PreSonus StudioLive 24R 24 Channel Rackmount Digital Mixer Reviews

We've been running this rig for almost a year now, both live and in a home studio setting. This mixer is the real deal, especially for newer musicians or those on a budget. We were previously running a Soundcraft Ui24R, and though we got a lot of use out of that mixer, it was time to upgrade to something more functional for audio recording.

Being working-class musicians on a budget, we did a lot of research trying to find a mixer that could serve us both as a live mixer and a recording audio interface. The more I read, the more skeptical I became that we would find a mixer truly capable of doing both. The two applications are so different, I just couldn't believe one mixer could pull off both with quality sound.

The first time we finally plugged in and made noise – no effects, flat EQ'd – I couldn't believe the sound. The preamps in this rig were a giant step up from the Soundcraft, sounding pristine even through a budget in-ear monitor setup. The more we set up each channel, the richer and clearer the sound became.

A word of advice – if you're newer to digital mixers or sound engineering, this is not a simple plug-and-play operation. PreSonus invested so much into the overall StudioLive III ecosystem that the capabilities of this rig are well above its price point. That said, plan to spend some time getting your patching right, and making sure you have a project and mix scene laid out to your preference. Fortunately, PreSonus has fairly detailed instructions that make the setup process pretty painless.

All that said, this mixer is so brilliant and near-perfect for gigging musicians and home studios. Every single time we've used this live, people repeatedly compliment the sound quality of our shows, and half the time we're playing without a sound engineer. The UC Surface and QMix-UC apps are so smooth and simple to use, and it's stupidly easy for each musician to set their monitor mix directly from their phone or tablet. The best part for a sound engineer is that you can assign a device to a specific output, meaning that a musician can only screw up their own mix, not the FOH mix.

We recently started testing the recording capabilities of this rig, and I have to admit, I'm impressed. We aren't doing full-blown LP recordings, but for doing in-studio live takes with the full band, the quality is beyond sufficient. I have no doubt this thing would be capable of recording a high-quality LP record. Keep in mind, we're not using expensive microphones for recording. At most, we're using somewhat entry-level mics as far as condenser mics go, and I have been thoroughly pleased with the results. It's led to painless and fast post-processing in a DAW, going from raw tracks to quality completed audio in a snap.

If you've been watching this mixer, sitting on the fence for a while, or are hesitant to make the jump to digital, my suggestion is to stop waiting and go for it. Yes, the price is not chump change and there are cheaper rigs. Yes, there is a small learning curve. But the capabilities of this rig are virtually endless, and once you get the hang of the workflow, I can all but guarantee you will start saving time and have better sound quality. You'll spend less time fiddling around with mixer settings and more time playing music. It has truly changed the game for us, and we've only just scratched the surface of what this mixer is capable of.

This is quite a fantastic mixer! Quite flexible and really love being able to run it via the MacBook Pro and also via the iPad Pro. Have not tried the iPhone app yet, but will be doing that soon. This is quite an upgrade from my old analog mixer that really has seen better days. It's definitely a bit of a learning curve if you have never used a digital mixer but I have figured out the basics by just poking around in the Universal Control software and also Youtube videos and of course the owner's manual. Can't wait until I have mastered all of this and getting started with Studio One version 6, which I have also purchased from Presonus. As always thank you so much to my sales engineer Josh Sackett for his excellent, honest and outstanding service and advice and to Sweetwater and their shipping team for always getting my gear here safe and sound and in a most timely manner! Bravo, kudos and thank you all for this!

Worth the money. Very clean. Lowest noise I've ever had on any mixer I've owned. Lots of gain on the output channels. If you have a lot of stereo synths this rig is the best with all the line inputs. Setting up stereo channels was a breeze. Works in tandem with Ableton live very well for near zero latency direct monitoring. Preamps sound much better than my Scarlett 18i.

We selected this mixer as our first step into the digital world. The price was right and could be adapted without purchasing a bunch of separate gear and plugins. While their are many features that are excellent, the virtual soundcheck has been a game changer. Like any typical small church, personel and experience is limited. As the worship leader, I can now record a session with the team and the step away from the stage to train volunteers on how to mix. Since the unit is expandable we have everything we need to grow for years to come! Another great thing is that the gear can be mounted in a stage box and travels easily for road gigs.

Great Mixer! Best sounding preamps really KO's other digital mixers out there! Software is amazing, easy to use, great features and awesome presets for live mixing. I highly recommend 24r!

I already have two 16 channel versions for two different rigs. However, we added a drummer to our duo and needed more channels. This system is warm, easy to use, and incredibly flexible. The preamps are the best you will find in this price range. Presonus has hit it out of the park with this series. Being a 40 year audio engineer, I can't recommend this console more.

I Finally got a chance to use the mixer this past weekend for live sound easy set up, the software is very straight forward I would recommend this mixer.

