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[Tim McCulloch]

I'm not a Presonus mixer fan and I'm not a Behringer 'fanboy'.

Bill's advice about staying with familiar workflow is good advice and, as much as I disliked the original StudioLive, Presonus's newer offerings seem better thought out and we're not hearing as much about reliability and service issues.  From a "drop-in replacement" standpoint this would seem to be the obvious choice particularly if you or your people are the sole operators.

That said, the X32/M32 ecosystem has better acceptance and its ubiquitous nature means there is a lot of operator familiarity.  If you do gigs with persons mixing beside you or your crew I'd buy into the M32 family and if budget was a consideration, go with the X32.

There has been some up-thread discussion about the Compact/Producer/M32R and what they have/don't have.  For me the scribble strips are an absolute must; no strips no purchase.  There are folks who need access to specific controls in particular ways and for them, perhaps the small-footprint desks like the Compact or M32R won't be as convenient as whatever they're using now.  That's understandable and not a critique of either the operator or the device - it's simply the way something is.  Often a clever operator and find workarounds or kludges but in the end if it requires a re-torquing of mental process it's probably not a helpful change.

I'd encourage you to rent or borrow several different mixers and use them in anger to find out which models suit you best, before spending bigger money on a purchase that may not ultimately work the way you want it to.

[John Chiara]

Before I read the thread, I was thinking of responding exactly as Bill did.

My thoughts are as follows:

For features and expand ability, the X32/M32 line simply dwarfs the Presonus line.  Another plus is that if you are doing sound for bands, many bands will have a ready USB stick with an X/M32 show ready for you to just plug in and go with.  Not so much with the Presonus.

As bill pointed out, the LCD scribble strips are a must.  I always thought Behringer made a big mistake ommitting them from the Producer.  They did fix this in the M32R which is quite a nice little mixer and really hard to beat "bang for the buck" and you get the MIDAS logo to boot.

If you need it to be small and compact and fit into a standard 19" rack, then I would go with the M32R.  If you are OK with having a desk console, the X32 Compact is a better option since it has a bit more controls than the M32R.

Now .... having said all that, I personally think you might be better served with the X32 Rack .... maybe 2 of them for that matter.  Here is why.

It seems you are comfortable mixing on a tablet.  The X32 Rack can be used as a stage box so that having 2 of them, you can have a full complement of 32XLR inputs and 16 XLR outputs (along with the other inputs getting you to a total of 38 inputs), all in one simple rack.  Having 2 mixers also gives you the opportunity to have redundancy if anything should ever happen to the main mixer (I have never heard of an X32 Rack having issues, but some X32's have had failures .... although they seem pretty few and far between).

If you get the new X-Live card, you can record directly inside the X32 Rack (or any other X32 product for that matter). 

You could also save a bit of money and get an SD16 for around $700 instead of a 2nd X32 rack.

I can not comment on any relative difference in sound quality between Presonus and X32 since I have only had experience with the older model Presonus digital mixers and it is my understanding that the new ones are better.

I won't disagree with the idea that the new SQ5 would have better sound quality; however, it is quite new, and the GUI is a far cry from what the Behringer and presonus applications currently offer.  This may improve in the years to come, but right now it is still a little raw.  I also am uncertain about the internal recording capabilities of the SQ5.  Perhaps someone could chime in with that info?  Additionally, I think it will be quite a bit more expensive if you want 32 XLR inputs since you would also have to add in the price of the stage box.

Good luck!

Plus...the X-touch works perfectly with the X32R and iPads to give a small portable..and wireless console.

[kel mcguire]

After owning several Presonus mixers and outboard gear, I can say I've not had any issues. I've heard of several X32 issues at the same time. So, what that says isn't very much I suppose. My original SL2442 has hundreds of shows on it and I don't baby my stuff. I do find it interesting to read opinions about the new series III SL mixers from people who have yet to touch one. I certainly haven't used one or know of anyone who has one yet. I got along fine with the first gen, the AI series sounded better and had a few little improvements so I'd expect the same on the new one.

Perhaps people who work more than I do or at different types of events will require features out of their mixers that haven't been deal-breakers to me. I've cut way down on the amount of gigs I want to do each year. 2017 I only did about 70 jobs as compared to 85-100+ a handful of years ago and running like that for a decade plus. All 70 jobs were done on the SL mixers btw… Tribute bands, a handful of festivals, theater things, corporate things, blues festivals, live recording sessions and my own band gigs. I realize that the Behringer x32 is a ubiqutous entity these days.  Everyone seems to have one, clubs, bands, sound cos… If others are running your equipment, that's really important.  That factors into any decision. I think the X32 sounds a bit better then the SL in it's mix bussing and channel strip…but not the preamp and A/D

the recording system aspects of the SL mixers has been one of the best features. I liked the integration of Capture and Studio One software, that comes with the mixers. Capture has never failed for me and I've done quite a number of projects for people: for TV, for video and live record releases. That was the attraction to me since I also do a lot of studio things. the post production mixing aspects are part of my world. The AH has a nice onboard recorder that seems reliable. Some of the others less intriguing.

The new series III has a built in SD card capture. To me, that's really cool. I'd also bet it works perfectly given how well Capture performed. SD cards are cheap and plentiful. So, if the recording is as important to you as it is to me, along with the other considerations listed above and by others, perhaps that helps make a decision.

[ProSoundWeb Community]