Mixer of the Decade

I've replaced a whole host of gear with this unit, both for live sound and recording purposes. Very stable when used with recording - drivers are very solid. Routing is stupid simple. Features are amazing - second headphone output would be nice, but I'm nitpicking. Overall, this unit is a game changer and if it is within budget, there is no other unit to even consider. Kudos Presonus, kudos!!!

Hands down the BEST!!!

This board exceeded my expectations... And they were pretty high! The preamps are very natural sounding and have insane headroom. I've only used it for live sound a few times and the sound clarity/quality was amazing. Having a gate and compressor on every channel is a huge plus, especially on drums. The presets are an advantage to anyone with limited experience running sound. Just hit a button and it's done! The board is very easy to learn and tweak on the fly. I have a few friends that have been running live sound for way longer than I have (and who have spent a TON of money on their gear) and they are equally impressed with this board. It easily pays for itself with the money you save on NOT having to buy thousands of dollars of rack gear. If you have the money than BUY IT! Seriously, stop reading about it and just BUY!

The best multi-tasking mixer out there.

I've used this mixer for a couple years now and it still continues to save my butt. "Hey, can you record my band?" Easy. "Hey, can you help me with a pro-quality podcast?" Done. "Hey, our PA sucks, can you do sound for us?" Yup. "Hey, our drummer, bassist, and guitarist/singer need separate monitor mixes!" Okay. "Hey, we need someone to do sound for our local county council, we're tired of it being so inconsistent." I can help. "Hey, we have a Roland Space-Echo we want to run a bunch of stuff through at different levels!" Not a problem. "Hey, can you run a mix to my camera while we record so it doesn't affect anything?" Can do. "Hey, we want to use software synths in our live show, can we do that?" You can. And so on, and so on. The vast number of uses for this mixer won't be truly apparent until you've had it around for a while. It alone, and the software it comes with, match many full studios 20 years ago. If you can't find a use for this mixer, then you're crazy.

Fantastic Board

This board is absolutely incredible sounding for the price range. Were talking 3k for a board that does almost as much as a Yamaha LS9 that cost 7k more. Now duh the LS9 sounds better (better rounder preamps) and has more outputs but again were talking 3k for a board that is a work horse. We've used for FOH on small gigs and at the monitor position on slightly bigger gigs and tracked some bands while running FOH from the board and it does it with ease. I've been on all the big boards (M7, 5D, Profile) and of course those boards sound better, but the thing that i cannot state enough is those consoles cost way more than this one.

Some things to note, the verb and delays on this board are halfway decent but you definitely want to EQ them a bit so they arent slamming you in the face. Also the gates can be a tad finicky if you don't treat them with care. Other than that there is no complaints from me.

Justin Malarkey
Engineer @ BG Audio

This is the iPAD of the mixing board industry!!!

For 31+ years I have been working with every kind of board you can imagine and this board, when hooked up to my iMAC, is the overall best...I have replaced about 200lb of equipment with just a 21lb workhorse...Any working band needs this board and the Sweetwater folks are great to work with...Right place, right product...BUY ONE!

Great desk!

I just used this desk to record a live show at a theater along with Protools 9 and a MacBook pro. The console integrated seamlessly with my setup and gave me no trouble. I was happy with the preamps as they sound a bit rounder than other consoles in this price range. I tracked with eq and compression and the results were great. I like that the compressors will do ratios under 2:1 which were transparent on the tuba and trumpet. All in all I couldn't be happier. Thanks again Sweetwater.

Epic

Words can't describe how awesome this board is. And don't let the price get to you. This board pretty much replaces its own cost in outboard signal processing and racks - not to mention the HUGE time it saves setting up live gigs. Everything is right there in front of you, in one unit, at the touch of a button. And it's actually very, very user-friendly, which really impressed me! Spend a weekend with the board and the owner's manual, and you'll pretty much know everything there is to know about operating this processing powerhouse.
Onboard EFX sound great and are easily adjustable. Saving and recalling scenes and other parameters is cake! Even the 'System' menu is user-friendly. (Typically, that's the scariest part about a digital board...)
As for recording, I've only used this with the accompanying software and Logic 9 so far, and everything works great! Very seamless and easy setup. If you've been looking for THE board and not just A board, the StudioLive is it.

