There's no real limit to the number of receivers, but they'll all share the one stereo mix.

okay cool, so you can tune as many receivers to the same channel?
Then the next option for a tight budget would be to buy a few and group the sends to a few transmitters ? Thanks!

It looks like the receivers can be stereo or the user can balance left and right into a mono mix. Two transmitters would get you four mono mixes or three mixes and a "more me" send of the lead singer's voice etc.

Good idea.

If I was using these for a public system, are the ear buds something that can be washed or are they a very personal part? I know I personally would have some reservations putting something like that in my ear if I knew they were used by someone else.
Do you have any experience with in ear monitors and/or certain brands? Do musicians like them? What are some pro's and con's to them?

Thanks again!

The ear buds should be very personal, as a matter of hygiene. They do come with interchangeable foam and silicone tips of different sizes - which I suppose could be washed. But I'm like you, I'd rather not share with anyone else.

I've got quite a few churches running the Shure PSM-200 with the Aviom mixers for their vocalists. The PSM-200 comes with the cheapest CL2 (SE215) single driver earbuds and they are OK, but not stunning. I haven't had anybody yet who wanted to spend PSM-900 kind of money - I'm sure they're a giant step up from the PSM-200's (which aren't bad considering the price).

You can use any buds. About half the players I work with at church use the low-end Shures and half use their own (Skull Candy / Bose / AKG / whatever) earbuds.

If you were doing a rental system you'd have to encourage the musicians to bring their personal buds from their iPods 'n' such. How often would someone in the band 'flake' and forget their earbuds? It would be a challenge if you were working with different acts all the time.

The Shures transmitters I've worked with had two XLR combi jack inputs for unbalanced TS 1/4", TRS 1/4", and XLR. Along with two XLR output/thru jacks. You can feed a global Aux mix into Channel 1, and plug a vocal mic (or instrument) directly into Channel 2. Then run Output #2 to the snake for the FOH mix. Then the singer (instrumentalist) can get the 'more me' balance they're looking for above the global Aux mix. That's just one example, but you can see it gives you some cool choices using Direct Feeds from vocal mic, Direct Feeds from instruments, along with Aux Outs, Direct Outs, Sub Group Outs.

Hi Dave, thanks for chiming in. How have you found the SL 24.4.2 for monitoring? I'd be using that and am now looking at a monitor system for it. Years of hauling gear around, my back likes the in ear monitor idea.

+1 to what dvdhawk says.

Mixing ears requires more precision than wedges. Good IEMs block a lot of sound, so you have to mix in all the stuff normally provided by stage wash. Giving singers a personal mix or a "more me" option helps a lot. Reverbs and/or ambient mics in the monitor mix can reduce that isolated feel and help players hear better.

The person mixing monitors should at least have headphones for mixing IEMs, and it would be best to have the same model IEM used by the performers.

Ah, very good point. The same IEM are very important. Thanks, you guys, this has been very helpful.

I haven't been using the StudioLive for live band gigs. But, I have been using mine since I got it for remote recording jobs. For recording-headphone-mixes I've been using the SL in conjunction with an Aviom system, using the Direct Outs from the SL24.4.2. The band can all dial up their own personal mix and it saves a ton of time getting everybody happy with their phones. Absolutely no time wasted with 'can you change my mix?' requests during the entire session.

The few SL24s I've put in for installations have worked very well with conventional monitor wedge mixes. I would expect them to do really well for live. It's cool being able to assign a Fat Channel to the Auxes. I find the Fat Channel more useful than the assignable 'graphics" most of the time. How 'bout you?

You've had more time with yours, I'm still building my rig but I love the thing. The FAT channel is the coolest. Great idea on the direct outs. The console is so versatile. The Aviom system looks great. If I expand, I will look at that.

I meant to chime in on the compressor question you blogged in on. It is noisy cranked when compounded on many tracks but I expect it for that price. Its there but very tolerable IMO.

Has the SL been solid and stable? I have a church needing to upgrade and want to be sure it is very stable before I recommend it.

The noise 'issue' is a non-issue - it's so minimal. If the meters weren't so darn sensitive, you'd probably never notice. And it's only if you apply make-up gain.

They've been very stable for me as well as the church and school installations. The only minor issue we've had is with the one site where they have two of them tied together via firewire for 48 channels of live mix. One day, for no reason the 'slave' didn't want to boot up right. Nothing a quick re-boot didn't fix, but it sure had them confused on what I think was their first day using it during church - baptism by fire I guess. PreSonus tech support was superb, answered the phone immediately, and recommended we update the firmware. Updated both boards (one at a time) with a slightly newer firmware and we haven't seen the problem since.

PreSonus must be one of the best service and support companies out there. They are incredible, I must say. I've read this happening to others as well. People pulling out the FW cable at the wrong time also causes some freezing. That is a big no no. Running them fully open, all channels have caused some power supply questions but it could very well be from venues that are supplying bad power in the first place.
I've updated my firmware, was a snap and the console is very stable. Glad to hear your reports. Thanks for all the help here guys, much appreciated .