£2,649, presonus.com

PreSonus’ StudioLive Series III family of digital mixers wraps the elements of a contemporary digital recording system into a device that rekindles hands-on mixing, reminiscent of working on the classic analogue desks of old.

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As someone who cut their teeth in analogue studios, StudioLive’s potential intrigues me greatly, so I grab a newly released SE 24 model to put through its paces.

The ins and outs of the PreSonus SE 24

The StudioLive Series III SE 24 is the middle of three new additions to the PreSonus range, sitting between the smaller SE 16 and larger SE 32. Contrary to convention, the numeric portion of the naming isn’t a measure of the number of channels handled by each model, but rather a count of the number of faders they possess (although not including the master fader).

SE 24 contains far too many channels and busses to dedicate a fader to each, so its myriad mix elements are arranged into fader layers and, where necessary, pages within those layers.

For example, the first page of the Inputs layer arrays inputs 1-24 across the faders. Tapping the Next button opens the second page showing inputs 25-32, returns for the four onboard effects processors, the two auxiliary inputs, the anachronistically-named ‘tape’ input, plus the talkback mic input.

This would rapidly become confusing if it weren’t for the small, bright scribble strip displays, located above each fader, which show the name, number and pan position (when relevant) of the assigned channel or buss. A glance is all it takes to know exactly what’s assigned where.

All faders are motorised and have a 100 mm throw that allows detailed control. Although not the smoothest-feeling faders I’ve ever come across, they aren’t at all bad and, given SE 24’s price, I’d have been (pleasantly) surprised if they had been any smoother. However, I do notice that the faders don’t always return to quite the same position they were set at. Thankfully, this doesn’t affect the actual volume being output by a channel, and the inaccuracy is small enough that it shouldn’t cause any noticeable volume jumps when you next adjust the fader.

Faders are accompanied by a rudimentary three-stage level meter, mute and solo buttons, and a Select button that activates a channel for editing via the Fat Channel Control panel, and causes its settings to be shown in the mixer’s large touchscreen display.

What’s a Fat Channel?

Fat Channel is the name given to SE 24’s virtual channel strip. On input channels, it determines source selection, input gain, auxiliary and FX sends, panning, routing, and so on. It also provides a four-band parametric EQ, a gate/expander, a compressor with a choice of 11 vintage and modern models, and a limiter.

Output busses also have a Fat Channel, although this differs slightly from the Input version: no gain or gate, there’s an output delay of up to 170ms (useful in live mixing), six rather than four EQ bands, and a graphic EQ. Having this degree of control over sending busses is uncommon, but the ability to EQ and process cue mixes, effect returns and subgroups is undeniably useful.

On the upper portion of the mixer’s panel lies a cluster of buttons and knobs, the Fat Channel Control panel, that provides hands-on control over most aspects of the currently selected channel strip. Once you get used to the layout here, it really does start to feel like working on a classic console – just select a channel and start tweaking.

That said, not every Fat Channel parameter has a dedicated control; the gate/expander and compressor only have dedicated controls for their threshold levels, for example. Parameters without dedicated controls can only be edited with the help of the touchscreen, but this is still a largely hands-on affair: touch an on-screen parameter to select it, then turn the ‘Touch & Turn’ rotary, located just below the screen, to modify the value. A decent compromise, I’d say.

The stack of Mix Select buttons, located to the left of the desk, switches the faders from controlling channel volumes in the main left/right mix buss to controlling channel volumes within any of 16 ‘FlexMixes’. These are busses that connect to SE 24’s physical outputs, and the name reflects that they can be configured to operate as pre- or post-fader auxiliary sends, subgroups, or pre- or post-fader matrix mixes (a form of ad-hoc auxiliary buss used in live scenarios). Although functionally quite similar, the flexibility this allows is nonetheless impressive.

How well does the SE 24 work as a recording console?

Connecting SE 24 to a computer via its USB2 socket turns the mixer into an audio interface with a whopping 64 channels of inputs/outputs between mixer and host. USB send busses can be fed from any input channel, either pre or post the Fat Channel processors, or from any sending buss, by which I mean auxiliary sends, submixes, and such.

In standard operating mode, the USB returns are available as channel sources, making it possible to use SE 24 as a classic inline studio mixer: Configure the input channel, route it to a track in your DAW for recording, then flip the channel to USB input mode to mix, monitor and add effects to the track’s playback. Alternatively, if you prefer mixing entirely within your DAW, SE 24 can switch to a mode where USB returns are routed directly to the desk’s physical outputs.

SE 24’s etherCON-style RJ45 socket provides a further 64 channels of I/O via an AVB (Audio Video Bridging) network. These work similarly to the USB I/O but, as a technology that’s most commonly associated with live mixing in larger venues and installations, I won’t say more about this here.

The mixer’s second RJ45 port is a standard ethernet port for passing control signals to and from the mixer via a LAN. Not only does this allow the mixer to be remote controlled from external computers or devices, it also allows SE 24 to become a capable hardware controller for your DAW. This supports Studio One DAW Control (unsurprisingly), HUI and MCU protocols. Disappointingly, though, PreSonus has chosen to only provide an MCU profile for Logic and seemingly has no plans to develop profiles for other MCU-compatible DAWs.

Of course, not everyone likes working in a DAW, but SE 24 has this covered too. You see, as well as being used to store mixer projects, scenes and presets, SE 24’s SD card slot doubles as a 34-track recorder. This is only a basic capture and playback system, but as such it feels exactly like an old-school setup of a mixer and multitrack tape recorder. It’s also perfect for capturing live performances or for location recording, and if you then wish to develop and/or mix those recordings on a computer, you can open SE 24’s session files directly in PreSonus Studio One.

Should I buy the new PreSonus StudioLive?

My biggest reservation about SE 24 is that it only operates at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz sample rates. The latter is adequate for most uses, and supporting higher sample rates would doubtless have the knock-on effect of reducing SE 24’s dizzyingly generous channel, buss and input/output count. But nevertheless, it’s a long time since I’ve come across a new digital audio device that can’t run at at least 96 kHz.

But there’s much more that impresses me, primarily how startlingly flexible SE 24 is. Received wisdom says that different applications require different types of mixing desks, but PreSonus has utterly ignored this and shown that, in the modern digital era, there are no such constraints; one mixing desk can fulfil any and all use cases so long as it’s designed to do so.

I’m also impressed by the price. Yes, at approaching £3,000 SE 24 isn’t an impulse buy, but replicating its I/O count and functionality with audio interfaces, DAW controllers and software would cost at least as much, if not more, and wouldn’t offer anything like the same degree of streamlined integration.

So, if you work with bands, have a complex setup involving many different synths, effects and other sources, or just have a desire to rekindle the hands-on workflows of old, then you need to take a serious look at SE 24 – it could be everything you’ve been wishing for.

Key features

• 16 XLR mic inputs
• 16 combo mic/line inputs via Talkback mic input
• 2 stereo TRS jack aux. inputs
• Stereo RCA unbalanced ‘Tape’ input
• Main left/right analogue XLR output with level trim
• Mono sum output 2 XLRs with level trim
• Stereo TRS jack monitor output
• Headphone output
• AES/EBU digital output
• 12 balanced XLR line outputs
• 4 balanced TRS jack line outputs
• 4 balanced subgroup TRS jack outputs
• Stereo RCA unbalanced ‘Tape’ output
• USB2 host connector
• RJ45 network socket for control interface
• etherCON style RJ45 for AVB (Audio Video Bridging) networking
• 64 USB I/O channels
• 64 AVB I/O channels
• 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz sample rate
• 24-bit converters, 32-bit floating point internal processing

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