Product Review - PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.2
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Reviews : Mixer
The StudioLive range of mixer interfaces now includes a compact 16-channel model.We find out how well it performs on the road.
The choice between an analogue and a digital mixer for live sound use is an interesting one, especially where small-format desks are concerned, because they’ll tend to be used for a wider variety of perhaps more modest events. They’ll often be used by ‘volunteer’ operators too, who don’t spend all that much time behind the console, and will need something that’s easy to understand and operate.
That’s where the Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 comes in. A dual-purpose desk that aims to offer ‘digital facility with analogue simplicity’, the 16.0.2 is a compact, portable 16:2 design with 12 mono microphone inputs plus additional stereo input options on the highest four channels. It has plenty of built-in DSP and effects, as well as four auxiliary (aux) sends. There’s also a two-way, 16-channel Firewire interface for recording and playback, a MIDI control interface, and a dedicated talkback facility. Although it’s designed to be suitable for studio recording too, I’m going to focus here on using the 16.0.2 as a stand-alone mixer for live use.
Each channel has a dedicated rotary input-trim control and everything else, including the meters, is shared with other mixer channels or functions. The stereo output has its own dedicated fader, as do the four analogue aux sends.
After reading the bits at the front of the Quick Start Guide to make sure I didn’t miss anything really obvious, I unpacked the 16.0.2 and started playing about straight away, to see if I could find my way around it without any instruction.
The first and most obvious thing I noticed about the desk in use was that it doesn’t have motorised faders or any fader bank or layer arrangement. The 16 channel faders control the corresponding channel output levels and that’s all they do: there’s no possibility of confusion or of adjusting the wrong ‘layer’ by mistake.
A strong point of digital mixers in general is the ability to store, copy and paste data settings, so that all effects parameters and settings can be copied and applied to another channel with a couple of button presses. They can also be stored as favourite settings for future use. The StudioLive 16.0.2 provides 80 scene memories that will capture comprehensive mixer snapshots for later recall. Various settings can be included or excluded from this process too. There are also some good ‘first base’ presets included for the more common channel assignments, such as kick drum, jazz piano and so on, which might be helpful while you’re getting used to the StudioLive 16.0.2.
A Guided Tour
The best way to describe a mixer’s basic functions is to follow the signal route roughly from input to output. Channels one to eight are mono strips that can take either mic or line signals via balanced XLR or separate TRS connectors. The remaining four channels have mono inputs but are also configured as stereo channels, taking the total count to 16 inputs. The channels all have solo-in-place buttons that perform a second duty as channel mute buttons, lighting yellow for solo or red for mute.
After passing through the trim control, the signal is processed by what Presonus call the ‘Fat Channel’, which provides non-effects processing such as dynamics and EQ. This is controlled and monitored by all the knobs, buttons and indicators on the main panel area above the faders.
This area also hosts the 12 LED strip meters that display most of the adjustable parameters. A bank of buttons over to the left of channel one determines the function of 12 rotary encoders. These can be used to set the channel-send levels to the four aux mixes and the two internal effects buses, and are also used for EQ adjustment.
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Tue 22 May 2012
Sound On Sound : Est. 1985