How To Choose A Live Sound Mixer

Great video. Love my SQ5 and CQ20B! DLive is next when I can afford it

i use Allen and heath sq6 at my church and i love that Mixer.

I have two XR18's and rack M32C and I have the big M32 mixer. All for different use and events we do. LOVE them all ! was never a fan of the work flow with A&H (personal)

Every SQ I've used so far has had sticky faders/ faders that don't return to -infinity. Otherwise I really enjoy the simplicity and workflow on the SQ's.

i see i am not the only one that hates the StudioLive series

I have a Behringer X32 rack, 16 channels of rack mounted splitters, 16 channels of direct outs on a patch panel, 3 IEM wireless channels plus another output panel for 2 wedges, a sub and mains - All in a 6u rack that takes up very little stage space. All my 5 piece band's inputs go into that. 80% of the time we have a sound guy with a separate FOH system so the direct outs go to him and the X32 handles IEM, Wedge Mixes and recording to the X-Live card using custom Mixing Station layouts. 20% of the time we don't have a sound guy, so I mix from stage using a tablet out front to get a decent mix during a quick soundcheck. Once a year, I add an S16 stage box to the system to do monitors at a small festival.

I've been running shows with my X32 Rack and DL32 stage box (the true Midas preamps definitely sound a bit nicer/warmer/fuller than the Behringer/Midas preamps), an iPad and 22 inch touch screen with mini PC bolted on the back running Mixing Station, and the occasional X-Touch if I want physical faders (which is almost never). Has been working great for me! Bands rarely ever need more than 24 channels around here. Wasn't a fan of the PreSonus StudioLive mixers (had the 32sc and 24r), the UI24r and UI16 mixers were neat but kind of toyish. I might still pick up an X32 Compact, but hoping Behringer or Midas has something new and cooler coming out sometime soon... The Midas M32R's tiny screen is the big thing preventing me from buying that (don't want to have to keep finding my glasses. Lol).

Honest question, the Presonus mixer look good on paper. But why not get one? What is the reason you advice against it?

I have recently began using my first digital mixer, a Yamaha DM3. I also have a Swissonic router that conects the mixer to an ipad and they connect via 5GHz, so I am above all of the punters phones on WIFI 2.4Ghz. I am still learning as I have always used analogue desks for over 40 years but so-far-so-good. My outboard compressors/gates, crossovers and fx have all gone as the ones built into the DM3 software sound great to me. I agree with you mixing on a physical desk as opposed to a virtual one on a tablet but the iPad does come in handy just to wander around the room a couple of times during the performance to check the mix balance. I am nowhere near in the same league as most of you guys as I just do sound for a female vocalist who uses backing tracks but even at this level the desk is an improvement over my old analogue ones, plus it is physically much smaller and lighter which is a benefit.

I've had my Behringer XR18 for about 10 years now. It's been rock solid!

We're in the process of upgrading our consoles to Yamaha DM7's for our venue. We have a pm7 for our main stage, but needed more consoles for our breakout rooms and for our other stages. We were using m32's, and they've been fine mixers, but I really like the dm7 and can't wait for them all to arrive. Dante chips have been difficult for our vendor to get ahold of, so it's been a bit of a wait.

The Studiolive series 3 mixers have been very good for me for the last 5 years.

Whether using physical control or virtual I’ve been very happy. Especially when doing events that have no true front of house.

I say once you find something good to work with, just stick with it.

What are your arguments against Presonus and why are you so excplicitely not recommending it?

I am using a StudioLive 16.0.2 USB and need to upgrade to 32 inputs and I am thinking of a StudioLive 32SC + NSB 16.8 Stagebox, what would fit my limited budget. Judging from many reviews and tests, the quality should be similar to the A&H Qu-24, and I love the Fat Channel workflow and - as a not professional sound guy - also the channel presets that can be used a basis for fine-tuning.

Xair/xr18 can also be used as a expansion if you just plop the main left and right into 2 stereo channels for whatever mixer you currently have. Including analog mixers, Which can be handy if you have a stage that might not have a sound engineer all the time

I was curious to know your history with presonus xD
our band bought a mackie dl16. It's serving us well!

4 years ago, I decided to pick up a dLive C1500/CDM32 rig, and I've ended up flying all over the place with it, also super easy to chuck in the car by myself, and go mix a gig. Next week I've got an S3000 DM48 package coming for a venue I'm upgrading 👍🏼

SQ7. There is the answer! Cheap and handy.