Turn a live sound guy to Recoring, in one BOX!

This machine is awesome. Just dont look for the owners manual for help. I learned all about it from videos on the internet. Also It should come with more than one demo song, when I was trying to learn how to use this machine the one some provided gets old quick.

Amazing Versitility

Bought this 3 months ago for recording studio and live gig's, I use sonar 8.5 seamlissly with this board, also record live, in capture, than import aduio directly to sonar for mix down. Easy to use and set up.

StudioLive 16.4.2

On of the best mixer ever used.

Just The Greatest

I use the StudioLive for a live country music show and I am just blown away by the sound and versatility of this board. I replaced probably $10,000 worth of equipment like effects and snake, etc. with this board and sound is much better. I use Ipad for mixing out front and also record the show and folks cant believe recording is from live show. Sounds like done in a studio, this board is awesome.

Solid Center Piece for any Studio

Used this console to replace both my M-audio 2626 and Presonus FS. My second engineer kept his M-audio 2626 so we can still use Pro-Tools, but since our customers prefer Sonar and Logic we see that unit collecting dust, cause the StudioLive is a BEAST.

Out of the box (got it the day of), we did a live TV show (think Story Tellers) and not only did it provide Awesome live sound, but the Pre's gave us transparent tracks to work with back at the studio. This is a must have. We plan on getting another to Daisy Chain.

Amazingly powerful!

This is hands down, the best digital mixer for the price out there.
It sounds incredible and has all the features you need to pull of a great mix for any small band/event/church. For an appropriate sized gig where I don't need a ton of channels, I roll up needing nothing FOH but the mixer itself. It is very easy to use and the recording features are much more than just an afterthought, it can be used as an incredible recording interface. This mixer has proved to be one of the best purchases I have made in a while.

Spectacular

Just awesome. Clean as can be. No noise whatsoever! Too much control per channel (EQ, gate, compression, etc) it really must be against some secret audio industry code to put this much power into someone's hands. We are so glad we chose this over an analog A&H.

Ebay all your rack gear and mixer to get this asap

Rubin was my sales rep A+. I run the Sound for a rock band that covers Tool, Rage and will also play soft rock all in one gig. The band members are always showing up with different EQ settings and love to turn up and down during the night . I do a full light show all thru the night with little time to spend riding the faders. My gear was mounting up in atempt to compress and dial in the EQ settings . Then I saw the Presonus Studiolive. I sold a rack full of gear and my 5th mixer to get this unit on faith that I would carry around less and sound better. Can this mixer do all this ? Yes. First - The preamps are worth the money alone. I dont run the vocals thru a 12ax7 tube any more. The Fat Channel should be called the super channel. THE GATES tighten up the stage and FOH sound. More effect without feedback. No stage talk bleeding between songs. No ambiant noise period.
THE COMPRESSORS . Our singer goes from loud to soft all night long . The compressor has no masked sound on peak compression. Thats the first time for me. I used two compressors to get this result before. THE PAR EQ. Ez to tune and has loads of features that work so well I can get warmth ,growls, clears,Not once have I wanted to get any other sound prosessing equipment sence. 2 CHANNEL EFFECTS You can do anything during a gig on the fly all night long with huge crowd responce. I have bought ,tried and sold alot of top brand gear and the presonus does as good of a job and in a lot of cases much better plus it is all in one location. I would need a 12 foot rack to house all the gear to equal what you will get with this one unit. Pull up Presonus studiolive on youtube and see how great and ez this unit is. One last thing for all live bands get the cabs off the stage floor.
Thanks Presonus, Sweetwater and Rubin.
HD
HD

A True Fan

The move from my A&H analog board was a very tough decision. That board was an extension of my arm for years. Made the swith and no regrets on my decision at all! Clean warm sound and all the goodies also. The fat channel is a dream come true as all of my outboard gear is now on ebay.

Great Sound Easy

I have worked with Mackie Boards for years and they a fine boards. I also had been recording with the Firestudio with the Mackie.

