Description
Product Description
Whether you’re recording your first album or your hit podcast’s latest episode, the Studio 24c 2×2 bus-powered, USB-C compatible audio interface will help you sound your best. With two pristine XMAX-L mic preamps; high headroom instrument/line inputs; and professional input metering, the Studio 24c delivers amazing sound quality in a rugged, compact form factor. A complete home recording studio right out of the box, the Studio 24c audio interface comes with a complimentary license of PreSonus’ award-winning Studio One Artist music production software and Studio Magic Plug-in Suite, so you can get recording right away.
From the Manufacturer
Bus-powered USB-C compatible audio interface with two PreSonus XMAX-L solid-state mic preamps; superior 24-bit, 192 kHz recording; two instrument/line inputs; professional input and output metering; direct monitoring; MIDI I/O; all required computer connection cables; as well as Studio One Artist and Studio Magic Plug-in Suite.
From the manufacturer
The Portable Audio Interface
Studio 24c: The portable, ultra-high-def, USB-C audio interface.
Professional quality in your home recording studio and on the go.
Great for recording studios, mobile musicians, guitarists, podcasters, and live streaming, the Studio 24c audio interface features 2 front-panel combo mic/line/instrument inputs with PreSonus XMAX-L solid-state mic preamps, 2 rear-panel line outputs, MIDI I/O, and onboard direct monitoring control.
World-class recording software included
Seamlessly integrated with the included PreSonus Studio One Artist music production software, the Studio Series USB-C interfaces work with virtually all macOS and Windows recording software. Easy to learn, Studio One enables you to compose, record, and produce without getting distracted by the tools. Need a new loop or sample for your latest production? Studio One lets you shop, audition, and purchase new content right from your production environment.
Features
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Take the tour.The 2-in, 2-out Studio 24c audio interface features USB-C computer connectivity and includes combo mic/instrument/line inputs with +48V phantom power for condenser mics; balanced, ¼-inch TRS, line-level main outputs; and an output level control. Its built-in MIDI interface enables connection to a keyboard, sound module, or control surface. A Mixer knob blends analog input and computer playback for low-latency monitoring. |
Superior sound.The Studio 24c operates at up to 192 kHz for ultra-high-definition recording and mixing. High-quality converters on every input and output and PreSonus’ professional-grade XMAX-L mic preamps enable you to capture complex musical harmonics smoothly and naturally, with no audible distortion. |
Designed for the home recording studio. Built for the road.Whether you’re just getting into recording or are a veteran producer who wants to go mobile, the Studio 24c will give you clear, clean, ultra-high-def sound in a bus-powered, rugged unit. While it’s a perfect companion for any recording software, the Studio 24c and included Studio One Artist provide you with a complete, affordable, home and mobile recording solution. |
Theo –
The Blue One is Better Than the Red OneI’ve had the Focusrite 2i2 in the past and while it’s a great little portable interface, I can attest that the Presonus 24c is a step up, the converters and preamps sound better (IMO of course) and it’s built like a tank, feels more substantial than the 2i2. If you can swing the extra $, get the 26c, it’s basically the same form factor but spec’s higher than the 24c and has two more outputs. Bus powered, and USB class-compliant so you don’t even need drivers on a Mac, it will just work. It does come with a pretty cool suite of free plugins/software, you have to sign up for an account with the various companies for each of them which is a bit of a hassle but worth it.
