Key takeaways

In a nutshell, here are the key features of each range:

Behringer WING vs. X32

Mic preamps, inputs, and outputs

The X32’s full-sized model features 32 programmable preamps which are designed, but not built by, the British pro audio company MIDAS. The Compact and Rack versions feature fewer preamps, with 16 in total.

These preamps offer clean sound quality and good performance and let you digitally control gain settings and recall them within the mixer, which is a very handy feature for setting up mixes quickly.

These preamps have been highly praised, but they don’t deliver much in the way of colour, instead providing dynamic range and transparency.

For line inputs, the X32 features 6 line inputs and 6 line outputs in all of its form factors. Since the X32’s preamps are XLR only, these line inputs offer useful extra connectivity, with one of these line-level connectors being RCA for use with external devices, speakers, or even DJ gear.

There are also 8 XLR outputs for a balanced output to recording equipment, PA systems, subwoofers, and monitoring systems, as well as two stereo headphone outputs.

The WING’s preamp count varies with your chosen model. The base, full-size model has 8 MIDAS PRO combo preamps. By contrast, the WING COMPACT and WING RACK offer 24 of these high-end preamps.

These PRO preamps are designed and built by MIDAS to extremely high standards. In fact, they’re used in MIDAS’ very own professional console range, with the M32 and DL series, and are highly praised for their fidelity, clarity, and depth of sound.

The WING also has 8 MIDAS PRO XLR outputs and 8 line outputs. The full-sized and COMPACT models have two stereo headphone outputs for monitoring, whereas the WING RACK has four headphone outputs. However, this isn’t all they have to offer in terms of monitoring!

Channels

The X32 features 40 mono channels, 25 buses, and 32 channels of USB audio. Since the master output is stereo, the X32’s channels can be panned anywhere you need in the stereo field, but you will need to use two of them if you want stereo inputs. This is fairly standard on most mixers, but we’re highlighting this for a reason.

The WING provides 48 stereo channels, 28 full stereo buses, and 48 channels of USB audio. However, its base channels aren’t just stereo, but highly configurable too. You can switch the channels between mono, stereo, and even mid-side operation, which is not a common feature for even the more advanced mixers out there, and it’s a great way to add more space and depth to a mix – especially with processing.

Routing and connectivity

The X32 is loaded with digital I/O for use with external equipment. Two AES50 ports with Klark Teknik’s SuperMac networking system provide 48 channels of extremely stable and high-performance digital audio for connecting the X32 to digital stageboxes or other digital mixers.

Then, there are USB, ADAT, MADI, and Dante ports, too, as well as Behringer’s ULTRANET system designed for instant integration with their P-16 Personal Monitoring System.

ULTRANET also lets you integrate your mixer with Turbosounds iQ-series speakers directly, as well as tweak their voicing to achieve the sound you want and stream up to 16 channels of digital audio straight to the speakers.

The X32 also has recall modes, allowing you to load “snippets” of specific mixing settings during a show, store multiple of them together into scenes, and then shift them around to hit specific songs, or key moments of a show through the Cue List.

You get 500 cues, 100 scenes, and 100 snippets to play with. Plus, you can load snippets without affecting scenes whatsoever, and switch scenes with larger or complete changes in the mixer’s settings.

Scenes on the X32 can also be triggered remotely through network control from its Ethernet port, giving you control and the freedom to step away from the desk. It’s great for big touring shows where the same set is played night after night, and it’s ideal for shows with many moving parts like theatre performances.

The WING has a staggering range of digital connectivity. Behringer’s StageConnect system allows for two-way transmission of 32 audio channels with minimal latency, with a 3-pin XLR DMX cable for longer distances or a standard microphone cable for shorter distances. StageConnect is designed for use with other Behringer and Klark Teknik devices, like their digital stageboxes, DI boxes, and audio interfaces.

The WING also has a 48-channel USB audio interface, 3 AES50 SuperMac ports for 144 channels of audio, a MIDI interface for automation, control, synchronisation, and DAW compatibility, programmable GPIO connections for triggering things like recording lights, lamps, and sequentially booting equipment like rack amplifiers.

Overall, the WING has more inputs and outputs, as well as deeper digital connectivity and recall, but the X32 packs a lot of professional connectivity into its more affordable design, especially for the price. It depends entirely on the use case, but the X32 is highly capable, and the WING might be overkill for those not after a massive professional setup with extremely complex shows.

