Product Description for the Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2

You’ll never go back to an old-school analog mixer once you’ve used StudioLive™. With its incredible signal-processing power on every channel, easy store and recall of every setting, and the ability to record it all with just two mouse clicks, you’ll get spoiled fast! Easier to use, better sounding, and flawlessly integrated with state-of-the-art software, it delivers the most creative environment possible for both live performance and studio music production. But StudioLive is not simply a mixer, it’s a rapidly growing family of state-of-the-art, integrated hardware-software mixing and recording systems that deliver the features you need for live sound, live recording, and studio recording.

The StudioLive 16.4.2 is a great choice for those who want to mix smaller shows and worship services, and it’s a great choice for small club systems, portable churches, small bands, corporate applications, educational institutions, and anywhere you want a rack-mount mixer. It’s the perfect hardware core for a project studio. Or daisy-chain two StudioLive 16.4.2s to form a 32x8x2 performance and recording console for mid-sized shows and events.

Here, in one device, are high-headroom XMAX™ microphone preamplifiers, a built-in FireWire recording and playback interface, more than 90 signal processors, a big library of DSP effects, 6 aux buses, 4 subgroups, extensive LED metering, mixer save and recall, channel-strip save/recall/copy/paste, talkback, and more. Yet despite its many controls and features, it’s compact, rack-mountable, and easy to transport.

Build live mixes that glisten with clarity and detail—then record and enhance the performance with the power of StudioLive 16.4.2. Get creative in the studio. Build mixes, loops, sound effects, and more, then bring them out to your show and mix them with the live performance. Process channels using your favorite plug-ins and completely automate your entire performance. StudioLive 16.4.2 revolutionizes music production, opening endless creative possibilities.

See it. Touch it. Change it: the ease of analog meets the power of digital.

When we designed StudioLive, one of our primary goals was to provide a familiar interface that would keep all critical controls visible and accessible—not buried inside multiple menus.

Sit down at a StudioLive 16.4.2, and you see real hardware Mute and Solo buttons, trim controls, and clearly labeled, individual knobs for the semi-parametric EQ and dynamics processing. The master section—complete with Talkback, Monitor, Cue, and a choice of headphone sources—looks just like the master section on an analog board but with far more power and flexibility. Aux sends have their own controls. Every channel has a big, bright meter display.

Bottom line: if you’ve ever used an analog mixer, you’ll be right at home with a StudioLive 16.4.2. And even if you’ve never used a mixer before, you’ll quickly be able to create quality mixes and recordings.

Which StudioLive is Best for You?

Your mixing and recording needs aren’t necessarily exactly the same as everyone else’s. That’s why we created a StudioLive family of digital mixers, starting with the StudioLive 16.4.2 and the StudioLive 24.4.2.

Why choose the StudioLive 16.4.2 rather than the StudioLive 24.4.2? Obviously, if you don’t need more than 16 channels and 6 aux buses, the 16.4.2 might be your best choice. The StudioLive 16.4.2 weighs only 35 lbs. (15.9 kg), and you can rack-mount it, which makes it perfect for compact studio systems, rack-based contractor installs, and bands that want to do mobile recording. And the StudioLive 16.4.2 is very easy on your budget.

StudioLive 16.4.2 can also be the right choice if you’re recording mid-sized to larger acts and events because two StudioLive 16.4.2s, daisy-chained via FireWire, become an integrated 32x8x2 console with full recording capabilities. Three StudioLive 24.4.2s can daisy-chain to create a mondo 48-input live-sound mixer—but without recording.

A gigantic console in a small package thanks to the Fat Channel.

If StudioLive were an analog console, it would have 4-foot-long channel strips packed with knobs and buttons or it would require a massive outboard rack of expensive signal processors! That’s because each channel has its own studio-grade compressor, basic limiter, gate, 4-band semi-parametric equalizer, and high-pass filter. In all, we’ve packed 31 compressors, 31 limiters, 31 gates, 16 high-pass filters, and more, into one remarkable Fat Channel.

Engaged by pressing any Select button, the StudioLive 16.4.2’s Fat Channel features extensive EQ and dynamics for every input channel, every aux output (including the two internal FX buses), every subgroup output, and the main outputs.

