PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.2 Reviews

4.8/5.0 based on 17 customer reviews

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Customer Reviews

Wyatt R. Curtis
from Fayetteville,NC
May 8, 2013Music Background:
Mobile dj

Presonus 16.0.2

I am a DJ experimenting with a digital mixer..I wanted a product to use with modern technology..I haven't fully used all of the option
available because this is my first time using a product of this type. I can say that it is very easy to figure out and is built very well. I am sure that my investment in this mixer will be money well spent.I spent countless hours reading about Presonus and feel it is one of the best companies that specializes in mixers.. Again...thanks to the Sweetwater company and Ms. Katie Stockman for her professional customer service..Customer service is more important than anything these days and your company ranks very very high...great quality products

Mike
from Cheney, WA
August 30, 2012Music Background:
Live Sound Engineer, Recording Engineer, Musician.

A complete game changer

I purchased the StudioLive 16.0.2 for one of the convention centers I manage. We were having problems with people scuffing their feet on the cable trays so the StudioLive was purchased with the intent of using the wireless iPad app to make things safer for our guests.

The board: This is my first digital mixing board but I found the StudioLive to be very intuitive. I had to readjust my thinking a bit as the board is laid out so that you set up your EQ, gain, effects etc. by each channel and then dial it up as you want to use it vs. a traditional analog board where every channel has every control laid out on the board. Now that I have used it for a bit I really like the lay out.

Software/Installation: I did have one minor but time consuming glitch as I brought everything online. Once I set up my Ad-Hoc network between the StudioLive, PC and iPad, the iPad SL Remote app had all the controls darkend and said I didn't have permission to access the board. I spent a day searching various forums and thought my trouble was with my network set up. Turns out that I wasn't running the latest edition of Universal Control even though I clicked on the update firmware menu and was told I was running the latest version. It wasn't until I visited the PreSonus website and downloaded the latest update that StudioLive recognized my iPad and made everything live.

Wireless control: Once I got everything up and running, the wireless control features are amazing. hold the iPad in the horizontal and you have access to every channel for mixing. Turning it vertical and the channel you have selected comes up with full EQ, Compression, Limiter etc. control. A very impressive applciation.

Overall I am thrilled with the purchase and would highly recommend this board for anyone looking to add the wireless component to their mixing.

Paul Tereau
from Clarksville, TN
June 22, 2012Music Background:
Pro Sound 25 years.

PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.02

No doubt about it. Dabbling in Music Gear for 25 years. I have owned several mixers, but this one for sure far exceeds my expectations. I needed something for the smaller venues and this jewel is no doubt the solution. Beats the heck out of carring around a 250 lbs rack of gear hosting basically the same componets. Highly recommend this piece of gear. NO REGRETS. If something larger is needed, do not hesitate to go with the 16.4.2.

justin kohler
from United States
March 7, 2012Music Background:
Audio Engineer

I love this console

I love how easy it was to set up. I had it set up and audio coming out in less than 10 minutes. I turned on Protools 9 and selected my device in the hardware setup section. All inputs showed up and worked. The Preamps sound better than the ones in my M-Audio Fasttrack Ultra.
Can't wait to record with all 16 tracks.

Darren
from
March 6, 2012Music Background:
Recording, Live

Love It!!

This thing is awesome. Initial setup takes a while, but still less than a Yamaha 01. And the recording is stellar. I decided to record live on our second use and I'm hooked. It's so easy and so nice. I may try recording wet soon to see how it goes. Open TL files load up in Logic without any problem. This thing is the king of mixers in my mind. Next week in trying to set up an in-ear system which only requires a headphone amp and the iPhone I already own. How sweet is that!

Iamdbryant
from NC
February 5, 2012Music Background:
Producer / Songwriter / Musician

Love it...alot.