Effects processors

The X32’s channel processing is worth highlighting here too. Loaded with 8 stereo effects slots, Behringer have used physical modelling to recreate a host of classic studio effects, from compressors to EQs, and classic digital reverbs.

Effects slots 1 to 4 on the X32 can be used as channel inserts, send effects, or for sidechaining. Effects slots 5 to 8 are restricted to channel inserts. This provides plenty of flexibility for comprehensive mixing in most cases, but it’s worth being aware of going in.

The WING boasts dual effects engines. Their “Standard FX Rack” offers 8 stereo effects slots that, while not based on vintage studio units, offer a lot of utility and clean, simple processing. You can think of these like a DAW’s stock plugins, they’ll do the majority of the heavy lifting in your mix, but don’t expect anything particularly impressive in terms of character.

The wow factor comes in with the “Premium FX Rack”. This builds on a lot of the same tenets as the effects in the X32, using some of the same effects and analog modelling technology, but with a more extensive list available, higher fidelity from 40-bit internal processing, and more stereo flexibility due to the WING’s stereo and mid-side capabilities.

The WING’s effects processing is limited to specific slots and contexts, although this should be plenty to create any kind of mix you want. Every channel has three slots for gate, dynamics, and EQ effects of your choice, without eating up headroom and processing power for other effects.

All of its 25 stereo buses also have dual effects inserts, as well as 8-band parametric EQ, stereo imaging, and dynamics processing in a single comprehensive effects chain. You also get 5 processing slots on all 40 stereo input channels, and 8 stereo aux input channels with one effects insert, as well as fixed slots for an expander/limiter and 4-band parametric EQ.

Both mixers offer noise gates, compression, EQ, reverbs, delay and modulation, limiters, exciters, pitch-shifting, transient shaping, and de-essing within their analog emulation plugins, giving you everything you need for functional mixing and creative effects.

However, the WING does have a much wider range available, allowing you to achieve more character, colour, and a few extra jobs, like guitar amp emulation, subharmonic synthesis to thicken up low frequencies, and comprehensive channel strips.

Recording capabilities

Both the X32 and the WING are very capable of multi-track recording, but what separates them? The first thing that’ll jump out is that while both have built-in bi-directional USB audio interfaces that are ideal for recording shows or carrying out studio mixing, the X32 has 32 channels, whereas the WING has 48.

The WING will obviously also stand out for recording due to its deeper stereo channel operation, higher overall channel count, higher number of buses, and more effects slots.

To bring it all home, the WING also has dual-SD card expansion slots, which can be used for both track playback and recording of up to 64 tracks with markers for song positioning.

The WING comes with a LiveSessions app, which lets you convert the multi-track recordings into formats of your choice, for more extensive mixing, production, arrangement in a DAW, or export for mastering, as well as preparing playback for shows.

Despite having fewer USB channels, the X32 base model has more preamps than the full-size WING. Behringer addressed this in the WING COMPACT and WING RACK, but in a studio setting, these extra preamps and the form factor of X32 could be a better fit.

Again, whilst the X32 is no slouch, the difference in processing power adds up here. It’s more a question of price vs. features between the two units, and the form factor you want it in.

Additional features

So, we’ve covered almost every basic function of a digital mixer that packs this level of power. But what sets them apart from each other and the rest of the market? For one, both the X32 and the WING feature DAW control and integration options that really help open up this mixer – particularly for studio use.

The X32’s USB connectivity lets you record and stream audio, as we’ve already covered, but it also lets you integrate it into studio mixing sessions. It utilises its own plugins in place of ones in your DAW to save your computer’s processor, with its recall functionality lets you save mixes as they’re in progress.

Better still, the potential to use its Cue List to chain snippets for automation and add more movement to a mix is much faster than it would be in a DAW.

The X32 has motorised faders and is equipped with Mackie Control and HUI protocols that can also let you control your DAW via MIDI. This means you can use the solo and mute buttons as well as the faders on the mixer to not only manipulate channel volume in your DAW, but as transport through sessions, automating parameters like panning and volume, and so much more, giving you that extra tactility while you mix.

However, bear in mind that the X32 RACK doesn’t have faders and isn’t really built for DAW control so much as live settings. While there’s still some integration, don’t expect comprehensive control from either rack mixer!

The X32 also has some expansion cards sold separately that let you add extra digital connectivity to better suit your setup and use cases. You can buy cards for ADAT connectivity, Dante networking, FireWire, and more advanced USB connectivity for deeper DAW control, or MADI and AES10 for broadcasting.

