Behringer WING Rack

As a user of the original Wing console and all great features and expansions included with this mixer - I was dreaming of a similar system with all the bells and whistles - but which could save my back a bit! (The original Wing with case weight almost 40 kg)

I am mainly doing smaller gigs so a rack mixer with an iPad is suitable for most my engagements.

Now it is here! The Wing Rack, all my old presets (for EQ, Gate and compressor) and settings (effects) could easily be shared between the original and new console!

The Wing Rack also includes 24 inputs - just perfect for most gigs. The Midas pre-amps sounds great! If doing bigger events, the same infrastructure with stage boxes like S16 and S32 can be used also with the “Rack” as the original Wing and x32 used!!!

Then I must add that the new touch screen found on Wing Rack is just fantastic to work with! You could easily sneak by at stage and make changes directly on it and continue with the work at FoH on the iPad. Marvelous screen!

The only feature missing which could have wiped the market completely is to be able to split the 4 stereo headphones outputs from the 8 XLR outputs - they are today tied to each other - you need to choose which one you want use. But for the price tag that Behringer have set…I would still have paid the double price for a Wing Rack!

A great console and it will wipe the market!

As an avid X32 platform user, I have been waiting patiently, since the full size Wing came out, for Behringer to make a compact and a rack version. My X32 rack is now 9 years old and (though, still unbeatable for the price) gets outdated and power supply issues take time to repair. 2 days ago I got a shipment and, man, what a great machine it is. I will not moan about the smaller size of outputs, as there are multiple ways to solve this problem. 24 combo jack/XLR outputs with Midas blue box preamps for this price - it is insane bang for the buck. Not saying anything about the built in effects and routing power with the new firmware update. I will definitely update my review after some months of live usage, but now I am more than happy with what I got

I bought this mixer because I needed more inputs—I've got a lot of stereo gear that I want to keep permanently connected without constantly plugging and unplugging. I initially considered the Wing Compact, but a) I don’t have the desk space for it, and b) I plan to use this mixer for live gigs in a rack case, so the rack version just made more sense. Even when used on a desk, it has a much smaller footprint.

The full-sized Wing was never really an option. It only has 8 onboard inputs, which means I would've needed to invest in additional expansion units just to get the input count I need. Plus, it’s physically too large for my setup.

The rack version’s compact size and its 24 combo XLR/TRS inputs already doubled what I had with my previous mixer. Still, 24 inputs weren’t quite enough for me, so I added an SD16 via the AES50 connection to expand further. With the SD units, those channels also show up in the DAW, which is a big plus.

I’m using this as an audio interface, and it provides 48 USB audio channels to the DAW. Just keep in mind that those 48 channels are all pre-fader (i.e., clean audio). If you want post-fader signals—say, with onboard effects—you'll have to use user routing, which is limited to 24 channels. That limitation surprised me. In case you'd want to have post-fader signals in the DAW, it’s worth being aware of this constraint.

I thought I’d miss having physical faders, but the touchscreen interface faders works surprisingly well. In the studio, I rarely adjust channel settings once they’re set—it's mostly about gain staging and maybe some EQ. Everything else happens in the DAW anyway.

The biggest downside is the lack of comprehensive manuals and documentation. You’ll end up relying heavily on YouTube and forums to figure things out.