Presonus Studio Channel Vacuum Tube Channel Strip Overview
Presonus Product Overview
Presonus named this channel strip the Studio Channel, and indeed it’s a wonderful studio tool. But it’s great for live performance, too. Featuring tube preampfification, a VCA-based compressor, and three-band EQ, it delivers a huge variety of timbres. Produce luscious, in-your-face vocals, dynamic acoustic piano, and fat, solid bass guitar, not to mention crystal-clear acoustic guitars and cracking snare. Yes, presonus got the name wrong; they should have called it the Anywhere Channel. But they got the design right.
Sweet three-band EQ—before or after the compressor.
The three-band equalizer in the Studio Channel is a precision tool, with the ability to carve out unwanted frequencies as well as tailor your tone to enhance your sound. The EQ can be pre- or post-compressor, and you can bypass each stage independently. Custom-designed amplifiers deliver sweet-sounding gain and cut for smooth highs; deep, solid lows; and clear midrange. The midrange band is fully parametric, with variable Q, while the high- and low-frequency bands are semi-parametric, with Frequency and Gain controls but fixed Q, and can be either shelving or peak bands.
Impressive headroom and a huge variety of fat sounds.
The Studio Channel’s Class A preamplifier starts with a high-output 12AX7 tube that operates on voltages double that of other preamplifiers in its class. The result is lots of headroom and big tone. Gain and Tube Drive controls enable a wide range of sounds, from transparent and clear to edgy and overdriven. A -20 dB pad, 80 Hz highpass filter, and polarity reverse let you tweak your signals to sit properly in the mix.
Fast, smooth, musical VCA compression.
Our VCA-based compressor is known for musicality and fast attack, with the ability to tame the fastest transients. From slap bass, to snare drum, to vocals, the Studio Channel’s compressor allows you to record blazing-hot signals with accurate dynamics control. In addition to ratio, threshold, attack, release and gain controls, it offers a convenient Auto Attack/Release feature with preset attack and release curves. The backlit VU meter can display gain reduction or output gain.
- 1 channel with Class A 12AX7 vacuum-tube mic/instrument preamplifier:
- Gain control with +10 dB to +54 dB gain range
- Tube Drive control
- 48V phantom power switch
- 80 Hz high-pass filter
- -20 dB pad
- Polarity-reverse switch
- Fully Variable VCA compressor:
- Attack, Release, Ratio, Threshold, and (makeup) Gain
- Auto Attack/Release switch
- Soft/Hard Knee switch
- Bypass switch
- 3-band parametric equalizer:
- Gain, Frequency, and Q controls (mid band)
- Gain and Frequency controls (low and high bands)
- Shelving/peak switches (low and high bands)
- Switchable pre-/post-compressor
- Bypass switch
- Master level control
- Backlit VU meter
- Gain Reduction to Meter switch (selects gain reduction or output gain)
- Input/Output:
- 1 unbalanced ¼” instrument input (front panel)
- 1 balanced ¼” line input
- 1 balanced XLR mic input
- 1 balanced ¼” line output
- 1 balanced XLR line output
- Physical:
- 1U 19” rack-mountable, rugged steel chassis
- Sealed, detented, metal rotary controls
- External 16 VAC power supply
