I like the B word!
Yo YZL-
Sounds like your going through the same thought process I did back a few months ago. Which board to get?
I had been using a friends Mackie 14 channel board I think it is model 1402LVZ. Having the use of that board for 3 months showed me how useful a mixer is. Well after I gave it back I want out looking, figuring I'd buy a Mackie. I went over to another friends house who had a Behringer 24 channel. I was able to ask him some questions about how he liked it and play around with it for a couple of hours. The board felt very good to me, maybe not as heavy duty as the Mackie but I think it is very close. I went out and bought
the Behringer MX 2004a. This thing is great, 16 channels, 8 mono w/inserts and 4 stereo channels. The mackie was 14 channels 6 mono w/inserts & 4 stereo. The two boards are very close feature for feature.
There are a couple of minor (IMO) features the Mackie does a little easier, but nothing the Behringer manual doesn't tell you how to do with their board by patching back thru two mono channels. Remember the Behringer starts out with two more mono channels anyway!
But the thing that the Behringer has that the Mackie doesn't is in the eq. Both boards have a low-cut filter on each of the mono channels and none on the stereo channels. But besides that the mono channels on the Mackie have low,mid & high all shelved, the Behringer's highs and lows are shelved but the mids are semi-parametric! The Mackie's stereo channels have the same eq as their mono ones. The Behringer has low, low mid. low high & high all shelved!
The Mackie board does give you one option that the Behringer didn't have any answer for. Each (4) of the stereo channels on the Mackie gives you a switch for input sensitivity (+4/-10). Most of what I am ever going to put thru these inputs will be line levels anyway (stereo electric guitar, midi sound modules and maybe a synth).
Both boards are dead quiet. The pres in both boards are good, I can't tell any difference between them from my recordings with both.
IMO the Behringer gives me better eq'ing options. After looking at everything and seeing that the Behringer gives me two additional channels and better eq options and cost $300.00 less it was an easy choice. I paid $219. at Guitar Center. I've also picked up 3 new mics since buying this board. I wouldn't have done that had I bought the Mackie.
Both are very good and very functional, you just need to figure out how much you want to spend!
Oh yea the Behringer has one of those floor warts, yes I mean floor not a wall wart (too big for the wall). For 300 bucks that floor wart aint so bad!
Good luck making a choice,
scodu