The
theatre I work with recently upgraded from an absolutely terrible 90s-era
Peavey analog board that didn't contain
mute buttons and had channels dying out left and right to a brand new Presonus StudioLive 32 Series III
mixer. I don't think that the community or the
theatre realizes it quite yet, but it has made a big difference in sound quality and it has eliminated most of my headaches that came with running a dilapidated board and tons of barely functioning
Peavey rack units.
I recommended the StudioLive to them just because it was one of a handful of boards that fit their budget, and I have a lot of experience using the previous generation of StudioLive mixers (which are much less sophisticated than the new generation).
I just finished running sound for a kids show with around 11 wireless mics, and the workflow was pretty streamlined. Using the meters on the board (and DB attenuation on the transmitter packs), I was able to properly set
gain during the first dress rehearsal, and I never experienced any problems with
clipping or weak signal through the rest of the run. The handful of LEDs on each
channel strip was just enough to help me visualize what was going on. If I thought anything strange was happening - I selected the
channel, and I was able to see the
channel displayed on the larger
LED meter.
The EQ took a little while to get used to - but once I got the hang of it, I was able to get everything sounding even without any
feedback issues.
If you've dealt with the StudioLive mixers - then you know what you're in for.
If you haven't, I strongly recommend you and your sound engineer read over the
manual on the Presonus website. It's a lot to take in, but once I read it, the
layout of the board became 100%
clear to me. I also recommend checking out YouTube tutorials for the board (though, most of the ones you find will be the older generation models).
I will also say the Behringer X32 is very good as well. I've used one in a Rush
cover band before, and a number of schools in my area have begun using it.
I also know a few theatres using the newer Soundcraft digital mixers. They're in a similar price range - but from my understanding, they have great built-in effects made by Lexicon, DBX,
etc...
I'm only more partial to Presonus, just because I've used their products a lot in the past.