Presonus 32.4.2Al

B

Brian jojade

Senior
Jan 15, 2011
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Wausau, WI
www.happymacshop.com
Just saw this new Presonus board. Looks like they added some nice features, such as built in networking so a dedicated computer isn't needed for remote control. 32 real sliders are great on a 32 channel board so layers aren't needed, but sadly, they still don't appear to have added motorized faders. For remote control, it makes it a bit of a challenge to walk to and from the console. Had that been added, it might justify the $1000 higher price than the Behringer X32.

Since the Presonus was my first experience with digital boards, I'm fairly comfortable with their operation. I'm wondering if there are any advantages this board would have over the Behringer. The concept of using one behringer on monitor world for the inputs and just cat 5 to the FOH board is quite appealing. Not sure if that's an option with the Presonus, with expansion cards. The only advantage I see is 32 real faders instead of layers. I'd consider both to be about the same in terms of reliability and reputation.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Brian jojade said:
Just saw this new Presonus board. Looks like they added some nice features, such as built in networking so a dedicated computer isn't needed for remote control. 32 real sliders are great on a 32 channel board so layers aren't needed, but sadly, they still don't appear to have added motorized faders. For remote control, it makes it a bit of a challenge to walk to and from the console. Had that been added, it might justify the $1000 higher price than the Behringer X32.

Since the Presonus was my first experience with digital boards, I'm fairly comfortable with their operation. I'm wondering if there are any advantages this board would have over the Behringer. The concept of using one behringer on monitor world for the inputs and just cat 5 to the FOH board is quite appealing. Not sure if that's an option with the Presonus, with expansion cards. The only advantage I see is 32 real faders instead of layers. I'd consider both to be about the same in terms of reliability and reputation.
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I like the idea of a/b fat channels for everything. I've never had an issue with no moving fader. I'm quite happy with my 24.4.2 and I don't have a real need for 32 channels, but I like what I see. I can't get past the B Brand, so it wouldn't be an option for me.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

The no moving fader issue is really only a problem if you use remote control of the board. If you recall scenes, you have to remember to hit the locate button and manually set the faders. A slight pain, but not a huge deal.

Now, if you use the remote control to set levels, and you turn off a channel, the slider remains in the up position. When you get back to the board, you have to remember to hit the locate and set all fader positions where they need to be. This is easier to forget than when setting for a scene, as it's all done right at the board. The problem is that if you pulled down a fader remotely, and don't do a locate fader, as soon as you move the fader on the board it snaps to the position on the board. The result is you can end up with a hot channel that you aren't expecting, giving you very undesirable results. Motorized faders would completely eliminate this issue. The other way it could be addressed is set it so that the channel doesn't change until the slider passes the threshold of wherever it's set at. Most lighting consoles I've worked on do this exactly. I'm not sure why they didn't do that in this board.

As far as the brand issue, from everything I've seen, both are going to be in the same level of quality. The reliability of Presonus boards hasn't been flawless, by any stretch of the imagination.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

I believe you can set the board to automatically go into locate mode when a fader is moved on an iPad.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Brian jojade said:
The no moving fader issue is really only a problem if you use remote control of the board. If you recall scenes, you have to remember to hit the locate button and manually set the faders. A slight pain, but not a huge deal.
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That depends on the application, for example it can be a major issue with some theatrical use where you often need scene changes to be virtually instantaneous. Similar with preamp levels not being part of scenes.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Rob Gow said:
I believe you can set the board to automatically go into locate mode when a fader is moved on an iPad.
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That's interesting. I haven't seen that behavior on the other boards. That would be at least a little bit helpful, as it would require a button press when getting back to the board to make changes happen. Can this be done on the other boards as well?
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Craig Hauber said:
Seeing as automated full-parameter scene change is what I consider the core beauty of using a digital desk, I cannot for the life of me figure why they flat resist using motorized faders on the presonus boards? Since there are now cheaper desks with that functionality they can't be claiming cost savings for their lack.
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My take on that is that there is a clear division between a full-out "production" board and a "just music" board featuring a proprietary recording platform. The SLive is as much an adjunct of its DAW as anything else. Finding fault with it for something for which it was clearly not designed is kind of futile.

