PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL Reviews

TM
from LA, CA
March 22, 2013Music Background:
Engineer

Best monitoring rig for the money.

Okay so I don’t use this in the studio, I would still rather use something higher in quality like an Apogee Symphony system. But for live use… this thing is PERFECT. I should say 2 of the these things are perfect. 16x16 i/o, low latency verbs, the ability to fine tune the mix from an iPad, combo jacks on all inputs, in the front no less… perfect. Here’s how I use my rig: Macbook Pro Retina (very fast, no crashes), Pro Tools for the show and tracks, some processing done in there, about 50/50 split between MBPR and 1818VSL for DSP. Tracks get grouped into subs inside PT, Outs 1-4 are used for Monitor mixes, 5-16 are used to go to FOH. I thought FOH engineers would hate me for just giving them stems, but most of them love how much easier it makes their jobs. Just make sure you give them some extra gaff tape for their trouble. This is in a small rack with some wireless units, sits right next to the stage snake. Just have extra snakes just in case they have multiples around the stage. Sounds great, truly. Would love to use a nice A&H rig, but this is literally a small fraction of the price and the quality difference is much smaller than the price difference.

Tracy Franklin
from Columbus, Oh USA
November 16, 2012Music Background:
Praise team, choir member, recording artist, lead vocalist and producer

Moving Forward

this thing is awsome!! my recording experiences havnt been the same since my recent purchase of the 1818vsl and I.......AM .....MOVING ......FORWARD!!

Lucas Johnson
from Murphy, NC
November 14, 2012

Awesome with auria and iPad!

I use this along with a small USB hub (around 8 bucks on eBay) plugged straight into the iPad. I know a lot of folks have been researching this, so hopefully this review will help. I use the iPad 3.
I had been using the io dock by alesis up until a few months ago and was not too pleased with it. Only having two channels was frustrating, especially having eight microphones on my drum kit. The preamps were also not the best. The presonus quickly solved both of those problems, with eight inputs ready to use out of the box and excellent, quiet preamps. I'm able to record 8 inputs no problem, with no dropouts whatsoever, and no loss of sound quality. 24 bit, 96 kHz. It sounds great. A guitar or bass plugged straight into channel 1 or 2 also sounds great, no amp needed. I was worried about monitoring on the iPad, but a set of earbuds plugged into the iPad's headphone jack works great and with no latency issues. I can't comment on the headphone out on the unit.
The interface is great. If you're looking for 8 or more channels to use With the iPad or a computer, I don't see why you would buy something else. The price is the best you'll find for something of this quality. Also, auria is the best daw for the iPad. Get it. You won't regret it.

Russ
from Fl
August 30, 2012Music Background:
Guitarist

Great interface

I have an iPad, and got the Auria app, so now I need an interface. I liked the presonus product lines. The AudioBox 1818VSL fits my needs. I also just got a new laptop. Laptops now have the power of the desktop. Either way, iPad, or laptop, I basically have a portable recording studio. It just works for me.

Dale
from San Luis Obispo, CA
March 30, 2012Music Background:
Musician, recording eng., live sound...

PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL

The AudioBox integrated with Virtual Studio Live and Presonus Studio One 2 Professional is a package that can not be beat! Versatility, power and ease of use WOW!

Duceman
from Fayetteville, NC
November 18, 2011Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Live Sound Engineer, Pro Musician

Finally!!!!

I waited for over a month to get this rig! When I got it, I stayed up all night playing around with it and it worked RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX!!!!! Great piece. The best thing about it is the USB connectivity to my MAC BOOK. Thanx PreSonus & Thanx Sweetwater for the support.... Now on with the Music!!!!!

Don Kuchta
from Kansas
November 12, 2011Music Background:
Gigging Musician

Awesome!

Just got mine in 2 day ago. It rocks! Easy set up and installation. Zero issues syncing my other devices. And...It sounds great! The VSL software and fat channel work flawlessly.

Matthew Wirz
from Sacramento, CA
October 5, 2011

I forgot the most important feature that had me sold.

