You mostly monitor on near-fields, but occasionally switch to big, honking Main speakers or a second set of near-fields. You want to hear what your mix sounds like with and without subwoofer bass. And you want to be able to monitor straight from digital sources as well as analog. Meet the PreSonus Central Station PLUS.
It’s one of Presonus’s most popular products for professional studios because it provides the perfect combination of stereo inputs, outputs, and recording-communication functions, allowing you to easily manage multiple sources and monitor speakers.
With Central Station, you can easily switch between three sets of stereo, analog input sources with individual level controls. Two stereo S/PDIF digital sources connect via one coax and one Toslink optical port. You can audition these sources with up to three pairs of speakers, with individual trim pots for each speaker-recessed to avoid accidents. You also get a pair of line-level main outputs, a pair of line-level cue outputs to feed a headphone-distributions system (such as the HP60 or HP4), and two screaming-loud headphone amplifiers with individual level controls.
Finally, with the included Control Station Remote (CSR-1), you can remote-control the Central Station’s main volume, input select, output select, talkback, mute, dim, and mono functions from your desktop. The CSR-1 wires to the Central Station via a DE15 connector, enabling you to keep the Central Station in your rack and control it from your work surface, providing maximum convenience with minimum wiring.
The Professional’s Choice
The pros know that for critical listening, a monitor-control system must be as sonically transparent as possible. That’s why they gave the Central Station an audiophile-quality, passive signal path, with no op-amps or ICs, and equipped the S/PDIF inputs with high-definition, 24-bit, 192 kHz D/A converters that deliver 115 dBu of dynamic range.
To enable you to watch your levels, the Central Station sports dual 30-segment, tri-colored, fast-acting, peak-hold LED meters, which can display dBu and dBfs. You can calibrate these meters to match your DAW or other audio device, and a handy switch lets you clear the peak-hold.
Speak to the musicians over the headphone and cue buses using the onboard talkback microphone or connect a mic to the XLR talkback input. The cue signal is automatically dimmed when you use the talkback mic, and a jack admits a footswitch for hands-free talkback operation. Finally, with the optional CSR-1, you can remote-control the Central Station’s main volume, input select, output select, talkback, mute, dim, and mono functions.
With pristine audio quality; the ability to switch between multiple analog and digital sources and three sets of speakers; fast, accurate metering; and all of the extras that make your studio work easier and more efficient, it’s obvious why the Central Station is the professional engineer’s choice for monitor control.
Features
– 3 sets of stereo analog inputs let you switch between sources
– 2 sets of S/PDIF digital inputs (coax and optical)
– 3 sets of stereo speaker outputs with:
– Speaker Select switches
– Recessed trim pot for each speaker output
– Passive audio path: no op amps or IC’s in main audio path
– Onboard talkback microphone
– Talkback microphone input with level control (feeds headphone and cue outputs)
– Dual 30-segment, fast-acting, peak-hold LED metering
Cue section with:
– Input-select switch
– Output-level control
Main section with:
– Input-select switch
– Aux-input level control
– Output-level control
– Mute, Dim (-20 dB), and Mono switches
– 2 headphone outputs, each with:
– Dual-function volume controls
– Main-Cue input switches