I really like this unit alot. The fact that I can save 100 scenes into the board is great, but we only use about 3. It sounds pretty good and I don't have any problems with it. We haven't used it to its potential at all and it's STILL great. We're running 8 cordless mics, 2 keyboard ins, and a bass guitar. Sounds awesome. The fat channel ROCKS. Good unit...

Kris Allen
from Smithers, W.V.
February 3, 2012Music Background:
8 World Top 10 Hit Songs and Host of a few Huge worldwide radio shows

Nashville Country Recording Artist

First I'd like to thank the staff at sweetwater for getting the Presonus in 2 days! THIS MIXER ROCKS! I use this mixer on my radio shows plus I use it to record and jam on live. Let me tell you it is AWESOME! It not only sounds freaking awesome it is soild and very well built AND beautifully lit at night

Tom Miller
from United States
January 11, 2012Music Background:
Drummer, Mobile Recording Engineer.

Rock solid!

This little guy is not so little, it really packs a punch for it's size. I use it with 2 QSC K10's and the K Sub, and found a combination that works well. Also, I recommend the case that SKB makes...had another brand, sold it and got the SKB one. It's 100% snug and waterproof.

Steve Sykes
from Mancos, CO
January 5, 2012Music Background:
Singer/Songwriter

Fabulous Little Mixer

This is one great little mixer, and it meets my needs perfectly. The quality of the preamps and the usefullness of all the features is absolutely top notch. I use it with a pair of QSC8 speakers, and a little Mackie SRM 150 Monitor. All together they make a very portable but incredible sounding live sound rig. I use a larger Presonus board for recording, but this little guy would work wonderfully for that application too. My Sales Rep was right on when he recommended this one.

David Vaughn
from Philadelphia, PA
October 25, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyist

Veratile

It seems Presonus improves the software/functionality with each new mixer (16.4 to 24.4 to 16.0). Advantages for the 16.0.2 include the small size, the small price, and the same preamps as for the larger mixers. MIDI control is unique to this unit and great if you are a one-man-band guitar player. I assume, but have not verified, that MIDI control can be used at the same time as Studio Live Remote control with an iPad. The SL Remote is a great feature for all the Presonus mixers to be able to mix front-of-house without the mixer being FoH. Another plus is being able to use the mixer as a controller for Pro Tools 9/10. An important missing feature for the 16.0.2 is the lack of direct outs for my 16-channel Aviom personal monitoring system. However, since most my inputs are line level, I route them through the Aviom ADC to the mixer with 4 XLR mic channels going from the mixer to the Aviom through the Aux outs (not need for monitoring since using Aviom). I also miss the SPDIF out that the 16.4 has (don't need a laptop to record).

Scott
from Phoenix, AZ
August 29, 2011Music Background:
Full Time Musician (8+ years)

Great Board - Some Compromises

This is an amazing digital console at an incredible price. You won't find a better, more portable board at this price point. Also, I'd like to point out that I owned the 16.0.2 and the 16.4.2 and know them inside and out.

I would like to point out that there are indeed some very major differences between the 16.4.2 and this new 16.0.2. Even though it's a small version of the StudioLIVE, there are some things that can be game changers to some people, and may not seem obvious up front. Here are just a few.

Differences
(16.0.2 vs 16.4.2)
NO Level Metering without button press vs Full Time Level Meters
4 Aux Sends vs 6 Aux Sends
0 Sub Groups vs 4 Subgroups
3 Band EQ vs 4 Band Semi Parametric EQ
12 Mono XLR Channels vs 16 Mono XLR Channels
4 Stereo Channels vs 0 Stereo Channels
Multimode buttons for Mute, Solo, Firewire Return vs Individual Buttons
60mm Faders vs 100mm Faders
NO insert jacks vs Insert Jacks on Every Channel on .4.2
All FX or nothing on .0.2 vs Individual FX Send Levels for each Aux

Those are the major ones that come to mind.

from Columbus, OH
July 23, 2011

Sounds Great

I was very impressed. It sounded great, and I received lots of compliments on how much better our band sounded. It was also real easy to set up to record, just plugged into my macbook pro, and was easy to start recording right away with Protools. It takes a little bit to get used to using the fat channel, but after a few minutes it was a breeze to navigate.

