Best Digital Mixing Consoles for Churches 2023 | $3k to $5k Budget 

We just upgraded from the Qu-32 to the SQ-6 with stage box and Dante card. I’m absolutely blown away by the sound quality.

Hello to all from Belgium, I just wanted to share my experience with you. This is the 2nd time I've heard Jake suggest churches should prefer the SQ5 instead of the SQ6 to save on budget. I understand this opinion and agree with Jake if you have a very small group and few different outputs. This is the choice my church made. However, if you have a small configuration, I think you can choose entry-level models. Therefore, if you are thinking of buying a Wing or SQ type console, it means that you already have a more advanced configuration (4 pieces band or more). In this case, I would advise not to underestimate the value of having 24 faders as is the case on a standard size mixing console. From my point of view, 16-fader consoles are produced for space and mobility (19" rack) purpose. There are more suitable for small events such as corporate events. In addition, the context of a church is not the same as a small concert, you often end up with a few special features: - Mix Monitor from FOH ; - Use of the console by volunteers ; - Mixing a band + other additional inputs and outputs (cry room, balcony). With such peculiarities, I think that having all the faders you need directly accessible in one fader layer is very useful (input, effect return, subgroups and matrix). Tips: the SQ6 also have soft rotaries. In the context of a church, one could assign them to the main mics (vocal lead, preacher, laptop, Fx..) to easily adjust the volume or mute them. Disclaimer : Yes, some engineers work with small consoles such as the Dlive C 1500 but they don't have the constraints of a church. They usually only deal with the FOH, and they can easily use the different fader banks which is not the most easy way to use a console for a new volunteer. Thanks, Jake, for this video. There are some very good arguments. Personally, I am not sure that the wing will replace the X32 as it is more expensive and more advance tool for beginner. But I hope we will have a small wing.

We have the SQ7 at our church. Highly recommend it. We also have the ME monitor system. So easy for our musicians to set up and dial in their own mix with any of the channels they want. And we still have Aux’s available if we wanted or need to use them as well. I have not personally heard Behringer or Midas in person but i have always loved the quality of A&H and tonality they give as well.

We recently went with the SQ5 and accompanying digital stage box. We absolutely LOVE it. We made the switch from an old Yamaha MG32FX. It has made a world of difference.

Great video 👍. We bought the Wing recently. At first I wasn’t sure whether it is too complex, especially for beginners. Yes, the console has a lot of routing options, plugins etc but when you understand the system, it is much easier than the X32. Changes for example in routings are very easy and intuitiv, as Jake mentioned in the video.

You can even connect the Behringer wing via AES50 with the Midas DL series stageboxes, absolute killer combination.

Ordered the wing and S32! Soooo excited!

Just purchased the SQ-6 a few months ago and our tech team is loving it. Feeling very validated today. Ha!

They'll all do the job. With SQ, I'd advocate the largest size surface you can afford. SQ7 gives you 32 faders which, for most situations, will allow everything on one layer - which is a massive benefit for the volunteer mixer. Once configured, it's a very simple interface for pushing faders and adjusting monitor mixes. Diving deeper may be less intuitive, but that's less of an issue for the volunteer. Wing has the problem that X32 still massively undercuts it in price, and is very capable. Also Wing has, maybe unfairly, gained a reputation of being non-intuitive and flaky - not helped by being released too early in the development cycle.

We got a SQ-5 our first digital board coming from analog. I love it

Waiting for this for some time now. Who else?

This couldn’t come at a better time. Heading out to pick up a new console for our church plant today!

"I'm blown away by the sonic quality of the preamps and console of the SQ-5" 96k sample rate vs. 48k sample rate; that'll do it. That's why I purchased one for the church in 2018. To be sure, it will depend on what you have, value per dollar and how adaptable your volunteers will be. Thanks Jake!

Someone who has no big experience with mixing, the SQ is the way to go. Way more easy than the Wing. Routing, patching is so easy. Sound is great and you can easy can get into it. And it has all the great processing capabilities with great compressors, EQs ect...

It's not just that you get 16 stereo rackFX on the wing, you get custom compressors and eqs on every channel without touching those rackFX.

Will we be getting an in depth guide to the Wing like we did for the X32 and M32? Thanks in advance Jake, love your channel!

The sq 5 is a really good sound desk, we use the sq5 for our school and for our church.

We are buying the waves LV1. 👌🏼

behringer xr18 is great for youth/kids service . easy to record multitrack.

Our church was hit by lightning several years ago and we had an analog Allen & Heath board that died because of it. We decided to switch to digital and got their QU series with a stage box (over X32, mainly because we had an Allen & Heath before and thought the transition would be easier if we stuck with the same brand). We JUST upgraded to the SQ5, naturally. I have no doubt that if we originally went with the X32, we would probably have the Wing right now. 👍 Both great consoles

I use SQ-6 with dx168 for over 3 years , and all the feature helps alot, both live, streaming and monitoring mixing. The only flaw i notice is the stock FX only four. Other brand has more.

