I agree

I am kind of in the same boat oh yeah and soundcraft makes an LXII that is in the same price range around $2000 you can always find a deal on a mackie everybody had one before they got better stuff well this I do know mackie has the worst pres out of all three are you planning on using the pres right now I am working on getting enough pres so I wont have to use the ones in the board but for the price I might have to get the mackie because getting 8 buses on the A&H or soundcraft will cost so damn much.

Now RyanWalters, I don't see how you can say that Mackie has the worst microphone preamplifier's?? They are most perfectly adequate and I have done A/B split recordings with those and API preamplifier's. The difference is only subtle and only experienced people like myself could hear the added sweetness of the APIs versus the Mackie's. Most people wouldn't know the difference if they fell over it. They are Not my favorite sounding console but then few are. Nonetheless I have made some lovely recordings on some crappy little Mackie boards. It's the equalizer's I care the least for. And their newest Onyx series of mixers/preamplifier's may even sound legitimately better, if they're advertising hype holds true? I have even found that the Allen & Heath boards on average or noisier than the Mackie's albeit they may actually be perceived as having that nicer mushier British like sound? I think perhaps from a serviceability standpoint the Allen & Heath and/or Soundcraft may have less surfacemount components and may actually be more modular and less compartmentalized than the Mackie's? Either way they are all fine entry-level professional mixers and you really can't do badly by any of them.

Pompous engineer
Ms. Remy Ann David

that soundcraft mentioned (LXII) is a nice desk

twon wrote: that soundcraft mentioned (LXII) is a nice desk

I have a Soundcraft. I like it alot. I too looked at the larger Mackie boards before opting for a Ghost. The Mackie was like $1200 used, the Ghost was $5500 used w/ meter bridge.
Quite abit difference in price. I have used Mackie boards all my life. Theres nothing wrong with a Mackie, but I was glad to get rid of my Allen&Heath mixer and both of my Mackie compact mixers for my Ghost I have now.
For the money, $1200 is a steal. But I wanted to buy the best I could afford, so I looked else where than the Mackie and A&H gear.
Truthfully, a Midas sells for around $3500 on ebay used. Which is a MUCH better board than the Mackie or the A&H. But the Midas is steup as a live sound board, missing some of the options that the Ghost has. I do mostly studio work so I did not want a live board. I wanted the options the Ghost has.
my 2 cents

Comparing the Mackie vs. the Allen & Heath is a bit like the apple vs. the orange deal. The Mackie has INLINE monitoring, permitting you to mix a 24-track recording through it at the same time you are tracking the 24 input sources. This flexibility is NOT designed into the GL series; the "monitor" system on this board is strictly for mixing the input source to various foldback systems in (typically) live applications. While I have found that the A&H may have a slight advantage in terms of preamp quality, I too, doubt that the difference is that discernible to the "naked ear". I have/do own both brands/models, plus a slew of others. If that's your budget, and you're doing the home recording thing, skip the GL. Ditto for the Midas, for the same reason- it's set up for live mixing, not
the requirements for recording/dubbing. You just have to be a bit more careful with your front end gain settings on the Mackie-they don't like to be overdriven. And go online and see what production run had the infamous ribbon cable problem and how to determine whether your prospective 8-bus is one of those.

The Mackies work for live as well as the A&H. It has been mentioned about the monitor routing and a GL series board is a 'Live' board....hence the 'L' in its number. A GS A&H is a studio board and has the inline setup such as you will find on the Mackie.

My take on this question, which has been asked on here a million and now a million and one times is this, what you choose will be a learning process for you. If you're looking for a console and looking at this particular range of gear then you probably dont have a lot of experience with one. This is not a bad thing, just makes your choice either an easy or a difficult learning curve dependant on your knowledge.

If you buy something that is more suited for live production and you dont know what goes in and out with a LOT of expertise, you are in for a long learning process. A Midas board may indeed sound better than either a Mackie of a Studio version of a A&H, but getting around on it and using it as a studio board will take some engineering skills you may not have.

This would be the FIRST part of a selection process to consider.

Budget is next. The question should be how much money to spend on a piece that doesnt really sound much different than another.....As Remy said, the sound quality at a certain level is hard to discern on a track by track basis, though with a busy full mix the better gear will show itself everytime.

Its a good thing to write down all your needs before purchasing something that will be the centerpiece of your studio for awhile.

As for the gear itself. A&H is a bit 'cleaner and clearer' sounding in a dense mix than Mackie gear. The pres sound similar. The EQ's are worlds apart with the A&H being actually usable and the Mackies needing to be turned off most of the time. Theres a LOT of noise in this part of them ...

Overall theres not a lot of difference. The routing is very easy on both brands and the reliability is usually great.

Finally, if you are relatively inexperienced at recording noises, ie; mic placement...gain staging...3 dimensional sound placement...mixing down to stereo....etc etc...then you need to buy something thats either going to teach you the value of these things and spurs you on to great achievement or you're going to buy something you can never get to sound like you want it to, at which time you will gradually lose interest and eventually sell it on Ebay for a third of what you paid and take up street hockey as a pasttime. I would start with something that has usable controls in every aspect of its build.

But if you are simply using it as a monitor of ITB productions then buy the cheapest you can find. If you dont know what ITB is, then start with something you can afford and start saving NOW for the upgrade next year.

good luck.

Soundtracs

look around for a used Soundtracs. I have a 24x8 Topaz with meterbridge (which is on the useless side, unfortunately). It sounds fantastic to be honest, but DaveDog is right on...
The Topaz is a great entry board to learn routing on and so forth, as I humbly am right now. im sure in time I might move up to a Saber or something...the eventually that half-a-mil SSL ;) (right after I win the lottery and that pesky Grammy)...

But bang for buck, the Soundtracs stuff is great. my .02

Soundtracs

look around for a used Soundtracs. I have a 24x8 Topaz with meterbridge (which is on the useless side, unfortunately). It sounds fantastic to be honest, but DaveDog is right on...
The Topaz is a great entry board to learn routing on and so forth, as I humbly am right now. im sure in time I might move up to a Saber or something...the eventually that half-a-mil SSL ;) (right after I win the lottery and that pesky Grammy)...

But bang for buck, the Soundtracs stuff is great. my .02

are there other boards around the 2000 budget price that any of you would recommend? for studio not live sound. thanks for your help

are there other boards around the 2000 budget price that any of you would recommend? for studio not live sound. thanks for your help