PreSonus Studio Channel Reviews

4.7/5.0 based on 17 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Mike Conyers

The Studio Channel by PreSonus is one of the most cost-effective ways to get a good tube preamp into your rack. The compressor is solid, and the paramteric EQ just adds even more value to this rack piece. For the money, you really can't go wrong!

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Customer Reviews

Lucius Todd
from Temple, GA
May 10, 2013Music Background:
Musician, Artist, Engineer

Nice and clean Pre amp

The sound of this mic pre amp slash channel strip is crazy. I was look for more detail and presence. This thing caught me off guard I hook this through my audio interface and gave my that real studio feel. Plus it was made by Presonus big fan. The process was quick and easy like always thanks to my sales rep Mike Hammond thank you Sweetwater. Its time to put out some good sounding music.

Fjc
from Wichita Kansas
March 19, 2013Music Background:
Home studio

nice tone

After recording vocals with one song I am pleased with the sound. I redid a vocal track and size- by- side this sounds fuller. I like the fact that I can sing without having to worry about clipping with the compressor on before the interface,

Dissown
from Raleigh, NC
December 8, 2012Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Emcee

Very Crisp and Clear

I have been using my Presonus Studio Channel for over a year now and the sound is incredible. I have a home studio and people are amazed with the quality of music I put out. Very affordable and exactly what you need to step up your home studio. I do rap/hip-hop and have recorded many different artists as well as female vocals. Combined with my Blue Blurbird Microphone I could not be more happy with the quality of music for the amount of money I spent.

Shockmatic Music
from Tulare, Ca
August 28, 2012Music Background:
Music Producer, Mixing Engineer

More Pros than Cons

Decent channel strip for its price range. I have a tough time with dynamics sometimes while recording vocals. I tend to have to turn down the output -10db so the signal doesn't clip. Other than that, I love the sound that this channel strip delivers for percussions and guitars. Im not too fond of it for Male Rap Vocals, Male/Female R&B Vocals. The thing I hate is the power button is on the back. Ugggghh!! It drives me insane! Presonus you might have to fix that problem in the future.

Jackie McGatha
from Carmichael, CA
May 31, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist bass player

Awesome piece of equipment

I am not as literate as many on preamps but I will say that this is a very easy piece of equipment for even me to use. I play bass in our church praise band and wanted to be able to control my sound without overpowering the rest of the band, this does the trick plus a lot. I love the information it provides to educate the purpose of the compressor and the eq. The recommended presets are excellent and a must for a beginner like me.

h.y.P
from houston,tx
April 27, 2012Music Background:
recording artist,engineer,music fan

PreSonus Studio Channel

great add on to project studio no color nice pre amp, compresser amazing, eq great easy to use come with start manual for newbes give me depth and fullness i needed if you on a budget this is a def to get

floyd roberts
from maryland
April 6, 2012Music Background:
artist/producer/engineer

she's really great

why not get a pre amp that has tube/vac preamp , compression , EQ ,and master volume?? Im using it for vocals because thats all you need for vocals , it subtracts the editing you do while mixing the song! i got it plugged into a neumann tlm 103(1,300$) , but also have plugged in a cheaper mic in the 300$ range.Both sounded great when paired up with this amp . It pumps up your voice to give you that feeling.i need nothing else as of now when it comes to pre amps

Jon Santos
from Whitestone, New York
March 1, 2012Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Mixer, Former Major Label Artist, Pro Musician

great unit

I produce mostly Rock and some hip hop now and then. I have used many preamps / compressors over the last 18 years. I sold my last universal audio LA 610 MKII last year and now have a pair of these and I could not be happier. I love the control you have up front with EQ and Compression that not even the LA 610 had. With the warmth and control you'll have along with a great mic like a TLM 103 up front you will be very happy with this peace. and at $300? you can buy 5 of these and still not hit the cost of one LA 610 MKII. and this in music time and economy PreSonus is the way to go.