Michael C. Jackson –
Abandoned product, no support, no stereo monitoring. At least it is DC coupled. Malicious software.Seems to be high enough quality except for the fact that I can’t actually configure it from the software side via the universal control app. It is wanting me to “update” my firmware to v2.21 before I can use it. It’s worth noting that this shipped with v2.22 – They shipped out a version they can’t actually support in software. Most of the config I need I can access from the DAW itself, and running it on OSX really alleviates the need for anything too special as everything is baked in, so this isn’t a deal breaker, it’s just strange.Also, I have to reboot the device itself if I reboot my machine for any reason, often with plugging/unplugging the interface to get it to show up. This happens with plenty of other USB-C to USB-A cables, and it happens regardless of port I use.If you need help, then good luck actually getting any support from presonus! There’s literally no way to contact support at this point in time, maybe you will be lucky enough to have your forum post or your question actually show up. Consider this a community supported device at best, so be comfortable with digging through forums.That being said – It’s a high quality interface. It works very well with logic. It works with CV tools and Silent Way. It does everything I want it to do so far. OSX means that extra config tools are largely unneeded (I think, there’s no way to actually see what the “Universal” tool lets you set on this). I can record from any source I have, and I can route audio the way I wanted. Reliability has been rock solid outside of the above “reboot” issue. This is a pretty simple interface, and that isn’t a bad thing.Most importantly, this is one of the few DC coupled interfaces out there. If that’s something that is important to you, and this has the appropriate amount of IO for your needs, this is a great option.— UPDATE Aug 16 2019 —Ok, I’m dropping a star here. There’s no way to get direct monitoring in stereo that I can see, which is a pretty significant oversight. Software configuration of this is still nonexistent. I’ve been seeing strange behavior with the audio rate not remaining consistent. Since there hasn’t been any support to talk to, I went ahead and “updated” the firmware (i.e. installed the version actually available, which is one version older than what I have) since that was required for the universal config tool. The good news is that i could use the “universal configuration” utility after that “upgrade”, the bad news is that it doesn’t do a damned thing I need it to, and there was no way to know this until I was able to run it, since it isn’t documented. Let’s hope the firmware update didn’t break something.Support is still practically nonexistent, although I can apparently open a ticket (finally) – I’m skeptical that it will be answered, I’ll update if it is – otherwise, assume it hasn’t been. Documentation is very limited compared to other interfaces – Over half of it is dedicated to the recording software that I’ll never use, and details on the hardware are really lacking. If this wasn’t useful for control voltages, I’d have given up on it by now – Shame it’s more useful for CVs than for audio. Guess I’ll be dedicating this to CVs and mono inputs.Guess there’s a reason this is one of the less expensive DC coupled interfaces.– FURTHER UPDATE 10/06/2019 –I was able to open a ticket regarding stereo monitoring after a lot of trouble with their interface, they requested a dump of my OS config which was totally unneeded and then followed up a day later with what was effectively “what was your question again?” (I’ll note that my question was if it was possible to do direct monitoring in stereo and was quite clear), and I kept trying to log into the system to reply, but it wouldn’t let me. This ticket auto-closed in like a day. Support is a joke.– FINAL UPDATE 12/14/2020 –It’s been a year and a half. “Universal control” still doesn’t support the firmware that shipped on the device. There have been no further updates. I never got a good answer on any of my questions. This product apparently was abandoned upon shipping. I guess they don’t care about anything other than their higher-end products, if they even care about those. No way I’ll ever know if they care, because there’s no way I’d ever purchase anything higher end from them based on this experience.—- FINAL FINAL UPDATE —-Yeah, I don’t know why I dug this back out instead of getting another interface – I just needed some more audio ins and had this laying around. Well, when I thought things couldn’t get worse — THEY DID. I’ve been troubleshooting my desktop all day because it’s freezing on boot, and just now found the culprit. Can you guess what it is, since I’m writing it in this review? It’s specifically the universal control software that is breaking things. I should have never updated it, or even installed it in the first place since it doesn’t do anything useful. And honestly, I should have just set this interface on fire a long time ago. I’m definitely done with it — and presonus — for good. The only reason I’m not setting it in fire tonight is because setting electronics on fire isn’t exactly great for anyone’s health or air quality. So off to the electronics recycler it goes.
Dmytro –
Great product!!The media could not be loaded.
 I have been using this PreSonus for a year. No complaints. Wonderful interface.
