Ui16 : The best for a band gigging without a FOH guy

We are a 5-piece band playing Hungarian folk songs in a classical rock arrangement (drum, bass, 2 guitars, vocals). Drums are electric, all guitars are from line, no amps. We cannot afford hiring a FOH guy for our shows so when we were looking for solution we decided to go digital so we can easily save settings.

Soundcraft UI16 is beyond our expectations. We use all its XLR/Jack inputs and (as all our instruments are coming from line with the same signal level) we were able to save basic soundscape settings (volumes, panorama settings, EQ&comp for each channel with the built in effects, 4 monitor routes) for open air and in-door venues. Now when we go to a gig, we plug everything together, turn on the power, check the room with pink noise (played from built in player) to tune-in the room with the 31-band graphique EQ if necessary, decide about the FOH volume and there we go - all done within 20 minutes.

And the best is: when we can use local FOH active loudspeakers, local active monitors and local mics (if available) then we do not have to carry our PA, just this small digital mixer and still we can feel the same confidence in every venues. There is only one way things could be better: if we had in-ear monitors...

We can only recommend this all-doing wonder!