Sweeten with digital effects for a polished, professional-caliber sound.
To get a great mix, you need high-quality effects. The StudioLive AR8 USB has you covered with an internal stereo effects processor with 16 presets, including an assortment of room, hall, and plate reverbs; chorus and delay effects; even a preset that emulates an acoustically treated studio room to provide a warmer, more intimate tone. A dedicated effects return, complete with master level fader and dedicated monitor send, lets you adjust the amount of the effects in your main and monitor mixes. You can even bypass the effects with a footswitch (optional). It’s just another way that StudioLive AR mixers enable you to build professional-quality mixes and recordings quickly and easily.
A complete solution that’s compact, easy to use, and built for the road.
Compact and built for the road, the StudioLive AR8 USB is an easy-to-use, all-in-one solution for audio mixing and recording. With a wide variety of connections, two ways to record, and a simple, elegant mixing surface, it will quickly become the heart of your live and studio sound systems. Check it out now at your favorite PreSonus dealer!
Built by musicians, for musicians.
StudioLive® AR8 USB 8-channel hybrid mixers make it simple to mix and record live shows, studio productions, band rehearsals, podcasts, and much more. This is a musician’s mixer: lightweight, versatile, feature-rich, and packed with analog connections and digital tools, yet easy to learn and use. Mix with PreSonus’® famous Class A preamps and three-band EQ. Create multitrack recordings and fly in backing tracks with a 24-bit, 96 kHz, USB 2.0 digital audio interface. Record and playback in stereo with the integrated SD™ digital recorder. Stream program music wirelessly, using onboard Bluetooth®. Compact and road-ready, StudioLive AR mixers provide a superior all-in-one solution for mixing and recording your performances
All of the connections and controls you need.
StudioLive AR8 USB mixers are packed with the connections and controls needed to mix and record live, in the studio, and in rehearsal. Each of the two mono channels and two stereo channels includes level control; a mic input with one of PreSonus’ prized Class A preamps; three-band EQ; and more. Besides the main outputs, you get a monitor mix output with a dedicate bus for feeding a stage wedge, headphone amp, or in-ear system. Since the StudioLive AR8 USB is also a studio mixer, you also get control-room outputs with level control to feed your studio monitors.
Plug guitars and basses directly into the mixer.
Most mixers make you route acoustic and electric guitars and basses through external direct boxes before connecting to a mixer input. But with StudioLive AR mixers, Channels 1 and 2 have high-impedance instrument inputs, so you can plug a guitar or electric bass straight into the board—no direct box needed.
It’s inputs; it’s playback; it’s the Super Channel!
Our unique Super Channel (stereo Channel 7/8) allows you to connect four stereo analog and digital sources at once, enabling you to use the mixer with your high-tech devices. Plug a media player into the Super Channel’s unbalanced RCA and 1/8-inch stereo inputs, play stereo audio from the onboard SD™ recorder or from your USB-connected Mac® or Windows® PC. Use onboard Bluetooth 4.1 to pairyourphoneto your StudioLive AR mixer and instantly have wireless access to your music library for break music, backing tracks, or ear-training. Have a song you want the rest of the band to learn? Pair your phone and start rehearsing!
Record in the studio or at the gig—with or without a computer.
Naturally, you want to record your gigs, as well as producing studio projects, podcasts, and so on. It’s smart to record your rehearsals, too. So StudioLive AR mixers offer two different ways to record. Connect a StudioLive AR8 USB mixer to your computer via USB 2.0, and you have an 8x4 multitrack digital recorder, ready to capture all input channels plus the main mix to a Mac or Windows PC with professional, 24-bit/96 kHz quality. An onboard stereo SD recorder lets you record the main mix without a computer—just hit Record and go.Recordingcan’tget much easier than this!
Fly in backing tracks and play break music, too!
