PreSonus StudioLive 32S 32-channel Digital Mixer Reviews

One of the best consoles I've used. Where the rest have fallen short, this console has excelled. Live mix 10 out of 10, Daw 10 out of 10. Sound quality... 20 out of 10.

I waited almost 6 months to write this review because I hope it helps someone else that has my particular passion. First, I want to thank the great Rob Amaral for his help in purchasing this board. As always, he steers toward the right solution! I upgraded to this board from the Tascam Model 24 since I was already using Studio One as my DAW. I thought the preamps would help my blues band get "record" quality recordings that I could put on SoundCloud.
Since we mix as a band, I have been pleasantly surprised by how easily I can get my colleagues up to speed on the interface piece. I must say that I have watched nearly all of Joe Gilder's videos as well as Matt Osgood's from Australia. Matt is right that with all of the features packed into both the board and Studio One, that there is a certain complexity. You will need to read the manual and watch a ton of YouTube videos to make this work even if you are a seasoned pro! In fact, the integration is so tight that I had to purchase a RokBox from PC Audio labs with an I9 processor in Nashville to take full advantage of all the features and sounds.
While I will be continually learning for the rest of the year, I can honestly say that this rig is everything I had hoped and more. The preamps are crystal clear and I set up an AVB network with the Presonus AVB 32.16 to replace my snake to record the band live. I get perfect isolation even recording live drums and guitars at the same time as well as my keyboards. The vocals sound great too and my bandmates are really getting great mixes. I strongly recommend that you review your music computer's specs before you start creating this system. It is very complex and with tons of capabilities no matter what kind of music you want to create.
I am certain now that I made the right decisions and I now have the capability to record radio quality music for many years to come. Again, special thanks to Rob Amaral for helping me to "finish off" my home studio. Special thanks to Joe Gilder as well. Goodluck in your future musical endeavors!

This is a beast. All the features and the mix memory is killer. Never went digital until now and what a difference. Recording live sessions onto an SD card made soundchecks a breeze. I can finally do the sound check without the rest of the band being there. So many features that I am not going to bore you with. The best thing I can say is WOW! I cant see me outgrowing this anytime soon.

I bough my Mixer about 3 years Ago and I Love it
I am 73 and retired and record for fun
50 years ago, for a while, I worked in a Recording Studio that was putting out Gold Records
Back then, for a studio to have as much recording power that this board has, would have cost millions and taken up rooms full of equipment racks. That studio had 2 LA2A Limiters, the real ones with tubes, I have the digital ones, but I have 50 of them!!I have ten other limiters to chose from, 50 of each of them if I want
I have full Channel strips on every input and output
I have only owned better boards, My PA Board back in the Day was a Tycobrahe Blue Board, hand made by Jim Gamble, I got it used after it was on the Stones Give Me Shelter Tour.
This board puts that one to shame, and it was the best of it's kind in the day
I love the sound of this board and it works really well with Studio One Software
I fell very lucky to be an Owner, Sweetwater and Time Payments made it all Posible!
Bruce Champion
The Truck Mobile Recording Unit

I will update this review in a few months. I worked for NBC when the network used KRNV Reno as the Digital HD Ginny Pig before expanding to Vegas, Houston and New York. So I had an advantage on some very complex networking and the flexibility of a 56 Channel Yamaha 02R96VCM. It won the Technical Grammy that same year. THE PRESONUS 32S PUT THE YAMAHA TO SHAME! The Studio One software is INCREDIBLY SUPERIOR and USER FRIENDLY Compared to what the VERY DIFFICULT Yamaha Operations Offers. Not to mention at three times the price! And A Great Big THANK YOU! to JOHNATHAN APPLETON At Sweetwater for making this purchase and my ROLAND FANTOM 8, possible for my monthly budget!!! I will submit a more specific, detailed review, in a year perhaps less.

