I have been working with a group of friends' band for a year or two now mixing on a Soundcraft 8 channel and a parallel 4 channel. My knowledge and skills were, and some would say remain, low but with lots of internet advice and talking to others I have started to gain at least an understanding of what I should be doing.
WIth a bonus from work I decided to invest in something which let me do more but also filled the gaps in my knowledge. After trying the Mackie DL, Presonus and Behringer X32 as well as the Touchmix I went for the latter.
It offers a great balance between onboard setups and personalisation as well as the 'simple' mode which reduces the FX and Eq functionality to the minimum necessary.
Within half an hour my mixer was up, running and at first rehearsal delivering far more than I could achieve before and with greater clarity.
With the number of DCA groups, Aux sends and recording options I now feel confident in my work and the talent are certainly much happier people.
I can't possibly compare this desk professionally to others. All I know is it provides, for me a fantastic balance of features in a compact, hardy box.
Part of me wanted to wait for the Soundcraft Ui 16 but needed 16 XLRs and the Behringer X18 just seems, in the UK anyway, to be nowhere close to release.
So for under £1,000 I have everything I need in a simple to use box.