You mention re chipping the Soundcraft with the Burr Brown chips .. this leads me to think you want something with some warmth and heft to the sound, something that leaves a sonic signature.

Of them all I prefer the Trident 65 ... but be prepared to do some maintainance on it .. the 65's can be a little flimsy in the build department .. and they are old ... it's most likely going to require some TLC, the whole time you have it .. That said, I love the 65's ... one of the best table top mixers ever made IMO.

The DDA and the Neotek are very transparent "purist approach" consoles and good for what they are intended to be but they do not "sound good", instead they sound "neutral".

The Soundcraft Ghost is not really a serious contender ... absolutely home studio / semi pro / prosumer oriented .. ok to monitor with but I would hesitate to send stuff on the way to a recorder through one.

Only the Trident will begin to approach the sound of a real large format console like Neves or SSLs ..

Thanks Kurt. That was what I kind of expected. The Ghost Burr Brown mod was more of an idea to get a NEW, decent-sounding board, but maybe not the way to go.
I don't really mind "neutral," as long as the eq is useable. I've got enough "color" on the front end that I'm not really looking for a sound as much as a tool.
Thanks for your reply,
Seamus

Theres a lot of records made through Ghost boards.I dont believe that Soundcraft is going to agree with the assessment that the Ghost is strictly 'prosumer'...if you have all the outboard you need for color and are simply looking for routing, monitoring and occasional EQ then why would you want or need something thats going to require heavy maintainence? Dont get me wrong, I love the Trident stuff...WAY better sounding than SSL and much more affordable than Neve....it would certainly give you much more in options as far as quality mic pres...but these things which once retailed for five figures or more and are now under 10 grand are at this price point for a reason. the price of maintaining them becomes prohibitive at a certain point....though if you're selling time then the wow factor will help in gaining clients.Either way, the Ghost is a fine option even without upgrades and they sound NOTHING like a Mackie or the lower-end Tascam as far as warmth and depth of field.