To let you get the most from all of this processing power without descending into menu purgatory, we designed the Fat Channel with clearly labeled physical knobs; an ingenious, multi-function, 16-ladder LED display; an in-your-face Selected Channel display; and even a separate horizontal pan display. It’s easy to instantly access any function and get clear, visible feedback.

Not just effects. Effects you’d expect from a $600 stand-alone processor.

You get two programmable, 32-bit, stereo DSP effects engines, loaded with 50 reverbs, delays: time-based effects that you can really use. The reverbs are so rich and detailed that you feel like you’re there. Delays are precise. Slap echo sounds like old-school tape effects. All 50 effects have easy-to-use parameter adjustment, tap tempo, store, recall, and Scene selection for ultimate creative flexibility.

The StudioLive 16.4.2’s stereo 31-band graphic equalizer can be applied to the main outputs so you can compensate for room acoustics, speaker response, and more.

All of these features add up to a lot of settings to remember and reset at every performance. That’s where the power of digital comes in: StudioLive lets you save all of your digital settings for quick setup and recall. Save Scenes that include every setting on the mixer or save just the Fat Channel settings. Copy-and-paste settings across multiple channels. Save individual DSP effects for ultimate ease, speed, and control.

This means that for fixed applications like clubs, churches, and auditoriums, you can always count on the same sound and can fine-tune Scenes for different songs and call them up instantly. And it lets rank amateur volunteers successfully operate the StudioLive 16.4.2.

We’ve included a whole library of individual channel settings as starting points for optimizing the sound of instruments, vocals, and spoken word. An AutoStore feature regularly saves your current settings in case the power fails.

Recording made easy.

If you have a computer with 6-pin FireWire, you have an 18-track (one StudioLive) or 34-track (two StudioLives) digital recorder instantly ready to capture your gig, church service, or presentation. Just two mouse clicks engages Capture recording software. Studio One Artist digital audio workstation lets you edit and enhance to your heart’s content.

StudioLive 16.4.2 features a tightly integrated FireWire interface that delivers up to 32 channels of recording and up to 18 channels of simultaneous playback. Each FireWire recording channel can be set to record either pre- or post-Fat Channel signal processing, delivering total flexibility and power.

Because StudioLive 16.4.2 can so easily return FireWire playback channels from your computer, you can pull off nifty tricks. You can soundcheck your band and fine-tune the P.A. in a new venue, even when the band’s not there yet. Or create backing tracks at your studio and seamlessly blend them with live performances.

Inside, it’s pure PreSonus.

Ease of use and powerful features only count if the sound quality is equally impressive. After all, it really comes down to how good those microphone preamps are, how clean the signal path is, and how well the algorithms perform.

That’s why you should choose a digital mixer made by PreSonus, a company already famous for its analog mic preamps, pristine digital interfaces, and well-regarded signal processors.

XMAX™ Class A preamplifiers deliver more headroom, deeper lows, smoother highs, and a richer overall sound than the preamps found in competing mixers. Ultra-high-headroom, 32-bit floating-point processing is used for all digital mixing. All analog inputs and outputs use the highest quality digital converters available. Synchronization to your computer is stable and robust, thanks to JetPLL™ synchronization technology, resulting in great stereo separation and clear, transparent audio.

StudioLive expands with your input needs.

Need more than 16 channels for mixing and recording live shows and don’t need to record? Daisy-chain two StudioLive 16.4.2s via their FireWire ports to get up to 32 input channels and 8 submix buses. If you need more than 16 channels for recording, and you don’t need a full channel strip for the additional inputs, you can daisy-chain a StudioLive 16.4.2 with a PreSonus FireStudio Mobile, FireStudio Project, FireStudio Tube, or FireStudio (26x26) interface. It could not be simpler. You’ve read the book. Now see the movies.

We’ve provided plenty of written material about StudioLive. In addition, our Web site hosts a whole series of instructional videos showing StudioLive mixers in church, club, and project-studio applications. Video blogs go into detail about various powerful StudioLive features. And we regularly add new videos.

Reading about the StudioLive 16.4.2 is a good start but nothing beats actually getting your hands on one, so visit your nearest PreSonus dealer today. You’ll see what we mean about intuitive ease-of-use. You’ll hear what we mean about Class A preamps, rich DSP effects, and overall sound quality. And when you have seen and heard it for yourself, you’ll understand why your new mixer should be a StudioLive.