The question is......if it had the flying faders and instantaneous, no mute scene change, would you purchase it rather than a board designed for full production?

I'd guess not.
 
If it's not a full "production" mixer, which it isn't, it should be reflected in the price. $1250-ish max.

My beef isn't technically that it's an awful mixer, just that it's very over priced for what it is.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Caleb Dick said:
If it's not a full "production" mixer, which it isn't, it should be reflected in the price. $1250-ish max.

My beef isn't technically that it's an awful mixer, just that it's very over priced for what it is.
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And what other 16, 24 or 32 channel mixers requiring no outboard go for $1250, oh wise one?
 
Start with X32, $2500 street or so. Take off digi snake capability, drop price. Take off motorized faders, really drop price. Gunk up interface, drop price. Drop sound quality, drop price.

My point is, Presonus cut a lot of capability, without corresponding price cuts. Thus, their price per capability is too high.

If $3-5k is too much for a mixer, something else is wrong. If funds are so tight that $1k is the limit, time to look for used 01V's, -96's, maybe the Mackie option. Above $1500, get the X32. It really is the least-bad of the ultra-cheap options, and I'm not a Behringer lover by any stretch.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Dick Rees said:
My take on that is that there is a clear division between a full-out "production" board and a "just music" board featuring a proprietary recording platform. The SLive is as much an adjunct of its DAW as anything else. Finding fault with it for something for which it was clearly not designed is kind of futile.

The question is......if it had the flying faders and instantaneous, no mute scene change, would you purchase it rather than a board designed for full production?

I'd guess not.
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I probably would. In my business, I'm doing many medium-sized to downright tiny shows all simultaneously. I like the 01V and have a couple. However could really use 16 to 24 actual XLR inputs so the Presonus would fit right in to the size and capability I'm after. However at it's price I just keep banging away on an (relatively) ancient TT-24. I am subliminally opposed to the X32 but really can't put my thumb on a specific reason why I shy away from Behringer other than their past behavior. And frankly, the board seems like way overkill for what I need.
Overall the look, size and feel of the Presonus is perfect, -I didn't know about the "mute" at scene change? -does it really do that? However with the lack of moving faders it's basically a glorified analog desk to me and I wold rather have an APB for the price they are charging!
I'm hoping the X32 might cause an overall price reduction because there's other offerings from Soundcraft and A&H that are creeping into that perfect price/performance range for me.
(Your comment is making me think this over deeper and I guess that's a good-thing)
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Craig Hauber said:
Seeing as automated full-parameter scene change is what I consider the core beauty of using a digital desk, I cannot for the life of me figure why they flat resist using motorized faders on the presonus boards? Since there are now cheaper desks with that functionality they can't be claiming cost savings for their lack.
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The motorized faders are an obvious difference but people seem to focus on that and overlook other differences such as fixed assignments and routing and the lack of expansion I/O options. I look at the StudioLive as effectively an analog console with onboard processing (with presets) and an integrated audio interface. That makes it a good choice for some applications and not as good for others.

The non-motorized faders, manual trim/gain pots, etc. do create some unique situations and challenges in terms of remote control and especially simultaneous FoH and remote operation.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Here are a few reasons I chose the Presonus 24 channel version:
1) iPad capability, at the time no one near the price range had the capabilities of the PreSonus board
2) Recording. Again, no board anywhere near it's price could record 24 (actually 32) tracks so easily
3) No more snake, or FOH, or power to FOH unless I need them
4) no more outboard gear

I wish it had recallable gain pots and a couple more effects channels (fixed with the 32) I'm not so interested in flying faders.
For a street level sound guy this board is a great tool. But it can't and won't be ALL things to ALL people.
I've only demoed the Behringer board at GC, seems like it's an OK board, but it felt cheap compared to the Presonus board. I know that's funny since they're both "cheap" boards :)

I would like the chance to run the X32 in a live setting to form an opinion.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Craig Hauber said:
-I didn't know about the "mute" at scene change? -does it really do that? However with the lack of moving faders it's basically a glorified analog desk to me and I wold rather have an APB for the price they are charging!
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1.5 second sound mute on scene changes. If you want to maintain audio output (playback, I would assume) during scene changes, you'd have to have a separate mixer through which you'd route both the board output and the playback....not a pretty picture.

