Convenient, but mic pre sound quality is not great...
This is a BANG FOR YOUR BUCK: Bright, clear 5" high-res display, 16 mic pres with USB audio interface (swappable with dual SD card, 32 channel X-LIVE X32 expansion card), controllable by Ethernet or Wi-Fi, VERY usable built-in effects, and many, many more features. You cannot find anything else with all these many features for under $1000. This thing is overwhelmingly feature packed. For live scenarios, this is your ticket.
Now, if you're going to use this as a studio recording interface, be aware that something needed to be compromised, and the mic pres were that compromise. They sound OK. They don't sound bad, but if you're used to crystal-clear, pristine, quiet pre-amps, be aware that these are just OK. They cut it for live use, but for recording, they are noisy, lack transparency, and overall, are lifeless. They'll probably sound nice to you if you don't have a reference, but compared to dedicated recording interfaces, this is just disappointing in the sound quality department.
I almost returned my X32 Rack because of how disappointed I was with the mic pre performance. Even my "Mackie" PROFX12v2 mic pres sound better, and that's a cheap mixer...not a real Mackie mixer. My Zoom TAC-2 mic pres make the X32's sound like lo-fi. Not an exaggeration. But...I could not find anything like the X32 Rack for less than $1000. Just the ability to multi-track directly to the PC via USB while using the onboard FX is worth the price. You have 16 onboard pre-amps for under $1000.That's a steal. Anyway, again, they're good for live use, but not so much for studio use...just adequate, but way inferior to good interface mic pres from Zoom, Focusrite, etc. That's setting the bar low. If you compare them to Apogee, UAD, or Antelope...
God bless you!Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
