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Sound Reinforcement - Forums for Live Sound Professionals - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Live Sound Forums => LAB: The Classic Live Audio Board => Topic started by: Johnny Diaz on January 20, 2014, 06:45:04 PM
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So I have the Behringer x32 and it is working ok. I'm using the console for live sound and controlling the dj mixers. Has anyone done an A/B with the Behringer x32 & Allen Heath GLD80 or GLD112 consoles. Is the sound quality that much better than the Behringer x32? Are the preamps in the Allen heath quieter than the Behringer x32 (I find the preamps a little noisy with the x32 even at moderate levels)? Can the additional cost be justified or not?
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So I have the Behringer x32 and it is working ok. I'm using the console for live sound and controlling the dj mixers. Has anyone done an A/B with the Behringer x32 & Allen Heath GLD80 or GLD112 consoles. Is the sound quality that much better than the Behringer x32? Are the preamps in the Allen heath quieter than the Behringer x32 (I find the preamps a little noisy with the x32 even at moderate levels)? Can the additional cost be justified or not?
I own the GLD, and have never heard the X32. That being said, the general consensus is that the X32 sounds fine. The GLD sounds measurably better to me than my Yamaha 01v96, but that isn't news.
Directly answering your question - it is definitely possible to justify a more expensive system than the X32. I would guess that sound quality isn't usually the reason, though.
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I own two GLD80s. I have spent a couple shows on the X32 in monitor world. I have no issues with the sound quality of the X32 and didn't notice the circuitry to be noisy.
The GLD does sound fantastic but unless you have super golden ears I don't thing that you'll notice any differences between any console other than how the EQ works or how natural and real sounding the effects are. I imagine that the delay caused by some routing configurations might make one console sound better than another.
The big difference between the GLD and other <$15,000 consoles is the flexibility with routing. If you need the flexible buss structure and ability to move faders to different layers and the ability to have graphic EQs without using up FX slots the the GLD is the console for you.
As far as GLD80 vs GLD112, I don't need the extra faders and prefer the compact size of the 80. Your application may be different.
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I own the GLD, and have never heard the X32. That being said, the general consensus is that the X32 sounds fine. The GLD sounds measurably better to me than my Yamaha 01v96, but that isn't news.
Directly answering your question - it is definitely possible to justify a more expensive system than the X32. I would guess that sound quality isn't usually the reason, though.
All the entry and mid level digital consoles I have played with seem to have this thin sound associated with them and there is the issue of summing on the mix bus or whatever they refer to it digitally.
Franz
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A quality input signal can be reasonably treated(if necessary) an pushed downstream with the x32.
The big sound quality issues typically occur further along: speaker system capacity & local acoustic management.
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I own two GLD80s. I have spent a couple shows on the X32 in monitor world. I have no issues with the sound quality of the X32 and didn't notice the circuitry to be noisy.
The GLD does sound fantastic but unless you have super golden ears I don't thing that you'll notice any differences between any console other than how the EQ works or how natural and real sounding the effects are. I imagine that the delay caused by some routing configurations might make one console sound better than another.
The big difference between the GLD and other <$15,000 consoles is the flexibility with routing. If you need the flexible buss structure and ability to move faders to different layers and the ability to have graphic EQs without using up FX slots the the GLD is the console for you.
Having used both GLD80 and X32 consoles, I would have to agree with Ryan on the routing and fader options of the GLD80 being superior.
Sound wise, really hard to determine if one is "better" than the other.
Is it worth the extra dosh? Only you can really decide that.
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The simplest difference is that a GLD system can include 44 mic pres, while the X32 has a a variety of configurations but only 32 mic pres at once.
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So I have the Behringer x32 and it is working ok. I'm using the console for live sound and controlling the dj mixers. Has anyone done an A/B with the Behringer x32 & Allen Heath GLD80 or GLD112 consoles. Is the sound quality that much better than the Behringer x32? Are the preamps in the Allen heath quieter than the Behringer x32 (I find the preamps a little noisy with the x32 even at moderate levels)? Can the additional cost be justified or not?
I find the X32's pre-amps to be fine. If you don't like the X32's pre-amps, you might want to try a Midas DL150 series stage box with your X32. Unfortunately, you will have to wait until the DL150 series firmware allows a 48K sample rate. Hopefully they will work after the NAMM show. As of today they don't do 48K. :(
-JP
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The simplest difference is that a GLD system can include 44 mic pres, while the X32 has a a variety of configurations but only 32 mic pres at once.
Samuel, there are very significant differences between the GLD and X32. The number of preamps is absolutely the most insignificant of all the differences. The GLD is the most flexible console that is affordable to lots of people. The x32 is the most cost effective console for basic mixing.
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The number of preamps is absolutely the most insignificant of all the differences.
I agree. 90% of the time, 16 channels has been enough for me with 24 being enough for almost everything else. Only once have I run out of channels with a 32 channel mixer.
Steve.
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Samuel, there are very significant differences between the GLD and X32. The number of preamps is absolutely the most insignificant of all the differences. The GLD is the most flexible console that is affordable to lots of people. The x32 is the most cost effective console for basic mixing.
I'm familiar with the desks. I called it the "simplest" difference, not most significant. By that I meant that # of mic pres is a simple metric for eliminating as a purchase option - if you need 40 pres, you can forget any other features because the X32 has been eliminated.
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I've never known X32 preamps to be noisy.
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