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[Kristian Johnsen]

Matthew Haber wrote on Wed, 05 January 2011 00:52

Kristian Johnsen wrote on Tue, 04 January 2011 17:39 I hope you are at liberty to answer as per your own opinion. What kind of endorsement arrangement would allow for that? Not one that most manufacturers are going to like, IMHO.

If Presonus REALLY believe in their product they won't feel compelled to ask the endorsee (is that a word?) to not speak their mind, would they?

So in a sense, I guess your question is also a test of the product

[Kristian Johnsen]

Dick Rees wrote on Wed, 05 January 2011 01:00

Stavross (Sam Buck) wrote on Tue, 04 January 2011 16:17 Michael Ace Baker wrote on Tue, 04 January 2011 16:08 Anyway, you'll be happy to know that PreSonus has been kind enough to store "Presets" in the board to help get you up and going....kick, snare, toms, and....you got it....VOCAL! Presets are great, but for me personally a digital board without recallable preamps is a no go. Presets are fine.  I ignore all the Presonus ones and made my own, but even then they are just a "shotgun" approach and need tweaking to taste in each situation.  For those who have little or no experience the stock ones may avail.  For wider and varied applications I prefer to dial things in as needed. The thing that makes me less than comfortable at this stage of the "discussion" is that opinions are being posted by a user who, if not a paid employee of the company, at least derives certain sponsorial benefits and has a somewhat vested interest in spouting the company line. I thought such posting was not exactly kosher.......

Generally speaking...

Whether I'm preparing for a gig on my computer or fiddling with an anolog desk before soundcheck:  The EQs, etc have to be in some position, anyway, right?  So I figure one way is as bad as the other, but no real need for everything to start "flat", just because.  

For me, this "some" position tends to be how I know from experience that the channel tends to end up given the mic, the source and the musical content.  I haven't made presets yet, but just might after this discussion.

[Jay Barracato]

Well I guess I am going to find out. My school (where I have no official sound related duties) just bought a studiolive 24 to replace a 15+ year old Ramsa analog board. I used to get regular "how do we ..." phone calls about the analog board and I am sure no one in the school system other than me really knows how to use any but the most obvious features on the digital.

We also got a new set of 3 db DVA's plus 1 sub box per side for the auditorium. At least the speakers were professionally installed.

I think I have exactly 3 shows on studiolives, so the jury is still out for me. I haven't really decided if I love it or I hate it, but what I do remember not liking during the shows I did was having to look away from the knobs to see what functions they were set to control. The moving eq channels on the graphics really bothered me. I have similar dislikes about the 01V and LS9. So it may be my analog background showing, but I can understand Bennett's point about the control surface, because any encoder with more than one function really slows me down. That may be a function of practice, but I also think it is related to the consols because I did not hav ethe same problems when learning to use the Digico or the venue boards,

[Michael Ace Baker]

Hello Mr. Rees,

I am sorry that I make you feel uncomfortable by weighing in on this discussion, and if you guys would like, I will leave this website and you can carry on discussing this desk without me.

But let me just say this: I don't work for PreSonus. Any piece of gear that they have given to me they were actually giving to the Artist. When I left Tower of Power, I left them the recording rig that PreSonus gave them. The recording rig that they gave me to use for Sammy Hagar lives in Michael Anthony's locker. Besides getting to use the gear while I'm out, I don't get anything. As a matter of fact, the last 3 PreSonus products that I picked up last year were from Guitar Center....not even a discount!

In November, I was in a situation where I had a 40 day European rock club tour. The Artist (Paul Gilbert) was interested in recording all of his shows. I also know that trying to figure out how to run a recording split off of 41 different consoles would be impossible....some boards have 1/4" direct outs, some boards have XLR out, some boards have NO outs and would require 24 XLR "y" cables...it was obvious that if I wanted to multitrack everyday, it would be best to bring a board.

I knew that the clubs that we would be playing in would have small sound booths and that House Engineers were not going to dig me coming in and telling them to move their desk. I also knew that being a small rock club (with a lot of sold out shows), Promoters were not going to let me take up any extra customer seating. Plus....it wasn't my 1st European tour....I knew that there would be stairs.....lots and lots of stairs to carry the gear up and down. I needed something small, something reliable, easy and with multi-tracking capabilities.....when I looked at my options, the StudioLive seemed perfect.

I am happy to report that the desk worked great. It NEVER crashed.....not once. It never froze.....not once. It survived a freezing trailer, smoky Romanian clubs, and bumpy Grecian roads.....no problems.  The House engineers thought it was great that they didn't have to move anything, the band was happy with the consistency of their monitors....soundcheck times were held to a minimum, and NOT ONCE did a paying customer come to the console and say that the mix didn't sound like a Midas.....PLUS, at the end of the tour I was able to hand Paul 80 hours of multi-tracked shows....which made him happy. That is the truth.....100%.

Now if you'd like to continue discussing the StudioLive with people who have never used it, go ahead, I'll stop chiming in......but anybody who'd like to discuss the board with someone who actually used and toured with it, feel free to email me or catch up with me at NAMM......I'll even buy you a shot of tequila if you can tell me a better way I could have done things last November......but it's got to be Cabo Wabo, of course!

I've got to go wash the Prius now....
Ace

[Dick Rees]

Ace...

Thanks for the clarification on your relationship with the artist and Presonus.  Even though some of us have been in the business on one side of the mic or the other for over 50 years there are many different "compartments" for musicians and tech folks and we don't always know who's who or has done what without either a little research or a formal introduction.

