Behringer Xenyx QX2442USB

Home Studio use only.
Handling: After a bit of practice it is very easy to get it to do exactly what you require. In my case I feed the direct outs and subs into my 16 Ch audio interface. I have it also set up via patch bay each way send/return to DAW/Mixer and back. Additionally I have inserts and returns from various outboard units. The comprehensive configuration possibilities of this mixer allow me to do this and for the price no other mixer can match it's signal routing capability. The Klark Teknik effects are excellent especially the digital reverb which outclasses my Polara by a wide margin. Audio is crystal clear, eq works well. I have not calibrated the compression yet but will do so against various plug-ins in Cubase. Even though I'm still exploring it's extensive possibilities at this stage I feel it is an excellent investment for my set up: 8 synths/drum machines, electric and acoustic guitars and vocals and two PC's.
Pros:
Signal Routing is very brilliantly conceived and executed
Effects are very good to excellent with tap tempo and BPM
Ease of use (after you get used to balancing sends/returns)
Sound quality is without any noise at all (unless you have a ground loop or there is a problem with your sound modules or other external factor)
The BIG Surprise: The pre-amps used for recording acoustic guitars and vocals are extremely clear with plenty of headroom, they are neutral in terms of colouring but I like that.
Value for money: no other mixer comes close in this class.
Quality: All knobs and faders are tight and without play except for the control room volume pot which has a very slight amount of give (it would have gotten 5 stars if it were not for this)

Cons
The manual is rubbish.
No rack ears even though it has the same footprint as the slightly cheaper variant without the Klark Teknik effects which has a rack mount kit included

Would I recommend this unit: Yes (it's €400 cheaper than the closest Mackie or Soundcraft rival with no compromises other than the Brand name and I couldn't care less about that)

Superb little mixer. The quality of the faders isn't as nice as say a Mackie or Allen+Heath, but in terms of functionality it's great.

Be warned - you can't route the digital in back through the mixer and through the digital out - which was something we wanted to do - but could do using patch cables from the Control Room Outs to the input channels!

The compressors are subtle and very good. The FX are clean and great. Love the fact that you have three bus mixes - e.g. one for foldback, one for broadcast, one for live (if that's your thing).

Not a seriously heavy-duty piece of kit. I wouldn't want to be lugging it from gig to gig, but for home/church use where it stays in one spot - fine.

Very, very, good value for money.

I bought this to replace my Xenyx X2222 which didn’t have enough XLR inputs for my now bigger band. I thought it would be much the same but with enough inputs this time but I was blown away by the improvement in sound and volume. I was impressed by the last one to be honest but this has so much more in every department. In bigger venues I could struggle to get the vocals to clear the band but that’s not an issue with this. I get way more volume with no loss in quality and our fully miked up drum kit punches through without clipping like it could on the old one.
I would thoroughly recommend this mixer to anyone. We are a five piece metal band and it’s easily man enough for the job. Even the built in effects are usable!