Overview
Mixing desks come in two kinds, analogue and digital. Digital desks have several key advantages, including being able to support multiple layers, allowing, in some cases, for many more channels to be processed and output buses supported than there are physical faders, and being able to recall scenes.
Yamaha CL-3
The CL-3 is a digital mixing desk found in the Oxford Playhouse, it supports 64 mono input channels and 8 stereo input channels, commonly used as FX returns. The outputs are 24 auxiliary mix buses, LR and M mains, and 8 matrix channels. There are 16 DCAs available.
On this desk the signal flow is Inputs -> Aux Mixes -> Mains -> Matrix channels, and inputs can directly feed Matrix channels.
The control surface has 3 banks of faders. Bank A has 16 faders with preset layers for all the inputs and DCAs and 2 custom layers. Bank B has 8 faders with preset layers for all inputs and outputs and 3 custom layers. There are also 2 separate customisable faders commonly used for mains.
The CL-3 design philosophy presents a lot of information at once, often in very abstract form, and in ways many find unintuitive. Along with the substantial differences between offline editor and console, this can make this console harder to use until without much practice, however it is relatively powerful.
The CL-3 is supported by TheatreMix and Mixing Station, as well as the official apps.
Soundcraft SI Impact 24
The Impact is a digital mixing desk found in the Keble O'Reilly, it supports 32 mono input channels and 4 stereo input channels, commonly used as FX returns. The outputs are 8 mono auxiliary mix buses, 6 stereo auxiliary mix buses, 4 FX mix buses, LR and M mains, and 4 stereo matrix channels. There are also 8 DCAs available.
On this desk the signal flow is Inputs -> Aux Mixes & Mains -> Matrix channels, and inputs cannot directly feed matrix channels.
The control surface has a single bank of 24 faders with 4 fully customisable layers.
The Impact's User Experience suffers dramatically from the small screen and the predominantly scrolling text menu based presentation. The parametric EQ on each channel is hard to accurately control, with the interface resembling a graphing calculator more than a modern mixing console.
For controlling this from a mobile device, Mixing Station works better than the official app.
The Impact does not support TheatreMix.
Allen and Heath dLive
The dLive is the best desk that can be hired from Henley Theatre Services. It supports 128 input channels, that can be grouped into stereo channels, and 64 total output mixes, that can be assigned between mono and stereo groups, mono and stereo FX buses, mono and stereo auxiliary mix buses, mono and stereo matrix channels, stereo PAFL listens, and mains.
On this desk the signal flow is Inputs -> Groups -> Aux Mixes -> Mains -> Matrix channels, and inputs can directly feed matrix channels.
The control surface must be hired separately from the mixrack, and different surfaces are available with different numbers of faders, but all include 6 layers of fully customisable faders with scribble strips.
Allen and Heath have clearly devoted a lot of effort into the interface of this console, making it a joy to use and easily approachable, however to get the full value out of this console which justifies the high price tag will require an experienced operator and a lot of set up time.
The dLive does support both TheatreMix and Mixing Station.
Allen and Heath SQ-5/6/7
The SQ series of desks are some of the most cost effective desks to hire. They support 48 input channels, and 12 total output mixes, that can be assigned between groups and auxiliary mix buses, LR mains, and 6 matrix channels. The inputs, groups, mixes, and matrix channels can be either paired into stereo channels, or split into mono.
On SQ consoles the signal flow is Inputs -> Groups -> Aux Mixes & Mains -> Matrix channels, and inputs cannot directly feed matrix channels.
The control surface has a single bank of faders, 16 on the SQ-5, 24 on the SQ-6, 32 on the SQ-7, with 6 fully customisable layers, plus a master fader.
The interface lacks some of the polish of the dLive or even GLD series, but is still modern and approachable, particularly where the complexity of the show does not warrant the use of the full flexibility of those consoles.
The SQ series does support both TheatreMix and Mixing Station.
Allen and Heath Qu-16/24/32
A Qu-24? can be found in the north wall and the Qu series of consoles are often found in college auditoria, including Pembroke. They support their eponymous number of input channels, and 4 mono auxiliary mix buses, 3 stereo auxiliary mix buses, and 2 FX send buses, along with the LR mains.
On this desk the signal flow is Inputs -> Aux Mixes & Mains.
The control surface has a single bank of faders with 2 fixed layers (one input, one output) and 1 custom layer, plus a master fader.
These consoles are designed to be extremely approachable and as such can be quite limiting to the more experienced operator.
The Qu series does not support TheatreMix.
Allen and Heath Qu-5/6(D)
This is the replacement to the old Qu series, they are not widespread yet, being released in mid 2025, but are a substantial upgrade to the old Qu series, once they become more widely available they will be a great asset.
Allen and Heath GLD-80/112
The GLD series are hireable from Henley, they are older and lack some modern features of the SQ series, but surpass them in other ways. (Author's note, I bought one for myself, it's great). They support 44 mono input channels, and 2 stereo input channels. They support 20 mix outputs, that can be assigned between mono and stereo groups, mono and stereo auxiliary mix buses, mono and stereo matrix channels, and mains, plus 8 FX buses.
On this desk the signal flow is Inputs -> Groups -> Aux Mixes -> Mains -> Matrix channels, and inputs cannot directly feed matrix channels.
The control surface of the GLD-80 has 2 banks of faders, with 12 and 8 faders respectively with 4 fully customisable layers each.
The heritage of the GLD's interface feeds quite clearly into the dLive, though the dLive interface cleans up some of the rougher edges. The GLD is still a nice desk to use, though usage is somewhat complicated by the lack of local inputs, requiring the usage of a stage box such as the AR2412 or the AB168.
The dLive does support both TheatreMix and Mixing Station.
Allen and Heath ZED 16FX
This is a simple analogue mixing desk as found at the Pilch.
It has 10 mono channels, and 3 stereo channels, and supports 3 band EQ and 3 Aux sends (2 pre-fader, 1 post-fader), as well as an effects unit.
It is recommended to use a stereo channel (on a blue fader) for playback from a laptop.
Midas Venice 1GO
Work in progress, this is the BT desk
Behringer X32 / Midas M32
Work in progress, the X32 is in Magdalen auditorium, and the M32 is available from Startech
Behringer XR18
Work in progress, this is the O'Reilly Conference desk.
Behringer Flow 8
Work in progress