A lot of musicians would diss this, but I am absolutely sold on using a mixer in line, prior to the QSCs. I ditched the mixer a year or more ago. But when I had the chance to listen to the mix in my studio, using the Zed 6fx again, I quickly became convinced that the Zed preamps make all the difference in the world. Case in point: I tried the Crown mic through my 4X board and directly to the QSCs. Pretty good. I tried the Crown through the Zed and to the QSCs - OMG. In fact, the Crown was as good, or better than my SM7 studio mic! So, more pieces to the gig, but you have one chance to make it right (repeat business).