Presonus StudioLive SL32.4.2AI Digital Mixer

A StudioLive mixer will quickly spoil you with its tremendous signal-processing power on each channel, easy storage and recall of all settings, and the ability to record it all with just two mouse clicks. It provides the greatest creative environment possible for both live performance and studio music production by being easier to use, sounding better, and seamlessly integrating with state-of-the-art software. The PreSonus StudioLive 32.4.2AI digital mixer is a 32-channel, 14-aux mixer that builds on the qualities of earlier StudioLive versions while also pushing the technology forward.

The StudioLive 32.4.2AI is equipped with next-generation Active Integration technology, which gives it unrivalled power for a mixing console in this price range. While the 32.4.2AI has a similar look and feel to its non-AI siblings, it has significantly more computing power, allowing for some extremely valuable new functions.

You get twice as many internal effects buses and 31-band visual EQs, for starters. Six mute groups have been added, as well as user-assignable Quick Scene buttons. You'll love being able to perform quick A/B comparisons between two entire sets of EQ and dynamics settings for a channel or bus at the push of a button.

Standard features include a 48x34 FireWire S800 interface, although Thunderbolt and Ethernet (Dante) cards are due by the end of 2013. You can control the mixer wirelessly using a dedicated USB 2 connection and the supplied Wi-Fi LAN adapter, even if you don't have a Mac or Windows PC.

Naturally, you'll receive the most recent version of our tightly integrated software bundle, which includes updated Capture 2.0 recording software, Studio One Artist DAW, and Virtual StudioLive-AI editor/librarian/control software with Smaart Measurement Technology. The Apple App Store will have both StudioLive Remote-AI for iPad and QMix-AI for iPhone/iPod touch for free. The more you learn about the StudioLive 32.4.2AI's possibilities, the more you'll realise that digital mixing's future begins right now.

The next generation of live audio products will be able to recognise each other, communicate and collaborate via wireless and wired communication, have 32-bit floating-point DSP and completely integrated software, and run on fast CPUs. With its innovative Active Integration technology, PreSonus has made this ambition a reality. The StudioLive 32.4.2AI mixer has 64 times the processing power and 10,000 times the RAM of the StudioLive 24.4.2 mixer thanks to Active Integration.

A cursory glance at the StudioLive 32.4.2AI reveals a user-friendly mixing surface that's become all too familiar. The 32 channels, 4 subgroups, and main bus all have 100 mm faders. All fundamental mixing features are readily accessible from the mixing surface, without having to use the LCD, as with all StudioLive mixers, giving an intuitive, analog-like user experience.

Every channel, bus, and subgroup in the Fat Channel section gets a compressor, limiter, gate/expander, and four-band fully parametric EQ, as well as a high-pass filter and polarity invert, plus routing, panning, and Scene and setting storage and recall.

Buttons to choose from For processing and routing, assign the channels, buses, and subgroups to the Fat Channel. A Talkback portion, a Cue section, and thorough metering are all included.

You also get aux buses (14 of them) and dedicated buses (two of each) with 32-bit floating-point stereo reverb and delay.
A classic StudioLive jackfield can be found on the back, with XLR mic and 1/4" inputs and TRS insert points on each channel, as well as a plethora of other inputs and outputs. FireWire S800 connectors, rather as the FireWire 400 ports on the StudioLive 24.4.2, 16.4.2, and 16.0.2, provide wired networking to a Mac or PC, with Thunderbolt and Ethernet choices (Dante). Check for stereo S/PDIF digital outputs! Check for DB25 connections on analogue direct channel outputs. Flexible connectivity is obviously not an issue.

The audio quality is excellent, as it always is with PreSonus. StudioLive 32.4.2, like all StudioLive models, includes PreSonus' acclaimed Class A XMAX mic preamps and top-notch converters with 118 dB of dynamic range. The dynamics processing, EQ, high-pass filters, and effects on StudioLive mixers have received outstanding reviews. The only difference is that PreSonus has offered you even more of them in StudioLive 32.4.2.

Features

• Active integration technology
• Impeccable audio quality
• Vast EQ and effects palette
• Instant A/B compare
• Great for live or studio
• Flexible connectivity