The X32 also lets you edit its states on a computer, with X32-Edit giving you a chance to use a computer to control your mixer or create scenes before a show.

There’s also X32-Mix, which lets you connect a wireless router to the X32 via Ethernet cable, then connect up to 10 iPads to that router. With this, you get full control over the mixer, all mic inputs, Aux inputs, buses, stereo effects returns and groups, as well as up to 16 independent monitor mixes.

Finally, the X32-Q app for smartphones works with iPhones and Android phones to set up monitor mixing and let performers sort out their own monitoring from their phones during sound check.

The WING offers similar functionality to the X32, although its DAW control section is far more powerful – with a jog wheel, transport controls, and assignable encoders on the full-size version of the console. The COMPACT and RACK editions don’t have these additional buttons but still have the flexibility of assignable encoders when it comes to DAW control as well as the motorised faders on the COMPACT.

The WING also offers some expansion cards you can buy separately. These will replace the existing dual-SD card slot, so consider whether or not you want to use that, but if you don’t, you can add a WING card that gives full 64-channel Dante connectivity. Behringer are also working on new cards that can add functionality with MADI and Waves Soundgrid.

Interface and usability

All of these mixers have well-thought-out interfaces, but each is designed for different users or contexts. Instead of comparing by series, it’s probably best to look at the form factors instead.

As far as the full-sized consoles are concerned, the X32 has 25 motorised faders, one large bank of 18 channel faders which can be shifted as a bank between sets of 18 channels. It also has a separate group of 8 DCA faders, letting you mix instrument subgroups together for simplicity.

These can then also be split up into individual buses and subgroups without affecting the DCA sets, which is good for zone sends, monitor mixes, and broadcast feeds.

The full-sized WING has six banks of four faders in three configurable sections. This flexibility lets you assign faders to channels, buses, subgroups, mute groups, DCAs, and even a master fader if you like.

It can be overwhelming compared to the more fixed-fader architecture of the X32, but it’s extremely powerful when you have your mixing workflow down.

The full-size X32 and X32 COMPACT both have a 7-inch colour TFT display to give you visual feedback and monitoring, whereas the X32 RACK has a smaller 5-inch display. By contrast, all of the WING variants have 10.1-inch touch screens with multi-touch controls, and on both the WING and WING COMPACT, you can swivel the screens to get your ideal viewing angle.

The WING RACK still has a 10.1-inch multi-touch screen, but it’s fixed and can’t swivel. However, you can angle the chassis of the rack mixer to angle both the screen and the controls from the fixed rack ears to get a more comfortable surface to interface with.

In terms of direct mixing experience, the X32’s simpler architecture is faster to navigate than the WING, with some dedicated channel strip-like controls for the preamps, gate, dynamics processor and EQ which make dialling in settings per channel very fast and hands-on.

There’s also dedicated bus send encoders, and a range of switches to quickly swap to the next channel. This is powerful, direct, and very easy to navigate, and a great way of making up for its lack of a touch screen.

The WING is a different story. While it still has a channel strip control layout, there are more toggles and displays to give you visual feedback.

It’s detailed and gives you a great opportunity to really see your EQ, gate, sends, and dynamics processing. But it also takes an approach of multi-function encoders and switches, which may take some more getting used to, as you have to navigate layers within the same section instead of having individual segments.

Ultimately, the X32 and WING interfaces are a matter of personal preference and likely a little to do with experience, too. Seasoned engineers won’t have any issue flying around either interface, but beginners and intermediate mixers will probably have an easier time with the simpler, less multi-functional design of the X32.

Every button on the X32 has fewer applications, which makes it easier to keep track of where you are as you go. The WING takes a more cerebral approach with multi-functional buttons, encoders, and switches, which can be very fast but take more time to learn and get comfortable with, and leave some room for error.

Behringer WING vs. X32 – which series is right for you?

The Behringer WING vs. the X32 really comes down to power vs. efficiency. If you run large shows, have a lot of external gear or instruments to integrate and a large venue to manage, the WING will likely give you everything you need – and then some. The more powerful processing, extra stereo power, higher-quality preamps, and extra faders with a more configurable bank system are difficult to argue with.

The I/O of the WING is more extensive than that on the X32, both in analog and digital formats, so if you need those other forms of connectivity, your decision’s probably already been made. If you need a Behringer console with StageConnect, the WING has to be your pick. It should also be your choice if you’re after deeper DAW control, GPIO, or extra digital audio channels on AES50 ports.

