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Thirty-two channels of radio mics, band and playback all need to behave the same way in the dress rehearsal and on the night. That is what this desk is for. Sixteen Midas preamps sit on the console, every setting lives in a recallable scene, and a stagebox option carries your whole input list down one Cat5 cable. Hire the console on its own at £90 a day, or take the desk package with a DL32 at £130.
The Midas M32R Live is a compact digital console built for shows that have to run the same way twice. Sixteen Midas PRO series microphone preamps sit on the desk itself, feeding a 40-input mix engine with 25 mix buses and 17 motorised faders. Every parameter belongs to a scene, so a sound plot built during the technical rehearsal comes back exactly as you left it on the night.
Two AES50 ports each carry up to 48 channels in both directions over a single shielded Cat5 run of up to 100 metres. Add a DL32 stagebox and 32 further preamps and 16 line outputs sit at the stage end, which takes the multicore out of the equation altogether — one thin cable from stage to mix position covers a full musical input list.
Processing runs deep. Each channel has a gate, a compressor, parametric EQ and delay, backed by eight true-stereo effects engines and eight 31-band graphic EQs across the outputs. A fitted Klark Teknik DN32-LIVE card records 32 tracks of uncompressed audio straight to SD, which is the simplest route to a virtual soundcheck from a dress rehearsal.
It suits school and youth theatre musicals, dance shows with heavy playback, concerts and conference days — anything running more than a handful of radio mics. Mix from the surface, or from a tablet over Wi-Fi when you want to walk the room and hear what the audience hears.
The M32 Live is the console the M32R grows into. The mixing engine is the same, and so are the show files, so anything programmed on one loads straight onto the other. What the full-size desk adds is room. There are 32 Midas preamps and 16 XLR outputs on the console itself, so a big pit band and a rack of radio mics plug straight in without a stage box, though we can still add one over AES50 if the stage is a long way from the mix position. The 25 motorised faders sit in separate input and bus banks, which means the operator rides the leads, the band groups and the masters without flicking layers in the middle of a number. The fitted DN32-LIVE card records up to 32 tracks to SD cards in the desk, so you can take away a full multitrack of the show, or play it back and balance the band before the cast arrives. It weighs 25 kg and wants a proper front-of-house table, 891 mm wide. If the show is smaller, the M32R on this page does the same job in half the space.
| Item | Rate |
|---|---|
| Midas M32R Live Digital Mixing Console | £90 / day |
| M32R Desk Package | £130 / day |
| Midas M32 Live Digital Mixing Console | £120 / day |
Rates are per day and exclude VAT. Ask us about multi-day and show-week rates, delivery, and hiring with a technician.
See whether this is free for your dates. This is an indication from our current bookings, not a reservation.
Behringer X32 — The same forty-input engine and AES50 stagebox approach across three frame sizes — the full X32, the Compact and the Producer — so there is one to suit the desk space you have.
| M32 R — Input channels | 40 total — 32 input channels, 8 aux channels, 8 FX return channels |
|---|---|
| M32 R — Microphone preamplifiers (console) | 16 Midas PRO series, XLR, +48V phantom switchable per input |
| M32 R — Mix buses | 25 — 16 aux buses, 6 matrices, main LRC |
| M32 R — Motorised faders | 17 |
| M32 R — DCA groups / mute groups | 8 / 6 |
| M32 R — Effects engines | 8 true stereo (16 mono), 40-bit floating point processing |
| M32 R — Graphic EQs | 8 x 31-band, assignable to outputs |
| M32 R — Scenes / cues / snippets | 100 total recall scenes, 500 cues, 100 snippets |
| M32 R — XLR outputs | 8 |
| M32 R — Monitoring outputs | 2 x XLR, 2 x 1/4in TRS balanced |
| M32 R — Aux inputs / outputs | 6 / 6, 1/4in TRS balanced |
| M32 R — RCA inputs / outputs | 2 / 2 |
| M32 R — Headphone output | 1 x 1/4in TRS stereo |
| M32 R — Talkback mic input | 1 x XLR |
| M32 R — AES50 ports | 2 (Klark Teknik SuperMAC), up to 48 channels bidirectional per port, up to 100 m on shielded Cat5e |
| M32 R — ULTRANET | 1 x P-16 connector (no power supplied) |
| M32 R — MIDI | 1 in / 1 out |
| M32 R — USB | 1 x Type A (audio and data import/export); USB Type B and Ethernet RJ45 rear panel for remote control |
| M32 R — Expansion card fitted (M32 R Live) | Klark Teknik DN32-LIVE — 32 x 32 USB 2.0 audio interface plus dual SD/SDHC slots, 32-track uncompressed WAV record and playback at 44.1/48 kHz |
| M32 R — Sample rate | 44.1 / 48 kHz |
| M32 R — A/D conversion | 24-bit, 114 dB dynamic range, A-weighted |
| M32 R — D/A conversion | 24-bit, 120 dB dynamic range, A-weighted |
| M32 R — I/O latency (console in to out) | 0.8 ms |
| M32 R — Network latency (stagebox in > console > stagebox out) | 1.1 ms |
| M32 R — Frequency response | 0 dB to -1 dB, 20 Hz–20 kHz at 48 kHz sample rate |
| M32 R — Dynamic range, analogue in to analogue out | 106 dB, 22 Hz–22 kHz, unweighted |