When I saw the Presonus 16.4.2 I had to investigate cause Presonus has been very good to me when I needed an answer about something and everything got from them was awesome.

A compressor on the mains and every channel and submixes (WOW) a Limiter on the mains and Every Channel and submixes (Wow) 2 stereo Effx on each board (Wow) a Thirty one band eq on the mains (wow)
Hi Pass on every channel

If I ran all that on seperate outboard gear I would have cords everywhere...Trobleshooting would be a nighmare at times. The price to buy that stuff would be more than most people would want to pay.

Not only that but these boards sound great...clean...the preamps are wonderful...I love to just recall a whole scene when mixing two different bands at the same venue.

Buy the board...I got 2 of them and record 32 channels live with my creation station and cubase 4 and if a band wants me to I can mix it down for them or they can buy my waves files from me...and mix it themselves.

So much to say and not enough time to rave about and honor presonus for their great product. And no they aren't paying me for this but I could sell it...man could I.

The StudioLive is Amazing!

I've been one of the last holdouts on moving from an analog to digital mixer. My experience with them has been less than enjoyable... having to drill down four menu layers to change my monitor mix made me crazy! But I just bought a Presonus StudioLive and that attitude has changed.

The StudioLive is the closest thing to analog that I've found in a digital board for a price that I can afford. I had been looking at a Yamama LS9-16 but it was more than twice the price of the StudioLive, and you still have to deal with those crazy menus.

Presonus did their homework when designing this console. The layout is amazing; everything is right where you need it to be, no layers to flip. Having dynamics and EQ processing on each input and output bus was a big selling point for me, and the board sounds amazing!

One last thing; recording onto Capture couldn't be easier. And after the show, I changed the inputs to Firewire and listened back to the show we just did in multitrack... very easy.

I'm sold on this board, and will recommend it, and Sweetwater, everywhere I go.

THE mixer to get

I have had little to no experience in recording and mixing except in my church. This board is so logically arranged it just makes sense. I highly recommend this mixer to anyone who might be a little uncomfortable upgrading to a digital mixer. You will hardly realize that you did upgrade, except, the sound quality simply blew away our old analog mixer. And, all the bells and whistles that comes with this mixer, no analog can compare. Read all the other reviews from sound technicians, recording professionals, etc. and remember this, you will love the ease at which you and your staff can make the transition if you have been using an analog system. The manual that comes with this mixer is much better than the one that came with our analog. Last thing, I've always enjoyed running the sound at our church. Now, I just can't wait for Sunday to get here so I can use this mixer.

StudioLive a must have mixer

StudioLive was love a first sight, I went to Miami touring with a band and discovered this baby.. This board is what I was waiting for, for a long time, all the goodies, are in one single package for an affordable price.... The StudioLive is so easy to use and to understand, it simplify my work of bringing the extra gear, as on the fat channel you can find besides HPF, Gate, compressor, EQ per channel. It has 6 auxs for monitors and two channel effects. You have the option to save and recall your sound checks.. You have EQ presets, so you can have a good starting point when on the run.. Last but not least the option to record live while mixing, with Capture so easy to use as well and transfer all tracks to your favor platform or just mix them back on the board.. In conclusion you get way more for what you pay. This is an investment and you'll probably will get more gigs because it looks good.. All my friends were impressed once they saw it..

THE Must Have Device

Can't add too much to what has been said already, but I must join the chorus of happy campers! This replaces many other pieces of gear for me. I won't miss the constant battle of trying to get all of the separate components I had to deal with to play nicely with each other. The frustration of things not working predictably and as they ought to in pressure situations is very real to those of us entrusted with handling critical audio work, and the fear of technical snafu's has led me on a personal quest for the most reliable equipment I can find. The drivers play better with my MacBook than any other I have tried (and I have tried the devices/drivers of 4 other manufacturers -- none of which offered the level of performance and stability that I'm getting with the Presonus. This thing has got everything going for it: ease of use/intuitive operation and believably good sound and flexibility at a price that is simply astonishing. Presonus have been great about support, and are fully committed to development actively working with users to improve the product thru firmware/driver updates. I know think of this as my audio "Swiss Army Knife." It has plenty of I/O, and if you really need more, the first firmware update promises the ability to gang two units. The Capture recording software is great, too, and oh so hassle-free. I can't think of a piece of gear that has lived up to its pre-release promises so well. Highly recommended. Once in a great while a piece of gear comes along that is truly revolutionary and makes it to a legendary status. My humble prediction is that this piece is going to solve so many problems for so many people, and do it so well, that it will be quickly catapulted to the fore as a tool of choice, and have many loyal users for years to come. (Thanks, Presonus!) What, you haven't placed your order yet? Carpe!

