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[Isaac South]

I know there will be some mixed feelings on this.  But I have zero experience with these boards, so I'm seeking your advice/help.

Our church is getting close to doing a serious audio system upgrade.  We have several companies coming in the month of July to give us quotes.  I just got off the phone with one particular company.  I had mentioned getting an X32, but he highly recommended the QU32.  He said it is a bit more user friendly, and he does far less service calls on the QU than the X32.

He was very nice and willing to install either board.  But I just want to get your feedback on these two consoles. 

Thank you for your information/advice/experience.

[Corey Scogin]

Do you have A) volunteers and mostly n00bs running sound or B) are they all at least pro-sound hobbyists?
A) Qu32
B) X32

Do you need direct-to-drive multi-track capability?
Qu32

Will you be using a personal monitor system and can afford ~$600 ea?
Qu32

Do you need flexible bus routing for monitors or other purposes?
X32

Do you really like an RTA plotted against your EQ for finding problem frequencies?
X32

I went with the Qu series for my church, even though I own and really like the X/M32 series, for two reasons:
1. Easier interface for non-sound people to understand.
2. Mostly fixed routing means it's easier to troubleshoot.
3. Direct-to-drive multi-track recording.
4. Very good personal monitor system.

[Isaac South]

Thank you for your reply, Corey.  Here are my answers:

1. The two of us that would run it are pro-sound hobbyists.  But occasionally, a noob will run sound.

2.  What is direct-to-drive cabability?  Is that for recording each channel during a service so that you can send it to ProTools (for example) and mix it and then share it with other or on social media?

3. If we use floor monitors (still deciding), we will having 9 monitors.   different mixes in those.  A separate mix for each band member (4), one for the preacher, and one for the choir.  If we choose an in-ear system (which is what we are leaning towards), we would obviously like to have a separate mix for every single person.  That would be 10mixes (I think).  And then another mix for the preacher's floor monitor(s).   Not sure if this answers your question. 

4.  I do not understand what flexible bus routing means.  Can you help me understand it?

5. What do you recommend?  I think it would be nice to have the RTA over the EQ to see it.  What's your advice?

Thank you

[Corey Scogin]

2.  What is direct-to-drive cabability?  Is that for recording each channel during a service so that you can send it to ProTools (for example) and mix it and then share it with other or on social media?

Sort of. It means recording directly to a drive via USB connection instead of requiring a computer. The Qu will record multitrack (18 channels) or stereo. The X32 will only record stereo. Either one will connect to a computer to record 32 channels.

You can do whatever you like with it after the fact. For example, I have our Qu32 setup to record a stereo mix, the audience mics, and each mic used for spoken word individually. That way, I can pull just the speaker's headset mic channel into a DAW and edit it down for a podcast. I also use the stereo mix + audience mics as a rough recording for the band to use as a reference in future weeks. I'm using both the direct to drive recording and the computer connection. The USB drive recording is now used as a backup because I've set up the computer to automatically send new recordings to DropBox so I don't have to carry USB drives back and forth.

3. If we use floor monitors (still deciding), we will having 9 monitors.   different mixes in those.  A separate mix for each band member (4), one for the preacher, and one for the choir.  If we choose an in-ear system (which is what we are leaning towards), we would obviously like to have a separate mix for every single person.  That would be 10mixes (I think).  And then another mix for the preacher's floor monitor(s).   Not sure if this answers your question. 
4.  I do not understand what flexible bus routing means.  Can you help me understand it?

The Qu series will only do 7 mixes. Of those, 4 are mono and 3 are stereo. This is fixed. It cannot be changed.
Buses 1, 2, 3, and 4 are mono. Buses 5+6, 7+8, and 9+10 are stereo.

When using in-ear monitors, it helps to have stereo capability for each mix. Even on the X32, you are limited to 16 buses, so 8 stereo mixes. Fewer if using some for effects buses. This is why personal monitor systems are so helpful. They give each person the ability to customize their own stereo mix no matter how many people you have. You're only limited by budget for purchasing new personal monitor units.

The other advantage of IEMs is limiting the stage wash. 9 monitors is a lot to have putting noise into the room and muddying up the sound. That may or may not be a big issue depending on your room but given the level of gear we're talking about, I'm assuming it will be.

5. What do you recommend?  I think it would be nice to have the RTA over the EQ to see it.  What's your advice?

I find that feature quite useful and is a bit of a selling point for me. That's a personal preference though.

