How to multitrack record a PreSonus StudioLive Series III

Last checked 2026-11-07

Short answer. Plug in USB. Record. Each mixer channel already has its own track (USB 1-32 = channels 1-32). No computer? The consoles record to an SD card; the rack mixers record only stereo to it.

It records at 48 kHz (the default) or 44.1 kHz. PreSonus says a Mac, iPad or iPhone needs no driver. We haven't tested a StudioLive yet.

Quick start

1. Connect the square USB port (USB-B) on the back of the mixer to your computer, iPad or iPhone. A Mac, iPad or iPhone needs no driver. On Windows, install PreSonus's Universal Control first. (Ways to record)
2. Pick the sample rate on the mixer: Home > System > Sample Rate, 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz. Set your recording app to the same. (Recording settings)
3. Arm (set to record) USB 1-32 in your app for channels 1-32. Nothing to patch on the mixer. (USB routing)
4. Set each channel's gain before the show. The gain knob changes the recording (our reading). (Tap points)
5. On an iPad or iPhone, if the app crashes when it opens, try Compatibility Mode, which sends 34 channels (our advice). (Only 34 channels, or an app crashes?)
6. Record a 30 s test and play it back before the show.

This guide covers the StudioLive Series III consoles (64S, 32S, 32SX, 32SC, and the 32, 24 and 16) and the rack mixers (32R, 24R and 16R). This guide doesn't cover the StudioLive SE models.

Every other mixer is in the mixer recording guides, and words like class compliant, tap point and virtual soundcheck are in its glossary. Facts come from PreSonus's StudioLive Series III owner's manual and PreSonus's support articles unless a line says otherwise. The sources are at the end.

Ways to record a StudioLive

To a computer over USB

Plug the USB port (USB-B) on the back of the mixer into the computer. Then record in any recording app (a DAW), or in Capture, the PreSonus app that comes with the mixer.

• Channels: up to 64 to the computer and 64 back on every console and on the 32R and 24R. These are slots you can fill, not 64 mixing channels: the 32-channel models mix 32 inputs, and only the 64S mixes 64 (PreSonus support).
• 16R: 18 to the computer and 18 back, says PreSonus's comparison chart. A 2020 PreSonus article says firmware 2.4 raised it to 24. Check what your app shows.
• Sample rate: 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz, set on the mixer.
• Bit depth: the converters are 24-bit. PreSonus doesn't state the USB bit depth.
• Connector: "USB 2.0, Type-B".
• Mac: no driver. PreSonus says all its USB audio devices "work class compliant", and that macOS supports them.
• Windows: install PreSonus's Universal Control (now Fender Universal Control) before you record (our reading of PreSonus's Windows notes).

With no computer: to an SD card

The consoles record by themselves to an SD card in the slot on top, under the Live Recording buttons.

• Tracks: 34. That is channels 1-32 plus a stereo pair, the main mix by default.
• The 64S: any 34 of its inputs and mixes can go on the card.
• The racks (32R, 24R, 16R): stereo only: the main mix, a FlexMix or a subgroup pair.
• The card: SD or SDHC, up to 32 GB, formatted FAT32. PreSonus asks for "SDHC - Class 10 - U3 cards". PreSonus says SDXC cards (64 GB and up) are not supported.
• What you get: a Capture session. It opens in PreSonus's Capture and Studio Pro apps "no conversion or exporting necessary". PreSonus doesn't name the audio file format.

To an iPhone, iPad or Mac with an app

PreSonus says its USB mixers "will work when directly connected for audio / MIDI recording" with iPads and iPhones. PreSonus recommends Apple's camera adapter, even on a USB-C iPad. See Mac, iPad and iPhone below.

StudioLive recording settings

Do these once, before the show.

• Sample rate: press Home, touch System, then Sample Rate. Pick 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz; 48 kHz is the default. Set your recording app to the same rate.
• How many USB channels: Home > System has a switch between Native USB Mode (64 x 64: 64 channels each way) and Compatibility Mode (34 x 34: 34 each way). Universal Control has the same switch under Device Settings. It needs mixer firmware 2.7.0 or later.
• Clock: leave Home > System > Network Clock alone unless your mixer is networked to other PreSonus gear (AVB).
• Bit depth: not a setting. The converters are 24-bit.

