When you say that you will be doing "some live recording", how much %? I ask that because portability and RF susceptibility become real world issues. You will probably be wanting 8 subs and at least 6-8 Aux sends, correct? The Midas boards in that $7K range are pretty much the Venice series, and they are 4-subs. The Ghost has an excellent reputation among folks on this site (DaveDog, for one) is a nice 8-bus for studio work. I have heard that there are RF noise issues with them in live recording situations, but I would ask Dave to comment on that.
I use Allen & Heath for live, and some studio, recording. Their 32-channel, 8-bus is the GL4. That and a nice roadcase and stand could be had for around $7K. The Mackie Onyx 4880 8-bus is another contender....$6K...any of these should do well for you in or out of the studio. Good luck!

moonbaby wrote: When you say that you will be doing "some live recording", how much %?

about 80% or so, of the time I'm recording live shows.
However I really want to get away from that, and do more studio work...

I've been using my Allen & Heath 16:2 mixwiz3
But 16 channels is not enough
I really need a nice 32 channel board that will last me for 5 to 10 years.

my friends done live sound for a while and hes loved using AH boards.

Well I have about $5000 to $7000 I can throw down, as of now.

$7k seems a fair price to get a decent board for your needs, so you have some choice.

Ghost is a decent desk. Although I have no experience of using this board live, it will serve you well in the studio.

DDA made some good consoles, which are equally at home on the road as in the studio. You may be able to find one of these within your budget.

DDA DID make some nice desks, for sure. I have mixed several TV projects on them back in the late 80s. I don't know where PreAmp resides, but in the States DDA boards are fairly rare, and the company is no longer in business, making support non-exisitent.
Allen & Heath are still in business and supporting their product. At the price he said that he wanted to spend, he can get a nice GL4
with all the goodies...

moonbaby wrote: DDA DID make some nice desks, for sure. I have mixed several TV projects on them back in the late 80s. I don't know where PreAmp resides, but in the States DDA boards are fairly rare, and the company is no longer in business, making support non-exisitent.

Quite true, here in the UK we still have quite a few operational boards in studios across the country. As a result there is a service/repair market for them.

However, if you get a board with good service history which has been checked out by an engineer before hand, they rarely go wrong.

David Dearden and Gareth Davies of DDA fame went on to found Audient after DDA closed. A 32 channel audient would set you back at least $20k.

For that kind of cash, you can get a 32 channel Ghost, do the upgrades and have a sweet thing that'll keep ya happy for a really long time. I'm talking used as the initial cost of course...But hey, they're out there and can be had for a shade under 4k. The upgrades will go around 3k so there you go.

And it'll sound like heaven!

What is the difference in a Ghost and a Ghost LE?

The LE has a plain master section while the full-blown version has midi-control for auto-mute,machine control and memory functions.

what are these upgrades you speak of?

i have a ghost 32ch and am interested...

burr-brown rechips.

dwoz

i dont have a clue what that means, and neither does google...

please elaborate !

Burr-Brown is the manufacturer of IC chips. They are known for making some nice upgrades over the cheaper IC's that many gear manufacturers use. They offer opamps that may be replaced in the master section and maybe the input strips (?) to improve the "sound" of your board.

aha ! thanks for the tip...

is there a distro in the UK, or a suitable alternative?

thanks in adv...