PreSonus StudioLive 32.4.2AI as a church FOH mixer?

[THORNSZ]

So we're planning on having this as an option for our next church mixing board coz our recent one(Behringer Eurodesk) is dying.
I have no experiences with this mixing board at all, but i've heard tons of good news and reviews about this. Besides, its really affordable since our church is pretty much tight on the budget as of now. My 1st option was a Allen & Heath GL3200 but since it only had 6 aux outs, it made me changed my mind about it when i saw the studiolive having 14 aux outs which i think is really really awesome! I'm not really a sound engineer like everybody else in these community but i would love to hear your insights and suggestions about this product. thanks!

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[Aman121]

Reasonable board. Not a true digital, as it doesn't have moderized faders and the cuing is a little awkward, but does come with some of the digital toys like compression/effects and support for remote operation off of an Ipad or PC. I wouldn't recommend this board for anyone interested in doing theatre work but for services and the odd worship band it should preform fine. Not the best sounding console ever made, but certainly better than some. Plus their a large user base out there. All in all, if you think it will work for you, then go for it!

 

[THORNSZ]

We yeah, you got a point there. it doesnt have the motorized faders and stuff but i believe it allows to save your mixes. do you think this is way better than the behringer digital mixer? Is there any brands similar to this you can suggest with the same price range? i was looking for some recently but it doesnt have same amount of the aux outs that the studiolive has. Thumbs up to Presonus for that feature!

 

[chausman]

Check the recent Behringer X32 thread. The new digitals are very comparable to the Studiolive. And the benefit of things like motorized faders. And at a very good price.


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[THORNSZ]

Check the recent Behringer X32 thread. The new digitals are very comparable to the Studiolive. And the benefit of things like motorized faders. And at a very good price.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

well yeah, but i am always skeptic about purchasing another behringer stuffs... although they collaborated with midas with it. hmmm behringer for me is just too shady with stuffs

edited:
-gosh, i just found out that Behringer bought midas... currently researching about this X32. So far that it had good reviews. I saw it in person at Guitar Center. TSK the knobs and pots looks so much fancy cheap looking plastic.

 

[bishopthomas]

Behringer X32. No reason to look any further. I was with you on the skepticism but after using it several times I'm a believer. I'm planning on buying some of the new rack mount devices once they are released. I have a Studiolive 16.4.2 and the Behringer is better in every single aspect. It's less expensive than the 32 channel Presonus, sounds better. The Studiolive sounds a little thin compared to the Behringer. It's not bad, and certainly better than Yamahas, but just lacks a little "warmth" that's there on the X32. The fact that it has motorized faders makes it a no brainer right away, in my opinion. They both have multitrack recording and playback options. Although, I believe the Behringer has both USB and Firewire whereas the StudioLive only has Firewire. This can be an issue with machines that either do not have Firewire at all or have chipsets that tend to not work well with audio interfaces (Dell being the main culprit).

Another huge selling point on the X32 is the option to use a digital (Cat5) snake. All you need is a stage box (or two) and you can run a single Ethernet cable as your main snake. Leave a 4 space rack on stage with your preamps (Behringer S16). Now, if you already have a snake in place then this becomes less useful, but in my world of portable systems it's HUGE. You can even mix and match; use one 16 channel stage box for stage inputs and the other 16 inputs on the console for wireless mics playback, talkback, etc.

Sorry, Presonus, but the niche market you thought you had has been shattered by Behringer. If I can get any decent amount of money for my 16.4.2 then I'm putting that into some of the Behringer gear. But in actuality the X32 has caused the bottom to fall out of small format digital mixers.

 

[museav]

So we're planning on having this as an option for our next church mixing board coz our recent one(Behringer Eurodesk) is dying.
I have no experiences with this mixing board at all, but i've heard tons of good news and reviews about this. Besides, its really affordable since our church is pretty much tight on the budget as of now. My 1st option was a Allen & Heath GL3200 but since it only had 6 aux outs, it made me changed my mind about it when i saw the studiolive having 14 aux outs which i think is really really awesome! I'm not really a sound engineer like everybody else in these community but i would love to hear your insights and suggestions about this product.

