Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

M

Matt Vivlamore

Senior
Jan 11, 2011
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Southern MD, USA
www.meerkatsound.com
Which console would you look more in-depth of and possibly buy?

Set-up 1:
Midas M32R
Midas DL16

Set-up 2
SoundCraft Performer 1
SoundCraft Mini Stagebox

Looking for a compact 32x16 console with a control surface. 85% of the time FOH is done by iPad, but I'd like sliders for Mons (since 85% of the time the console side side stage).
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

The presonus would be nice, if you might want up to 64 channels someday...

The midas setup would be quite fun to mix on, and that tablet app is much better developed (on android anyway) and the ipad app is better developed also (but not as much as android).
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

M32. For me its the hands-down winner. It simply does more, and does it better than the SI. And I'm a soundcraft fan. Have been for a long time, but I really don't like the way the SI compact models work.

M32 gives you a SOLID remote mix app. Actually several at once. It also has, IMO, better FX and many useful things like multiband comps, transient designer, and several modeled vintage compressors. You also get a very handy user define section with 3 pages of 4 knobs and 8 buttons.

The SC Performer gives you a better, more robust, digital snake. That is a big plus.....
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

Tim Weaver said:
You also get a very handy user define section with 3 pages of 4 knobs and 8 buttons.
Click to expand...

Not so much on the M32R, still would be my pick though. I'm mixing a musical with that exact setup this week.

A control surface with 14 input faders blows my mind, what were they thinking? (edit: re the soundcraft)
 
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Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

FYI, due to the recent price drop and a promo for a free stagebox, the GLD-80 is very attractively priced at the moment. The surface may be a bit big for what you're thinking, but its a lot more desk than either of your listed choices.
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

Tim Weaver said:
Hmm. Honestly the M32R never interested me, but I see what you are saying.

It is missing the user define knobs (not that big a deal), and also the dedicated mute group buttons.You could put mute groups on one page of the UDK's I guess...
Click to expand...

I'm very happy with the M32R, I have my UDKs assigned as 6xmute groups, a tap tempo for the delay processor plus a short cut to the main graphic EQ.
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

TJ Cornish said:
FYI, due to the recent price drop and a promo for a free stagebox, the GLD-80 is very attractively priced at the moment. The surface may be a bit big for what you're thinking, but its a lot more desk than either of your listed choices.
Click to expand...

+1 – the GLD is a great little desk.
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

Declan Slater said:
The presonus would be nice, if you might want up to 64 channels someday...

The midas setup would be quite fun to mix on, and that tablet app is much better developed (on android anyway) and the ipad app is better developed also (but not as much as android).
Click to expand...

I won't ever need 64 channels; and I don't plan on doing 64 channels with my set-up.
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

TJ Cornish said:
FYI, due to the recent price drop and a promo for a free stagebox, the GLD-80 is very attractively priced at the moment. The surface may be a bit big for what you're thinking, but its a lot more desk than either of your listed choices.
Click to expand...

Yes I know the GLD is a nice console... I wish they had a smaller control surface. I'm leaning towards the Rack Mount width to allow one person to pick the console up without any issues (main downfall of my LS9-32).
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

Matt Vivlamore said:
Yes I know the GLD is a nice console... I wish they had a smaller control surface. I'm leaning towards the Rack Mount width to allow one person to pick the console up without any issues (main downfall of my LS9-32).
Click to expand...
I move my GLD-80 by myself regularly with no issues. It's narrower than an LS9-32 and has nice handles on the sides. It's very easy to manage.
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

TJ Cornish said:
FYI, due to the recent price drop and a promo for a free stagebox, the GLD-80 is very attractively priced at the moment. The surface may be a bit big for what you're thinking, but its a lot more desk than either of your listed choices.
Click to expand...

+1 for the GLD, and weight-wise, it's much lighter than the M32. This was one of the core reasons that I first went with the GLD mixers. Now that I have been using them, I am extremely happy with them in all respects.
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

Any fader can be anything. There are 14 handles on each layer, and again, they can be VCA masters, aux masters, input channels, fx returns, etc etc. Use the 14 handles per layer to lay the board out how you want. Don't think "analog", like top layer is 1-14 input. Think top layer fader 1=VCA master DRUMS, fader 2=channel BASS, faddier 3=VCA master guitars, input channels vox 1-6. Or whatever. I seriously don't understand the uproar over the handle count when every layer is a "custom" layer.

Matt Vivlamore said:
Wow, thanks for Pointing that out.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

Matt Lillie said:
Any fader can be anything. There are 14 handles on each layer, and again, they can be VCA masters, aux masters, input channels, fx returns, etc etc. Use the 14 handles per layer to lay the board out how you want. Don't think "analog", like top layer is 1-14 input. Think top layer fader 1=VCA master DRUMS, fader 2=channel BASS, faddier 3=VCA master guitars, input channels vox 1-6. Or whatever. I seriously don't understand the uproar over the handle count when every layer is a "custom" layer.
Click to expand...

Because if you are doing "guerilla audio" you really don't have the time to set all of that up. If you were touring with it, it works great. If you are a local provider doing a 6 band street festival it's a pain in the ass. Same thing with Digico. I can't stand to walk up to a Digico and start fresh. It's too much freedom....
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

I made a template that works for me. Not hard. Done plenty of festivals and hundreds of shows. It's dumb IMO to eliminate the thing because it is "missing" two faders, especially in favor of something else that doesn't even have a touch screen or flexible fader assignments. We''ll see how the "Midas" holds up over time, it seems as every Behringer version I run into has this button or that knob broken.

I used to agree on the Digico, but I'm not scared of them anymore. Terrified the first time I had one, absolutely hated it, but in retrospect I had three days of festival ahead of me with a lighting guy teching the thing. I feel my fear was justified!

Tim Weaver said:
Because if you are doing "guerilla audio" you really don't have the time to set all of that up. If you were touring with it, it works great. If you are a local provider doing a 6 band street festival it's a pain in the ass. Same thing with Digico. I can't stand to walk up to a Digico and start fresh. It's too much freedom....
Click to expand...
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

Everything about the Expression is clunky. 16 inputs, 14 faders. Touchscreen, too small to operate effectively. Etc.

I took one out on a demo and will say that I loved the sound, if I was buying an inexpensive board to do the same artist every night the Expression would likely be near the top of the list. As it stands, my demo unit went back after 3 gigs and I bought the "Midas".
 
Re: Soundcraft Performer or Midas M32??

Matt Lillie said:
Any fader can be anything. There are 14 handles on each layer, and again, they can be VCA masters, aux masters, input channels, fx returns, etc etc. Use the 14 handles per layer to lay the board out how you want. Don't think "analog", like top layer is 1-14 input. Think top layer fader 1=VCA master DRUMS, fader 2=channel BASS, faddier 3=VCA master guitars, input channels vox 1-6. Or whatever. I seriously don't understand the uproar over the handle count when every layer is a "custom" layer.
Click to expand...

The issue is that every other board in the world seems to be grouped by 8, so that's what people are comfortable with. It's got 16 inputs, but you can't mix all 16 on one layer. The 32 input unit has 30 faders, so again, you can't work on a single layer. It's just a convenience thing. Showstopper? No. 2 more faders to match the way everyone thinks though, would have eliminated the argument and confusion.
 
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