To record to the SD card on a console:

1. Put the card in and press Edit in the Live Recording section, above the card slot.
2. The first time, touch Speed Test. It tells you how many tracks the card can record.
3. Touch New Session, type a name, and touch Create. The Capture screen opens.
4. Touch Arm All Tracks to record all 32 channels and the main mix. Or touch Select Arm Tracks and press each channel's Select button. On the 64S, the Select buttons arm Capture tracks, not channels.
5. Press the Record button. Press Stop at the end, then touch Save and Close so you can play it back.

Watch the Rec. Errors box: green is fine, yellow means the card is near its speed limit, red means a dropout. A card slows down as it fills.

Only 34 channels, or an app crashes?

The mixer sends either 64 channels (Native USB Mode) or 34 (Compatibility Mode).

• App crashes on an iPad? In 2021 some iPad apps crashed on launch with all 64 channels; PreSonus says the two it named have since been fixed. If yours crashes, try Compatibility Mode (our advice).
• USB recording unstable on a Mac or PC? PreSonus made Compatibility Mode for computers whose USB chips have trouble with 64 channels. On a Mac, PreSonus says plug straight in, no hub.
• In Compatibility Mode, channels 1-32 are on USB 1-32 and the main mix moves to USB 33-34. Slots above 34 are grayed out.
• Seeing only 34 channels? The mixer may be in Compatibility Mode. Check Home > System.

StudioLive USB routing

Recording every channel? There is nothing to set. Out of the box, on the 32-channel models:

• USB 1-32: channels 1-32.
• USB 33-36: the two stereo Aux inputs.
• USB 37-38: the Tape input.
• USB 39-40: the main mix, left and right.
• USB 41-64: PreSonus's July 2026 manual shows these empty. An older PreSonus article puts the FlexMixes on 41-56. Look at the USB Sends screen to see what yours carry.
• On the 64S, the manual's table puts channels 1-39 on USB 1-39 and leaves the rest empty. Check the USB Sends screen and patch channels 40-64 yourself if they're empty there (our advice).

To change what a USB channel carries (on a console):

1. Press Home and touch Audio Routing.
2. Touch Digital Patching, then USB Sends.
3. Touch the USB send you want to change.
4. Pick its source from the Available Source list.

You can send any input or mix to any USB channel (the full list is in the manual). For example:

• a channel's input
• a FlexMix
• the main mix

Reset Sends puts the defaults back. On the rack mixers, make the same change in Universal Control on a computer or iPad (our reading).

The SD card is mostly fixed. On the 32-channel consoles, SD tracks 1-32 are always channels 1-32; only tracks 33-34 can take another mix, in Digital Patching > SD Card. On the 64S, any input or mix can go to any of the 34 SD tracks.

StudioLive playback for virtual soundcheck

A virtual soundcheck plays last show's tracks back through the mixer, so you can set the mix with no band on stage.

From a computer, iPad or iPhone over USB:

1. Play the tracks from your app back to the mixer, track 1 to USB 1, and so on. Each of these is a USB return: a channel coming back from the app into the mixer.
2. On the mixer, press and hold the USB button in a channel's Input Source buttons.
3. While it's held, press the Select button on each channel you want to play back.
4. When you're done, do the same with the Analog button to go back to the live inputs.

USB return 1 plays on channel 1 by default. To change which return feeds a channel, go to Home > Audio Routing > Digital Patching > Input Source. Using PreSonus's Capture app? Its Digital Return button patches the tracks back for you.

Un-arm the tracks in Capture first, or you may get feedback.

From the SD card (consoles):

1. Press Soundcheck in the Live Recording section.
2. Pick the session and press Recall. This switches every channel to the SD card.
3. Press Play and mix.
4. Press Soundcheck again to go back to the live inputs.

A show recorded in Capture on a computer can go on the card too: in Capture, Session > Export to SD Card (PreSonus support).

StudioLive tap points

The tap point is where on the channel the recording is taken: before or after the EQ, the compressor and the fader. Which one to record, and why, is in Pre or post fader. On the StudioLive:

• What to do: leave the default (the channel inputs on USB 1-32) for a plain multitrack. Set each channel's gain before the show.
• Where the default is taken: PreSonus doesn't say. The manual lists "Inputs" as a USB source but not where on the channel it is taken, and its signal-flow chart isn't in the manual.
• Check it yourself: record a 30 s test, move one channel's fader and EQ, and listen. If the track doesn't change, the recording is taken before them (our advice).
• Gain: the gain knob sets the level going into the mixer, so it changes the recording (our reading).
• No tap switch: PreSonus documents no setting that moves the USB or SD tap.