As I said, I own and use a StudioLive board.  It is what it is and has some very useful features depending on the situation.  Your use for a single artist over a tour and the recording requirement fits the SLive feature set to a "T".  I'm never in that situation but still find the desk handy for quick one-offs where I want to carry a minimum of gear.  I'm looking forward to utilizing the multi-track recording capability this coming year.  For the work that I do with live broadcast and mixing live audio for feed to video cameras I still prefer my analog rack rig as these gigs generally allow me enough time and proper access for loading in.

I would love to use the SLive for the little theater gigs that I do, but the muting of the sound for the (slow) scene changes is a deal-breaker for this use.

It's good to get a report on the road-worthiness.  But for the jobs where all the inputs are mics (folk and classical ensembles/orchestras) I'll still take the pre's in the Midas over most anything I can find.

DR

[Matthew Haber]

Dick Rees wrote on Tue, 04 January 2011 20:01

I would love to use the SLive for the little theater gigs that I do, but the muting of the sound for the (slow) scene changes is a deal-breaker for this use.

Agreed. I think the SL could see pretty widespread acceptance among the GL2400/community theatre crowd if they could get this fixed and add moving faders. They could even add a few hundred bucks to the price tag for this added functionality and have it still fit within a reasonable price point for this market.

[Bennett Prescott]

Michael Ace Baker wrote on Tue, 04 January 2011 19:52

...and NOT ONCE did a paying customer come to the console and say that the mix didn't sound like a Midas.

To be fair, Ace, if anyone can prove to me that has ever happened to them while mixing on any console, I will buy them a bottle of tequila. Patron Anejo, Cabo Wabo whatever, or Corazon. First come, first served, of course... it's the winter.

You are not the only one touring with this console. Last time I saw it was at monitors, mixing in-ears, shortly after the 24.4.2 came out. This was for an Act Your Kids Have Heard Of™.

[Jeff Wheeler]

Michael Ace Baker wrote on Tue, 04 January 2011 18:52

I knew that the clubs that we would be playing in would have small sound booths and that House Engineers were not going to dig me coming in and telling them to move their desk. I also knew that being a small rock club (with a lot of sold out shows), Promoters were not going to let me take up any extra customer seating. Plus....it wasn't my 1st European tour....I knew that there would be stairs.....lots and lots of stairs to carry the gear up and down. I needed something small, something reliable, easy and with multi-tracking capabilities.....when I looked at my options, the StudioLive seemed perfect.

You point out a number of logistical advantages to a small mix console with these capabilities.

I assume it is correct that PreSonus supplied the desk for the tour under a pretty typical endorsement arrangement.

If you could have had any other desk or gear package under a similar arrangement, but still had the same amount of labor and same venues/logistics, would you have picked any other product, for example, SC48?  Is it your statement that the portability of the SL made it a very compelling choice vs any other possible setup?

Any cons or moments that made you wish for a different desk or additional equipment?

[Dave Bjornson]

Bennett Prescott wrote on Tue, 04 January 2011 20:59

Michael Ace Baker wrote on Tue, 04 January 2011 15:37 Can I ask why the StudioLive is not for you? If I had to pick one reason, it would be the same complaint I have with all the low-market digital, not enough physical controls or space. That is certainly much less of an issue with a band that you know and have set up, but I almost never have the luxury of running the same act on the same desk more than once in a row. I also hate to see it going into applications where a more capable desk is needed, but because this is now available for what it costs to hire an engineer to run it for a few days, the StudioLive is substituted. Of course, trying to fight against market forces is a losing battle.

O please let me tell you why they're not for me!!!
I own two which I purchased without evaluating for a last minute show, and I've never recorded ONE SHOW successfully. Dropouts galore, on different tracks at different times, tested with multiple drives and laptops tweeked for multimedia use.  Cross your fingers when you plug in the firewire cable as it freezes both my desks over 50% of the time. God forbid you try and actually link the consoles together, as the odds go down from there. After 10 shows, the faders on the older console already feel quirky compared to the new one. Add in the 2 second mute on scene change, cludgy rubber buttons and the on/off non-variable switching of FX returns to Auxes,  and I think you have a real loser product. Mine are both delegated to the "community talent show rig". Worst purchase of 2010. YMMV

[Kristian Johnsen]

Dave Bjornson wrote on Fri, 07 January 2011 04:39

Bennett Prescott wrote on Tue, 04 January 2011 20:59 Michael Ace Baker wrote on Tue, 04 January 2011 15:37 Can I ask why the StudioLive is not for you? If I had to pick one reason, it would be the same complaint I have with all the low-market digital, not enough physical controls or space. That is certainly much less of an issue with a band that you know and have set up, but I almost never have the luxury of running the same act on the same desk more than once in a row. I also hate to see it going into applications where a more capable desk is needed, but because this is now available for what it costs to hire an engineer to run it for a few days, the StudioLive is substituted. Of course, trying to fight against market forces is a losing battle. O please let me tell you why they're not for me!!! I own two which I purchased without evaluating for a last minute show, and I've never recorded ONE SHOW successfully. Dropouts galore, on different tracks at different times, tested with multiple drives and laptops tweeked for multimedia use.  Cross your fingers when you plug in the firewire cable as it freezes both my desks over 50% of the time. God forbid you try and actually link the consoles together, as the odds go down from there. After 10 shows, the faders on the older console already feel quirky compared to the new one. Add in the 2 second mute on scene change, cludgy rubber buttons and the on/off non-variable switching of FX returns to Auxes,  and I think you have a real loser product. Mine are both delegated to the "community talent show rig". Worst purchase of 2010. YMMV

Wow.

Quick question.

Does this mean that when the artist asks "can I have reverb in the monitors" the answer is either "yes" or "no"?