For some years now I have been following the evolution of Presonus closely. From a brand dedicated trivially to the almost amateur home studio, little by little it has created a groove that is leading it to be considered among the top brands as regards pro audio and in fact it could not escape the big names in the sector, so much so that a brand like Fender has taken over the US brand, so as to also have a view on what is the professional audio sector both studio and live.
In this case, I tested a model of the new mixer line StudioLive III, il 24R, a digital rack unit fully controllable by Windows, Android, iPad and so on. It is the middle way between the larger unit (the 32R) and the smallest called 16R.
Front Panel
Taking a first look at the 24R, we observe that it is on two rack units. On the front panel we have 24 XLR \ combo inputs very comfortable in live settings, a headphone output with volume potentiometer, an all mute button (also very useful in an emergency) and a recording slot on SD card.
Back panel
On the rear panel we find instead from left to right the on / off switch with its VDE input, a USB port to interface the unit to a PC and use it as a 64 × 64 sound card, an ethernet input called control that allows us to control it via pc or tablet, a network audio input necessary for the use of personal monitors, for example Presonus EarMix via AVB protocol. Next we have 12 mix out jack trs, two XLR outputs for the master and a stereo RCA input called 23 \ 24 which bypasses the front channels. Speaking of this unit, it is also possible to add NSB digital stage boxes to expand, for example, the number of inputs so as to bring it to 40.
Parameters present on the mixer
We will not waste too much time analyzing all the parameters present on this mixer, as it is theexact copy in the rack version of the top series 24\32\64s. In fact we have the same approach to Channel strip named Fat Channel. In other words, by selecting each single channel, it “explodes” all the parameters of the input section, gate, comp and eq on the screen (or on the upper part of the “physical” mixer….). The input section is practically identical to that of the traditional mixer. We have, for each channel, control of go into, 48v, phase, stereolinks, high filter\pass e delay. As also in the traditional version there are all the "alternative" modes as regards equalizer and compressor, in fact we can find by simply selecting them from the drop-down menu, the various vintage emulations which can replace the standard version of both the equalizer and the compressor on every single channel (therefore not occupying a slot of the insert processors as on X32 \ M32 for example). We can find various emulations, most likely derived from the versions present on Studio One, as Pultec, Eq e Comp Snow, A2a, UA 1176 and more. Each channel via the Fat Channel mode has the option to have the mode A\Bthat is, basically having two separate presets on each channel. Being the exact replica of the software of the standard version, also in this case the various parameters of eq, comp and Gate must be activated on each channel, to be clearer, unlike many mixers such as Yamaha o Midas for example, all these sections always need to be activated via the ON symbol present in the relevant section. Nothing special, but often in excited phases during a live show, it would be better to have as few parameters as possible to pay attention to and in fact I do not deny that a couple of times I had to go back to the relevant channel before realizing that the eq o the compressor was deactivated!
Personal considerations 1
On the traditional Presonus mixer this is more convenient because it displays all the parameters of the FAT Channel. By selecting the single gate \ comp or eq parameter, without using the screen, it is possible to activate the single processor via a dedicated button, while on the iPad I would have preferred to have fewer controls to manage.
Sound of the mixer
As far as the purely sound part is concerned, also in this case I have not noticed any difference with the standard version. The preamps are very quiet, with a good gain value of 65db and a relationship s\n di 94db and also in this case (peculiarity for example of Midas mixers, but not Yamaha or Allen Heath), you have to "pull" the preamplifiers a lot to warm up the signal. Even brought almost to the limit on the master, the 24r maintains a good audio quality without compromising the signal too much, a sign of a 'excellent headroom.
Effects section
As for the effects section, we have 4 slot with different types of reverb e delay always vintage-inspired. As far as routing is concerned, it is really easy to switch any single channel to an input via physical input, via digital internship or via entrance usb. We have a considerable number of outputs (16) that can be assigned indiscriminately as aux, subgroup or Matrix, each with 6-band parametric eq and delay and finally DCA (24 !!!)
Personal considerations 2
One choice I don't agree with was having 12 physical Jack Trs outputs on the rear panel. The obvious answer is "Where did you want the space to put 12 XLR outputs on a two unit rack panel, considering it is the same as the 32 channel version?" I agree, but this is a mixer that places a step above the various Behringer \ Midas XR18 \ MR18s which are simple light versions, both in quality and in price and that we imagine have a use in small live clubs or small band, where I find 16in and 8 out XLR ... When instead we speak of a "beast" of this type, therefore of a mixer that is the exact photocopy of the traditional version, it is reasonable to think that it can be used on much more demanding stages and where the standard of the monitor outputs (both in terms of speakers with power amp and active speakers) is rarely on TRS, but in 99% of cases, it will be on XLR! I want to think that this choice was made because being rack-mounted it can be assumed that monitoring is also rack-mounted, therefore in-ear, if anything wireless and therefore on 12 outputs we will have 6 stereo pairs ... In the meantime, in this TEST period, for live, I always had to bring 6 XLR \ JACK TRS adapters.