Daniel McBride –
Great productHelping me with some mixes I’m about to release. Just wish they would suggest how to find that “sweet spot”
Tetsu Noguchi –
Useful for laptop/desktop, not so useful for mobile deviceI like the presonus 24c.the four meters are great, two for the inputs, and two for the mains. The mains are useful when using the headphone jack. The inputs are useful for quick gain adjustments.The idea of a single USB-C port for both power and data is great. But in practice, I found it somewhat wanting. With a laptop, it’s actually very nice as it’s a single cable for both, and the sound stays very clean.But for connecting to a tablet, it’s less useful. iPads don’t send out enough power through the lightning port or the new usb-c port to power up the 24c. So, you need some kind of hub in between that handles both powering and data pass-through to the iPad. I don’t have any such hubs, but even if I bought one, it’s one more thing to carry. If I have to run off a usb battery, then that’s 4 things to carry, not including the mic and headphones.So, I would have preferred split ports with the option to run data and power through a single port, or the option to run data through one port and power through another. A simple toggle switch to determine which is preferred.A lot of audio interfaces in the same price range do this. Those devices use older USB interfaces, and frankly, for those devices, the single-port-for-both-power-and-data options is not good, nowhere near the cleanliness of the presonus. But still, I would prefer that choice.I also with the xlr inputs were in the back and the headphone jack was in the front. Seems like most interfaces have the xlr inputs in the front. Not something I prefer, but oh well.Though this may be a lot to ask for such a cost effective device, it would have been nice to have a couple of HPF options and a couple of limiter options. But for the price, maybe that’s pushing the desire a bit. I currently have a sound devices 302 in front of the presonus to handle HPF and limiter duties. A rather expensive way to go, but it works well.All in all, a great little device. clean sound, easy to use potentiometers, simple button for phantom powering, indicator for USB power on. For under $200, damn impressive.
Alberto Mendoza –
NoneEasy to manipulate
Erik Taylor –
Great Audio InterfaceI hooked a Shure SM7B to this with a CloudLifter CL-1 and the sound quality is better than I expected it to be at this price point. I had a 24c but upgraded to the 68c. The extra ins and outs are very handy. The 68c also has significantly better LED meters than the 24c. The only other major difference is that the 24c is portable and does not require a dedicated power source. The 68c must be plugged in to an outlet. On the plus side, the extra power does give you a few extra decibels.It comes with a license for Studio One, which is a pleasure to work with. I haven’t tried it with a control surface yet, but that may be a not-so-distant future addition to my setup. If you’re looking for something good for streaming or for recording music, this is a very solid choice.
Robert –
Great product!Great product!
Jay McC –
Don’t wait, buy now!I waited 6 years before finally buying one of these audio preamps. I kept tryin to convince myself that USB headset devices would “be better next year”… Just stop.Stop playing the games with overpromissed marketing and just buy one of these for real audio fidelity on PCI’m a virtual trainer by profession and when I show up with my audio Technica AT2020 with my mx40s people are blown away by the quality in all virtual collaboration tools I use.I know I’ve sold a couple of these to executives already just by the experience they received.So happy with this product.
sifelaver –
Works great on my M1 MacBook ProVery nice interface. Like the metering display on the front. The knobs on the right are a bit cluttered for me, though, and I’d prefer a headphone jack on the front. Sound quality is excellent – the same or MAYBE slightly better than my Scarlett 2i2 3rd gen. Best of all, it works GREAT on my M1 Silicon MacBook Pro!Here’s my use case in case you’re curious:From the PreSonus website I downloaded and installed the Universal Control v3.4.1.63149 for macOS software (not sure if that was needed, but didn’t hurt.)Hooked up the PreSonus to my M1 MacBook Pro using a StarTech USB-C Cable (TBLT3MM2M) – didn’t try the cable included in the box.Ran a line out Y cable from my cassette player to the two inputs on the PreSonus. Then used Audacity on the Mac to record – worked perfectly! Was able to rip a cassette to .WAV file. Sounds amazing. Not sure on other use cases, but that’s what worked for me.Although ultimately I prefer the more simple interface of the Scarlett, if I walked into a room and was told I had to use this PreSonus with the M1 MacBook Pro I’d feel confident and excited about it. Enjoy!