USB!!!! Finally an interface that has all the features I need and it has a USB port.

Matthew Wirz
from Sacramento
October 5, 2011Music Background:
Drummer, Am. recording, Guitar, Singer

I Can't Wait

FINALLY!!! I have been waiting a long time for any company to create a product that meets ALL of my needs for recording. Rack space, 8 front inputs and gain control, midi, adat, EVERYTHING! Thank you PreSonus, I will be purchacing this product Immediately.

Sergio Miranda Bonilla
from Leon, Gto. Mexico
November 28, 2012Music Background:
Semi-pro musician, part-time movile recording engineer and producer

A solution for Windows users

Firewire ports are in retreat in the PC world. Audiobox 1818VSL is an quality affordable USB alternative for multichannel recording and management (2 pream/instrument, 6 preamp/line, two SPDIF and 8 ADAT channels). VirtualStudio software is simple and intuitive, and ASIO drivers integrate seamlessly with any DAW (in my case, Cockos Reaper). The ultra-low latency monitoring is managed directly from the driver. Minimum system requirements establish Core Duo processor, but the Audiobox works smoothly on a Pentium-based PC D and a Centrino laptop. So far I have noticed some glitches in laptop monitoring (possibly, a bad word clock connection or the Centrino processor), but these glitches are not recorded, they are only monitored. Excellent alternative.

Nate
from IN
June 6, 2012Music Background:
Engineer, Musician, Composer

Seems great so far!

Rock solid drivers on my i7 laptop and Cubase 5.5! Preamps do distort easily, but knocking down the level a couple "clicks" on the gain knob easily fixes that while still providing plenty of level. For the price, this interface has a lot to offer with 8 preamps and 8 channel ADAT I/O. The VSL features are a great addition to and provide a great sound for tracking. I'm hitting 1.5-2.3 ms latency at 64 samples with a full 45 track mix with over 50 plugins running and I couldn't be happier! Being able to connect my Profire2626 via ADAT for 16 simultaneous XLR inputs/pres is just icing on the cake!

dajrt
from
February 14, 2012Music Background:
Producer, pro musician

Amazing!!!!

Wow!!! The sound is realy GREAT and very good. I'm so very happy with the quality of sound of this gear.

Jim
from New York
May 17, 2013Music Background:
musician

PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL

sound quality is great and no appreciable latency - plenty of inputs and relatively easy to navigate

Eric
from Columbus, OH
February 20, 2012Music Background:
Recording & Live Sound Engineer/Educator

Nice, but.....

I bought this for my live rig to record events. Love the size, love the features...

PROS
-LOVE the K-System metering! Very relevant for live recording.
-Front panel inputs are great for me so I can easily re-patch my snake (my ADAT mic pre also has front panel inputs)
-USB lets me swap my Firewire hard drives easily without a total shut-down and re-patch.

CONS
-I had to assign everything to hear anything. Huh? The front panel headphone out that doesn't let you hear the main mix by default? Why? Setup is confusing.
-The software shows inputs in this order (mic pres, ADAT, SPDIF), but in reality ADAT 1 & 2 are the SPDIF L & R. Software ADAT 3 is actually hardware ADAT 1, and so on..... (Hopefully they can fix this with a software update)
-When I reboot without disconnecting, the interface refuses to be seen unless I turn it off and on again.
-The mic press are noisy by my standards. To be fair, my main recording rig is high end stuff....but I've heard better pres in this price range.

Ultimately I am happy with it for what I need it for - most of my inputs are ADAT or line level, so the inputs are okay for that. And as a professional engineer that has been doing this for over a decade I am okay with having to check the routing, etc. But if you're a beginner at recording there are probably better interfaces to start with...

from
May 10, 2012

Could be good....

Known issues with the preamps distorting and poor metering that are still not fixed after months. According to Presonus a fix is coming........one day. Many people are returning these - have a look at the 'refurbished' or 'factory checked' cheaper ones.

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Drums

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