To me, they are both crap. Neither one is worth bragging about or dwelling over. Pick the one that has the best features that you think you will need today and in the long run...

AudioGaff is quite right. Not that they are awful but they are not what we would call "top shelf". OK, crap.

I have purchased equipment in the past that was truly underwhelming in its performance and specifications but had the functions, the connections and versatility I required. So for a time back in the early 1980s, I utilized a console with the worst and cheapest microphone preamp (a single integrated circuit chip) anybody could install in a cheap console. This did not keep me from making beautiful recordings with this piece of crap. Sure, it's possible my recordings might have sounded much better if I had utilized API or Neve microphone preamps but it was really the selection of microphones and the mix that mattered most. Not the crappy console.

Now I own 2 of the finest consoles ever manufactured in England but I can't sling either one of them under my arm and throw them in the back of my Chevy van, because they weigh 1/2 ton, each. Ouch!

Flipping through Yellow Pages looking for chiropractic
Ms. Remy Ann David

Thanks. Many chiro's in the yellow pages. I need to clarify that this is specifically for a live drum submixer at gigs, basically to send a mono signal to the main board. So perhaps one of these Mackie or PreSonnus units will be just fine. The mackie is more flexible, the presonus is smaller and rack mountable, which I like.

A new question that I have is when I get one of these mixers, is the quality of the pre so bad, in pro audio terms, that high end equipment like an API 2500 compressor becomes less effective? I'd like to one day run the drum sum through a nice compressor. Apparently this 2500 has a thrust function that really adds punchiness to a sound. I've already got a Transient Designer 2 for the kick and snare.

is the quality of the pre so bad, in pro audio terms, that high end equipment like an API 2500 compressor becomes less effective?

No. The API 2500 is a great sounding 2-channel compressor that will perform well no matter what it is connected to. Of course, matching it up with the a high quality pre amp is how you would obtain best possible sound and performance.

For the future, if you change the topic, start a new thread.