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It's possible that you've found this thread because you are a musician, wanting to learn how to record yourself or a band. You are on a budget, you don't fully understand things like converters, preamps, interfacing, compressors etc... and maybe you don't even care about those things right now.

Perhaps you are thinking, "Right now, my primary goal is to get my musical ideas and performances recorded, as quickly as possible, and with the best quality possible; but without having to be concerned at this time with all the technical details involved in audio engineering. At some point, I may choose to expand my knowledge in the technical aspects of audio recording and mixing, but for right now, I just want to be able to capture my musical performances in the easiest, quickest, and best-sounding way possible."

As a musician, your focus should be on the music; and you want to be able to capture your performances NOW. The PreSonus StudioLive AR Hybrid console-interface is the perfect audio capture solution for musicians and songwriters.
Supporting sampling rates up to 96k/24 bit, the AR is easy to set up, and simple to use. It is perfectly suited for the DIY /Project-level musician, who wants (and needs) the speed and ease of "click and go recording". Both Mac and PC support the PreSonus StudioLive AR Hybrid, so you can accomplish what you want on virtually any relatively current computer. For the project level musician and composer, there is nothing that this recording setup cannot do. It is feature-rich, and has everything you'll require to record, mix, and process music, but it allows you to do this quickly and easily - and with the outstanding fidelity that PreSonus is known for.

StudioLive comes with the basic software that will get you started.
I endorse PreSonus as the number one place recording musicians should look before they start investing in any recording equipment.
I can't say enough about how great I feel PreSonus is; and their StudioLive AR console and Capture software!

Designed exclusively for StudioLive® mixers, free Capture™ multi-track recording software for Mac® and Windows® allows instant setup and one-click recording at up to 96 kHz directly from the mixer, with no configuration. Capture simplifies your live-recording environment, providing only the tools necessary to do a true virtual soundcheck and record a great performance, without placing huge demands on your CPU. And because Capture looks and feels like a classic multi-track hard-disk recorder, it’s instantly familiar.

If this sounds like you, I suggest you start here:
https://www.PreSonus.com/products/Capture

Watch Media Here
http://www.PreSonus.com/products/Capture/media

-audiokid
Founder and President of recording.org

Comments

Mike Caliri Tue, 10/03/2017 - 06:51

I just got the studio live 16,due to lousy FX,compression and gate on my DP-24 but its fine for just recording. I was out of commission for over a year due to a pinched nerve in my neck,had an operation, OK now getting back into mixing and start playing guitar again.The presonus is so much better,I will upload my mixes soon,I get the stems from cambridge-mt.com for practice.

Tony Carpenter Sat, 07/18/2020 - 13:16

Late to this thread I realise, (rather than start a new thread) but I just got a Studio Live 16 Series 3. So far I am very impressed. I bought mine just to use the AVB along with a Motu 828ES to join 2 rooms of my studio via only a CAT cable :). I am really considering whether this might replace my UAD Apollo Quad... I know right?. Along with my large collection of Waves and iZotope and other stuff I am pretty much able to emulate close to what the Apollo does. Yet to see how the pre-amps do stack up, but I heard no floor noise with an SM58 earlier or a Fusion F25 on phantom and gain was very nice and a clear sound.

Oh and I do have a Studio One 5 licence so DAW control would be even better than my X-touch Behringer, fire sale??? LOL.

Tony

audiokid Sat, 07/18/2020 - 14:43

Makzimia, post: 464946, member: 48344 wrote: Late to this thread I realise, (rather than start a new thread) but I just got a Studio Live 16 Series 3. So far I am very impressed. I bought mine just to use the AVB along with a Motu 828ES to join 2 rooms of my studio via only a CAT cable :). I am really considering whether this might replace my UAD Apollo Quad... I know right?. Along with my large collection of Waves and iZotope and other stuff I am pretty much able to emulate close to what the Apollo does. Yet to see how the pre-amps do stack up, but I heard no floor noise with an SM58 earlier or a Fusion F25 on phantom and gain was very nice and a clear sound.

Oh and I do have a Studio One 5 licence so DAW control would be even better than my X-touch Behringer, fire sale??? LOL.

Tony

Very cool, Tony! Looking forward to hearing more about this.

kmetal Sun, 07/19/2020 - 17:01

Makzimia, post: 464959, member: 48344 wrote: kmetal Kyle, trust me when I say, this has not been an easy decision. Until recently I was determined to wear the cost of Apple Tax. As for Samplitude, nope, if I’m doing this it’s because I want a fully compatible easy setup. The Presonus will be on my desk, and the X-touch will be saying goodbye.

I’ve got a LOT of work to do.

Are you going with a hackintosh or running w10?

audiokid Sun, 07/19/2020 - 17:03

The Studiolive console and Capture is brilliant. Ideal for musicians and project studios. I think it’s the closest experience to tape and console. Lately I’ve been thinking this is a great alternative to Radar as well.
I ran a SL32 on my windows box via Firewire 8 and I was very impressed. I used a separate I/o card for that, worked awesome. The new StudioLive series looks amazing. I can understand why you would just stick to Studio One as well. It’s all intertwined.

I think you are on the right track.

The preamps are so so and the converters weren’t that great but the trade off would be worth it for many reasons.
The musician in me likes being able to write music this fast without all the computer stuff getting in my way (I don’t loose critical creativity time).
Since you are heading back to PC
Samplitude might be something you look at later. Be sure to enter the Samplitude giveaway, Tony!

Tony Carpenter Sun, 07/19/2020 - 22:41

kmetal, post: 464965, member: 37533 wrote: Are you going with a hackintosh or running w10?

w10 Kyle. With this move I’m basically going for bringing back my Roland VS experience. If I’d gone to the 2480 with a mouse and keyboard. Also, with ARM coming to Apple I am 99.9 % certain they’ll be looking to make hackintoshes a thing of the past. Like I said, looking to really simplify my work flow further.

kmetal Mon, 07/20/2020 - 10:52

Makzimia, post: 464971, member: 48344 wrote: w10 Kyle. With this move I’m basically going for bringing back my Roland VS experience. If I’d gone to the 2480 with a mouse and keyboard. Also, with ARM coming to Apple I am 99.9 % certain they’ll be looking to make hackintoshes a thing of the past. Like I said, looking to really simplify my work flow further.

Makes sense.

Tony Carpenter Sun, 07/26/2020 - 09:07

I pulled the trigger on a Scan PC made beast with 14 core Intel unlocked 256GB RAM and lot's of nice features. Being made for me and tuned for audio recording. It's going to be like Xmas around here very soon. Something fun when I've been feeling very tied down... The Studio Live needs some serious desk space.... next to modify my desk.