Presonus StudioLive 64S REVIEW (First Impressions) -

[@AWTechTuesday]

Between when this video was recorded and released, PreSonus released a firmware update. From what I've read, the Matrix issue has been addressed. I haven't seen anything regarding the other issues raised in this video. Luckily, PreSonus seems to make somewhat frequent updates for these consoles. -Chad

[@Zazquatch1]

How has it changed up until today? Have they fixed the things you didn't like yet?

[@Cando79]

Purchasing this console in the week coming. I'm using the PreSonus 32 live now. Can I export my ALL present setting to this 64s console with starting from point A? Great videos.

[@AWTechTuesday]

waldensaudio I have limited experience but I believe you can. I was able to move a scene between a 64S and a 24R and I seem to remember that it transferred whatever it could that was in common between the 2 consoles. When you try it yourself, please let me know your results :)

[@AWTechTuesday]

Also, there’s a super helpful Facebook group for the Series III consoles. You should definitely join if you haven’t already. -Chad

[@gracenotes5379]

Useful review, thanks! I have seen some complaints in online discussions about the resistive touch screen being (ahem) resistant to registering touches. Is that an issue with this board?

[@AWTechTuesday]

Charles Razzell So, yes, the screen is not as sensitive as higher end consoles like the dLive. Also, for whatever reason, you cannot scroll with the screen. I use the X32 a lot so I’m used to not having a touch screen. Once I got used to it, the touchscreen wasn’t all that much of an issue for me.

[@Yahoomediaclub]

Agreed on the FX presets..VAN! Wtf? 🤪 you also mentioned the board crashed...ONCE!! My board crashes every day ( sometimes 4-6 times) with something or other with DAW mode, COMM+B when bouncing trax causes a crash it also, not to mention lots of others, quite concerned as I recon it can’t be good fo the desk being switched off each time to re boot it. (Not using soft switch off) I’m now making a list of the causes of the desk crashes.

[@AWTechTuesday]

Dang. Sorry to hear that. Are you on the Presonus Facebook group? There are some really helpful people on there.

[@ianmacstewart]

It would be nice to know what OS version your Mac was running.

[@trulyronson]

Could you do a video on setting up parallel compression?

[@AWTechTuesday]

Different mixer but same concepts - m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnLSmnqbiMl7aNU Hopefully that helps :) -Chad

[@Zazquatch1]

I thought this was helpful. I am mostly thinking of using mine (whatever console I chose in the future) for studio recording. In this view, how are any other consoles holding up against this one? Thinking f ex about the M32.

[@AWTechTuesday]

I think the M32 is a great studio option. I’ve used an XR18 before with excellent results. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHK2lJiufsebh9U Hope that helps :) -Chad

[@artist1303]

I also experienced pops and clicks. My thought is my laptop is only 8gb ram and maybe if i upgraded it to a 16gb it would process it better?

[@AWTechTuesday]

Artist 1I would definitely upgrade your RAM if you can but also experiment with raising your buffer size. Higher buffer sizes will result in less pops and clicks, though they will also result in more latency.

[@CybreSmee]

I found the lack of inserts a deal breaker, especially on the master bus its crazy. Sure, you can chew up flexi mix spots for sending, but its really confusing as to whats going where, and two fx returns is simply stupid. We have a bunch of nice outboard masterbus processing and 500 series units that cant be used.

[@kwabenaasuming994]

I experienced a lot of freezing where the whole board became totally unresponsive on my studiolive 32 series III while running the board during a live concert. I had to turn off the board during a performance and when I turned it back on, the board reset itself back to it's out of box default state. I think in theory, the board looks ideal but in a live situation, one cannot express 100% confidence in its true capability and that is worrying. In short, there is a fundamental problem /issue with the device and the engineers really have to work hard to resolve it. If the 32ch has this kind of problem, I honestly wonder what problems and issues await those who use the 64s🤔

[@AWTechTuesday]

kwabena asuming Thanks for sharing your story. I hope they can get all of that figured out. That kind of failure is really scary 😬

[@AdamVitali]

In the end with bugs sorted. Which board the x32 or presonus? The desk freezing was fixed in the latest update. And also the way the scenes are laid out has changed. Not sure if the van was driven away in the update will have to check.

