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[Ed Taylor]

for those of you on the lite side here,

I'm still running a couple of the old Studiolive 24 mixers as part of my aged, (but paid for) semi-pro rig.

I've mixed the new Presonus 32SX at a church across about a 6 week period, so I'm comfy with that layout.

I've not had chance to do a lot of time on the M32s
A church I play guitar at has a pair (1 for FOH, 1 for Streamcast) but that's very little demand in terms of actual mix work, it's not my rig, so playing with gain structure, etc isn't as much an option for me as I'd like and the house speakers are so lacking that it'd not be the same as if I had the console feeding my own speakers.

opinions, ease of use, etc...greatly appreciated before I go dropping the $3k plus.

thanks

Ed

[Alec Spence]

They'll both to the job in a church environment.

A strong edge that X32/M32 has is its ubiquity - far more people will be familiar with them, if that may be a thing for you.

[Keith Broughton]

The M32 is a very capable console and, in my mind, a better layout than the X32.
I have not liked the Presonus consoles I have come across but, that said, I have not used their latest offerings.
As noted, is likely more people will be familiar with the X32/M32 consoles.

[Alex Cheng]

They'll both to the job in a church environment.

A strong edge that X32/M32 has is its ubiquity - far more people will be familiar with them, if that may be a thing for you.

Furthermore, their ubiquity has allowed them to build a strong track record. Friends of mine have experienced random crashes that require full console reboots (i.e. all audio stops!) on the newer StudioLives, which is a deal-breaker for me. In the church install world, the X32 is pretty much rock solid - on the latest firmware, I know of exactly one (rare) bug with the USB handling routine that can trigger a full UI freeze, and even then it's solvable by simply removing the USB drive. No console crash, no drop in audio processing, back on your feet in 5 seconds.

[Brian Jojade]

The original Studio Live was a great entry into digital boards without being scary.  When they came to market, nothing was even close.  Then the X32 came along and re-wrote the playbook completely.  Superior in just about every way.

Presonus seriously drug their feet and simply didn't offer anything competitive and let Behringer pretty much own that market.  Their product has a surprisingly great track record and the mixers are quite functional.  Other players such as A&H and Soundcraft have also moved their digital offerings down into the space, so you've got more choices to pick from as well.

The latest Pesonus offerings have moved them back into the playing field in many ways, but for those comfortable with the X32/M32 workflow, the Presonus may seem cumbersome.  Personally, I don't like many of their layout decisions.  I REALLY hate their metering scale choice.  When you're working in the happy level space, there just isn't enough resolution for it to be that useful.  It's not as bad on the new mixers as it was on the original, but still different than what everyone else does.

The Presonus iPad app also has a bit to be desired.  I absolutely HATE having to slide left and right to get to different channels.  An incorrect slide can mean changing a channel level pretty easily.  I much prefer the Behringer method of tapping on the bank of faders instead.  This is a personal choice thing, I'm sure, but for that reason alone, I would pick the X32.

[Thomas Le]

M32R user here, great console but the iPad app is "ok" though I only use it for metering. I got mine for a sweet deal on a refurb unit on ebay with full 10yr warranty (wonder how that's gonna work with the support system all dried up...)

[Brian Jojade]

M32R user here, great console but the iPad app is "ok" though I only use it for metering. I got mine for a sweet deal on a refurb unit on ebay with full 10yr warranty (wonder how that's gonna work with the support system all dried up...)

Good luck tracking down someone to actually honor that warranty.  Getting parts, yeah, they will be around, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

[Mike Caldwell]

If controlling a mixer remotely with an iPad APP will be a big part of what you do the Allen Heath apps are far better than the X/M32, Soundcraft and the Presonus apps.

I've never used any of the third party Mix Station apps.

[Sean Anderson]

I guess I'm on the other side here. I greatly prefer the layout and ui of the new Presonus over the x32. The plugin based workflow and touch screen make routing and parameter changes much more navigable on the Presonus. I really like some of the state space models in the Presonus and you can use any eq and comp on every channel and mix. I own a few Presonus rack mixers and the first iteration series 3 board with the scribble strips over the fat channel section. I mix most of my gigs on them. I do mix on an x32 almost every week as well.

If this is for your own rig, get what you want to mix on. If it will see a rotating door of others, get an m32.

That said, the Allen and Heath SQ line, if a rack mixer was available, would likely be top of my list if I was starting new.

[Tim Verhoeven]

X32/M32 user mostly , but also regularly behind a SQ series desk. No experience with the Presonus consoles.

I don't completely get the question. Are you looking for a new console for your own rig or looking to update the church setup?

In my experience the SQ series sound a bit opener then the X32/M32 family. I put that mostly to the newer architecture in the SQ series compared to the 10+ year old architecture inside the M32.
However I find the X32/M32 app ecosystem much better compared to the SQ series. You have the MS apps or the Mixing Station family (which I prefer) and I also find M32-Edit a great tool. The SQ apps are basically the SQ native GUI wrapped in an app.

Just to pitch another option, the Behringer WING together with an DL16/DL32 stagepack. That will sound better than the M32, again because of the newer architecture inside it. It is a lot more console for the same money as a M32 (more channels, plugins, features, ...).
For a church setting the WING might be a little bit less of an option, just because of the increased complexity. But if you will run it that should not be an issue.

[ProSoundWeb Community]