I have an M series and I like it...it does the job fine...I dont know much about the other models but Ive never really heard terribly bad things about Soundcraft...safe bet
I have the Spirit series FX16 loaded in a top mount rack case. I use it for live and studio recording. Musical eq's and good mic pres, with the right mics. 16 direct outs, lines, ins and good Lexicon reverb makes it versatile, I like it.
I had a Ghost for two days. I sold my Behringer and Mackie and got a Ghost. I could not try it, but I ordered it and waited. It came. I set it up and it sounded good. I thought the pres were better than the Mackie's. I really did not like the EQs though.
The second day, I played with it and was beginning to have second thoughts. I drove to GC to look at the only other mixer I heard about. It was the Allen and Heath GL2200 32 channel.
My buddy at GC loaned me the mixer for a day.
I did return the Ghost and bought the Allen and Heath (not from GC though). The A&H had better pres (think DMP-3 sound), better EQ and more "Punch" when I mixed 15 tracks down than any other board. This was a direct plug-in comparison by me and tree other people. Everyone voted that the A&H was the better sounding board. The Ghost DOES have more signal routing options and more features though. I am really happy with the A&H.
not meaning to stop anything here, but this is going way way outta my price range. I was thinking a used folio for around $100 or a used e-8 or e-6 for a little more. There's no way i'm even considering a ghost, lol.