Goodbye side rack....hello Studio Live

I was looking for a solution to minimize the gear I have to take along at gigs. Not only do I play in the band, I also run sound for it. I needed something powerful enough to give me compressors and eq's on every channel, aux out, sub, mains, etc. The only thing I could find was the Yamaha LS9 consoles which were WAAAY too much for me to buy. Enter the StudioLive. As if the sound gods heard my prayers and delivered the answer to me. The board is super intuitive but doesn't skimp on features. I can go on all day about how powerful this thing is and I haven't even talked about recording with it yet. On top of all that, PreSonus didn't fool around with crappy preamps. The StudioLive has a ton of headroom and sounds super musical. Very impressed, indeed.

Presonus StudioLive - It's a Bomb

The first thing that caught me when I opened the box is how good the unit looks, as good in person as it does on the Internet. Everything is laid out in a way that makes perfect sense so hat's off to the designers. I have used it for a couple of days now so I can add that the StudioLive is built like a tank. Everything is solid and the moving parts have a quality touch to them. My band plays the Southeastern festival circuit and I have a home recording studio so the StudioLive seemed like the perfect choice. I have been using an A&H board with a Firepod interface with great success. Since I ordered the unit, I have worried that because it's a digital board, it might be too complicated or it might not sound as good as my current analog set-up. I used to have a Yamaha AW16 digital recording board that frustrated me because everything was done through complex menus. I had to sell it. I set the StudioLive up, connected my snake and was recording in about 20 minutes. Sonar 8 recognized the drivers and there were no issues.

Every feature of the board has been simple and right in sync with the documentation. It combines the power of a digital mixer with controls you can actually touch and move. I think the right word is tactile. By the way, I'm a guitar player, not an engineer.

The sound of the board is absolutely wonderful. Quiet as a church mouse with all of the vibrancy I learned to love with the Firepod pre-amps. I think sound quality is better than my previous set-up.

The Fat channel rocks. Here again, it's so easy to see and comprehend what you're doing.

The on-board effects are as good or better than the A&H. I tried most of them and fell in love with a plate reverb pre-set for vocals called “Plate Vox”.

I would like to give you a negative so you know this is sincere but I can't. It's great.

StudioLive * Great Digital Console With An Analog Feel

The perfect console for those making the transition from analog to digital, as well as those already established in the digital world.
PreSonus has succeeded in creating an affordable digital mixer that is EZ to use, has an analog feel and rivals the sound of mixers costing much more.
The Fat Channel puts everything right in front of you.....No more squinting trying to read a tiny screen. No more trying to find the right processor page. Push the channel select button and set it up in the Fat channel. Use the copy function to duplicate settings into another channel. Everything about this mixer is User Friendly and EZ to use.
The StudioLive is as versatile live as it is in the studio. 16 great sounding XMAX preamps, 22 compressors, 22 limiters, 22 gates, 22 high pass filters, digital effects the list goes on and on. But wait, it doesn't stop there...How about a/d converters with 118dB dynamic range!!!
Equally as simple to use is Capture, the recording software that is included with the StudioLive.
Press 2 buttons and you're recording. When the gig is over send all the tracks back into the StudioLive for final mixdown. Or if you prefer Logic, Cubase or some other DAW....go for it.
If 16 channels are not enough for you or you're thinking about needing more channels in the future, the StudioLive will grow with your needs. Link 2 StudioLive mixers together for 32 channels.
The StudioLive layout with it's lighted buttons make this mixer perfect for the band that is doing their own mix from the stage too. Fixes are easily made between songs.
PreSonus support is second to none in my opinion. Any questions I've had in the past were quickly answered with one telephone call.
Overall, The StudioLive is the best value to cost purchase I've ever made.
Buy one today. You won't regret it.

