Considering that the Studio Live Series III mixers ( 1rst version ) debuted in 2017 and are already discontinued, is it a reasonable assumption that the new versions ( S, SX, SC, etc ) which are virtually the same with additional firmware upgrades and minus some hardware features, will be discontinued later this year if Presonus follows the same basic timetable?
This is a serious concern for us and many mid size recording rooms that want to take advantage of all the power and flexibility of these amazing mixers. With OS updates coming more rapidly, It is worrisome that Presonus is somewhat well known for abandoning an entire product user base when they discontinue a product, when other companies ( Sennhiser Evolution, Adam, RME, Focusrite ) are still supporting much older lines.
Chief Engineer for over 20 years @
http://www.featherlightstudio.com Studiolive Series III 32SC / NSB 32.16 Studio One / Cubase / Pro Tools M1 Max MacStudio / Intel i7Macbook Pro |
Hi and welcome to these forums
I think you need not worry. I'd say that the earliest Series III versions were discontinued mainly for cosmetic and naming reasons because, as you noted, the hardware stayed almost 100% the same for the models with direct replacements. So the 'blue' Series III mixers are not produced anymore but are still very much part of the family including the firmware update program. Also, 'discontinued' with PreSonus doesn't mean end of support, as firmware updates including new features tend to keep coming many years after actual hardware production stopped |
Hi SwitchBack,
Thanks for the reply. It seems the latest firmware for both the 'Blue" series of mixers and the 'Black' series are back in February of last year 2020. I assuming this is because both series of Mixers must have identical internal hardware. Thanks for the clarification of the 'Discontinued' classification as this really determines the value of a product over time. I think most studio owners like myself simply want to expect a reasonable amount of use from any tool before its life cycle is ended by the manufacturer.
Chief Engineer for over 20 years @
http://www.featherlightstudio.com Studiolive Series III 32SC / NSB 32.16 Studio One / Cubase / Pro Tools M1 Max MacStudio / Intel i7Macbook Pro |
No, "blue" and "grey" use exactly the same firmware as "they are based on the same platform" (quote of an PreSonus official's comment in a private group). Check this thread about current firmware/software versions:
viewtopic.php?f=338&t=45781 It's not surprising that nobody answered your questions in "Answers" and anyway, no company will give any information about their future product policy. If the Series III mixers suit you, buy them. They will have a long life. The official end of support for the AI mixers will be in the end of 2022, so as long as Series III is not discontinued, you will have time enough to enjoy these great mixers and their great ecosystem! |
Well, the firmware version numbers can be the same but every mixer in the Series III family then gets its own firmware .img file, and the 'blue' mixers get their own .img files too. Online updates from user account will automatically find the appropriate .img file per device, but for manual/offline updating you'll find that you have to download a separate .zip per mixer model.
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Sure, a 16R needs different firmware specifications than a 64S and there are differences between the blue and grey models, but as all project/scene and preset files are fully exchangable, it is "one" firmware. It could be irritating to say the blue mixers have their "own" firmware. Unfortunately the word "dicsontinued" has caused a lot of trouble, even though it is correct. The production was discontinued, but not the firmware/software development.
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Thanks for the clarification guys. I think the takeaway here is rather the current line of Series III mixers have the processing power to hold their value until the end of their product cycle.
With processors quadrupling in performance each year, even the top of the line 64S has only a paltry quad core to run all the models of FX, routing, conversion, on board recording, AVB, and USB channels. This seems like more than enough but, here at our churches media center using the 32SX (only a dual-core FLEX DSP) the board really struggles using the onboard Capture recording feature if the track count gets anywhere near the stated 32x32 configuration. Im sure this is due, impart, to the required low speed SD card type as opposed to the much faster SDXC used in other boards but, even with the correct formatting app and recommended cards, the boards response becomes laggy and even buggy at times. These boards pack an incredible amount of features into that hardworking onboard PC. This is where having the CPU overhead would really pay dividends. Haven't had a chance to work with the larger 64S yet, I'm sure the difference is substantial.
Chief Engineer for over 20 years @
http://www.featherlightstudio.com Studiolive Series III 32SC / NSB 32.16 Studio One / Cubase / Pro Tools M1 Max MacStudio / Intel i7Macbook Pro |
There are articles about SD Card Recording in Knowledge Base (check link below) and indeed, you need to have a correct SD card (32 GB) and recording always needs a full formatting. The 32+2 tracks are no problem at all and do not make the mixer react, so there must be something wrong on the user side. The Series III consoles and rack mixers really have enough "horse power" - just think of how many Fat Channels and plugins you can use simultaneously. It doesn't slow the mixers down at all!
I do a lot of SD card recording and there has NEVER been any problem. There is no negative "interaction" between recorder and mixer. It might be that you have other kind of problems like project/scene conflicts or mismatch of firmware/software. https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/s ... -Recording This is the SD card you should use... |
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