Both the integrated USB recording interface and the SD recorder have multiple uses beyond simply recording. With just a few backing tracks, your small band can sound like a much larger act, so we enabled the USB interface to play back two stereo streams through the mixer—great for backing tracks, click tracks, or program music. Use the SD recorder to play up to 32 GB of MP3and .WAV files for hours of program music or backing tracks without needing a computer. And don’t forget the Bluetooth feature in the Super Channel, which lets you play break music straight from your smartphone. With several ways to get the job done, you can work the way you want to.
Integrated software makes recording a snap.
PreSonus StudioLive AR mixers are tightly integrated with state-of-the-art recording software to help you achieve your creative vision. Record with PreSonus’ Capture™ live-recording software, then edit in our award-winning Studio One® Artist DAW (recording and production software); both are included free.
Features
Channels and Buses
8-channel mixer
2 mono and 2 stereo channels, each with:
Level knob
Pan
Mute
PFL solo
1 stereo Super Channel (Ch. 7/8)
1 monitor bus with PFL solo
1 stereo effects bus
1 stereo effects return with:
Level knob
Dedicated monitor sends
Effects bypass footswitch jack
Inputs and Outputs
2 instrument inputs
8 balanced line inputs
4 balanced mic inputs with:
Class A microphone preamp
Global 48V phantom power
Stereo Super Channel with:
Stereo RCA inputs
1/8-inch stereo input
Switchable SD™/USB stereo playback
Bluetooth 4.1 input
L/R XLR main outputs
1 Balanced TRS monitor output
1 Balanced TRS effects output
L/R Control Room outputs with level control
Headphone output with level control
Signal Processing
Highpass filter on every channel
3-band semi-parametric EQ (Channels 1-6)
Stereo effects processor with 16 presets
Recording Options
8x4 24-bit/96 kHz, USB 2.0 audio recording interface
Record every channel plus the main mix
2x2 SD recorder
Record main mix
Supports SD™ and SDHD™ formats up to 32 GB
Integrated Software
Capture™ recording software
Studio One®3 Artist recording and production software (DAW)
Mono Channels 50 dB, ±1 dB (-30 to +20 dB), Stereo Channel 50 dB, ±1 dB (-15 to +25 dB)
Frequency Response to Analog Outputs
20 Hz to 20 kHz, +0.5/-1.5 dB
Frequency Response to USB (Direct)
20 Hz to 20 kHz, +0.5/-1.5 dB
S/N Ratio to Analog Outputs (+4 dBu)
82 dB
THD+N (1 kHz, -1 dBFS, A-wtd)
< 0.01%
Input Impedance (Balanced)
10 kΩ
Outputs
Headphone Output
Type
¼” TRS Female, Stereo, Unbalanced
Maximum Output Level
150 mW/channel @ 60 Ω
Frequency Response
20 Hz to 20 kHz, +0.5/-1.5 dB
Dynamic Range (A-wtd)
> 103 dB
THD+N (Bandwidth 20 Hz - 20 kHz, -1 dBFS, unwtd)
< 0.01%
Operating System Requirements
Below are the minimum computer-system requirements for use with Capture™ and Studio One®.
Mac
Mac® OS X 10.8.5
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor (Intel Core i3 or faster recommended)
Windows
Windows® 7 x64/x86 SP1 +platform update, Windows 8.1 x64/x86, Windows 10 x64/x86
Intel Core 2 Duo (Intel Core i3 or faster recommended)
Mac and Windows Systems
4 GB RAM (8 GB or more recommended)
30 GB hard-drive space (Studio One)
Internal or external 7200 RPM storage drive highly recommended
Monitor with 1366x768 resolution (high-dpi monitor recommended)
The minimum system requirements may differ for DAWs other than Studio One®. Please check the requirements for your DAW of choice with its manufacturer.
Note that the speed of your processor, amount of RAM and size and speed of your hard drive will greatly affect the overall performance of your recording system. Also, a more powerful system (faster processor with more RAM) will allow for lower latency (signal delay) than you might experience while monitoring audio signals.
As a commitment to constant improvement, PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc., reserves the right to change any specification stated herein, at any time, without notification.
