Which X32 should we hire?

Count your channels first. If you need more than 16 microphone or line inputs at the desk, take the full-size X32 — it has 32 preamps and 25 faders, at £70 a day. Up to 16 inputs, and the X32 Compact at £50 or the rack-mount X32 Producer at £40 will do the job. Both run identical software to the big desk, so a mix built on one opens on another. If your inputs are on stage and the desk is at the back of the hall, the X32 Compact Desk Package at £72 adds an S16 stagebox and pushes your input count back up to 32.

Can we operate it ourselves?

Yes. The layer system takes a little getting used to, so give yourself an hour with the desk before the first rehearsal rather than opening the box on show day. Behringer's X32-Edit software for Mac, Windows and Linux is free, and it lets you build and label your channel list offline in advance. Where nobody on your team has mixed a show before, taking a technician with the desk is usually the calmer choice.

Do we need the S16 stagebox?

Only if your microphone lines and the mix position are a long way apart. The S16 sits in the wings, takes 16 mic inputs there, and sends everything to the console down one shielded Cat5e cable up to 100 metres long. That replaces a heavy analogue multicore and a lot of get-in time. For a village hall where the desk sits at the side of the stage, you probably do not need it — hire the Compact on its own and save the difference.

Can we keep our settings for next year?

Save the show file to a USB stick from the top panel before you strike, and bring it back with you. Load it onto any X32, Compact or Producer and your channel names, EQ, effects and scenes come straight back. Twelve months on, your sound designer starts from last year's mix instead of a blank desk. Worth doing even if you are not sure you will hire again.

Home Services Equipment Hire Sound Desk Hire

Behringer X32 digital mixing desk hire

Three consoles, one set of software. The X32 family put proper digital mixing within reach of school halls and village hall pantos. Scene recall means the sound you built in the tech rehearsal comes back the same on every performance. Radio mics each get their own EQ and compression. Control runs over Wi-Fi from an iPad, so you can mix from where the audience sits rather than the back wall. Hire dry, or with an engineer.

The Behringer X32 is the digital console that made scene recall ordinary in school halls and small theatres. Forty input channels, sixteen mix buses, six matrices and eight stereo effects engines, with Midas-designed preamps on every microphone input.

For a show, memory is the useful part. Build your sound in the tech rehearsal, save it as a scene, and it returns identically for every performance: gains, EQ, compression, fader positions and mutes. Each radio mic can have its own EQ curve and a compressor to hold the level when a nervous performer turns away from the mic head. Four-band parametric EQ, a gate and a compressor sit on every input channel, so there is no rack of outboard to patch. Eight DCA groups and six mute groups let you handle a large cast without a fader per person.

Two AES50 ports each carry 48 channels over a single Cat5e run, so a stagebox in the wings can replace a heavy multicore. Remote control works over a wireless network from an iPad or a laptop. That lets you walk the room and set levels where the audience actually sits.

Three versions share the same processing and the same software. The full-size X32 has 32 microphone inputs and 25 motorised faders. X32 Compact and X32 Producer both give you 16 microphone inputs and 17 faders, the Compact built as a desk, the Producer as a rack-mount for touring racks and fixed installs. All can be dry hired or supplied with a technician.

What you get

The console, with its IEC mains lead

The X32 Compact Desk Package adds a Behringer S16 digital stagebox, giving 16 remote-controlled preamps and 8 outputs at the stage end

A Cat5e link for the console-to-stagebox run on the Desk Package; tell us the distance so the cable reaches

Microphones, radio mic systems, DI boxes, XLR looms and stands are hired separately

A wireless access point for iPad or laptop control is a separate item, so mention it if you want to mix from the auditorium

Send us your channel list with your enquiry and we will tell you what else the desk needs alongside it

Good for

School musicals and end-of-term concerts with 12 or more radio mics, each needing its own EQ and compression

Dance school shows where playback, live vocals and a compère mic change from act to act

Amateur dramatic society musicals, where the tech rehearsal mix has to hold across a week of performances

Youth theatre with a student operator, who can recall a saved scene rather than rebuild the mix each night

Village halls and small venues with no installed desk, where a Compact or Producer fits the available space

Multi-band showcases and battle of the bands nights, with each act saved as its own scene

Speech days, prizegivings and conferences with lectern mics, playback and a feed to a video crew

Stage-to-mix-position runs where a heavy analogue multicore is impractical, using an S16 on a single Cat5e

What you need to know

Which one to take: All three run the same software and sound the same. The full X32 has 32 microphone inputs and 25 faders; the Compact and the Producer have 16 and 17, and fit in the back of a car.
Power: One ordinary 13A socket. Nothing needs a special supply.
Cable to the stage: A stagebox in the wings sends 32 channels to the desk down a single network lead, instead of a heavy multicore. We supply the lead.
Saving your show: The desk stores the whole setup as a scene, so the sound you built in the tech rehearsal comes back the same on every night. Copy it to a USB stick and it is yours to keep.
Who runs it: Dry hire if someone in your team knows the desk. Otherwise we send an engineer to patch it, set it up and mix the show.

