Question on the x32 Rack, which is what I am looking at for mixing. I have seen comments (Gearslutz or TGP, can’t remember) that it sounds "squashed" or not as dynamic as other - admittedly more expensive - consoles. Do you have any thoughts on the sound quality of the board compared to others you have/have used? Any downside you have to offer?
I am also confused on the personal monitor units for IEM. If I have 8 outs (plus 6 Aux outs) on the mixer can I not use those for IEM and let folks control all 32 channels with IPhone/Ipad instead of buying the personal monitors – which can only mix 16 channels anyway.
I keep coming back to the pure value of this unit at $1,200. Just seems amazing for what it can do, and the ability to expand with an S-16 for more in-outs is really attractive to me.
Thanks again for the input.
The 'midas designed' pre amps in the Behringer are obviously not the quality of the high end Midas boards (that cost 5x as much), but they are excellent.
I much prefer the pre's and Eq shaping in the Behringer, when compared to the Yamaha O1V96 and Mackie DL1608.
I'm only 3 months in with the X-Rack and I am absolutely loving it. I wanted to love the Mackie DL1608 (and I still have one), but their software and unit capabilities is absolutely laughable when compared to the Behringer.
As far as Behringer cutting corners....I don't see it (or hear it). The unit sounds outstanding, and has (so far) performed flawlessly.
I do not hear anything squished or not as dynamic as other consoles I've tried.....BUT I've never owned anything higher end than what I have stated above.
I can't comment on the Behringer vs. the Allen&Heath, because I've never tried the A&H. I will say that I used to own a MixWizard3, and I didn't like it at all.
I will say that one of my buddies sold hid Midas Venice console for the Behringer X-Rack and he is very happy. Are the Pre-amps as good as the analog Midas board....no....but with the speakers and amps I use (JBL SRX and Crown iTech), the Behringer is not the weak link in the chain. I would consider the Behringer of equal quality.
If I was plugging my mixer into a stadium full of line array speakers.....yeah, maybe I'd try something more high end than the Behringer. But for club gigging (rooms up to 500+), this board is a godsend.
As far as the Behringer personal monitor units for IEM, the only advantage is that you have an actual hardware unit to 'touch' if you're on stage with sweaty hands. Example....my drummer would never be able to adjust his IEM mix on an ipad in the middle of a set. It requires too much 'touch' accuracy. But me (being a singer/guitar player), I have no problem walking back and performing a couple of adjustments on the iPad within seconds.
The other advantage of the personal IEM units is that it is probably easier to 'lock people out' of touching the wrong mix. One of my other friends that was using the Mackie DL1608 had his drummer accidentally change the FOH mix instead of his IEM. That sucks.
I'm not cheap, and I'm not a Behringer lover.....but these boards have sold me on the fact that Behringer has really gotten their act together. If you think they're cutting corners, go read some articles about how they have created 'Behringer city', a campus for designing and manufacturing all of their gear. (with Midas right next door). They seem to have really stepped up their game. Kind of like Hyundai cars, if you look at their quality now as compared to in the late 80's.
When the Mackie DL1608 was announced at NAMM in 2012, I called Mackie a couple days later and said - "are you going to come out with a rackmount version of this, that looks like a patch bay?".
Mackie phone rep - "not sure what you mean, we are going to have a rack kit to put the DL1608 in".
I said - "no, I mean, take two of your Onyx rack pre amps, put them into one two space case, and put an iPad jack in the front.....done. I don't need a rack tray for the ipad, it would be more efficient to make this into just a patch bay type unit"
Mackie phone rep - "cool idea, I'll talk to our Dev team".
Two years later - Mackie has not advanced this product one inch! New Firmware releases have been amazingly minor improvements. (anyone want to buy my DL1608??)
But Behringer, who is obviously investing heavily in R&D, came out with many versions of their mixer, to meet any situation required.
When I saw the X-Rack at NAMM in 2013, I said - "THAT'S IT!", that's what I've been looking for. I offered to buy the demo model right then....they laughed at me. (I'm sure it wasn't fully baked anyway, and probably had lots of bugs).
But now a full year later, the X-series are all on the market, and NOBODY else has anything like the X-Rack in their product stable (that I have seen).
I bought the X-Rack because the iOS app was amazing, and the board was the exact form factor I was waiting for. Now that I have it.....I love it.
I tend to test and overthink the crap out of everything. I have spent a lot of time just playing with the X-Rack and thinking about it's features and what I can do with it.
This past week, I finally downloaded the drivers on my laptop, and set up to do 16 Track Recording. Did some quick tests.....works great.
So I can track any show by opening my laptop and connecting a USB cable. Love that.
A lot of the features on the X-Series mixers are daunting. DCA Groups, Matrix Mixes...things I never thought about. But once you spend some time with it, you realize they are well thought out, every useful features.
I'll give one more example, and then I'll shut up:
I use a DBX Driverack 260. Crossover, Eq, Speaker Delay. Nice unit.
I found that if I run my Main L/R signal into the Matrix Mix Outputs on the Behringer, that I can use the Eq section on the Matrix Output channel to perform Crossover and Time Delay. The Matrix Outputs actually have Crossover functions....not just Eq'ing out the unwanted frequencies, this is an actual Crossover.
I can also insert a 31 band Eq on the Main L/R signal.
So with a couple of swipes on the iPad, I completely eliminated my need for the Driverack 260 (that unit costs $1000 new).
Those Matrix Outputs (there are 6 of them), I also used to send my Main L/R signal to two 'Aux' outputs for when I need to plug into a club's system.
I played a room last night that has a set of RCF single 12's flying in front of the stage, and a pair of JBL JRX dual 15's (gross) flying on the sides of the stage.
I brought my own JBL SRX728 sub into the room, and added that to the PA.
So now I have 3 totally different sets of speakers....what do I do.
I sent one Matrix Output to my Sub, and use the Crossover to tune it properly to provide thumping low end.
I send one Matrix Output to the club's RCF tops, and use the Crossover to take out the low end, and the Eq to tweak that set of speakers to my liking.
I send another Matrix Output to the club's JBL tops and use the Crossover to take out the low end, and the Eq to tweak that set of speakers to my liking.
Once I have them all tuned the way I think they should sound, I use the Matrix Output volumes to balance out the system.
Within 10 minutes, I have a nice sounding PA......press 'Save', and how I have my mix ready for that room the next time we are back.
If anyone buys an X-Series product and is confused by all the options....please feel free to PM me. More than willing to talk you through how to set it up.
I even created a visual map of how it all works (in MS Visio)....because I'm a geek.
(wow that was long)