I use the 24R in my home studio and I don't believe there is a better value at this price and with this number of inputs and outputs on the market. Universal Control and all the other products that surround this hardware take research and time to get used to, but the headroom and quality of the onboard preamps are awesome on mics that I don't use an external preamp and effects. Routing is spectacular, though I do wish there were dedicated FX inserts especially considering the additional real estate on the back. I have not spent much time with the provided Fat Channel compressors, eqs and limiters, but the sound quality suggests the plugins are a good value. The Capture software is intriguing and I have even toyed with using it to record the initial tracks and then open the song in Studio One - I will have to see if that work flow is faster at some point in the future. I would also add the USB connection is rock solid and you don't spend time troubleshooting connectivity issues. The snapshot facility is simple and intuitive and will save your butt if you are messing around on sends in Universal Control.

I do have two complaints - the included Studio One Artist (buy the upgrade if immediately if you are going to use Studio One) is unusable since it does not support 3rd party plugins and case resolution is slow even before the pandemic. Even with these issues, the 24R, Capture and Universal Control software are phenomenal! Glad I bought into the Presonus portfolio of products and the fact that I can expand my I/O in the future by connecting another member of the StudioLive III family.

So far, so good. I'm a bit nervous about going from a console to an iPad but our first show with it is next weekend, so unless things go downhill, it's good at the moment.

Great sounding Preamps, solid plugins, flexible routing, 12 Mono/6 stereo Aux Busses. I'm only using it for live work so far. The ability for the sound engineer to walk around and mix on an iPad is priceless, especially in small venues. The UC Surface software took a while to get used to, but that's because I come from a ProTools background. If I had to do it over, knowing what I know now, I would buy it again.

Been waiting for these to come out since purchasing my SL 32 Series 3 console. It is great to be able to use a simple network cable vs. handling a cumbersome copper snake. Plus this gives me the option to use it as a stand-alone mixer to use with an iPad for those smaller gigs where there is no space for a console. Sweetwater has outstanding service and my rep Nick LaMendola makes sure to help with all the small details. Good job Presonus and Sweetwater!

Absolutely loved it at my first gig with it. Right out of the box, I had it up and running within minutes and was show ready in no time. Presonus went all out with the functionality of this and all the additional modes to choose from for EQ, and effects make this extremely versatile. My only gripe is i had a couple instances where the connection to my computer and iPad had to be reset but that is small potatoes for me.

We've traveled with a Presonus Studiolive 24.4.2AI console mixer for about 8 years. Works great and has an ATA Road Case to keep it safe on the road, but it's a beast to handle. Big and heavy! We upgraded to the new Presonus Studiolive 24R Series III rackmount mixer and so far the results are great. We mounted the mixer in a 4U rackmount case. Top rack space is shelf that has our wireless router mounted to it. Middle rack space has our dbx Driverack PA2 speaker management controller. And the bottom rack space has the new Studiolive 24R Series III mixer. The whole 4U case with components is light and easy to handle. All cables for the external powered speakers and subs stay connected and roll up into the back of the case. All components stay plugged into a power strip that also stores in the back of the case. Simply, plug in the power strip and everything comes alive. Log into the Studiolive 24R mixer with a tablet or laptop running UC Surface and you are ready. We'll be adding channel strip markers on the bezel of the rack to designate the various instrument and mic front inputs so you don't have to have the system powered on to see where to connect things (it shows in UC Surface, but unless you have a good memory, you need UC Surface running to see what channel is what instrument/mic/etc.). We travel with 1 laptop for recording and 2 tablets for mixing sound (one tablet is a backup in case the other fails).

System configuration and EQing is easy with the built-in presets. Lot's of decent built-in effects too. Plenty of Aux channels for monitors or individual in-ear mixes. Mapping of channels and effects to subgroups and mains is easy and intuitive. The UC Surface application is used to do all mixer set-up, configuration, and live mixing. Backup of the mixer project and scenes are also done via UC Surface. Musicians can have personal control over their in-ear monitor mixes via their cell phones or personal tablets and the free Presonus QMix-UC app. There are easy options for multitrack recording either onboard via the built-in SD card slot or to a laptop using the free Presonus Capture software.

There were a couple things missing on the 24R that we liked on our old console mixer that we'll just have to adapt to. Our old Studiolive AI mixer had SMAART wizards for ringing out the speakers and monitors using a built-in pink noise generator. It was fast a worked great. We miss this the most. The second thing that we missed was a Level adjust on the back of the mixer to set the analog stage level to the speaker management system. Not sure why the console mixers still have this but the rack mounts don't, but it would be desirable to be able to match the level of the two devices instead of relying on only the main fader level to do this. For these reasons, this mixer lost a star.

Overall this is a great mixer with lots of nice modern features that make sound management easy for those of use that do our own sound while we play. If you are lucky enough to have a sound guy to mix while you play, just hand him your tablet running UC Surface and he has access to everything to make you sound great during your performance. This is truly a powerful lightweight mixer system. You gotta love modern tech!