Lance
from Japan
December 12, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyist, Home Studio Guy who spends way too much money trying to sound "pro"

Hard to beat for the price

You know, I'm glad I waited several months to review this. I bought it after reading other reviews on this site saying it was as good as the strips that cost 5-10 times as much. When I first got it, I was really happy with how much better it sounded than the stock pre-amps in my AudioBox USB. But then I started trying to tweak it and I got frustrated with how "light" the comp and EQ are. As confirmed by other reviews around the Internet, you can't get much of an extreme sound change out of those two features on the Studio Channel. So, I started shopping around for something "better," and was really tempted by the UA products like the 6176 or the LA-610 MKII. On a whim, I walked into a brick and mortar music shop and impulse purchased the Golden Age Project PRE-73MK2 and started using that. Right away, I struggled with it. The PRE-73 (which is supposed to model an old Neve) dramatically colors everything it touches. I love it to death on bass guitar, not so much on vocals, and I personally found the gain on the 73 to be "out of control" on my setup -- I was constantly struggling to keep it from clipping on peaks (and had no other front end comp to pass it into). So, I started my search again, and found another music shop's website that has posted tons of files of the same performance run through scads of high end gear. The Pre-73 was on there, as was the Neve it emulates, as were many other "famous" pre-amps, compressors, and EQs that I had been considering. Well, after listening to side-by-side comparisons of all that gear as used by consummate pros in near-laboratory conditions, I learned that to my poor ears, they all sounded pretty much the same, from the $300 ones to the $3000 ones. With that in mind, I decided to give my Studio Channel another chance. An hour or so into a vocal track I was working on, I swapped out the PRE-73 with the Studio Channel and it was like taking leg weights off. Gone was the unwanted coloration, tamed were the runaway peaks, and the EQ gave just enough correction to the high end to compensate for my TLM-193's naturally silky (ok, flat out dark) character. Too much compression or EQ on the front end is a bad thing anyway, so I'm no longer particularly disappointed in the relaxed nature of those two sections of the Studio Channel, and I like the cleaner, less colored sound of the PreSonus, even with the tube drive cranked up (it doesn't do all that much either, and that's now fine by me, too). So, I will no longer spend more time or money on pre-amps. Like most home studio guys, I'm better off investing my limited budget in monitors and acoustic treatment -- this PreSonus is absolutely fine for my needs, realistically, and anything it can't do is honestly more likely due to shortcomings on my part as an amateur engineer. And on top of that, it's a pretty piece of rack gear, and it fits a normal rack space, and those do sort of count to me. I've got limited desk space and am getting tired of "boutique" gear that can't go into a rack.

Jeff Adams
from Easley SC USA
September 2, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician

Awesome preamp with an afford able price.

Every recording engineer knows a quality tube preamp, VCA compressor and parametric EQ are the building blocks for a great recording. How about all three in a single channel strip for less than $300 dollars? The Presonus Studio channel provides everything you need to record great studio tracks. The tube preamp delivers warmth to your signal without saturation. The compressor provides dynamic signal response to your instruments. The parametric EQ provides the fine tuning necessary the capture the nuance of every note. A must for every studio environment. Quality performance and construction.

ROOSEVELT
from CLeveland, Ohio USA
June 10, 2011Music Background:
Recording Engineer/Producer

Great Hardware

Im going to make this short.This a great preamp for home studio & professional recording.I love it.I was just using the MBox 3 and I was getting great mixes with just that.But the studio channel took the MBox 3 to an hole different level. great compression & Eq on vocals before it goes into the MBox 3.And of corse you can do all your tweaking inside pro tools or any DAW you use and get outstanding results if your an nice engineer and have the right ear for mixing/mastering.So This hardware for $300,MBox 3,& Pro tools 9 You can not go wrong. FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SWEETWATER & PRESONUS

yolchie
from Wellsburg, WV
April 25, 2011Music Background:
Home Studio, Songwriter, Active Musician

Best Money Ever Spent!

You can drive yourself insane researching the outboard gear that's going to take your recordings to the next level. I spent 3 months reading 100's of reviews about 100's of different products in every price range and finally ended up with a pair of these channel strips on the recommendation of a buddy of mine from a "big studio" and I couldn't be happier!

