stop twice and finding myself at zero in the middle of an edit. I know i should be aware but I'm concentrating on other things. Please make it a configurable option.

Answer 7

PLEEEAAAAASE!!!!  All day this BS.  It's gotta be a simple coding thing.

My current workaround is disciplining myself to keep setting markers every 5 minutes and then deleting them when I start a new performance.  Why cant we have more control over that stop button??!!... Dear lord

Answer 8

YES PLEASE i literally hate this third stop function, 100% of times i press it third time is for distraction and i sincerely see no utility in this third press, there is already another hotkey to return to zero

Answer 9

100% agree!

Absolutely annoying when you accidentally hit the stop button and it returns to the start.... aaaaggggghhhhh! Does my head in. THIS SHOULD BE AN OPTION!