Don't purchase something because it is supposedly the latest and greatest, instead purchase what makes sense for you. Don't worry about the capabilities unless those capabilities will actually benefit you. In situations like yours that usually means first deciding what you really need or want from a mixer, thus you might want to take a step back and start with defining the situation a bit more, everything from specific needs for the mixer to the experience and ability of users. For example, you mention the GL3200 only having 6 aux outputs and the StudioLive having 14, but do you actually need more than 6 aux outputs and/or do you need them to be certain pre/post configurations?

Also think of any related considerations. Using the auxes as an example again, the 32.4.2AI may have more aux outputs but do you have the cabling, etc. in place to make use of them or would there be additional changes required?

And just to make sure you realize that the StudioLive 32.4.2AI is not yet available. It is apparently expected to be available sometime in April but delays in releases and initial backorders have become increasingly common so if you need something soon that may be a consideration.

On a side note, are you sure your current desk is 'dying'? Are there specific problems? Not only could this impact when you might need a replacement but you probably want to avoid getting a new mixer if there are any external issues causing some of the problems.

 

[THORNSZ]

Don't purchase something because it is supposedly the latest and greatest, instead purchase what makes sense for you. Don't worry about the capabilities unless those capabilities will actually benefit you. In situations like yours that usually means first deciding what you really need or want from a mixer, thus you might want to take a step back and start with defining the situation a bit more, everything from specific needs for the mixer to the experience and ability of users. For example, you mention the GL3200 only having 6 aux outputs and the StudioLive having 14, but do you actually need more than 6 aux outputs and/or do you need them to be certain pre/post configurations?

Also think of any related considerations. Using the auxes as an example again, the 32.4.2AI may have more aux outputs but do you have the cabling, etc. in place to make use of them or would there be additional changes required?

And just to make sure you realize that the StudioLive 32.4.2AI is not yet available. It is apparently expected to be available sometime in April but delays in releases and initial backorders have become increasingly common so if you need something soon that may be a consideration.

On a side note, are you sure your current desk is 'dying'? Are there specific problems? Not only could this impact when you might need a replacement but you probably want to avoid getting a new mixer if there are any external issues causing some of the problems.

@bishopthomas
thanks for tha insights bro, i guess we might add the x32 as an option. Good thing about it coz its cheaper too! how many aux outs does it have again?

@museav
to be honest i have no experiences mixing and controlling with digital mixers, i only based my knowledge about the product thru reviews and forums like this. Yes, aux outs is really important imo, need more outs for personal in ear monitors and etc... and about our dying mixer to be honest we just want to replace it coz its old, and the knobs and faders are not working well. Every time i tweak the main fader, it makes a lot of annoying grounding like noises. It's a behringer eurodesk sl2442fx-pro by the way. it sucks too, besides its a mono mixer, it only has 2 aux outs.

Gosh this like Presonus Studiolive vs Behringer x32

 

[bishopthomas]

If you go with the Behringer you can add P16 unit(s) and everyone can control their own IEM mixes via iPad. I don't know much about it, but it seems like the perfect setup for your situation (IEM's at church).

 

[museav]

thanks for tha insights bro, i guess we might add the x32 as an option. Good thing about it coz its cheaper too! how many aux outs does it have again?

The StudioLive is much more like an analog console in that it has fixed signal routing and fixed inputs and outputs. The X32 is more like most other digital mixers in that it has a number of physical inputs and outputs whose functions are determined by how they are routed within the mixer configuration. That makes the mixer very flexible, but it also means the mixer configuration is dependent on how you configure it. The X32 has 16 mix buses (plus LCR and 6 matrix buses) and 16 main outputs so you could use all 16 of those outputs as aux outs or you could have 14 aux outs and main Left/Right or maybe L/R, 8 aux sends and 8 channel direct outs or however you program the mixer configuration. The X32 also has a connection for the Behringer personal mix system, so you could have even more outputs for monitors via that or via the expansion stage box outputs.

to be honest i have no experiences mixing and controlling with digital mixers, i only based my knowledge about the product thru reviews and forums like this. Yes, aux outs is really important imo, need more outs for personal in ear monitors and etc... and about our dying mixer to be honest we just want to replace it coz its old, and the knobs and faders are not working well. Every time i tweak the main fader, it makes a lot of annoying grounding like noises. It's a behringer eurodesk sl2442fx-pro by the way. it sucks too, besides its a mono mixer, it only has 2 aux outs.