[Isaac South]

Wow, this information makes me do a lot of thinking.  First of all, I've realized that I don't know anything about personal monitoring systems.  When I read that term in your first post, I thought you were just talking about each monitor having it's own mix for that particular musician or whatever.  But you are talking about a totally separate thing, correct?  So that, no matter how many we are limited to on the mixer, we can have as many different mixes we want.  Am I correct?  Can you recommend a product of this type to me that I can look up some videos and do some research.  This sounds like something we need.  Especially since we have so many musicians and singers that would need a different mix.

I agree 100% with your opinion of stage wash.  We are not a huge church.

Lastly, I like the idea of being able to run some mixes to the DAW for mixing and sending to a podcast, as you said.  Also, having the files sent to dropbox is a great idea.  Thank you for sharing your use of that with me.

[Nathan Riddle]

The Qu series will only do 7 mixes. Of those, 4 are mono and 3 are stereo. This is fixed. It cannot be changed.
Buses 1, 2, 3, and 4 are mono. Buses 5+6, 7+8, and 9+10 are stereo.

This is partly true, partly false.

The groups can be configured as mixes on the QU series. So QU24 can have 9 mixes (4 mono, 3 stereo, 2 stereo groups), QU32 can have 11 (4 mono, 3 stereo, 4 stereo groups).

Agreed though that the personal monitor mixers are the way to go though.

[Nathan Riddle]

Wow, this information makes me do a lot of thinking.  First of all, I've realized that I don't know anything about personal monitoring systems.  When I read that term in your first post, I thought you were just talking about each monitor having it's own mix for that particular musician or whatever.  But you are talking about a totally separate thing, correct?  So that, no matter how many we are limited to on the mixer, we can have as many different mixes we want.  Am I correct?  Can you recommend a product of this type to me that I can look up some videos and do some research.  This sounds like something we need.  Especially since we have so many musicians and singers that would need a different mix.

I agree 100% with your opinion of stage wash.  We are not a huge church.

Lastly, I like the idea of being able to run some mixes to the DAW for mixing and sending to a podcast, as you said.  Also, having the files sent to dropbox is a great idea.  Thank you for sharing your use of that with me.

As far as types of systems. Both Behringer & A&H have their own ecosystems.

-Behringer P16‑M 16 Channel Digital Personal Mixer (16ch)
-Allen & Heath ME‑1 Personal Monitor Mixer (40ch total mixing capacity + ambient mic)

You can take the output and go to a monitor, or a pair of IEM's/headphones. I doubt you really need 9 monitors on stage, you can probably get away with multiple people using a single monitor. If you can go the IEM route, that would be best for the house mix; and plenty of musicians like it as well.

[Isaac South]

So, for example, if I have 4 musicians and 7 lead singers (for a total of 11 different mixes), I would need to purchase:

11   ME-1's
and
11   Shure 425 earbuds

Is this correct? 

Also, if the Qu32 only does 7 mixes, isn't this a problem? Or am I not understanding something correctly?

[Scott Holtzman]

As far as types of systems. Both Behringer & A&H have their own ecosystems.

-Behringer P16‑M 16 Channel Digital Personal Mixer (16ch)
-Allen & Heath ME‑1 Personal Monitor Mixer (40ch total mixing capacity + ambient mic)

You can take the output and go to a monitor, or a pair of IEM's/headphones. I doubt you really need 9 monitors on stage, you can probably get away with multiple people using a single monitor. If you can go the IEM route, that would be best for the house mix; and plenty of musicians like it as well.

Mixing in ears goes well.  Having a user mix a physical monitor is a recipe for disaster. 

[Nathan Riddle]

Mixing in ears goes well.  Having a user mix a physical monitor is a recipe for disaster.

True, I wasn't suggesting it; merely saying it's possible to have it send to a monitor. You could put the personal mixer in the booth and use it for 'extra' mixes.

So, for example, if I have 4 musicians and 7 lead singers (for a total of 11 different mixes), I would need to purchase:

11   ME-1's
and
11   Shure 425 earbuds

Is this correct? 

Also, if the Qu32 only does 7 mixes, isn't this a problem? Or am I not understanding something correctly?

For lead singers typically you'd want to go wireless. Though that will get expensive. But then I wouldn't get personal mixers for singers. I'd run those from the board.

Typically backline gets personal mixers and frontline gets monitor sends from the board via wireless packs (or monitors).

So for your example you'd have 4-ME-1 personal mixers, extension cable, and earbud.

Then you'd have (depending on st/mono) 4 (dual mono) or 7 (stereo) wireless IEM transmitters and 7 packs for the 7 lead singers. They would get the mixes from the board.

Without doing wireless you can run monitors, but if you want IEM's you can also run long cables to them (which is the cheap way to do IEM's). The cables can be fed from either a ME-1 or a mix from the sound board.

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What's your budget?

That will help us help you come up with a direction.

[ProSoundWeb Community]