Use with Tablet
Let's move on to analyze the management as regards the use with the tablet, where is the real difference with the standard version. First of all, the configuration via external modem was really very simple. After updating the firmware, so as to be able to synchronize it with the new control App on Mac and then on the tablet, it was enough to perform a few steps to align the mixer with the external modem, a very normal TP-Link that I already use on other mixers, in fact if you already have experience in interfacing a digital mixer with the related apps on a tablet or PC, there will be no problem whatsoever. On the other hand, there was a problem when the soundcheck ended and I left the room with my nice tablet. Once back, I discover that the app does not re-synchronize at all, after losing the signal for a few minutes (for example with Midas or Allen Heath this thing never gives problems). As a result, I had to restart the app and re-sync everything. Trying this again later in the studio I noticed that it always happens, after the communication between mixer and tablet drops for a few minutes, it seems that it is a bug that will be eliminated in the next software release.
As for the control screens of the various sections, obviously everything is much more compact than the traditional mixer (even if there is still the possibility of having the whole exploded in Fat Channel style if you want ...). In fact, on the same panel we can have all the sections at hand, always keeping an eye on the input section. The eq is quite immediate as regards the use, even if I still find it too slow in the touch response, but the feeling is practically identical to the 32s for example, so I think the problem is not due to the touch version on tablet . For the rest, having already had experience with the 32s, I had no problem using it via tablet.
EarMix personal monitor
In addition to the 24r mixer, we also had two EarMix personal monitors ...
Analyzing it quickly from an external point of view, I have the feeling that the products used to make the instrument are not up to the standard of those used for the mixers, especially on the keyboard section. On the front panel we have 16 buttons associated with the relative signals coming from the main mixer, at the top we have a very convenient save and recall section, in the center the equalization section, independent for each channel, then the pan and limiter section (very important when has to do with headphone mixes). Finally we have the possibility to switch everything to mono and to select the aux input on the rear panel while listening. Moving on to the rear panel, in fact, we also have a headphone output, a stereo line out, AVB In Ethernet input coming from the mixer and AVB Thru that allows you to connect another EarMix in cascade.
The setup was straightforward enough. A simple one was enough Ethernet cable and the personal monitor immediately recognized all channels. Obviously, through an ethernet switch, it is possible to split a single AVB signal to multiple personal monitors. The use was really immediate and even the musicians to whom I entrusted it did not take long to learn how to use it. I noticed a couple of elements that didn't convince me very much, first of all the output volume for the headphones. By connecting directly to the In-ear Shure215 I noticed that the volume was not too satisfying. Trying to connect my Sennheiser HD25 the situation did not improve much. Taking for example the direct competition, namely the Behringer Powerplay P16, but also the Midas DP48, with the same headphones, the volume was satisfactory. Another flaw that I could notice is the absence of analog and ADAT inputs on the various switches marketed by Presonus to interface the various products via AVB protocol, which could have made the stand alone use of these products even easier. in the recording studio.
Conclusions
With this new StudioLive III series (particularly the 32 and 64s), Presonus definitively abandons that somewhat hybrid status it had up to now and definitively enters the ranks of the best brands also in terms of mid-level digital mixers, so let's talk about Midas M32, Allen Heath SQ, I would even venture to bring him closer to the series QL Yamaha in some respects, even if it should be better analyzed as regards for example the versatility in a use for example theatrical or musical, including Recall Safe, software that drive audio / video etc. . As for the 24r, as well as the 32 or 64s, these are excellent products with everything you need to bring home an event without any problems whatsoever. I still remember the cumbersome Studiolive 16.0.2 that made me damn so much during live shows, here we are on a completely different planet.
Probably the US company still lacks important feedback from a truly "PRO" live environment and from years of intensive use that can make these products turn definitively, correcting some aspects, especially from a software point of view that are still a bit cumbersome and not always understandable as a choice. The management via AVB protocol must also be improved, because in intensive use via switch with personal monitor, digital stage, FOH \ Stage and track acquisition via audio interface, there may be some problems as reported by some users. But the road is the right one and it is not long before Presonus crosses the range of mid-level digital mixers as well. We await the new firmware updates.
Useful Information
Product: Presonus Studiolive III 24R
Price: Approximately Euro 1.400
Product: Presonus EarMix 16M
Price: About 370,00 euros
Italian distributor: Midimusic SRL
