Advice - what makes and models of sound desk

[Wobbles1976]

Looking for a sound desk for a primary school - what makes and models do people use these days

[SamanthaD]

Depends on your needs! Sorry to turn it back on you but without some context of the use, the type of equipment you already have and clarification of the skill level of who will be using it we'd be guessing, not very much use to you at all I would suggest.

 

So some questions.

 

How many mics / sources do you need to connect it to?

What it is connecting to? Amplifier? Powered speakers? Unpowered speakers?

Who is likely to be using it? How tech savvy are they?

How much room do you need for future proofing? (ie do you run events that use hired in microphones, so buying a bigger desk now would save on hiring options?)

Any other information you can give would help!

 

Thanks.

[Aprice]

Behringer is always a good middle of the road brand. the Xenyx range is where I'd be looking for something basic for a primary school. We use the X32 range a bit, but they are a lot more complex and would almost certainly be overkill for a primary.

[JRA]

Always used to see Yamaha desks in schools somehow, would probably go that way if I were setting up anew. Recently just went with a rackmount cheapie but we didn't need anything grand.

 

What sort of setup are you thinking of? Recording as well as live? Also what's the budget?

[Andycat]

We've had Mackie, Soundcraft, Yamaha and Allen And Heath here over my many years. The 2 surviving, and most reliable, are an Allen and Heath Qu32 and a Yamaha.

 

Mackie lost channels over a few years, and the Soundcraft blew power supplies. YMMV

[Chris_Cook]

Yamaha, Soundcraft and Behringer are generally good. As long as you avoid the no-name brands, then you probably won't go to far wrong these days in terms of sound quality.

 

Main thing is looking at mic channels and what you are plugging into it. Always get more channels than you think you will use. If you have had a desk before, then theres some login in keeping with the same brand so staff are familiar with it.

 

If its radio mics then having a decent channel EQ section is really helpful.

 

I quite liked the look of the Soundcraft Signature series. I wish we'd gone for that over the Midas DM12 because of the EQ.

 

Lots of them have USB in/out these days, and that can give better quality (lower noise) input from a PC/Laptop.

 

I've often found the PSUs on small desks are a weak spot, so its worth considering them a bit of a disposable item. Normally it costs as much or more to fix the PSU than to just replace it.

 

There are some desks that use a IPad/Phone/Chromebook to configure them which might be handy if people like to fiddle. But you would need someone around who knows what they are doing if it needs resetting. Things like the X32rack or Xair18 etc.

 

I do like being able to remotely check settings on our Behringer X32 though. Being able to sound check + control from where the audience are sitting is also a great time saver. The acoustics can be really different from the mix position.

[PotNoodleTech]

I've used Beringer and Peavy at the lower end and Allen and Heath at the higher end - both recommended.

 

The allen and heath desk also sounded better than the peavy and beringer desks. I guess you get what you pay for!