Presonus Quantum ES2

I've used Studio One since around 2011-2012, used an AudioBox years ago, but didn't like it and went back to the old Digidesign Mbox 2 mini.

I really like the design of the ES2, easy to use and operate. Love the endless encorder, it's very easy and intuitive to click a button and turn the knob to adjust the inputs or the outputs.

Sounds great, no complaints here. Also, there is no weird background noise that I used to have on the old Audiobox.

The only thing I don't like is that it requires aux power to work with my PC. I was able to connect it to a USB 4 port at first and it worked fine for a day, but started showing the red usb indicator later, so I had to hook it up to an external power source.

It works fine with one cable with the Thunderbolt port on my M3Pro Macbook though.

I've been eyeing the ES2 for a while now, missed a pretty good deal a couple of months ago, but the current price is fine too, since you're getting a full Studio One Pro 7 Perpetual licence with it, instead of a 6-month Studio One Plus subscription like it was before.

(If you're reading this after June 30, 2025, make sure to check the Presonus website and / or Thomann product description, as it might not come with the perpetual licence of Studio One Pro after that date anymore)