Recently I've been looking into what sound desk to buy as I'm starting to work individually with bands as well as at already set up venues, so this video is perfect timing. I've been trying to find any reason to not get an SQ-5, because while I love them and chances are I will absolutely get one, I feel like there may be something better that I'm just not aware of. Lets be real though, I'm gonna end up with an SQ-5 ;)

Midas MR18 here...🙋‍♂️

Thanks for the mixer rundown. I've been using a Midas M32 (not the Behringer X32) and it's been a reliable workhorse. Previously, I used an analog Mackie 3204 and a Yamaha TF3 with Dante. I'm curious about a comparison between the M/X32 and TF mixers, especially given your comments about the TF series. I found the TF to be particularly user-friendly, with a less cluttered layout that was ideal for the volunteers I had using it. The TF venue was a church, with minimal configuration needs and ample stage box capacity. For versatility, I'd also recommend the M32 or X32, but they require more training for volunteers.

Well i have M32R, M32, Studiolive 32, Studiolive 32SC, Studiolive 32R. My experience is Midas routing settings is mess... With Presonus i have done what ever i want. Try to route Midas M32 talkback to IEM mixer?! Let me know how its possible without using free channel. I compared both mixers preamp frequencys. Almost identical eq curve - Presonus have brighter high end. I can choose in Presonus every channel diffrent eq and compressor plugins. I agree that Presonus FX are weird and not ready for go on the fly... you need to setup your FX's presets beforehand. After setup the FX's works fine. Presonus AVB network is something like Dante network - route anywhere. Also Presonus 32 mixers have 16 physical outputs and LR outputs. I can do 8 stereo IEM mixes right away... Presonus Studiolive 64 is double amount on in and out channels. Monitor mixing is with one button push - no sends on fader button. You can put any channel to user layer using 32 faders... 24 DCA groups possible... Mixer working in backround if you enter DAW mode. You can use Studio one DAW to run extra plugins. Very good Show page system to run backingtracks and control plugins at live show. With USB you can record 64 inputs anywhere in network and send out 64 outputs anywhere to connected consoles. I am intrested what can Allen Heat offer more what i owning. i dont have experience SQ series and waiting to get hands on them

Your video's are very informative. I have previously been using a 16ch Yamaha analog. Switched to an xr18 and mr18 for last 8 years and have been doing small gigs and they have worked very well. I just purchased an X32C and have just began using it. And because of this, I discovered your videos. Thank You!

I have both and use them according depending on the event and venue

I’m surprised Soundcraft was not mentioned. The UI series is great and the SI Impact is my fav

in the meantime thanks for the valuable information, I'm considering buying a new mixer and, I was thinking about sq5 but honestly, sometimes I need to work with at least 14 channels for the drum set, so preferring the convenience of being able to have all the faders at hand I would orient myself towards SQ6, what do you think? some suggest Yamaha tf3. thanks for your time, Germano

Lmao why the Presonus studiolive hate? Checked out the series 3 line?

I want a new Digico Quantum 852 but my wallet wants and SQ5

Why not presonus ? Is bad at all?

Soundcraft Si Impact at my house gig.
Replaced a Soundcraft GBII analog, and a Denon DJ mixer (the DJ computer sees the console as an interface over USB). Stagebox for extra inputs/outputs can be added, and a Dante card can also be added for all I/O to be networked.
Has its own apps for remote control and monitoring (tablets only), but also can use Mixing Station which allows phones (a license I’m happy to pay for because the dev is so responsive).
Fixed 24b/48k sample rate (internal may be 32b) and a few other things that could be better/different (I’d love an offline editor for Apple hardware, Harman), but for current requirements and future potentials, it’s a great fit. (Perfect wasn’t in the budget)(there are local rental availabilities in case of technical failures as well)

What about Yamaha DM 3??

SQ5 is a great desk but I have 2 annoying issues with it
1. Only 12 aux outputs. Even though they can be mono or stereo - unless you have a smaller band, you won't have enough outputs for your in-ears and foldbacks. We have to use 2 SQ5 desks over SLink with one desk just dedicated to foldbacks and IEMs and the FOH desk also will have to do a few monitors as well as there isn't enough on the monitoring desk
2. There is no metering for any source put into the AMM. This is the worst because usually a speaker or a group of speakers are off stage and you want to know you are getting a signal on that channel and their belt pack isn't switched off. So every time just before they come on stage, I have to take each input, out of the AMM, one by one, PFL to check and then put it back in

I think most people don't think about the number of busses that they will need (auxes, groups, matrixes,etc). It's easy to understand the number of inputs you might expect to use, but I think people are far more likely to run out of busses than inputs. The buss structure is also one place where similar consoles are different from each other. So while there are a lot of 32 or 48 channel digital mixers in the market, they probably handle busses very differently from each other. Therefore my best advice is to pay close attention to the buss structure when selecting a console and make sure your choice will actually meet your current and future needs.

