For the weekend warrior, the X32 platform is tough to beat. Quality and reliability is certainly good enough for small shows and the price/feature ratio is amazing. Love or hate the company, the product pretty much rocks.
Using X32 racks as monitor consoles or stage boxes, or whatever is super simple plus if you have multiples, you have built in redundancy of sorts where losing the main console doesn't automatically mean the show's over.
The only real limit is 32 full channels to work with. If you need more than that, you're probably doing shows of a different caliber.
If you double your budget, that opens the doors into the Yamaha, A&H, and other consoles, which are great for sure. But for a part timer, is that extra expense really worth it?
I agree, the x32 is a workhorse for sure whether you like it or not. I’ve got some time with the X32 and M32, but I’m not ready to buy something right now. I do have a spare console right now, a second expression, so I’m considering just adding a card to that one and using it as a monitor console with the stagebox. That would be the cheapest option and free up some busses that I’m currently using for monitors to use for subgroups on the foh console but still give me the monitor flexibility I need. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this sooner. I still wouldn’t have DCA’s, but I would gain some available buses for subgroups, and for now that would help. I’ll have to think this one through and decide if this option is worth the extra work.
David