PreSonusNSB 8.8, 8x8, AVB-Networked Stage Box for Digital Mixers

Had real issues to start with as I was marrying this up to some old pieces of Presonus kit, Studiolive RM32 AI and CS18AI but with some excellent support from Presonus came up with a perfect solution to get everything talking via an older but more appropriate firmware version for my needs. Would recommend on the basis of Personus technical support alone.

I wanted to love this switch, built like a tank. Unit arrived with ancient v1.2 firmware , okay first order of business upgrade. Looked for firmware - need to create an account on presonus website. Okay created account - added serial number for unit. Had to logout and couldn’t login again. Asked for a password reset , email never arrived. Okay - try contact support , oh I need an account. Damn. Created second account , can’t download firmware without adding serial number !!!. Okay make up a serial number , oh it was accepted. Download firmware. Follow weird instructions to connect using direct ethernet and 169.254.0.1 IP. Fine. Upload new firmware ok , accepted firmware. Wait 10 seconds and press browser back button , then refresh web. Nothing , no webpage - what !!!. Okay try to login to submit support ticket - “Can’t login” - what ????.Seriously this is the WORST initial user experience I have ever had. Switch no longer responds on 169.254.0.1 , and using a network assigned IP, the webpage is empty. This is JUNK. Presonus - contact me and REPLACE this unit.UPDATEPresonus support got back to me and fixed the account info. And apparently the non-responding web address is as intended after this upgrade.Have tested the unit with a MOTU M64 and MOTU Ultralite AVB. Seems to correct perform AVB gPTP sync.Updating to 4 stars.

I bought the EarMix to use in combination with the Stage Box NSB8.8 and AVB Switch SW5E, hoping to make use of their audio networking capabilities. They are advertised together on Amazon and look as if they should work together as a set. THEY DON'T.Once I got them unboxed, registered, started trying to download the software and watch some videos of extremely hairy and unprofessional looking guys trying to explain how it all works it quickly became obvious that unless I invested another £1000-2000 in a full featured studio mixer there's no way of configuring the whole setup. The cheapest workable alternative to the EarMix seems to be the Studio Live Series III 16R mixer, and that's out of stock on Amazon as I write this.I'm hoping that replacing the EarMix with the 16R will solve the problem, but at a cost of a lot of money and wasted time. A simple piece of software or phone app would probably solve the problem, and the physical kit looks solid, but Presonus engineers looking like they've been rescued from a refugee camp doesn't inspire confidence. I suggest that Amazon drop the Presonus brand until they get their act together.