X32 Version 2.0 firmware first impressions

[dswpro]

It is still in beta as of this date but I downloaded and installed the X32 2.0 firmware this weekend. My first impressions are quite favorable. Here are my favs and peevs so far:

RTA and spectrograph available behind the parametric EQ. +1
This has always been one of my favorite features of Presonus Studio One software, and now the X32 has a high resolution RTA inside each parametric EQ. This makes it real easy to pin down trouble frequencies.

Gate and Compressor graphics sport the blue dot. +2
Setting gates on drums has always been a bit of a black art but now with this visual feature things are much easier.
the graphic displaying the gate level now has a moving blue dot riding the volume curve of the gate, this gives you a real time visual view of the input level as you are adjusting the gate. This feature is also on the compressor, allowing you to easily see when a signal is approaching the knee and entering the non-linear dynamics. As I write this I imagine I will have to create a you tube video to really show this cool feature.

Effects sound better, pitch shift now included. +1
I have not even tried some of the new vintage effects the 2.0 firmware has, but I can already tell the quality of the reverb, echo and plate seem to have improved, this is completely subjective, and I don't have any A/B recordings to show off. I also appreciate that the effects now include the pitch-shift unit, which I love to use for chorusing.

Snippets now available. +1
One of my early gripes with the X32 was trying to copy EQ or dymanics settings from one channel to another. Trivially easy on the Yamaha desks, I was never able to do this on an X32. (or if it was available I could never figure it out). Now you can save input channels off as "snippets" and recall them into other channels. Took a little getting used to, the selection of what part to use only effects what is recalled. Still, a welcome improvement.

Say goodbye to your old presets. -1
Unfortunately with these improvements, you cannot keep your existing scenes, so you will have to invest in setting up the console from scratch. If you use a lot of inputs or lots of scenes you must re-create this may take a few hours or longer.

No Remote Control apps available to support Version 2 firmware. -2
The Windows and I-pad apps which were working so well with prior firmware versions will not speak to a Version 2 equipped console (yet). If you require this for your gigs, you may want to wait till these are available.


There are other improvements I did not touch on here, but I don't use digital snakes or a split monitor console, so some of the features are not significant to me. Altogether I like the new firmware. I will try it out in a live production next weekend, even without the remote control support.

[Jools4001]

Thanks for that. I've had my first digital mixer (X32 Rack) nearly a week now. Although the learning curve is pretty steep I'm begining to find my way around it and unlock some of it's potential. I was also atracted to the Presonus for it's RTA implementation so nice to know that this is coming along for the X32.

As I read through your post I was thinking that since I've only got a few practise presets where could the harm be in starting off with v2.0 from scratch....but then since the Rack version is dependent on remote control, I will have to wait.