| M32 R — Mic preamp equivalent input noise | -125 dB at +45 dB gain, 150 ohm source, 22 Hz–22 kHz unweighted |
| M32 R — THD+N | <0.01% unweighted at 0 dB gain, 0 dBu output |
| M32 R — Maximum input level (mic, non clip) | +23 dBu |
| M32 R — Output level, XLR | +4 dBu nominal / +21 dBu maximum |
| M32 R — Main display | 5in TFT LCD, 800 x 480, 262k colours |
| M32 R — Channel displays | 128 x 64 LCD scribble strips with RGB backlight |
| M32 R — power W | 70 W |
| M32 R — Mains supply | Auto-ranging switch-mode, 100–240 V AC, 50/60 Hz ±10% |
| M32 R — dimensions Mm | 478 x 617 x 208 mm (W x D x H) |
| M32 R — weight Kg | 14.3 kg |
| M32 R — Operating temperature | 5–40 °C |
| M32 R — DL32 stagebox (Desk Package) — preamps | 32 Midas PRO microphone preamplifiers, +48V switchable per input |
| M32 R — DL32 outputs | 16 balanced XLR line outputs, plus AES/EBU output |
| M32 R — DL32 networking | 2 x AES50 SuperMAC (48 channels bidirectional each, up to 100 m), 1 x ULTRANET (16 channels, up to 75 m), 2 x ADAT optical (8 channels each) |
| M32 R — DL32 power | 55 W, 100–240 V AC 50/60 Hz |
| M32 R — DL32 dimensions | 483 x 242 x 138 mm (W x D x H), 3U rackmount |
| M32 R — DL32 weight | 5.7 kg |
| M32 R — Remote control | Wired or wireless remote operation via the M32-MIX tablet app and M32-Edit software |
| M32 Live — Manufacturer and model | Midas M32 LIVE |
| M32 Live — Console type | Full-size digital mixing console |
| M32 Live — Input processing | 32 input channels, 8 aux channels, 8 FX return channels |
| M32 Live — Mic preamps | 32 Midas PRO series, XLR, on the console |
| M32 Live — Mix buses | 25: 16 aux buses, 6 matrices and main left-right-centre |
| M32 Live — Motorised faders | 25 x 100 mm |
| M32 Live — XLR outputs | 16 |
| M32 Live — Aux connections | 6 x 6.35 mm TRS in and out, plus 2 RCA in and out |
| M32 Live — Talkback input | 1 x XLR |
| M32 Live — AES50 ports | 2 (Klark Teknik SuperMAC, up to 48 channels each) |
| M32 Live — Effects engines | 8 true stereo (16 mono) |
| M32 Live — Recording | DN32-LIVE card fitted: 32 x 32 USB 2.0 interface and dual SD/SDHC slots, up to 32 tracks |
| M32 Live — Show memory | 100 total-recall scenes, 500 cues |
| M32 Live — Main screen | 7 inch colour TFT, 800 x 480 |
| M32 Live — Latency | 0.8 ms, console input to output |
| M32 Live — Phantom power | +48 V, switchable per input |
| M32 Live — Power | 100-240 V auto-ranging switch-mode supply (fine on UK 230 V mains), 120 W |
| M32 Live — Dimensions | 891 x 612 x 256 mm |
| M32 Live — Weight | 25 kg |
Yes, though the honest answer is narrower than the marketing suggests. The M32R uses Midas PRO series preamp circuitry, the same design lineage as their large-format touring desks, with a published equivalent input noise of -125 dB at +45 dB of gain. The X32 family uses Midas-designed preamps built to a lower cost, and on paper the gap between them is modest. Where you hear it is at high gain on quiet sources — a soft narrator, an exposed acoustic guitar — and in how the desk copes when a young performer suddenly belts a number. For a hall full of headset mics, either family will do the job well. Recording the show, or mixing something acoustically delicate, is where the M32R earns the difference.
Count your inputs. The console carries 16 mic inputs on its own back panel, so a show with a dozen radio mics, a couple of playback feeds and a spare fits on the console alone at £90 a day. Past 16 inputs, or when the desk sits at the back of a hall and the performers are on stage, the £130 desk package makes more sense. A DL32 puts 32 preamps and 16 line outputs at the stage end and links back to the desk on one shielded Cat5 cable, up to 100 metres. That means no multicore to lift, patch or trip over.
Yes, dry hire is fine. If nobody in your team has worked on an M32 or X32 before, a technician to patch and programme it is often the more straightforward option, and your crew can still mix the show once it is set up. Tell us which way you want to work when you get in touch and we will quote it that way.
The fitted DN32-LIVE card records 32 tracks of uncompressed WAV to SD card at 44.1 or 48 kHz, and the two card slots record and play back independently. Capture the dress rehearsal, play it back through the desk the next day, and you can balance the show properly before anyone walks into the hall. Klark Teknik quote a little over three hours of continuous 32-track recording on 64 GB, so bring a card with room on it. The same card slot also gives you an archive recording of the performance itself.
The school-hall standard: scene recall, iPad control, three sizes of the same desk.
from £40 / day
View & check dates
All your stage mics down one thin cable to the desk — no heavy multicore across the hall.
from £18 / day
View & check dates
A Mac with QLab 5 licensed and ready: every sound and video cue in one list, fired on one key.
£37.25 / day
View & check datesSee the rest of our sound desk hire stock, or browse everything available to hire.
Tell us the venue, the dates and what the show needs, and we will confirm availability.
Call 0333 404 0621, email sales@1stintheatre.co.uk, or send us the details of your production.
Related: Theatre production · Dance shows · Live events · Venue support · Training