[@AWTechTuesday]

Great question. I've got the most experience with the X32 so I'm a bit biased towards that mixer. If I need more than 32 channels, obviously the 64S has the advantage there. I'm not convinced that Behringer will ever have a 64 channel mixer at that price without hurting their other product lines. If I'm comparing 32 vs 32, as of this very moment, there are more features that I prefer in the X32 though I LOVE having the user page and DCA spill on the 64S. I prefer the way aux mixes are handled on the X32 (especially regarding tap points at the channel level rather than bus level). Also the 64S is missing de-essers and an offline editor (though I understand both of those are coming). The touchscreen on the 64S is just okay so it is an advantage over the X32 but not by leaps and bounds. Both now have a great ecosystem of other products like digital snakes and personal mixers. The X32's peripherals are more affordable but don't have quite as many options. Presonus has blown me away with having a 64 channel USB interface built in. They just need to fix the 48k issue. Also, I don't know if this is possible, but having the ability to go to 96k would help them to compete against Allen & Heath. So... to answer your question, I'll give you a weak answer of "it depends" haha. I think the 64S will be a perfect solution for churches with tight budgets that need a lot of ins and outs. It'll fit nicely between those who want a dLive but have a budget closer to that of the X32 :) Thanks for watching and commenting! Are there any big changes you've noticed since the last update? -Chad

[@jouebien]

I'd agree that getting to stuff super sucks. Hay let's make you page through every thing before you get to your sub grops. The lack of inserts fx was super disappointing. What's the point of having on board fx If the only ones are reverbs and 3 EQs? IDK why the high pass is stuck on the inputs page instead of the eq. I really hate the expansion - I don't want to have to buy an entire rack console to get a stage box. The desktop experience UI is not well though out. They don't provide audio Ethernet drivers for Windows. Oh yeah the solo super sucks - can I have master in solo with nothing selected. Why can't you press solo the master bus? If you want a good reverb use the vintage one is super nice and the defaults types make good starting points.

[@JBF-GST-Tanda]

The lack of inserts is really disappointing, otherwise you can just run some Waves processing through its built-in 64x64 bada$$ USB soundcard to overcome all the limitations of internal FX's. For expansion boxes with no stand-alone mixing capabilities, NSB series might be what you're looking for. Audio Ethernet drivers hmm... Let's just say F******CK to AVB being both an IP-based protocol and a capitalistic proprietary protocol which needs lots of money and certifications and registrations to make it work (It is not even compatible with generic Ethernet switches). I once thought that Presonus is a nice example against operation system discrimination because it provides control software for Windows, Apple and Android users while other brands like Yamaha or Soundcraft only offer Apple versions of control software. However when it comes to the AVB audio protocol, which is natively supported on Mac but absolutely non-accessible on Windows, I realized that the OS discrimination still exists. For solos... I remember that there are three solo modes, and one of them (Probably the "control room" mode?) allows the monitor signals to follow the main output when no PFL switches are on.

[@jouebien]

@@JBF-GST-Tanda those stand alone stage boxes came a year or so after my OG comment. At launch they only way to expand the console was with the rack console or another sl3. Even with the new stage boxes if you want to run to separate locations you have to buy a very expensive switch as there is only one avb port & no card slot. Want to use waves and remote i/o? well too bad they have to share the same avb port. Want to use waves and danate well pay up and buy the expensive switch and danate external modules. What's that+ want to have 64 inserts and remote i/o? well too bad your out of avb channels. While I agree it's great the control software runs cross platform - the desktop versions suck ass. You can't see anything at a high enough level which makes monitoring the & navigation console a huge pain. You'd never want to mix anything remotely complicated on one of the rack units using the app. You can't use an alternative apps like mixing station because prssonus in there infinate wisdom have obfuscated the control protocol instead of using the industry standard OSC and providing documentation (either publicly or through nda). I don't think I originally mentioned the buggy firmware either. First one crashed the surface if you hit the fx buttons. The next three major bugs hard crashed the entire console. Presonus don't test the firmware enough before releasing it.