If you need a track from a known point, set up a FlexMix with only that one channel turned up, and send it to a spare USB channel. Each FlexMix gives you one track this way. A FlexMix is PreSonus's name for its aux, subgroup and matrix mixes. It has three send points:

• Pre 1 (the default): after the polarity switch, high-pass filter and gate (the basic cleanup); before the compressor, EQ and fader. Pro: close to the raw sound. Con: uses up a FlexMix.
• Pre 2: after all the channel processing, before the fader. Pro: the polished sound PreSonus suggests for in-ears. Con: the compression and EQ are in the recording for good.
• Post: after the processing and the fader. Pro: what the room heard (our reading). Con: every fader move is in the recording.
• The main mix (USB 39-40 on the 32-channel models) is the whole mix as you set it: good to share, but you can't remix it.

StudioLive on Mac, iPad and iPhone

• Mac: no driver for audio. PreSonus: "iOS/iPadOS much like macOS also support class device connectivity".
• Mac in Compatibility Mode: plug in directly, with no hub. On a USB-C-only Mac, PreSonus asks for Apple's own USB-C to USB adapter.
• iPad and iPhone: PreSonus says its USB mixers work "when directly connected for audio / MIDI recording" with iPads and iPhones, and lists the StudioLive Series III consoles and racks. That's a general statement for all its USB mixers, not a test of each iPhone. We haven't tested a StudioLive with an iPhone or iPad yet.
• Cable: for a Lightning iPhone or iPad, use Apple's Lightning to USB Camera Adapter. On a USB-C iPad, PreSonus still recommends a camera adapter.
• Power: the mixer has its own power, so it doesn't draw from the phone. The plain camera adapter doesn't charge the phone; PreSonus points to the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, which takes a charger. On USB-C, PreSonus names Apple's USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, which has a USB port and takes a charger.
• Crashes on launch: In 2021 some iPad apps crashed on launch with all 64 channels; PreSonus says the two it named have since been fixed. If yours crashes, try Compatibility Mode (our advice).

ShowRecorder (the app this site makes) records every USB Channel from any class-compliant mixer, so it should record a StudioLive over USB, but we haven't tested it with one yet. There is no Mixer Link for the StudioLive: Mixer Link, which reads channel names and colors, works only on the XR18/MR18 and X32/M32. If you record a StudioLive with it, we'd like to hear how it goes.

Runs on a USB-C iPhone (iPhone 15 or later) on iOS 26, or a USB-C iPad on iPadOS 26. Mac: join the TestFlight beta.

Your mixer not listed, or not tested? Ask us

Sources

PreSonus documents:

• StudioLive Series III console mixers owner's manual (July 2026): sample rate, the SD recorder and card, Capture screen, Digital Patching, USB Sends and SD Card patching, Input Source, Soundcheck, FlexMix send points, default routing, USB 2.0 Type-B, 24-bit.
• StudioLive 32S tech sheet: 64 x 64 USB, 34-track SD, 44.1 and 48 kHz.
• StudioLive Series III comparison chart: USB and SD channel counts per model.
• StudioLive Series III rack mixers owner's manual (October 2022): the rack USB counts.

PreSonus support articles:

• PreSonus Hardware iOS/iPadOS Compatibility: class compliant, iPad and iPhone, camera adapters, the 64 x 64 crash.
• Can my StudioLive utilize all 64 USB/AVB channels?: 64 slots, 32 mixing channels, default USB channels.
• Compatibility Mode in Universal Control v4: 34 x 34, the switch, the Mac with no hub.
• Series III Interface Mode / WDM Primer: the 16R at 24 x 24 from firmware 2.4.
• Series III Console SD Card Recording and Playback: 34 channels, SDHC Class 10 U3.
• Which SDHC card should be used?
• Can I use an SDXC SD card (64GB+) for recording?
• Rack-mount mixers: SD card stereo Recording and Playback
• Capture: USB Recording/Playback Setup (Series III): one track per channel, the Digital Return button.
• Capture: Exporting to SD Card for Virtual Soundcheck