Hey guy's ... I just upgraded my board from a behringer to a Mixwiz 3 16 channel. I now have a friend who is selling a Presonus Studio live 16 channel. I figure when said and done, the Studio live will cost me 200 more. Since I don't have any rack mounted effects, processors, compressors, etc .. Would this be a better upgrade? Also, Would the Presonus be a good board to record our live shows with? I don't have anything to record with yet, So I was thinking like a Zoom R16 to go with my mixwiz but that would put me over the cost of the Presonus. What do you guy's think? Thanks!
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Which mixer board?
- Thread starter UPeopleJam
- Start date
16.4.2, yes.
16.0.2, maybe not...
Used mac with firewire is im my opinion the best way to go on the cheap recording wise if you own an SL board. PC fire wire is really hit or miss. Mostly miss in my experience... It doesn't take a lot of mac either. i use a bottom of the barrle 2008 macbook, 4g ram,256g SSD - i have around $500 in it. Works like a champ.
I love my 16.4.2. It just rocks!
16.0.2, maybe not...
Used mac with firewire is im my opinion the best way to go on the cheap recording wise if you own an SL board. PC fire wire is really hit or miss. Mostly miss in my experience... It doesn't take a lot of mac either. i use a bottom of the barrle 2008 macbook, 4g ram,256g SSD - i have around $500 in it. Works like a champ.
I love my 16.4.2. It just rocks!
Yup. The Presonus may not sound quite as good in critical situations, but if you're gonna record on the cheap digitally, that's out the window anyway.
- Jan 27, 2010
- 4,141
- 471
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- Endorsing Artist: Genz Benz Amplification
In terms of features the Presonus kills anything in it's price range. However, there will be a bit of a learning curve, and digital consoles are a bit slower for live use, as you have to page through menus, etc. rather than just grabbing a knob.
Thanks for the reply's ! Yes, the board he has is a 16. 4. 2. Presonus. We are just a bar band, 4 piece, that has no way to decently record a show. That's why I was wondering if I should keep the Mixwiz3 and get say a Zoom R16 or for a little less, (Once I sell the Mixwiz) I could get the Presonus. From my understanding, I can record right to the board thereby eliminating the need for the Zoom?
I don't think I would hang the decision on the Zoom. I mean that's a $200 kind of adequate recording device. I sure won't steer you away from the A&H board because it IS bad ass and extremely user friendly. That said, my next board will be digital and if you got a deal on the 16.4.2 it would be silly to pass it up in my opinion.
Thanks Floyd. With the allen & heath how would you go about recording your gigs? I do have a tascam Dr-07 but haven't had much luck with it recording anything worth listening too.
There are most definitely a lot of guys here much better qualified to answer that question for you. I have never recorded my band with anything other than a video camera or something. Modulusman or Walter will have the answers you need. All I can tell you is that the Mixwiz is the best board I have ever used, not that it's saying much. Very easy for a guy to use from the stage if that's your thing and soundguys love them.
I don't believe your statistic at all.
Exactly, If the board had that kind of failure rate I think I would have read about it somewhere on the internet. I have one I bought used 2 years ago and it still works. I know of 3 bands/soundmen locally who own one and AFAIK they are still using them.
My sound company had three of them, and all three failed. PreSonus' own forum is full of horror stories about this board. My tech said it's common knowledge. PreSonus' tech support said that the failure rate was near 90%. The 24.4.2 and the new 32 are made on a different jig, and don't have that issue. If you don't use it connected to a computer, you'll never have a problem, either.
Allen & Heath have a similar board, sounds immensely better, and has AH's typical build quality. That's what I would use.
The Presonus are good consoles. The X32s are much better. The street price on the Compact was just dropped to $1700. (Despite what some dealers say, it is not being discontinued.) I've seen used 16.4.2 sell as low as $1050. I'd still get the compact.
I think your tech is full of it. If someone at Presonus was saying the failure was 90% and his bosses found out he would probably be looking for another job.
i don't believe the failure rate issue either. mind you out of 4 ive sold to customers 2 had issues...1 right out of the box with the compressor knob not working. and the other the firewire ports keeps screwing up.
out of the few others i have randomly come across live mixing for backing tracks, the firewire ports have always been taped on the console cos when connected it would disconnect...
so i can see that the failure rate is certainly high, but i don't believe 90%...
now in saying all of that, i still wouldn't pick a presonus console. i think that they sound quite harsh (let the games begin). i would be going with the A&H QU16 or the Mackie DL1608. however if you are looking for something that it recording specific then certainly the Presonus console (regardless of the sound cos it can be fixed post production) would be a better choice.
out of the few others i have randomly come across live mixing for backing tracks, the firewire ports have always been taped on the console cos when connected it would disconnect...
so i can see that the failure rate is certainly high, but i don't believe 90%...
now in saying all of that, i still wouldn't pick a presonus console. i think that they sound quite harsh (let the games begin). i would be going with the A&H QU16 or the Mackie DL1608. however if you are looking for something that it recording specific then certainly the Presonus console (regardless of the sound cos it can be fixed post production) would be a better choice.