[@Yahoomediaclub]

Awesome Review...Thanks. Hopefully these changes get done soon in the updates...Before i purchase one (32 S) Worth keeping an eye out on updates....Do i purchase Behringer Wing...NOPE!! this is a well integrated board. Some fixes and updates soon. Jono Rezzillo March 20202) Shame it doesnt record 96 either...

[@225maine]

Yes,cause if you can't record at 96hz what's the use of doing it at all right? Because everyone is doing it, there wouldn't be any music without it...lmaooooo not,gtfoh

[@alanwilliams1360]

Presonus have the opportunity to do something special with the 64s, but it would be a serious let down & mistake, a blot against their credibility to leave the 64s with so many issues period. it would simply not be ethical and potentially amount to false advertising if there are so many problems using it.. So I'll be watching this page to see these issues addressed..

[@AWTechTuesday]

It’s been a few years since I tried the 64S. Hopefully they have made changes. I haven’t heard much in that regard but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. They were recently purchased by Fender so who knows what effect that may have 🤷

[@hewhorocketh]

3 years on and still no 32 or 64 channel stage box!

I guess you know that the solution would be 2 or 4 NSB 16.8 or 1 or 2 32R (yes, kind of pricey...)

[@markgabbidon5859]

I was going to get this but changed my mind for these reasons: 1. Transport Controls too far away. They should be toward bottom of the mixer where my hand is. 2. Touch screen interface built in fixed on the board and not retractable 3. No Scrub wheel?????????????? 4. Faders look good qaulity but the buttons look cheap and the mixer does not look great. 5. No SSl eq emulation??? You gotta be kidding

[@AWTechTuesday]

Mark Gabbidon To be fair, this is a console made for live usage. The DAW aspects are more of a secondary need in that field of use. What would probably work better for you is motorized control surface. In this video, I give a tour of some of the studio gear that has been working well for me :) m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKu9qmejq7VgjLs -Chad

[@markgabbidon5859]

Hi thanks for the reply. I’m actually Not looking for a control surface. I’m looking for tight daw/mixer integration with analog emulation plugin effects from board inside daw on each channel. Like this presonus unit. I was at first very excited and was ready to pull the trigger. However after careful evaluation I found those issues mentioned above and they are important to me and my workflow in the studio. This desk from their description is equally a studio desk as it is a live desk. Thanks for your help though I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

[@AWTechTuesday]

Mark Gabbidon This isn’t as elegant of a solution as what you’d probably want, but for console emulation with a live mixer, you may want to consider a console that offers a Waves Card and try the NLS plug in. I like to use that in the studio. It’s not super obvious live but it might get you a little closer to what you’re looking for :) We did this a few years back at a summer camp on an X32 just using the built in USB Card. My favorite part of the entire setup was the ability to use the F6 Dynamic EQ as needed. Very useful plugin :) Unfortunately, it isn’t really better in regard to transport controls but you could potentially use a midi controller to make those options more accessible for your needs. m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZmrp2mia9iriac

[@funkolog]

reverb type: Van... hmm. very useful. :-DDD seriously who allowed to leave the factory like this.. thanks for review!

[@AWTechTuesday]

funkolog Hahaha! Right?! Luckily, it’s an easy fix. It’s a pretty random small oversight in an otherwise pretty awesome mixer :) Haha Thanks for watching and commenting! -Chad

[@zakaria6089]

Halo dulor...

[@glynnetolar4423]

Before watching this video take some Dramamine.

[@AWTechTuesday]

Haha. Sorry about that. Keeps things exciting though. It's like a gear review AND Cloverfield at the same time... but for free :) Have a fantastic day! -Chad

[@小宝叔讲电影]

普瑞声纳真的是一款非常垃圾的调音台 谁用谁知道反应还迟钝 买完就后悔了破烂玩意赶紧处理了

[@salthedrummer1]

Slow down a bit when you explain. You’re talking too fast…