Hi and welcome,

Good questions. Unfortunately (considering your questions) this is a user's forum. You may get some 'experience from others' feedback but for an answer from PreSonus you should contact them directly

^^^^^

Yes, I was wondering if anyone else was in the same predicament or if someone from Presonus could confirm the situation.

Here's why my suspicions are up about the matter. When I first went in to order the RM16AI, he said he had a StudioLive 24.4.2 in stock, which he ordered for someone and they decided against it. So he was really, really, really, trying to sell it to me for $1800.... Although it would suit my purposes, it's $800 more and bulky for my needs, where as a rackmount is the ideal mixer my purposes.

So I'm wondering if he's trying to fabricate this back order issue to make me buckle and dish out the extra $800 for StudioLive 24.4.2 he got saddled with... .

Anyway, thanks for the quick response and I'll go ahead and contact support.

Well, you may be on to something if this 24.4.2 is a classic 24.4.2 (not the new AI model). Good mixer but no longer in production, which also means no more firmware upgrades other than the occasional driver update for OS compatibility. Must make it harder to move

In Germany at one of the biggest shops RM16AI is not available any more, the arrival of RML16AI is anounced for October 21. Whenever a "Mk II" of a product is anncounced, you will have to wait. Sometimes deliveries vary in weeks in continents and countries. And for sure, this is not a PreSonus specific problem.

My advice is: Get the RM16AI from your friend. It will be the best value for your money and you don't have to wait for anything or anybody. And remember you need a router and an iPad or a computer with firewire to get going.

I just wanted to clarify my post(s), that I'm not upset with Presonus in anyway, shape or form .

I just wanted to make sure that the back log was indeed what was going on, and not my buddy that runs the music store trying to sway me to the 24.4.2 he has in stock. The big box stores here in the U.S. (Musicians Friend, AMS, Sweetwater etc...) all have one or both models in stock, or at least they are showing they do....that's what got me thinking.

On that note, how do I differentiate between the 24.4.2 AI models? If it is one of the newer models, maybe we could strike a if he can't get the RM16AI in? ...But I'm really looking for a smaller footprint. If he would of had 16.4.2 AI, I probably would have struck a deal as it's rack mountable.

Regardless, I'll get this worked out one way or another.

@Wahlerstudios - I'm FW ready on both my old tower and fresh new build, and made sure my FW card had compatible chipsets...Router ready as well. I've been recording though an antiquated Fostex 450 16 channel fed into a Focusrite Pro 40 Firewire into my DAW Station with StudioOne. I was having really good luck dialing in some decent drum sounds, despite the boards reputation for being noisy. Long story short faders are shot, in addition to some other problems that are surfacing, which is why I'm upgrading.

Thanks for the responses!

danameisner wroteLong story short faders are shot, in addition to some other problems that are surfacing, which is why I'm upgrading.

This is exactly why I have often made the argument to buy an RM mixer. If you can be happy with software based control (like me and I'm a live sound guy!) then you don't need all those mechanical components that can go bad over time, depending on how good the faders/knobs/buttons are made the longer they might last but nothing last forever so if you can live without them that's one less thing to go wrong, forever cause they don't exist. Not only that but it's cheaper!

The RML version is definitely something to think about in a studio, but the price difference (at this point in time) is probably not worth it. I put line levels directly into my RM32 all the time with no problem, I may have the gain set to 0db sometimes but as long as it's not clipping then it comes out clean, if it does clip, a DI with a pad can fix it and I have 6 of them on hand, right? I can remember one time that that has ever really happened and it was only because the player wouldn't turn down enough. That said, if you use very expensive boutique preamps then you would not look too smart to the talent if you plugged into another preamp (even though set to 0db may not cause a measurable negative affect at all, and the talent probably doesn't know what you're plugging into anyway), that is exactly what the RML is designed for, to plug 6 high end boutique preamps into without looking a fool (or possibly being a fool, depends on how big the talent/budget is). If you don't need that then save some money because the RM is exactly the same as the RML in every other way!

Wait until you can get what is best for you for years not what you need tomorrow (rent what you need tomorrow if you have to, 24.4.2 at the shop comes to mind. . .

Steve

DO NOT BUY THE SL2442! At least not for that money. An old SL is ok, if you need a just mixer, but be aware that this product line (hardware and software) is discontinued.

It makes more sense to look for anything with an AI in its name. You have the rack mixers (RM and RML), the live mixers (SL) and the controller (CS), which can be connected in many ways and variations. One way is AVB, the other way is Dante. Additionally RM's work with just a router and an iPad and SL's are anyway "self standing". A RM can serve as a stagebox for SL or as an independend monitor mixer. Also interesting is to combine (cascade) SL mixers and especially RM mixers. I really enjoy the flexibility I have with 3 boards. Remember: A SL2442 or SL1642 can not be part of the AI network family! That is why I sold my old boards.

I am doing live work mostly, so I can not say what is good for studio work. What I do at home is mixdowns of live recordings (on SL2442AI) plus mastering in Studio One. I can imagine that RM and CS is a very nice team for studio work. The CS is rack mountable, it has the same size as SL1642(AI)...