Hire rates

Choose the one you need. The photo and price follow your choice.

Behringer X32 Digital Mixing ConsolePopularThe full-size desk: 32 mic inputs, 25 motorised faders, scene recall and iPad control.£70a day

Behringer X32 Compact Digital Mixing ConsoleSixteen mic inputs and the same software in a desk that fits a village hall mix position.£50a day

Behringer X32 Producer Digital Mixing ConsoleThe rack-mount X32: sixteen mic inputs for touring racks and fixed installs.£40a day

X32 Compact Desk PackageX32 Compact plus an S16 stagebox — one Cat5e run from stage to mix position.£72a day

Rates are per day and exclude VAT. A longer hire costs less per day — tell us your dates and we will price the period exactly. Ask us about delivery and hiring with a technician.

Alternatives

Midas M32R Live — Midas PRO series preamps and seventeen motorised faders in a more compact frame, running the same forty-input engine and the same one-cable AES50 stagebox arrangement.

Full technical specification (25)

Weight	X32 20.6 kg; X32 Compact 15.4 kg; X32 Producer 11.4 kg; S16 stagebox 4.7 kg
Power draw	X32 120 W; X32 Compact 120 W; X32 Producer 70 W
Dimensions	X32 900 x 528 x 200 mm (W x D x H); X32 Compact 625 x 508 x 216 mm; X32 Producer 490 x 506 x 163 mm; S16 483 x 225 x 89 mm (2U)
Power supply	Internal switch-mode, auto-ranging 100-240 V, 50/60 Hz on all three consoles
Input channels (processing)	40 total on every model: 32 input channels plus 8 aux/FX returns
Buses	25 in total: 16 mix buses, 6 matrices, main LRC
Mic preamps	X32 32 programmable Midas-designed preamps; X32 Compact 16; X32 Producer 16
Motorised faders	X32 25; X32 Compact 17; X32 Producer 17. All 100 mm
XLR outputs	X32 16; X32 Compact 8; X32 Producer 8
Aux in / out	6 in and 6 out, 6.35 mm TRS balanced, on all three consoles
Channel processing	4-band fully parametric EQ, gate and compressor on every input channel; 8 DCA groups; 6 mute groups
Effects engines	8 true stereo or 16 mono, in a virtual rack of 8 FX slots
Scene memory	100 total-recall scenes, including preamp gain and fader positions
AES50 ports	2 (Klark Teknik SuperMAC), 48 channels each direction over shielded Cat5e, up to 100 m
USB	32 x 32 channel USB 2.0 audio interface via the fitted expansion card; USB Type A on the top panel for scene and show file transfer
Sample rate and conversion	44.1 or 48 kHz, 24-bit A/D and D/A; 40-bit floating point internal processing
Latency	0.8 ms local I/O; 1.1 ms stagebox in to console to stagebox out
Frequency range	10 Hz to 22 kHz
Dynamic range	106 dB (A/D 109 dB, D/A 108 dB)
THD+N	below 0.006% at 20 dB gain, 0 dBu out, A-weighted
Phantom power	48 V, switchable per input
Display	X32 and X32 Compact 7 in colour TFT, 800 x 480; X32 Producer 5 in colour TFT, 800 x 480
Remote control	Ethernet RJ45 and USB Type B; X32-Edit for Mac, Windows and Linux, X32-Mix for iPad over a wireless network
S16 stagebox (Desk Package)	16 remote-controlled Midas preamps, 8 XLR outputs, dual AES50 ports, 2U 19 in rack
Expansion slot	32-channel audio input/output card slot on all three consoles

Common questions

Count your channels first. If you need more than 16 microphone or line inputs at the desk, take the full-size X32 — it has 32 preamps and 25 faders, at £70 a day. Up to 16 inputs, and the X32 Compact at £50 or the rack-mount X32 Producer at £40 will do the job. Both run identical software to the big desk, so a mix built on one opens on another. If your inputs are on stage and the desk is at the back of the hall, the X32 Compact Desk Package at £72 adds an S16 stagebox and pushes your input count back up to 32.
Yes. The layer system takes a little getting used to, so give yourself an hour with the desk before the first rehearsal rather than opening the box on show day. Behringer's X32-Edit software for Mac, Windows and Linux is free, and it lets you build and label your channel list offline in advance. Where nobody on your team has mixed a show before, taking a technician with the desk is usually the calmer choice.
Only if your microphone lines and the mix position are a long way apart. The S16 sits in the wings, takes 16 mic inputs there, and sends everything to the console down one shielded Cat5e cable up to 100 metres long. That replaces a heavy analogue multicore and a lot of get-in time. For a village hall where the desk sits at the side of the stage, you probably do not need it — hire the Compact on its own and save the difference.
Save the show file to a USB stick from the top panel before you strike, and bring it back with you. Load it onto any X32, Compact or Producer and your channel names, EQ, effects and scenes come straight back. Twelve months on, your sound designer starts from last year's mix instead of a blank desk. Worth doing even if you are not sure you will hire again.