Although the full-sized WING has a lower preamp count, Behringer’s intent was for it to be used alongside digital stageboxes, and they have addressed this in the number of preamps with the COMPACT and RACK editions, so if the power and connectivity of the WING appeals and you want more preamps, these may suit you better.

The WING also has a few more features billed towards multi-tracking, which make it at home in studios too. While it mostly shares an editor, a monitor mixing app, and a remote mixing app with the X32, the addition of LiveSessions for managing multi-track recordings may tip it over the edge for you. If the absence of these aren’t a dealbreaker for you though, stick around because we’re making the case for the X32.

Whilst the X32 may not quite have the fancy preamps and processing of the WING, its effects are extremely well designed, and its preamps have still been very highly regarded in their own right. The X32’s ready with 32 preamps, and plenty of extensive I/O options for most use cases, USB, ADAT, MADI, Dante, ULTRANET, and MIDI, it’s all still here.

The X32 might be a better all-in-one mixing solution if you don’t want to invest in digital stageboxes or already utilise analog stageboxes in your setup.

The X32 may not quite have the flexibility or number of effects that the WING does, but its effects rack can cover more than enough ground to get great-sounding, professional mixes, and in some ways, offers a little more flexibility in how you use its eight effects slots per channel. While you’re limited to four channel inserts, you have four to use as bus sends, inserts, or side chain.

The X32 also has plenty of capacity for multi-track recording with its 32-channel bi-directional USB audio interface. Its scene and snippet management is very extensive, and Cue List is a powerful way of triggering and adding motion to shows. Round this out with an editor, monitoring, and remote mixing app, and the X32 has a lot of the base power of the WING, at a more accessible price.

Plus, its more direct interface design and single-function controls are easier and faster to navigate, no matter your level of experience.

So, are you after an absolute powerhouse console that can cover almost every possible connection and angle? The WING might be for you. For experienced mixers, or those who are still learning but will need to manage extremely large shows, the WING’s extra power is very much to its benefit.

The X32 offers a fast, efficient workflow that’s easier to get to grips with in an immediate sense. Its advanced I/O still gives it room to integrate into advanced pro audio setups or to be expanded upon as productions increase in complexity. It can be used standalone or with a lot of external devices, create great-sounding mixes, and manage studio recording easily.

Behringer X32 COMPACT vs. WING COMPACT

Behringer X32 RACK vs. WING RACK

FAQs

Does the Behringer Wing have Dante?

The Behringer Wing does not come with built-in Dante capability, but it can be Dante-enabled with an optional expansion card. Adding a Dante card allows seamless integration into Dante networks, making it ideal for audio-over-IP setups and complex routing needs.

How many channels does Behringer Wing have?

The Behringer Wing mixer provides up to 48 stereo channels, supporting a total of 96 audio sources. This high channel count allows extensive routing and flexible mixing, which is beneficial for large live sound applications, broadcast, and studio environments.

Is the Behringer X32 a good mixer?

The Behringer X32 is widely considered a good mixer, known for its versatility and ease of use. It offers solid sound quality, comprehensive effects, and flexible routing, making it a favourite in both live and studio settings, especially for its value in its price range.

Final thoughts

To sum it up, you really can’t go wrong with either of Behringer’s digital mixers. The right one for you depends on the features you need. In terms of price and performance, both the WING and X32 punch well above their weight with deep I/O options, powerful effects, and intuitive architectures.

The WING is probably best suited to professionals and big venues that need something to fit in with a stagebox-based workflow. Big events with many attendees, large stages with plenty of performers, or very elaborate shows will benefit from the WING’s extra power.

Meanwhile, the X32 is best for a standalone workflow or one that works with a few key pieces of external gear: analog or digital stageboxes, in-ear monitoring systems, computers or multi-track recorders, and plenty more. It still delivers a sizeable range of connectivity in both the digital and analog realms, plenty of monitoring connectivity too, and some high-fidelity analog-modelling effects for quality mixes.

Behringer WING vs. X32: which one of these mixers is right for you? Well, that has to be your decision, but hopefully, you feel informed enough about both mixers now to make that choice for yourself.

Got your mixer and want to get to grips with it? Check out our Comprehensive guide to live sound mixing.

Looking into the right PA system to pair with your mixer? Here’s our guide to what a PA system is and how it works.

And if you’ve been thinking about wireless mics, which have become very popular for live shows in recent years, why not look into our list of the 12 best wireless microphones?