We considered both of these boards and went with the Wing and mixing station.

Behringer wing now costs $4200, sad but still a great option to look at

I am replacing a QU-32 with two used Soundcraft SI performer 3 mixers for a house/broadcast split. Much better signal to noise ratio and sonic performance. All for under $6k... Planning to upgrade to RME mic pre's and a daw for effects later.

Users should probably also look at Mixing Station, which is pretty inexpensive in the app stores, and *exceptionally* well designed -- and the only thing I know of that lets you put 16 faders on a screen.

Exactly what I need right now

Just got a Wing and S32 stage box. Nice to have my choice confirmed.

This is good information. But, what about those of us in smaller churches with limited funds? Your 3 to 5k pricing is the total we have for everything including presentation computer and software as well as live streaming equipment. Would love a wing but we need to replace our old behringer analog that we got as a hand me down many years ago and is not providing the flexibility we need.

As an owner of the SQ5, I simply don’t see myself going with anything else at this point.

In terms of sound quality, what’s your verdict, between The Wing and Allen&Heath?

We use a Presonus Studiolive 32SC with a 16:8 stage box. That allows us 32 physical inputs, when you include the physical I/O on the console. I don't like the fact that the Wing only has 8 physical inputs. That means you are required to purchase a stage box in order to have a usable console for any band. Unlike any of the other consoles.

Thanks, Jake for this video. You just relieved my stress of choosing between an M32 and SQ6. IMHO, the WING seems like you'll need pro sound guys to handle it while the SQ6 looks more user friendly with a better learning curve. We are definitely upgrading to an SQ6 and it will be our first digital mixing gear. Thanks a mill.

Have you ever used a Yamaha TF series board ? The TF3 is a 24 channel board and with digital stage boxes will go to 40 channels and Yamaha gives churches a 10% discount.

I use the presounus 64s..

Cons of the Behringer Wing: - Pretty bad remote control apps - Only 8 physical/analog inputs The fact that it basically requires a stage box to function for any church eliminates it for many people. Couple that with the sub par remote apps and overall bugginess, I don't think you should recommend it in this video, especially not ahead of the SQ series or the Presonus 32s which now supports dante and has frankly the best remote apps out there.

amazing video. also if you are looking for something more expensive the A&H avantis is amazing, but i also feel Midas’s quality has gone to crap when beringer (spelled that wrong) bought them, as the m32 is the most unintuitive and worst built mixer i’ve used

Thanks Following

I like the WIng. I refuse to sell it currently due to screen issue and speediness of repairs. A friend of mine has been waiting over a year to get his screen fixed. I need a fader for 1 and it is 6-9 months. I have a DL231 out for a power supply and it is has been gone for 9 months and no end in sight. Bought a new DL231 to replace the dead one and it is dead. Waiting on a call tag for the DOA device. Buyer beware.

Excellent

Hey Jake. Great video. I agree, using something that is popular has great benefits and more options. I'd do the same re the audio network waiting for the Dante cards, so you can add more devices like computers with Dante Virtual Soundcard and other brands of stageboxes.

Great video Jake. Thanks a lot for clearing the air on this. I'm looking forward to buying an SQ6 for my church in the near future. Though from the video, I think the stage box you've recommended for the SQ (DX168) may not be compatible with the ME personal monitors as it runs in 96kHz while the ME systems run at 48kHz. But thanks for the video.

The yamaha TF is a great mixer... 4 years ago. Alot has changed over that time. Both our sites are yamaha, but the extra features of the wing has me taking notice.

Thank you

Allen n heath sq5 for me nothing else, remember this later when I have money again don’t change your mind it’s better to wait for the best, I’m an audio file that wants premium form processing

Thanks Jake. We are thinking about Behringer Wing but scared of the touch screen ghosting issue reported by some users. Have you encountered the issue with your console? What is your opinion on the issue?

Just got our first digital consol, the sq5, and a stagebox. We'll use it for house and stream mix. Do you have a beginners guide for this console? - Okay. Coming soon 🤣

We are moving from a Soundcraft GB8 to digital. We use 11 instrument mics and 5 vocal wireless mics/lapels. These feed through 52 mic lines up to two 48-channel patch panels which feed mic lines to the Soundcraft. We input stereo sound for pre-service and choir/soloist tracks. We also input stereo audio from our ProPresenter iMac. We feed 4 AUX lines from the board to a 4-channel amp that distributes an Aviom mix to four floor monitors. We use a fifth AUX to send mono audio to our stream. Left & Right feed our amps which power the Bose main speakers. Our two 18” subs are directly fed by the Centre. A Matrix channel feeds our Hard of Hearing system. With only 48 inputs on all of these mixers, a stage box is necessary. I believe I should install that under our sound board, replacing two 48-channel patch bays. But I’d like to eliminate two Aviom outputs that feed through mic lines to our mixer’s channel 1 & 2 and then back to the 4-channel amp to our floor monitors. I’d rather have a stage box on the stage for that. Am I going in the right direction or should I seek professional installers?

