Ok here it is...
I'm now ready to by my first mixing board. My issue is ...bang for the buck! I've been putting this midi based studio together for a while now & this is the final touch. I know what the Mackie boards are capable of. There warm sound & low noise. But there is the side of me that thinks... How much of a difference is there in the Behringer boards. Price wise you get more channels & more buses. But how will this effect my music, I'm not a total newbie & know what a true quality track sounds like. Any suggestions or comments are appreciated.
p.s.: I'm doing eltronica / house based music & layer many elements.

Bassfreq- Do you know that Mackie tried to sue Behringer over the issue of their mixers looking and behaving suspicously like Mackie's but at a much lower price range!!!!

Mackie stuff is great and I'll go so far as to say that they definetly have the nicest sounding mic pre's of the whole lot of compact mixers (however gone are the days when only a Mackie is good enough!!!!!).

I myself own an older model Behringer MX2642 4 buss rackmount mixer. It's very quiet but I can hear that it's EQ is not quite up there with a Mackie 1604VLZ or a Soundcraft Folio series. That's not to say it sounds bad however!!!!! The same applies to the Mic Pre's. They are good but the ones in my Soundcraft Spirit Folio (which costs not much less than the Behringer but has less features) sound better with more headroom.

However, in the last year or so, Behringer have revamped their mixer range (they even look different to Mackies now with the new colour scheme!!!!). Apparantly, their mic pres have been improved also.

The Behringer mixers are excellent value for money. But the latest Mackies (VLZ pro range) do sound better if using mics (many magazine reviews have raved about the new mic preamp design!). I particularly like the new Mackie 1642 VLZ.

But I must say, that Mackie is an expensive brand compared to Behringer and Alesis (to name just 2). Soundcraft are also quite expensive.

My advice to you is not to simply go by price but give each mixer you are interested in a good going over. Plug in a mic or a keyboard in the store and check out the features (and most importantly- sound quality!).

I will give you some other recommendations to check out-

ALESIS- Studio 32 and Studio 24- both ideally set up to record using an ADAT, DA88 or stand along hard disk recorder with dedicated tape ins and outs. However, they are a little more limited in the auxilliary department.

SOUNDCRAFT- Spirit Folio SX, F1, FX8 and FX16. All have great sounding mic pre's. Nice eq and 100MM faders. But I hate the external power supplies. (Behringer also has these and I hate them!!!!). Folio FX8 and FX16 have in built Lexicon multi fx also.

ALLEN AND HEATH- Mix Wizard series. These are very expensive mixers but have very few compromises and actually beat the Mackies for features per dollar ratio IMHO- more controllable eq and more aux's at once etc.

In the end, if you can only afford something on a limited budget, go for a Behringer. I've heard no bad reports about them and some say that actually do out perform a Mackie or Soundcraft. Really it's up to induvidual taste! Good Luck.

Thanks alot for the reply, it really made me think. I did here about Mackie sueing Behringer, & just figured it was all cosmetics. And your last comment on how its up to the individual.... I strongly support this, because its not what you have its what you do w/ it! That is why I'm leaning towards Behringer right now. I'm really just going to have to hear it to know.
Thanks

I have a Behringer MX3282A and an MX1604 for mixdown. I recommend them. Not a day's problem and I'm very happy with the sound/construction quality of both. For the price, they're excellent alternatives to the Mackies (which I've also used).

Thanks for the input... my head has been spinning on this topic. If you've had experience w/ the Mackie boards, can you get the Behringer boards to sound that warm. I'm not really doing live vocals or instruments, but mostly sampled & synth sounds, so the mic pre-amps don't really make a difference to me. But I'm concerned about getting the warmest sound possible on my mixes. I was actually goin to settle for the vlz1604 but I'm lost, I want more for the money. Let me know what your thoughts are on this.
thanks again

Bassfreq- Save your hard earned money and get a Behringer if you are using samples/keyboards as soundsources!

It all depends on how many inputs you need but Behringer has a huge range of mixers to choose from. My recommendations for a larger desk is the MX2442A if you need more inputs or the MX2004A for a smaller rackmount desk. I use a MX2642 rack mount (with 4 subgroups) but what really annoys me about it is it's lack of a power switch!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why Behringer didn't include one is beyond me!!

For the amount of money the Mackie VLZ is worth, you are much better off going for something like a Yamaha O1V digital desk! Heaps more features for the money and great sound quality to boot!!!!!!!! All the best.

WELL I'M PROBABLY GOING TO GO W/ THE MX2442A. IT SEEMS RIGHT FOR THE MONEY & I CAN STILL ADD OUTBOARD GEAR TO MY STUDIO. WHEN I START MAKING MONEY FROM THIS I'LL GO THE FULL ROUTE. AS FAR AS DIGITAL GOES, I CONSIDERED IT, BUT I'M GONNA WAIT AWHILE. I THINK THE TECHNOLOGY NEED TO PICK UP A LITTLE BEFORE I GET INTO THAT. ANALOG IS NICE & SIMPLE,GRAB A KNOB OR SLIDER & PUT IT TO WORK. I MEAN SURE ITS NICE TO HAVE A DIGITAL BOARD RECALL ALL YOUR MIXES. BUT W/ ALL THE LATENCY ISSUES & ALL, IT JUST SEEMS UNATURAL. PROBABLY IN A YEAR OR 2 I'LL GET INTO IT, BUT FOR NOW I'LL STICK W/ THE BASICS.
THANKS FOR THE ADVICE