<special sauce removed> Every mixing board on the planet is in direct competition with the Mackie. And behringer made theirs to have iPad control to DIRECTLY compete with any mixer that uses iPad control. Just because it more $ doesn't mean it's not in direct competition. That's like saying a Lamborghini is not in direct competition with Ferrari because there is a price difference. Guess what, they also complete with corvettes, porche and lotus all which are tons cheaper.
Soooo… "every mixing board on the planet is in direct competition with the Mackie" so the Soundcraft Vi series, DiGiCo, Digidesign Venue… all of them?
Clearly we have a different concept of "competition" - in my world there are niches where strong competition takes place (Ferari/Lamborghini in your comparison) and areas where there is no competition (Ferrari vs Corvette - the people who are buying Ferraris aren't looking at current Corvettes, possibly they're considering a '55 corvette for their collection).
In this case we're talking about a $999 mixer with 16 preamps and 8 outputs vs. a $999 mixer with digital I/O that requires further investment to get the sound sources into it. I don't see that as direct competition.
And you say they don't have the same functionality? Ok, they don't have a dock connector, but other than that not only do they have the same functionality but they have a lot more. And for only a little more $. I sure call that direct competition. A much, much better mixer for only a little more money. The $500 is puny compared to the features you get. If I wasn't playing a gig right now I would add a ton more to this.
The lack of preamps is actually the major difference in functionality I was referring to. The X32 is completely non-functional without an external I/O device, which costs money ($899 was the first I found in my quick search) so in reality to get to the same level of capability as the DL1608 your minimum investment is $1898 - that extra $899 is certainly going to be a major stumbling block for the average user (which is the demographic for the 1608).
The X16 will be direct competition for the DL1608 if it ever materializes.
Price point is one area of competition, name recognition and reputation is another of course. Many people have had perfectly good experiences with Behringer - for me their outboard gear and amps have worked well and consistently. But every time I've been asked to use one of their mixers there has been something wrong I had to work around on it - often the master fader has gone bad so you have to mix through aux's or alt. So my taste for their name is sour.
Once again it's about a time table of availability for the X series which seem to be of interest to a lot of the forum members and nothing else. So take your own advise Hippie and Shut Up!
Sorry I accused you of trolling, I get where you're coming from now. I've been doing a lot of festival work, running a stage & helping with the setup & teardown of main stages, so after several 50+-hour work-weekends I'm getting kinda burnt out… which makes me punchy.
And no, I'm not gonna Shut Up
