PreSonus Central Station Plus Std Monitor Control

You mostly monitor on near-fields, but occasionally switch to big main speakers or a second set of near-fields. You need to be able to switch between multiple sources and want to hear what your mix sounds like with and without subwoofer. You want to monitor straight from digital sources as well as analog. And you don't want cables cluttering your workspace in order to achieve all that.

Central Station PLUS is one of our 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. 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, and two screaming-loud headphone amplifiers with individual level controls. And because Central Station is a 1U rack-mount device, with only one multi-conductor cable running to the remote control on your desktop, all of the cabling is in the back of your rack, where it belongs.

The pros know that for critical listening, a monitor-control system must be as sonically transparent as possible. That's why we 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.

Being from southeast Louisiana, we're big fans of The Meters (Art Neville, Leo Nocentelli, George Porter, Jr., and Joseph Modeliste). Being audio professionals, we're into extremely accurate metering. To enable you to watch your input levels, the Central Station sports dual 30-segment, tri-colored, fast-acting, peak-hold LED meters, which can display dBu and dBfs. A handy Clear switch lets you clear the peak-hold.

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 PLUS is the professional engineer's choice for monitor control.

• 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 and Recessed trim pot for each speaker output
• Cue section with Input-select switch and Output-level control
• Main section with Input-select switch, Aux-input level control, Output-level control and Mute, Dim (-20 dB), and Mono switches
• 2 headphone outputs, each with Dual-function volume controls and Main-Cue input switches
• Passive audio path: no op amps or IC's in main audio path
• Onboard talkback microphone
• Talkback microphone input w/level control (feeds headphone and cue outputs)
• Dual 30-segment, fast-acting, peak-hold LED metering (dBu and dBfs) with Clear Peak switch and Calibrate to match DAW or other audio device
• Footswitch jack for hands-free talkback operation
• Included Control Station Remote (CSR-1) provides remote control of Main Volume, Input select, Output select, Talkback, Mute, Dim and Mono