Jose Aparicio
from Texas
April 18, 2013Music Background:
Singer

Quality sound on a higher and different level

The details and all the different features this mixer is capable to do for our group it's amazing and we are very happy with this new mixer.

Eric
from Columbus, OH
July 28, 2012Music Background:
Location Recording, Live Sound, Education

A pro user opinion

Often reviews in this price range are from the perspective of those who shop in this price range, so I'd like to give a review from a different perspective. I have used a variety of digital consoles like the Allen & Heath iLive, the Yamaha LS 9, and the like.

For the money, this console is great. I think it is perfect for a small stage mixer - where speed and ease of use are paramount. It also works very well for church installations and educational facilities where either students or volunteers are running sound.

At the same time it does fall short in some aspects for a pro user:
EQ:
-The Q width does not get narrow enough to effectively notch feedback without taking a big chunk of the tonality with it.
-The AUX OUTs only have a 4 band parametric, while the main outs only have the 31-band graphics. I wish this was switched. (I think 31 band graphics ARE available on the bigger models though)

DELAY:
-There are no channel delays to help bring inputs into phase.

I/O
-This is obvious by the pictures, but no inserts or ADAT I/O means no upgrading....

I still give it a high rating considering what it sells for, but don't be fooled into thinking this is equal to an o1v96 (which I have seen it compared to...)

from WI, USA
January 26, 2012Music Background:
Acoustic Guitar Player, Musician, Home Recording

Pristine Sound

This replaced my Behringer FX 2222 mixer, two Behringer Virt Pros for FX, a Behringer Ultra Curve for room EQ'ing, a sub mixer, and it sounds AWESOME playing through JBL JRX15's!

The only thing that sucks is you CANNOT record FX out, and they sound sooooo good to.
That winds up being not to bad because you can use the plugins in Studio One software but it's still a con.
Otherwise it's very user friendly and the Fat Channel does make it all sound really good.
If your using this live by all means go for it. I used to have all kinds of feedback issues with my old set up. This i can crank the vocal and still not get feedback. Nice!
For in the studio still a nice choice for recording through Firewire, just remember dry.
The included midi instrumenets are really nice in Studio One also.

Doug
from North Carolina
June 13, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist guitar player Jazz & Rock

Awesome!!

Small Foot print for live and studio. Perfect amount of XLR connectors for our 4 piece band. 4 Aux outs allowing each member of band to control their own monitor Aux mix with iPad and iPhone. Easy to work with. Great to be able to play and record at same time. Mix Front of House with iPad. Save and recall different mixes for venues or songs in seconds. Wish there was 4 band EQ and more options for limiter, gate and compressor. Also would be nice if each member could set their individual amount of effect for their Aux instead of sharing FX amount globally, but there is a FXA and FXB. All those options are available in the higher end models. This mixer has everything we need and more. Great mixer!

Brian Speer
from Nashville, TN
October 28, 2011Music Background:
Live sound engineer

Great product at a great price

As an owner of a StudioLive 16.4.2, I quickly became a fan of this product line. But I fly alot, and the 16.4.2 was too heavy to put in a proper flight case and escape paying excess baggage fees. The airlines destroyed the case I had over time so when I heard about the 16.0.2 and saw how small it was, I was smitten.

The smaller cousin sounds just as good as the bigger unit. There are a couple of differences, though... First, I miss the 100mm faders; this one has 60mm. Not a big issue, but it's a change that you have to adjust to.

Second, there is no way to route the FX to a fader; they have to be controlled with knobs and buttons. As someone that likes to blend FX, it's kind of hard.

