PreSonus was founded in 1995, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by Louisiana State University electrical engineering graduates Jim Odom (also a member of the rock band LeRoux) and Brian Smith, to solve technical issues with engineering music CDs.

[1][2] The company's first product was the DCP-8, a multi-channel digital processor (including compression, gating and mix automation) that could control analog audio using MIDI (resulting in a new patent).

[3] Subsequent products include the DigiMax multi-channel microphone preamplifier with ADAT output (2000),[4] the Central Station monitor controller with talkback (2004),[5] and multi-channel FireWire interfaces, including the FireStation (2002),[6] FirePod (2004),[7] and FireStudio series (2006).

[22] In November, 2018, PreSonus released their 16-pad ATOM portable MIDI Controller, which included extended integration features with their Studio One software.

[citation needed] In November, 2021, Fender announced it they had signed a definitive agreement of merger with PreSonus.