Presonus StudioLive 24.4.2

Following its 16 channel ‘digital and performance’ mixer hot on its heels, PreSonus has introduced the new StudioLive 24.4.2 which the company proudly states represents ‘3rd generation’ mixing features. Easier to use and better sounding than its predecessor, this new model boasts high-headroom XMAX mic pre-amps and an extensive reach FireWire recording and playback interface (sending 32 channels, returning 26). Also included are more than 90 signal processors, a huge library of DSP effects, 10 aux buses, four subgroups, clear and intuitive LED metering, mixer save/recall, channel-strip save/recall with copy/paste plus talkback.

At the heart of the mixer is PreSonus’ unique and powerful “Fat Channel”. This provides extensive metering and the programming interface for the EQ, dynamics processing, high-pass filter, and signal routing. The rather cool and creatively inspirational section sports a 4-band fully parametric EQ which is an upgrade over its 16 channel sibling’s semi-parametric equalizer. The StudioLive 24.4.2’s gate/expander has also been upgraded from the gate/expander in the earlier model, adding key Filter and key Listen features.

Without compromising the requirements of either arena, this new unit is designed to be as useful and ‘at home’ in both live and studio recording environments. Like the previous 16 channel model, the PreSonus StudioLive 24.4.2 offers the same superb audio quality when used in both these scenarios. The FireWire interface works with any ASIO or Core Audio compliant audio application and is completely cross-platform accommodating Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard.The mixer also comes bundled with PreSonus’s new Capture 1.1 recording software, working again with both Mac OS X 10.6 and Windows (including ‘7′).
An added bonus is a free copy of PreSonus’ own Studio One Artist digital audio workstation software. Again for Snow Leopard and Windows, this features unlimited track count, a full complement of their native FX plug-ins, and more than 4GB of third-party resources.