A mixer worth having

Everything about the StudioLive is awesome. The preamps sound great and they are very quiet. The FAT channel is musical and easy to use. Getting around on the mixer is way easier than on a Yamaha LS9. As a live mixer is works wonderfully. Troubleshooting problems is quick. You don't have to search through menus to find what you're looking for. In the studio, it works great too. I was able to install the software and start using it in Logic within 10 minutes. I have recorded radio spots with this mixer and used it for some aduio-for-video post-produciton. I highly recommend the StudioLive

StudioLive Hands down

I had to find out the hard way. So I hope I can help someone out when weighing the pro & cons out about the two mixers. StudioLive or 01V96. StudioLive, any day over Yamaha's 01V96v2. I have had them both in my studio. The preamps on the StudioLive are priceless. With the 01v96, the moving faders was fun to play with, but I was in the need of a Studio/Live recording mixer. The 01v96 is not a digital audio interface, you CAN Not record straight into Logic. On the other hand, with StudioLive you can record audio into Logic. Not to mention Capture for your live recording. The only thing I feel StudioLive is missing, would be midi support. Yes StudioLive works flawless with Logic Pro if setup correctly. StudioLive has become the work horse behind all of my production. In & out of the studio. I would highly recommend purchasing a PreSonus Fader Port for a $129. To control your faders while working in your DAW . The two items together are still cheaper than one 01v96($2130 vs $2400) For the record, I'm not a Yamaha hater. I do own a Mostif & love it

This board does everything.

I would give this a 5 star rating for it's price range, but 4 overall. If you're upgrading from something like us (a mackie), you are going to be thilled. The preamps sound great but not as good as some boards in this price range that don't come with compression, recording or fx. The control software is a breeze and so is recording. I've had a handful of fans compliment us on how much better we sound the last 2 weeks. I believe it is the compression, which we did not have before on any channels. I also think the preamps are a huge upgrade from our old mackie 24-8 board (which has full parametrics unlike this board) and sound a lot better through our QSC kw153/181s. If you already have compression units and a 16 channel recording interface, I think there are better choices in this price range. If you want all your compression and fx in one nice little package that makes recording simple, I don't think you'll find anything comparable in this price range. We love it and would recommend it to anyone.

Bought it for the digital, keeping it for the manual

At last, a piece of technology that comes with a HELPFUL owner's manual! I was so proud to have gotten my church's band gear switched over [from a Behringer analog board] & tweaked nicely before I had to call Sweetwater for some detailed help. Alan at Sweetwater got me going again, and I'm excited to find out if anyone else notices how much better everything sounds. The StudioLive may have just saved the church some money, too, because our 40-year-old speakers actually sound good--they were slated to be replaced in the next few months!

The PreSonus "Studio One (Artist)" software that comes with the board has some wonderfully informative tutorials for novices like me...I'm already intersted in upgrading the software!

And remember, the board has the standard FireWire outputs, but your Mac needs an adapter. Save yourself a trip to Bestbuy and order the one from Sweetwater while you're at it. (9-pin to 6-pin)

It will fail

This would be a great mixer if it actually worked reliably. Read the presonus forums very carefully. You will find that there are MANY users who are on their second or third board from presonus OR they have had to send it to the factory for repair. Save yourself the trouble. It is an attractive and nice sounding board, but the system is far from stable. Consider yourself warned. Mine is now permanately locked up and going back to the dealer.

Something missing

I have a two piece group so that means we are both really busy playing singing and between songs talking to the crowd. The Studio Live has everything you can imagine EXCEPT a simple foot switch to turn effects on and off for when you want to talk . Or A foot switch to step through the presets so you can setup different effects without having to call it up from the mixer. Performing live, and this mixer is called Studio Live. Having this foot control feature would have probably been so simple for Pre Sonus to do,I cant believe they didn't. I was really interested in purchasing this mixer.
I am so disappointed I have never owned a mixer that didn't have that feature.