Am impress

Wow. Thank you! I think we can use those for our channel and church!

completely unrelated question - what are those light tubes in this video and where can I buy them?

Do you have a video where you compare the Wing with the M32?

Not sure why A&H failed to use Neutrik combo jacks for line connections. Missed opportunity

Yes. I wanna graduate as a sound technician to be the best sound engineer in my jurisdiction. My father is a great man of God in Africa, Ghana. He is building a new auditorium, so we will be installing a new system of sound equipment. How may I go about it for the best? Thanks.

We are starting from scrap we need the whole system we are currently running on a pair of Bose L1s we had for gigs

We have been using the wing in the church for a year now. And this is the perfect replacement for the M32, which we now have on broadcast.

What do you think about the Yamaha models? How about the tf5 vs the ones you compared here?

SQ7 is what we use @sacgenesis and I love it

please i need a video how to use behringer wing ?

The Wing is so incomplete, We recommend the Yamaha or Allen & Heath over any Behringer/Midas product.

Very timely, great video

Presonus Beast!

Can you control the wing with a tablet or computer?

The M32 is on sale for $3k right now lol. Just throwing that out there.

Jake and those in the know. 10-15 years ago, our church had a sound system installed. This system included the Roland M-300 v-mixer, 2 REAC 16/8, I/O stage boxes (one mounted under console to utilize wired snake, one on stage), one s-4000 digital snake, and 4 m-48 personal monitor mixers. We’ve recently started having faders and buttons sticking on the mixer. The biggest issue we have is we have a lockable cabinet that’s limited in space. Also, we’d like to “up” our channel paths to more than 32 input channels. What options, in your honest opinion, do you believe we may have at this point? Thanks in advance.

Hello, Do you have any recommendation with analog mixers. Its a small chuch and we bought an used mixer and we want to buy a new one. We dont have a sound engineer but the mixer we have it was on bad shape when we bought it. God bless you ;)

What would you recommend to me sir

Hello I am Zady from South Sudan 🇸🇸. I am building up worship band and I want the best sound system mixer 32 channels for full band

Allen Heath SQ series with the ME 1 monitors is really good. Speedier that Beh, but lots of customizable for the MEs and don’t sleep on the remote iPad option. Invaluable to me.

Hi brother what about the TF1 Yamaha mixer

I'm curious with your electric drum set, what is it?

What about presonus studiolive boards? How do you feel about them?

We have an old analog board that we are changing out. We are considering the SQ7 or the SQ6 . I would appreciate your input . We have decided to go with the Allen and Heath. We are just now sure which model to choose. When it comes to electronics... I usually purchase the newest models. Also.. does anyone have any suggestions on training videos ??

Sorry to ask again what about the Midas DL 16 is it better than the behringer s16 and how?

What ahout Midas M32?

I still recommend the M32 or for medium size churches Midas Pro 1 or 2. In my opinion the Midas M32 has a amazing satisfying easy UI layout and looks astecticly pleasing and a modern design than the Berringer Wing.

The reason why the Behringer digital mixer‘s are good because they are powered by MIDAS🧐

My church is considering getting an sq7. Am I right in assuming that while one sound man is looking after the house sound, another sound man could be looking after the live stream via the iPad app in a separate room? If we had headphone connected to the iPad? Know what I mean?

So the Midas DL2 would work for behringer x32 and wing or only the wing?

Any reason for not going for something in the Yamaha TF series?

To you this is a low budget!! ... Come to South Africa where most churches aint so fortunate to afford a R45 000 mixing console

I keep seeing people say the wing costs around $3,000, but it's definitely at least $3,600. That's closer to $4,000.

Could you please suggest digital mixer for around 1000$

The

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ea1OXn8uDvU.html - This was where Presonus was in comfortable lead... and Oh... Dante Bridge is available now. so Jake what will it be? Still the Wing?

Good video. Very nuanced. However, I don't understand why you didn't mention the Midas stageboxes. They are more expensive than Behringer but have a significantly better sound. (Many say even better than A&H). S32 / DL32 is about 400, - difference. Nice video!

You'll should try the soundcraft ui24r

I've run into issues using the SQ-Mix app simply with connections dropping out here and there. It's a great mixer, but this little quirk has been driving me nuts. It and a media computer are the only ones on the network, and I can have it drop out even when standing next to the access point.

Why is it always for churches? I dont get it.

Does the wing Consol have the app capability the same as theMidas and X 32?

What about the A&H Qu series?

The behringer wing is an absolute waste of money. Presonus studiolive siii would be a better option by far