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Easy enough to borrow/rent sub(s) for a little testing.  Doesn't work, no harm no foul.

Yep.  In the order of "cost of being wrong", this is among the cheapest.

As others have said, if you are looking to make your show sound better, start with the FOH speakers.  The Expression is not a bad sounding desk IMO.

If it is a workflow thing, then you might be looking at a different desk as the Expression is among the lowest functionality digital desks in its class.

Let us know what you end up with!

I've always liked the sound of the preamps in Soundcraft boards, they just have a certain fullness/warmth to them that Behringer/Midas/Mackie/Presonus/etc. don't have. A&H and Yamaha definitely are in the same ballpark, haven't had really any experience on the higher end stuff.

The belts all appear to be doing their thing. The channel faders that are dragging have rope slippage. The data entry fader is something else entirely. Can't see in there to understand the mechanism.

Maybe try cleaning the pulley where the rope/string wraps around it to get any grease dirt oil off of it.

If this is a cancellation node, then it's a crap shoot.

Easy enough to borrow/rent sub(s) for a little testing.  Doesn't work, no harm no foul.

As others have said, if you are looking to make your show sound better, start with the FOH speakers.  The Expression is not a bad sounding desk IMO.

If it is a workflow thing, then you might be looking at a different desk as the Expression is among the lowest functionality digital desks in its class.

Let us know what you end up with!

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

The motor, belt and pulleys look straight out of a VHS VCR and some CD players.
The right sized O rings could work.

The belts all appear to be doing their thing. The channel faders that are dragging have rope slippage. The data entry fader is something else entirely. Can't see in there to understand the mechanism.

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?

While the Expression looks quite limited in functionality these days, there's nothing that makes it unusable, as long as you haver sufficient IO, which it sounds like you do.  Any of the other limitations aren't really holding you back for what you're doing in practice - don't get lured into the feature envy!

Use it until it fails on you, at which point, XM32/Wing/SQ are the current options in your budget, from the sounds of it - along with any possible new stuff that appears over time.

Oh, I’m not going to throw it in the trash over this. I do like the console, however a few times wish I had DCA’s or another parametric band of EQ on the channel strip or more busses. All in all, it brings more to the table than any analog console ever could.

Here’s another thought, maybe instead of trying to upgrade my main console, add in a small monitor console so I can free up some of the busses to use as subgroups and additional outputs thus allowing more flexibility that way.

While the Expression looks quite limited in functionality these days, there's nothing that makes it unusable, as long as you haver sufficient IO, which it sounds like you do.  Any of the other limitations aren't really holding you back for what you're doing in practice - don't get lured into the feature envy!

Use it until it fails on you, at which point, XM32/Wing/SQ are the current options in your budget, from the sounds of it - along with any possible new stuff that appears over time.