You mean this, Behringer: EURODESK SL2442FX-PRO? That is not a mono mixer and I wouldn't be surprised if the faders need to be cleaned. What concerns me when looking at a new mixer with more inputs, more outputs, etc. is how that works with the existing infrastructure (cabling, cable paths, etc.). I just hate to see you purchase a new console and then have to come back asking how to make it work once you have it or find that you can't make full use of what you bought without additional investment.

 

[THORNSZ]

What concerns me when looking at a new mixer with more inputs, more outputs, etc. is how that works with the existing infrastructure (cabling, cable paths, etc.). I just hate to see you purchase a new console and then have to come back asking how to make it work once you have it or find that you can't make full use of what you bought without additional investment.

I think you're right! as of now, we're only capable of having 24 inputs according to our current snake, but we're about to transfer to our new building within this year. So that means we can change all the cabling and stuff according to the new mixer, right? plus behringer has the S16, less cabling! i'm not a real sound engineer or something but since nobody knows about stuffs like this in my church, for instance i serves as the sound dude for now since i play in for the worship team at the same time. Saving scenes would be a big help! sigh, they gotta hire a real one soon. Do you think this x32 is a good interface for our church needs? Band? vocals? preacher's mic? personal IEMs?

 

[museav]

The PreSonus StudioLive series and Behringer X32 are both very popular in the worship market. The upcoming StudioLive 32.4.2AI, Roland M200i and Soundcraft Si Expression are also all fairly cost competitive options to the X32 and I'm sure you will be seeing others. Of course the X32 has only been out for a few months and although most of the others are derivatives of existing products some claim some major changes and they are all still to be released. So the long term durability and reliability on any of those products is not yet known. If you need a new mixer now it may not be an option, but if you can wait then it might make sense to wait at least until there is some initial feedback on some of the 'to be released' products.

There are tradeoffs. Virtually any digital console other than the StudioLive is going to require someone with sufficient understanding to configure it for your use. And if you have no one familiar with using gates, compressors, channel EQ, etc. then the channel libraries of the StudioLive may be very useful. On the other hand, due to things like non-motorized faders and analog gain/trim controls, the scenes on the StudioLive leave something to be desired if you need to make rapid changes or need true 'one button' presets (you may still have to manually chart or mark some settings such as the channel gain/trim levels).

If you are moving into a new building within the year then I hope someone is addressing the acoustics and audio systems, along with video and lighting, as they search for or plan the new space. Between the new venue and need for a new mixer it sounds like a good time for some Master Planning to try to make sure that the technology and infrastructure being implemented support the church's vision for the near future.

 

[THORNSZ]

I made a new thread about this but looks like the Admin merge the thread. You might wanna respond to this too! thanks

Regardless of the price, what do you think is better? Since a lot of people here are talking about this Behringer unit being good, i just want to know your insights about these FOH mixers, coz i'm planning of purchasing this as our Church Mixer soon. To be honest, i'm still skeptical about this behringer even if it has the midas membrane in it. I saw this one time at Guitar Center -i just dont feel it. It has cheap looking fancy plastics as knobs and faders. I dont know if its just me or whatnot but it doesnt look as durable as the Presonus Live. well i know it is not the basis for having a good sound but you guys prolly know what my views with the Behringer stereotypes. I would love to hear your insights about this 2 bad boys. PROs and CONs?

as far as needs is concern, we had the normal church sound needs like line band setups, Vocals, Pastor's Mic, and Personals IEMs, etc..

 

[Spresley]

As others have said, if you want a straight comparison "one vs the other"...
The pluses of the Behringer:
The Behringer sounds better (warmer), it has the digital CAT 5 snake option S16, it has the monitor P16 control option, it has flying faders
it's now open to waves plug ins... it does not have a fixed routing (which is a good thing), it has an iphone monitor control app... yes Iphone ( they both have ipad apps)

The Presonus has..... an oversized price tag.

Someone said it best... Presonus is an analog console with some built in effects and recording capability. The X32 is a "digital console" (as we know them to be)


If you really want some information - read the 5000 posts on the X32 console by real console owners, and sound guys...
X32 Discussion

They have also started a small "what if prensonus" discussion
http://soundforums.net/junior-varsity/6555-presonus-32-4-2al.html#post50285

 

[museav]

Someone said it best... Presonus is an analog console with some built in effects and recording capability. The X32 is a "digital console" (as we know them to be)

And some people want one and others the other. The biggest advantage I see to the StudioLive in some applications is that it is like much more like an analog console in terms of connectivity, channel assignments and signal routing. Channel 1 on the board is Input 1 on the rear panel. The Aux 1 bus is the Aux 1 bus and is tied to the Aux 1 output on the rear panel. No real setup or configuration is required for use and nothing to potentially mess up there during use. The flip side of that is that you are limited to the choices made by the manufacturer, if they work for you that's great, if not then you have no real option but to work around them.