My very first project out of the box with these channel strips required classical guitar (recorded direct), acoustic guitar (direct), bass (direct) and vocals. I set the channel strips up just how presonus had recommended with their very handy, and included, "setup suggestions" and began recording.

Once a simple mix was complete, I had a finished recording that completely blew away anything I had recorded without them. Exceptional warmth, headroom, presence, clarity, punch and all of the other attributes you would desire from a GREAT channel strip. You do NOT need to spend 1,000's of dollars on mic pre's, compressors and EQ's to make truly stellar recordings... take it from me!
I did the homework for you and this was the best money I have ever spent on any gear period.

Steve Broderson
from Central Kentucky
March 21, 2011Music Background:
Music producer, semi-pro musician

Budget-friendly way to wake up sleepy signals

PreSonus' FireStudio Project is a clean, solid front end on its own. But put a Studio Channel in front of it, and your signal really shines. I hardly have to post-process voiceovers anymore- they all come out fat, airy or anything in between. Definitely wakes up a sleepy mic. The front-mounted instrument input is great for recording bass guitar too. Jump on this!

Al C.
from Iowa-Illinois
March 19, 2011Music Background:
Musician Recording Hobbyist

Excellent for the Price

Works excellent with tweaking the unit following the manual to start with. I have not used it for everything, say like vocals, but I tend to up the Input and keep the Output Gain Lower, otherwise noise may creep up into the recording. What I thought I was doing was not actually what was needed for the recording. The knobs make it easy to set up more than one unit say for like a stereo recording. I have not tried other tubes which they sell here also at Sweetwater, so that is yet to come. The unit is excellent for the price if used appropriately. Sure there are more dedicated units to use and buy and that is fine, this unit has it enough in one for a low-cost price solution.

Brick City Beast
from newark/jersey city, NJ
October 1, 2010Music Background:
music producer

Do not sleep on this

Listen, I have been using a shure ksm27 for the past 5yrs with a presonus tube pre which cranked out good vocals but the silibance in the ksm27 was bothering me so picked up the presonus studio channel, swapped the tube, and also copped a AT 2035 and let me tell you for the sound I'm getting for under 500. WOW. I produce and record hip hop and r&b and all my artist and clients are giving me vocal chain the ultimate praise. I can't be happier.

Luis W Hernandez
from Fl
April 17, 2010Music Background:
Drummer, Producer

Versatile

Great piece of gear for the price! I use this for the bass drum. The job is done and beyond. (I used other brands, but this pre amp make it happen.

DYTmiclover
from Dayton, OH
May 7, 2009Music Background:
Recording Engineer

Great Buy!

This was my second mic preamp I bought and it was a huge step up! The tube tone sounds INCREDIBLE with my B.L.U.E. Baby Bottle. Warm and smooth, the sound sits right up front in the mix. The compressor is easy to use and the EQ makes amazing pre-production results. The Studio Channel also features a cool switch that lets you change the order from compression > EQ to EQ > compression, which can really change the sound of your track. I love this channel strip not only because it cuts out a huge part of my digital post-production work, but also because it didn't put a big hole in my wallet! For the price this cannot be beat!

Note: I gave this a 4.5 out of 5 because when I first received the Studio Channel I wasn't crazy about the tube that it came with, but for another 20$ I bought a Groove Tube for this sucker and it sounds incredible. I would recommend buying the Groove Tube with this Studio Channel and avoid having to use the cheap Chinese tube it comes with.

inSync Review

Tim Maus
4-18-2010

Like many operating in a home studio, I had long gotten used to the rather generic sound of the preamps in my recording interface. When I first plugged the Studio Channel in to use as my front end, I heard the sound that I had been missing - it was as if the Studio Channel had breathed life back into my tracks.

The versatility of this unit is astounding. I have tested it on vocals, acoustic guitars, kick drums, and even used it as a DI for bass and electric guitar, and it handled them all exceptionally well. The compressor is ultra-fast yet smooth, the EQ is very functional, and it makes getting your tone where you want it a piece of cake.

At this price, this is an invaluable tool for anyone looking to sweeten up their tracks.