I've had the first generation for a couple of years now and cannot believe how great the board is! Yes the documentation is not all inclusive, what is at this level! But when you figure it out, yes you need to do a lot of research, but when you finally get it all figured out, everything works period! The input routing, the software integration, plug-ins on playback and record thru! I've done analog, hybrid, and now this digital console and my racks have never been emptier, my workflow as easy, my result this repeatable, and my environment this cool

I'm just a home studio hobby musician, and this is the second Presonus mixer I've owned. The mixer has more features than I'll ever need or use, but it's a fantastic piece of gear. Its flexibility to be used as a live show mixer, record to internal SD card, or as a DAW controller (especially with Studio One software) offers something for everyone. The internal processors in the Fat channel (gates, compressors, EQ's) are excellent, and you can download additional plugins and install them in the mixer providing even greater choice of mixing. There is a learning curve with some features as with most digital equipment, but there are lots of instructional videos available and the tech support from Sweetwater and Presonus is excellent if you have operational questions. Although a pricey investment, it is worth every penny if you decide to put the money into it.

The first time I put my hands on a PreSonus SL32S was in 2018 when the console was a new possession for the group I was consulting for.
I was hired to program the console, set up a rough mix, and train a student how to operate the console and mix a live show.
Programming parameters, scene changes, and rough settings was a BREEZE thanks to the user-friendly GUI, and teaching was just as easy. The forgiving nature of the SL32S made learning fun for the student, and teaching fun for me.
You CAN'T BEAT the features and value of this mixer. Check it out. You won't be disappointed.

I bought this Mixer to add to our new home studio. The learning curve freaked out but between Youtube and a few calls to Mike Picotte which became valuable resources ! Mike was absolutely fantastic! We use Protools with it and just learning how to work with Logic on it. DAW mode is interesting at this point.
Over all the Studio live was a great choice.
What we use it for is a recording interface and control surface. The beauty of the board is the 8 separate headphone mixes for tracking! Love that!
I do wish there was a contact help line to Presonus. But I understand they would be overwhelmed :)
Scotty B
SRQ

The board is great. I had some initial issues with my payment, but your staff worked together and resolved my issues to bring everything together very nicely. I was quite impressed that they made me feel that I was as important as someone spending $100,000.00. It spoke tremendously of your staffs dedication and teamwork to an and for your customers. Kudos

I'm in love!

I am usually annoyed when I see someone say a product is a "game changer" because very few pieces of equipment are truly game changers. They may inspire you to make music in a different way, but I feel like that is part of the experience of getting a new piece of inspiring equipment. The StudioLive series 3 console truly changed the game for me.

If you are a Studio One 4 user and need to record more than 8 channels at a time, the StudioLive series will change your life. I used to record analog and recording through a mixer is second nature to me. I decided to go digital and used an Audient ID44 (which is a great interface if you only need 4 channels at a time), but soon found that many preamps too limiting. I looked at 8 channel preamp options to expand through ADAT, but knew I would want the tactile feel on mixdown so was also looking at the Faderports. But I also wanted some way to integrate that system into my practice space where I had everything hooked to an analog board without having to unplug everything (long story short, my analog mixer was consumer grade unbalanced at -10db, so I couldn't simply use the direct outs- was considering DI-ing everything to split the signal). The StudioLive seemed like an answer to all my needs, but it turned out to be so much more!

First, the preamps sound amazing. I had a Behringer board that was supposed to have their best preamps, then switched to the Studiomaster Classic 8 (mentioned above) which as an improvement, but the StudioLive preamps DESTROY both of those boards. Not even in the same league. Second, the integration with Studio One 4 is so well thought out, it is obvious that the designers are also musicians/engineers because how you think it should work is how it does work in most cases! Third, the Fat Channel plugins sound wonderful and are really all of the EQ and Comp choices I could ever see using- and seeing as they work so seamlessly between the mixer and DAW, I wouldn't bother with anything else anyway. Check out the 6 part video series, especially the one where he talks about the Fat Channel integration and I think that will sell you right there. Basically, you download the plugin on both the mixer and in Studio One, then you can print the EQ/Comp from the StudioLive and not have to use your computer's processing, or REMOVE those printed effects if you no longer want them, or drag it down into your insert on the channel in Studio One if you want to tweak it after the fact! You can change which EQ and Comp plugin you are using or change the settings of the existing plugins all from the starting point you had originally recorded it with on the StudioLive. I can't think of any way they could have provided more integration. Wonderful. Lastly, the ease of being able to just turn on the mixer and practice without turning on a computer, having my previous settings saved and a whole customizable user layer on startup, being able to leave everything plugged in whether they be mics or keyboards straight into the combo jacks, using both outboard processing or the internal Fat Channel Plugins, switching from the live board side to your open project in Studio One at the push of a button, having more preamps or available faders than I need for mixing or writing automation, being able to name what I have on each input on the scribble strips, being able to add channels in Studio One for all of those inputs at once… I really could go on! It's jaw dropping amazing! That run on sentence above is how I feel it has changed the game for me- everything I need, easily accessible, so I can focus on making music and not wrestling with getting things set up to make music. Switching from analog to digital did not come easily for me and I feel like that's because I didn't yet have the StudioLive. If you understand the concepts of inserts, aux/fx sends, and sub groups, I think you will not have trouble figuring out this board.