I would love to buy a Yamaha DM3 as soon as their firmware upgrades to an auto mixer … I think it’s one the most versatile mixer in the market right now

I think the presonus is far better than the behringer x32…very far😊😊

Something tells me you don’t like the Presonus mixers 😄 I’ve been lucky to have been thrown into a regular “white glove” gig where the band has their own X32 Rack, mostly outdoor gigs. So far has worked great.

Musician all my life, corporate AV since last year (working with the gorgeous QL1 at my property), I found your channel just recently and it is a GOLD MINE

Hello, if I do an acoustic measurement but don't have an analog EQ behind the analog mixer with usb connection, is it possible to apply it digitally on the computer? I mean, I want to have this EQ only for the music coming from my computer, so is there a program on the computer where I can set the desired EQ and have the audio come out of the computer already equalized before going to the mixer?

Just curious, would love to get your thoughts as to why the Presonus Studiolive Series 3 mixers are not favorable to you. Did you have a bad mixing experience on one. I use a lot of Presonus gear. I have a Studiolive Series 3 32R and it works well. I’m very open to hearing your thoughts. By the way, love your teaching style and expertise 😊

our church is using an expression 3 but i am thinking about upgradiing the options i came jown to the wing, m32, SQ7, avantis

Mee om het naar het podium toe te mixen podium toe te mixen

Like your videos! Thank you! Can you explain why not to buy PreSonus? Thanks

I'm currently running M32R. I needed something that was rider compliant and didn't take up a lot of space. I would have preferred an SQ5, but at more than double the cost when adding on the the stage boxes, I couldn't make it work from a financial perspective. I'm yet to find I don't have enough channels on the M32R, but I have filled all channels on several occasions. Upgrading my mix system is potentially on the cards, though I suspect I'll add a stage box and soft-patch between acts as needed.

After having an X32 compact and an SQ5 , I’m now with a Wing since 3 years , really a great mixer with tons of capabilities, but it’s really huge compared to my previous SQ5.
For 400- 800 peaple in a 2-3days festival , I do like the Wing , plenty of phisical control and functionality, but for a one day , I regret the portability of the SQ5 😅
Anyway, everything with A&H is more expensive for my wallet, stageboxes, mixer itself … so I’m happy with the Behringer-Midas ecosystem.
And now they have released the wing compact , I’m still not sure to switch from 24 faders to 13 .

For those who can affort A&H, with two 16-8 stage boxes, and the addons processing SQ5 is awesome 😊

I really enjoyed this video ty

what's the absolute best 8 and 16 channel mixers for small gigs thanks in advance for any replies I appreciate it

I've mixed on Allen & Heath GLD and dLive mixers, Yamaha M7 and TF mixers, Behringer X32s, and almost all of the Presonus Studiolive III mixers. Allen & Heaths were my favorites, but I would choose a Presonus studiolive III over the Yamaha boards or the X32. I haven't used any of the Wing consoles from Behringer yet, but I can see myself liking those more than the StudioLive III consoles. As of right now Presonus is my favorite budget digital mixer. I also don't know of anyone else making a 16 input rack mixer that fits in 1U. They're great for a compact rig.

Thanks for your very instructive videos. I usually need a maximum of 8 microphones and my up to 3 line inputs. Preferably also bluetooth input. And I need to be able to do corrections while playing trumpet on the stage. I used X32 (console and rack versions): They're just too large and too heavy. I then used an XR-18 which did the job excellently until to the point, I came to a venue where the 2.4 GHz WiFi band was absolutely unusable because of overloading and interference - and I had no laptop with a wired network connection with me. Under these circumstrances you cannot do anything with the XR-18. So I ended up with a Allen & Heath CQ-18T which does the job excellently, leaves some reserve, a good touch screen interface on the mixer and the possibility to connect a tablet.

What do you think about the new Behringer Wings comming soon?

So I'm getting the impression that you're not a fan of the PreSonus StudioLive. 😂😂

If I had to recommend one mixer it would be the Presonus Studiolive 32! It’s awesome!