And thirdly, I miss the metering that the 16.4.2 gives you on the selected input. You can't see gain reduction unless you change all meters to that function. I wish it showed that for just the channel you have selected.

But all of these are small issues compared with the compact size and great sound. I'm a big fan!

inSync Review

Mitch Gallagher
8-26-2011

PreSonus raises the bar for affordable audio interfaces, with their new AudioBox VSL lineup. Available in 2-, 4-, and 18-channel models that come loaded with PreSonus's award-winning Class A XMAX preamps, there's an AudioBox VSL interface for any-sized rig. But the hardware is only the beginning. These great-sounding USB audio interfaces give you the power and flexibility of PreSonus's amazing Virtual StudioLive software.

Have you ever tried to record vocals without having basic reverb or delay in the monitor mix? It's like trying to drive with one eye closed -- you can do it, but it's not comfortable. True, most DAW software will allow you to add processing to your monitor outputs, but the considerable delay this adds can be disorienting instead of helpful. The included Virtual StudioLive software sits between your AudioBox VSL interface and your DAW, providing you with the near-zero-latency monitor processing typically found on only expensive DSP-powered interfaces. Now you can get the same pro-caliber monitoring options you'd expect from a pro studio, without the added expense of onboard DSP processing.

But that's not all! PreSonus's Virtual StudioLive software gives you the same high-quality Fat Channel dynamics processors and EQs featured in the StudioLive 16.0.2 recording mixer. You can even use these same processors to record and monitor, so you can produce polished recordings as you track. What's more, PreSonus's Virtual StudioLive software is fully compatible with their StudioLive Remote iPad app for hands-on control that's perfect for mixing and punching in from the vocal booth. To find out more about PreSonus's amazing AudioBox VSL interfaces, call your Sales Engineer today!
PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.2
Recently, I spent time with the PreSonus 24.4.2 digital mixing console -- the big dog in the PreSonus digital mixer family. I really enjoyed that console; it took me back to when I used a "real" board in my studio. The question was, would the new StudioLive 16.0.2 digital mixer, the smallest member of the StudioLive family would stack up?

Well, I can tell you right now, it more than stacks up! The StudioLive 16.0.2 may be physically smaller than the 24.4.2, but that doesn't mean that it lacks power or features. With 16 channels, 16 line inputs, 12 mic preamps, four aux sends, and two built-in digital effects (with two additional dedicated sends and two stereo returns), the StudioLive 16.0.2 is equipped for a good-sized live sound situation. Plus, you get a full-featured gate, a compressor, a 3-band sweepable EQ, and a sweepable highpass filter on each channel; a talkback mic input with level control; two sets of stereo main outputs; a mono output; and stereo monitor and headphone outputs.

In the studio, you can connect it to your computer via FireWire for remote control, setup, editing, and archiving purposes. (You can control everything from the mixer's front panel, but being able to see it all on-screen is very nice.) You can also use that same FireWire connection to route the 16 mixer inputs into your DAW, or to route 16 outputs from your DAW back into the mixer. The StudioLive 16.0.2 comes with PreSonus's Capture software for quick recordings, as well as their Studio One Artist software for applications that require a more full-featured DAW.

I used the 16.0.2 with my MacBook and the PreSonus software, but also with Reason 6 (see page 8) and Pro Tools 9. It worked flawlessly in each case. I used it for simple stereo monitoring, for multitracking, and for sending 16 channels out from the DAW for mixdown. I found working with the digital mixer in conjunction with a DAW is a true joy! I substituted the onboard EQ and compression for the plug-ins I was using on my mixes, as well as the two onboard effects processors for plug-in reverbs and delays. I was pleased with the results in every case! There's just something that works about using a real mixer with your DAW.

The combination of a laptop and the 16.0.2 (which doesn't have a much bigger footprint than the laptop itself) is a powerhouse -- you could easily base your entire studio around this pairing. And you still have a great mixer to take out to live gigs. That all adds up to a tremendous value and a very cool mixer.