The ONLY legitimate complaint I have seen is that it is only 44.1 or 48 khz, so if you think you need higher than that, this is not your mixer/interface/processor (it's really unfair to just call it a
mixer). For me, the preamps sound so great combined with the 32 floating bit rate, I can't really see how I could ever need a higher quality recording unless I opened a professional studio. Otherwise, this may seem like an expensive piece of gear, but it is a one stop solution and a true bargain once you realize its full potential. If you are a Studio One user (and I guess other DAW's also have integration- I don't care), I could not recommend this piece of equipment enough. It's crazy that a home studio can afford this caliber of gear. OK, this has gone on too long so I won't talk about the apps or anything. You knocked it out of the park Presonus!

I have been working with he 32s for over a month now. The more I work with it, the more I appreciate its feature set and layout. Terrific piece of hardware and software. Together they work flawlessly. Nice job presonus!

The Presonus Studiolive 32S is a wonderful piece of equipment. It has so many features it takes quite some time to get used to operations. I love the plugins. They work flawlessly. I would highly recommend this solution to anyone. The integration with Studio1 is awesome. Great combination of hardware and software. The preamps are awesome. The overall board is very quiet. The individual channel selectable phantom power is right on. Nice job Presonus!

I design hardware for a living. I really appreciate a well laid out solution and flawless execution. Presonus has hit the target with this piece of equipment.

Presonus would be well advised however to prepare a guide that details exactly what needs to happen to bring the mixer up from initialization. The videos are terrific and are very helpful. But the flexibility creates its own issues.Good documentation is paramount to success. Depending on web articles, videos, and patience is not a good solution.

I have dealt with customers before with new hardware. When they have issues, it is always the products fault. In my experience, it is not the products fault, but a failure to assist the new owner integrate the hardware into their workflow.

The sweetwater folks are outstanding. Great advice and recommendations!

It is an awesome equipment. Beautifully designed . Sounds great too. However, I still need to explore and learn so much as I am just now transitioning from hardware recording into software (basically analog to digital). But I am pretty sure I will love to work with it. I can see so many, many potential for great creations.I am excited to begin playing with it. I'm sure I will enjoy this.

Perfect , and perfect

Well I'll been using presonus mixers since their first digital mixer they put on the market and I had never a complain those digital consoles are well made I done 100s of out outdoor concert festivals and fairs and never an issue. On sound quality, man….. it sounds great very clear and easy to drive the software as well. Keep it up the good work presonus.

