I had an M1524 (the 24-channel version). They were quite good back in their day (1980-83). Very good headroom, very well made. Basically, they were a scaled-down PM2000, but they did not have the same input transformers, etc. that made the 2K a great mixer for it's time. Very heavy, they excelled at installed sound systems. In its Anvil case, my 24-channel probably weighed close to 300 lbs.!!!
You might keep in mind that this line of boards was specifically designed for LIVE sound, definitely NOT recording. I remember the Yamaha district manager reminding me of this ( I was a dealer at that time) when I complained about the noise level. The noise levels were not excessive, but they were higher than, say, an MCI JC500 from that same era. And the noise levels were better than their predecessors (PM1000, PM700/430). Compared to "modern" mixers, they have fewer "bells and whistles", a bit less front end gain, and because of their circuit design (discrete components using proprietary parts, many of which Yamaha made in-house), you may have some servicing issues. All in all, though, the board was an awesome tool and I missed mine when it was stolen in '85.

Thank you. Imagined that it would be superior to a mackie d8b or Yamaha rm800 which I've been considering with my limited Budget. I'm able to pick one up for $500.00 and it seems well worth it.

I actually meant the mackie 32x8. I would'nt mind having the d8b.

Be careful here. If you are comparing the M1532 to an 8-bus Mackie (analog) to RECORD with, you are comparing apples to oranges. As I stated earlier, the M1532 is NOT designed for a recording scenario. There are NO tape monitor provisions ( this means that for every track you want to mix to monitor, you will have to sacrifice an input strip for it). I don't recall that there were direct outs on the M15 series, possibly channel inserts that could be used for direct outs. And as far as input configuration is concerned, there were (2) XLR transformer-balanced inputs on each input strip, with an "A/B" selector to toggle between the 2. This was a way-cool feature for live gigs, letting you have two stage set-ups with their own snakes all hooked up to the same board at the same time. The problem with this for recording is that there was a common Gain selector switch to set the channel's sensitivity. If you are able to use (1) input as a mic-type source, and the other as your line-level track playback source, you have to be careful when toggling between the 2 sources, as you will have a very BIG gain differential to adjust for every time. If you don't, you can easily BLOW a monitor speaker (or an eardrum!) out...
IMHO, as much as I LOVED my M1524, I have to question whether it's really a great choice for your situation...As an example, I know a guy here in my town who has a Mackie 8-bus 24 with a meter bridge, all for $750...IMO, this would be a better choice for starting up a project room.
But if you DO end up with the Yammie, be prepared for some clean, headroom, especially for rock'n'roll...

Thank you very much. the 15s have direct outs throug the inserts on every channel and this board( which I just purchased today is actually the 32, not 24 which I got for 750 with shipping. The patching should suffice. I;m mixing in logic pro, however I really wanted a board with charvter to track. I hear you on the metering which was a concern, but good tracking and maybe some eq is what is what I was looking for and I think its been obvious to me that this particukar deal would be a good decision. Thank you so much for your input.-Roger

I am curious how it sounds, can you post some samples?

I'll post some up as soon as I can. Thanks