As an example, say you have an input on a stage that is used for a vocal for one service and guitar via a DI box for another service. With the StudioLive you can have presets for those two services that set the desired effects for the related channel. What you can't do with the StudioLive is have a preset for the service that automatically adjusts that channel's gain/trim and fader, you have to manually set the gain and move the fader to the location the mixer shows before making the preset 'live'. You also can't have a preset that changes the channel assignment so that input is on a channel grouped with the other vocals for the first service and then on a different channel grouped with the instruments for the second service. However, to get that greater flexibility then someone has to address the related programming and configuration of the mixer and not necessarily just for special situation such as that described but possibly also to simply get a baseline configuration for normal use.

While some people seem to think layers is often the most difficult aspect of learning to use a digital mixer my experience is that understanding virtual patching and the flexibility is routing a digital mixer often provides can be more challenging. In many cases that is overcome by the fact that not every operator needs that knowledge as long as someone does in order to do the programming. But if you don't have anyone that understand it then it can be a very difficult concept for some to grasp.

 

[Spresley]

And some people want one and others the other. The biggest advantage I see to the StudioLive in some applications is that it is like much more like an analog console in terms of connectivity, channel assignments and signal routing. Channel 1 on the board is Input 1 on the rear panel. The Aux 1 bus is the Aux 1 bus and is tied to the Aux 1 output on the rear panel. No real setup or configuration is required for use and nothing to potentially mess up there during use. The flip side of that is that you are limited to the choices made by the manufacturer, if they work for you that's great, if not then you have no real option but to work around them..

If the user group is not yet advanced enough in routing to "figure out" advanced routing techniques, there's nothing to say they actually HAVE to change the stock routing in the console. Upon power up, ch 1 is still ch 1, aux 1 is aux 1.... nobody says you have to change anything

As an example, say you have an input on a stage that is used for a vocal for one service and guitar via a DI box for another service. With the StudioLive you can have presets for those two services that set the desired effects for the related channel. What you can't do with the StudioLive is have a preset for the service that automatically adjusts that channel's gain/trim and fader, you have to manually set the gain and move the fader to the location the mixer shows before making the preset 'live'. You also can't have a preset that changes the channel assignment so that input is on a channel grouped with the other vocals for the first service and then on a different channel grouped with the instruments for the second service. However, to get that greater flexibility then someone has to address the related programming and configuration of the mixer and not necessarily just for special situation such as that described but possibly also to simply get a baseline configuration for normal use..

Again someone will have to gain a modicum of experitise on any console to create "presets" for services... I'm thinking the labelling feature on the behringer will be more than clear when the user can see GTR, ch 16 and a Guitar icon... as opposed to the now obsolete strip of white tape across the presonus console (unless they keep service 1 strip of board tape, and service 2 strip of tape) lol

While some people seem to think layers is often the most difficult aspect of learning to use a digital mixer my experience is that understanding virtual patching and the flexibility is routing a digital mixer often provides can be more challenging. In many cases that is overcome by the fact that not every operator needs that knowledge as long as someone does in order to do the programming. But if you don't have anyone that understand it then it can be a very difficult concept for some to grasp.

I agree that if someone were to create a scene with some obscure routing, it might be difficult for a new user to figure out an issue... but again that's where good housekeeping practises come into play, and a facility should create a "stock patch" as a beginning place, save it on the console, and also save that on a users USB key - worst case, start from scratch. You cannot deny the behringer console (historical stignma of the brand aside), that it's a superior console to the presonus offering. I've used both, the presonus 16ch for a day in my studio, until I returned it the next day and my x32's since oct 2012.

 

[abomb123]

PLEASE READ!!!!