This board is my first foray into the realm of digital recording. I am excited to begin this journey but must say it comes with a learning curve. I am at home on an analog stage and know the ends and outs of hooking up equipment. I now find myself behind the curve more than I would like to admit. I have an Axe FX 3 hooked up but am finding phasing issues (I think) that I must find work arounds for. The software is wonderful but I am still getting a lot of noise I am trying to clean up. If I follow the optimization protocols to get my laptop set up properly it leaves me venerable to attacks from everyone with a 4th rate hackers certificate. I don't know enough about this world to navigate safely and quickly. I have watched tutorials for weeks before getting this gear but a great deal of the "getting started" tutorials leave out basic routing protocols that left me baffled, befuddled, confused even. I am slowly getting sound out of my board but am unsure in my new Surface 7 is going to be up to the task of being a dedicated DAW platform. None of this is a reflection on the board but rather a comment on my lack of digital skills.
I would recommend that a basic getting started tutorial be produced by someone that would hand hold people like me to get a solid signal path set up so we can dive in a little quicker.
Evan Mehre, my sales rep, could not have been better at his job. I am delighted to work with Evan and will be calling on him in the future for all my gear accusations. I cannot recommend him highly enough to anyone looking to purchase new gear.
To look at my little home studio and know that I own a console that is an order of magnitude more powerful than the gear I used to load in and out of clubs night after night through the 80s and 90s is amazing! I will get a grip on all the ins and outs (no pun intended) of this equipment soon enough. This journey is frustrating at times but enjoyable never the less. Each victory is rewarding in its own rite and I do not regret jumping into the deep end of the pool straight off. I know the end result will be amazing!
My progress is slower than most so this review is lacking in technical details and recording accomplishments it is however my story thus far for what that is worth to anyone.
A huge thanks to everyone at Sweetwater for all that have done and for all we will accomplish together in the future.

My first digital mixer for my home studio which I've operated since 1975. I've just eliminated racks of outboard gear and nearly a mile of cables. Sonically, the StudioLive 32s version III is very clean and professional sounding and very attractive looking. My only problem so far is the manual. For someone not use to a digital console, the manual assumes that you are already versed in the digital routing of this type of board. It never explains DCA, VCA, Flexmix. It took 4 days and watching all the YouTube videos to be able to hear any internal effects. The manual is very poor at instruction in this. I called PreSonus technical support, and had a fairly long and informative lesson. He was very nice, and I could understand him clearly as he answered my "dumb" questions. As long as he is reachable, I feel much better in purchasing this console. The manual should explain all the versatility that the mixer has, but should explain that if you don't need 24 or more different mixes at a time how to use it to fit your needs. I love having all that flexibility, but in my home studio I just need a couple mixes. I'm learning how to apply what I need, and I'm very happy so far.

I decided to get this mixer because I want to record at home using studio one and I also have a band that plays live shows on stage. I have used studio one for a few years and struggled with various daw interfaces. Set up was not too difficult. The documentation and online reference material is pretty complete. Using the board is also intuitive. I watched a lot of online video and read the manual. It paired up with my iPad and iMac with ease after I purchased a cheap router to go wireless for the iPad. It’s day 4 and I have already begun to record some tracks and so far I am very happy with my purchase. The board is large and solid but not too heavy. The faders feel good. The layout is easy for someone to grasp the top layers of the system quickly. Interfaces with others well. Sounds good. Learning curve achievable but you have to read the manual and watch the tutorials.

I bought the mixer in late June from Mike. The more I use it and learn the features, the more I like it. The basics are intuitive and the manual guides me quickly through the deeper features. I almost called support a few times, but was able to resolve my issues with the manuals. There are a lot of helpful guides to download on the Presonus support page.
It's great to finally have more inputs than I need!
Thanks Mike and Sweetwater!

Overall, this was a great upgrade from my A&H QU-16. More channels, scribble strips, ... However, one feature I'd really hoped to use, the "32-channel" on-board recording to SD card, it really touchy. You need to have just the right SD card, formatted just the right way, and probably formatted between every use. Even then, a speed test may still report anything from 17 to 30 channels of recording capability. If you overdo it, you'll have an unfixable glitch in your recording. This feature really wasn't ready for prime time and a different SSD-based solution should have been offered.

AVB, though, is a potential workaround. Run a high-quality ethernet cable from the AVB port to an iMac and record everything there instead, at least in a studio setting. (Note, again, with AVB, you'll have a tough time getting it to work with a MacBook due to very specific requirements on the Ethernet adapter and the Mac interface used to get to it. Read up before buying if you plan to use this.)

Also, the first one of these I received had a dead channel 6, so test every channel on unboxing.

Works as a pa but can't even get FX to work or record with SD card. This was supposed to be easy? Instructions video does differently than what happens on my mixer. Sad lesson!