Yes, it's not a full-out digital board. I term it "digi-log". It processes all signals in the digital domain, but the actual control surface and work-flow is very, very analog......which is why it's so darned quick and easy to learn and work.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

I don't know how important it is to guys that provide sound (vs guys that do sound for their own band from stage), but I found that I really like having dedicated sliders (and full meter bridge) vs. layers and half the sliders than there are inputs.

If this doesn't bother you, then the X32 does appear to give quite a value as compared to the SL 32.4.2AI. In fact, at the same price point you can only get the 24.4.2.

The new members of the X32 brand don't do as well IMHO. The SL 16.0.2 is simply without any competition. The 16.4.2 has 16 dedicated faders and is $700.00 less expensive than the X32 compact.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Scott Bolt said:
I don't know how important it is to guys that provide sound (vs guys that do sound for their own band from stage), but I found that I really like having dedicated sliders (and full meter bridge) vs. layers and half the sliders than there are inputs.

If this doesn't bother you, then the X32 does appear to give quite a value as compared to the SL 32.4.2AI. In fact, at the same price point you can only get the 24.4.2.

The new members of the X32 brand don't do as well IMHO. The SL 16.0.2 is simply without any competition. The 16.4.2 has 16 dedicated faders and is $700.00 less expensive than the X32 compact.
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While I agree $1299 is a nice price for what you get with the 16.0.2, comparing it to the X32 compact is NOT an apples to apples comparison. And therefore saying it costs $700 less is not relevant if you ask me. Without getting into details, the I/O and feature set, and internal processing on the X32 compact is considerably stronger.

I've never used any of the Presonus desks, I'm sure they're fine and I know they have a lot of happy owners. But honestly now that the X32 has been out in the wild for a few months with very strong field reports, I don't see why anyone would spend more and get less. If it was going to be a catastrophic failure in terms of reliability would have been apparent by now. I don't see them all hitting the 1 year old mark and all of a sudden taking a huge shit on everyone. Not to mention the SL series appeared to have considerably more problems at its launch in terms of reliability.

The new 32 channel SL appears to have a few things on the X32. From a quick read of the feature list I noticed physical direct outs on every channel, 16 available GEQ's without eating up FX, And 14 aux sends also without eating up sub groups. On the other hand, you're locked into that configuration. So if you need more than 4 subgroups it doesn't appear there's much you can do. For some of the corporate stuff I do I have more outputs than inputs, and make heavy use of Matrix outputs, and bus outputs on the X32. The flexibility is key for me. And 16 GEQ's is nice, but I've never needed that many for anything I'd consider using an X32 for. And if I'm on a gig that needs that many GEQ's in addition to FX, a Studio Live is also not an option.

Without even getting into motorized faders and recallable preamps, things like not having DCA's or matrix outputs are a big deal when comparing the usablity the two desks. So to the OP, all things considered I see absolutely nothing that justifies paying $1000 more for the Presonus.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Loren....

I agree with the "not apples to apples" statement. And I would apply it to your "corporate stuff" situation. The SLive is not designed for that use/market, so any comparison with something which is is not "apples to apples".

The SLive is a music mixing board with a nice multi-track recording interface and DAW. For that it's fine. But do not confuse it with an "event production" console.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

Dick Rees said:
Loren....

I agree with the "not apples to apples" statement. And I would apply it to your "corporate stuff" situation. The SLive is not designed for that use/market, so any comparison with something which is is not "apples to apples".

The SLive is a music mixing board with a nice multi-track recording interface and DAW. For that it's fine. But do not confuse it with an "event production" console.
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For an "event production" console, the only advantage I see the SL32 has over the X32 is that it isn't a Behringer. Which, if current trends continue, isn't going to be an advantage for long.
 
Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al

I mostly mix music. I sometimes am forced to mix on an iPad. I have an acquaintance who mixes every show on an iPad with a Presonus. It seems to me that only a very rudimentary style of mixing can be done on the Presonus iPad app as you can only do 1 thing at a time. An iPad app.. Or digital console for that matter... Without DCAs is worthless to me. At least the XiControl let's me assign things I need to adjust to DCA faders and at least approximate a dynamic mix.
 
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