IK Multimedia Total Studio 5 review: Almost a must-have — with a few must-fixTotal Studio 5 Standard – $/€299.99
Total Studio 5 Pro – $/€399.99
Total Studio 5 MAX – $/€599.99
Introduction and upgrade pricing available
IK Multimedia is on a roll. Over the past few years, the company’s product lineup has gone from strength to strength, with venerable classics such as its standalone Mastering Console getting significant improvements. Meanwhile, new standout plugins have arrived, including the multi-band Quad Saturator, alongside some impressive hardware, like the Uno Synth Pro X.
Total Studio 5 crowds many of these software achievements under one roof to offer an ‘everything you need’ production suite. The price is good, the plugins are generally excellent, but in a marketplace suffering from ‘bundle fatigue’, can this mega-collection hold your interest?

READ MORE: Native Instruments Kontakt 8: A leap forward or a stumble sideways?

Total Studio 5 promises to power your creativity at every stage of production, but, for my money, it’s the audio processing plugins that steal the show.
First out of the gate is AmpliTube 5 — a comprehensive package of guitar amp and pedal emulations. The quality and versatility here is phenomenal. On the surface level, you get easy access to authentic emulations of rare and expensive amps and a dizzying array of quality presets perfect for busy music-makers. Dive deeper, however, and there is an ocean of sounds for serious guitarists to explore — with full control over microphone type and placement, the ability to swap out cabs independently of amp heads, and a powerful routing system for building up effects chains.
Staying in guitar territory, there’s also the groundbreaking TONEX software for at-home AI modelling of stompboxes and amps. Even if you have no need to clone your own amp, the ToneNET ecosystem is a massive sonic resource; it’s packed with a seemingly endless supply of community-contributed presets and DIY amp models that can be used solo or combined with AmpliTude.
New with Total Studio 5 is TONEX’s Signature Collection of amp and pedal combos from musicians like Joe Satriani and Rush’s Alex Lifeson. Riffing through the guitar tones of the rich and famous is fun and fruitful — but you’d probably have to be a pro player to truly hear the difference between some of these sounds and the ones you can get from AmpliTube.

Next up is T-RackS 6. This suite of mixing and mastering tools earned a 10/10 review from me upon its release late last year, and, rather than revisit its many virtues here, I’ll simply point you to my glowing review.
While audio processing plugins take centre stage, there is a raft of solid software instruments to keep composers and songwriters engaged – the most significant of which is Pianoverse. Ranging from soaring nine-foot grands fit for concertos, to dark and brooding seven-footers, and even including punchy and bright uprights, these are among the most sublime piano samples I’ve demoed.
Interestingly, Pianoverse pairs these exactly-recorded samples with a set of otherworldly reverbs and a limited yet powerful selection of insert effects. This hybrid approach works surprisingly well, and while it would be nice to have some more miking options—users can use either a coincident pair or a close pair, with no ability to blend between them—Pianoverse’s rich tones, controllable pedal and hammer noise, and its capacity to go from realism to surrealism in an instant makes this a must-have sample piano.
TONEX Signature Collections. Image: Press
From here, the bundle gets less exciting. We have established mainstays like the sprawling SampleTank 4, which came out in 2019, the film-focused Cinekinetik libraries, released in 2021, and MODO Bass 2 and MODO Drum 1.5, both of which debuted in 2022. Notice a trend? In truth, it doesn’t hugely matter that these instruments are getting long in the tooth; SampleTank is still a decent library filled with some fantastic rare synth sounds, MODO Bass in particular stands out amongst other bass guitar sample instruments, and most of the instruments have received at least some quality-of-life updates or sound expansions over the years.
However, if you want to see a truly past-its-sell-by-date sample instrument, look no further than Miroslav Philharmonik 2, which hit the market back in 2016. To be clear, the original samples still hold up in terms of detail and tone, and it’s perfectly possible to get expressive passages out of the different instrumental sections, but the cramped, low-res interface feels emblematic of a sample instrument lineup that, overall, hasn’t seen major innovations in years. Composers looking for big-screen scoring solutions can find far more streamlined workflows in EastWest’s OPUS player, while producers who like having idea-starters on hand should look to the new MIDI Tools introduced in Native Instrument’s Kontakt 8.
Pianoverse main window. Image: Press
Those shortcomings don’t feel like such a big deal once you consider Total Studio 5’s highly competitive pricing. Ranging from €299 for the standard edition up to €599 at the Max edition, the collection has received a price reduction of around €200 from the previous version across the board. At the Max level, you’ll get the Signature Collection Vol. 1 for TONEX, all nine keyboards in Pianoverse, and additional tools like ARC 4, a high-powered room calibration software suitable for professional studios or creators looking to get serious about their home setup. For most users, the middle ‘Pro’ tier, with its 95 included products and €399 asking price, will likely be the sweet spot.
Pitted against its peers, Total Studio stands up pretty well. Regarding quality, the T-RackS suit goes toe-to-toe with Universal Audio’s hardware emulations. AmpliTube 5 might actually beat Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig Pro 7 in my estimation, and while Komplete 15 clearly wins on its sample instruments, it’s decidedly lacking on the mixing and mastering side of things.
Waves Audio’s bundles are perhaps the closest direct comparison – but only if you’re looking at subscription options. If you want a single purchase, you’d need to buy the Horizon bundle and the Inspire Virtual Instruments Collection to achieve the same level of versatility. Total Studio 5 is also significantly cheaper than all the aforementioned competitors at full price.
SampleTank 4 instrument browser. Image: Press
Overall, Total Studio 5 feels a bit uneven. The older sample libraries contain quality content but are held back by ageing user interfaces and workflows. Moreover, the majority of them were available in the previous edition of Total Studio and so provide little incentive for existing users to upgrade. On the other hand, AmpliTube 5 and TONEX are awesome, T-RackS 6 is formidable, and Pianoverse feels inspiring — these are industry-leading applications. In fact, if they were the only products included in Total Studio 5, I’d still say it’s worth buying.
If Total Studio could boost the level of its sample instruments, it might just become the true all-rounder that music makers need. As it stands, you get high-powered audio plugins and with a mixed bag of sample instruments thrown in as a sweetener. If that’s a dynamic that works for you, then we’d say fill your boots.
Key features

500GB of content
Up to 2000 audio plugins
Up to 16,000 samples
Three pricing tiers offering 49, 98, or 162 products
ARC 4 room calibration software included in the MAX edition

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