I think this thread kind of got a little off topic. Our friend here needs a specific tool for a specific Job. and No the presonus would NOT work well AT ALL in a Theater setting but I work for an Audio company and a praise band. I am in churches all the time. In fact a small church uses this mixer and so does the Utah army band (my unit) and so does the University of Utah. in fact if you want to dig deeper the The David Crowder Band (now the Digital Age since they broke up) Uses presonus mixers and products in there studio.

It works fine for worship. The reason is because it has nice pre amp's and basic built in effects that wont loose people volunteering to run audio like someone said earlier the Presonus consoles have an anologe feel to them. so you don't get lost. the x32 has more of a digital feel to it but to me it was pretty easy to figure out. since you wont have pro's runnnig audio light and video you need the most simple set up and the Prosonus is probably the best bet.

If I was a pastor starting church it would depend on how qualified your volunteers are. but if you don't have a highly skilled set of individuals helping out the Prosonus is probably your best bet. if you can get time to do a little more training x32 would work as well.

 

[Spresley]

Our friend here needs a specific tool for a specific Job. It works fine for worship. The reason is because it has nice pre amp's and basic built in effects that wont loose people volunteering to run audio like someone said earlier the Presonus consoles have an anologe feel to them. so you don't get lost. But if you don't have a highly skilled set of individuals helping out the Prosonus is probably your best bet. if you can get time to do a little more training x32 would work as well.

I have no "irons in the fire here" as to which mixer the Op installs... but as the owner of a proaudio sound and lighting company, I get asked to do installs all the time, and for "my opinion" all the time. This does NOT make me an expert, but I do not ever quote the "good enough for now" option so that the user isn't upset with me when he asks to expand his installed option 6 months from now. Yes I'm sure the "works fine for now" option will get you 6 months , or a year or more down the road, but he mentioned a NEW building. Are you going to purchase a NEW snake to put in the new building - if you are, would you rather not purchase a $200 piece of cat5 cable, and 2 x $800 snake heads or a $3000+ audio snake. And down the road when you want to add a monitor console to said set-up, are we now spending more money for a split snake, or would you rather buy a $5 piece of cat 5 cable ? I'm trying to highlight the expansion capabilies of the X32 as opposed to the dinosaur "out of the gate" presonus console...
BTW - did I mention the presonus 32ch is $1000 more expensive than an X-32 ( that's a free snake head + 250ft cat 5 snake, built in right there)

Also just as an exercise, type behringer x32 into youtube... the instructions and videos that normal users has put out there is phenominal... I'm not sure there are 20K presounus owners/users out there. It might be another good place for the OP to secure some information on the ease of use, and features of each console. BTW - another reason why I took the presonus back is it would easily distort... so much for the "nice pre-amps".

Better yet - try before you buy... I'm sure you can beg or borrow one of these consoles in the area near you ... There is NOTHING better than hearing each in your space, and making an informed decsion. Best of luck

 

[josh88]

Better yet - try before you buy... I'm sure you can beg or borrow one of these consoles in the area near you ... There is NOTHING better than hearing each in your space, and making an informed decsion. Best of luck

You'd obviously have to wait for the new presonus to come out to test that, but you can find an equivalent older version that will be about the same. Talk to dealers or rental houses in your area, you can either get one to play with as a demo or worst case drop a couple bucks and rent them for a week.

I'm sold on the direction Behringer is going now and there's a lot of fancy looking plastic on a lot of desks out there.

 

[bishopthomas]

To address some of the concerns..... Again, I own a 16.4.2 and have a pair of X32's sitting in my shop right now, so I'm speaking from hands on experience here. Plus, it's my money so keep in mind that I'm also coming from a financially responsible place as well. The "cheap plastic" on the Behringer actually feels better than that of the Presonus. I'm not a huge fan of the Behringer company, having had several bad experiences myself, but I really think that this console is the exception. I LOVE the digital scribble strip, especially for a church setting where you'll be recalling scenes based on the type of service you're mixing. The X32 sounds better than the Studiolive. I actually think it's easier to use as well. There are 36 programmable buttons/knobs, like the Yamaha user defined keys, that make accessing buried menus super fast. I put my graphics on the buttons, a tap tempo, and some EFX parameters go on the knobs. Getting to the graphic EQ on the Studiolive is cumbersome to say the least. I think that the X32 has an analog feel to it as well, in that your entire channel strip is right in front of you at all times. You also have several options on the way you control certain parameters, such as using the aux busses. You can either go into sends on faders or select the channel and use the rotaries to set up monitor mixes.