The Behringer WING is the flagship digital mixer in the Behringer lineup, designed for large venues, complex productions, and professional touring. It’s overkill for most churches, but for large congregations with 30+ audio inputs, multiple bands, satellite streaming operations, or facilities requiring a mixing console that can handle anything they throw at it, the WING is a game-changer. This guide covers the essentials for getting your WING up and running in a church environment.
Understanding the WING’s Architecture
The WING is a 48-channel mixing console with 24 motorized faders in three sections, a large touchscreen display, and comprehensive I/O options, with Dante available through an optional card. It’s the largest, most feature-rich Behringer mixer. If you have the space and the budget, the WING is the mixing console you’ve been dreaming about.
The console weighs about 60 pounds and is designed to be mounted permanently in a control booth rather than transported. Unlike the X32 Compact or XR18, the WING is a destination console—you build your tech booth around it.
The physical layout is similar to the full X32 but expanded. The 24 motorized faders, in three separately configurable sections, give you more channels at your fingertips than an X32. The touchscreen is larger, displaying information with great clarity. The I/O is more comprehensive, including AES50 stage-box ports and an expansion slot for an optional Dante card.
Powering On and Initial Setup
Connect the WING to power using the included power cable. The console has an on/off switch on the rear panel. Turn it on and the system boots—usually 15-20 seconds until the touchscreen is responsive.
Once booted, navigate to Setup on the touchscreen and confirm your sample rate is set to 48 kHz. This is the standard for church and video production and ensures compatibility with all your other equipment.
Also confirm in Setup that you have the latest firmware installed. Visit Behringer’s website, check your WING’s firmware version, and update if a newer version is available. Firmware updates occasionally fix bugs and add features.
Understanding the Fader Layout
The WING’s 24 faders are arranged in three sections that you can configure separately, so you can keep, say, your band on one section and your vocals and buses on another. You will still bank between layers to reach all 48 channels, but less often than on smaller mixers.
Each fader has a rotary encoder above it, illuminated buttons below it, and a physical display showing channel information. The combination of physical and digital control gives you tactile feedback plus digital precision.
The right side of the console has your master output section with the main L/R faders, metering, and monitoring controls. The center section contains the transport controls, navigation buttons, and access to scenes and setup menus.
I/O Configuration
The WING has 8 Midas PRO mic preamps and 8 outputs on the console itself, plus AES50 ports for stage boxes that add many more inputs and outputs. For large churches, this connectivity is exactly what you need. You can have primary inputs for your main stage plus overflow inputs for satellite campuses or remote talent.
The digital networking ports (Dante and AES50) allow you to extend your audio network significantly. Audio can flow over network cables between the WING and other networked audio equipment, reducing the need for long runs of analog cables.
For a typical large church setup, you bring your main stage audio in through an AES50 stage box and use the console’s local inputs for the booth. You might also set up some of the outputs for monitor sends, recording feeds, and streaming outputs.
Motorized Faders and Automation
One of the WING’s standout features is its motorized 24-fader control surface. The faders physically move based on scene recalls, channel selections, or automation. This visual feedback helps you understand the mixing state at a glance.
When you load a scene, the faders physically move to their saved positions. Imagine loading your Sunday worship scene and all 24 faders instantly move to exactly where they should be. This automation is both impressive and practical.
You can also record fader movements and automation, then play them back during service. This is useful for automated transitions or complex mixes that require precise fader movements.
The Large Touchscreen
The WING’s central touchscreen is significantly larger than the X32’s, making it easier to see detailed information. You can view a full bank of channels at once with full parameter details, or zoom in on specific channels for detailed editing.
The touch interface is responsive and intuitive. You can scroll through channels, open the mixer view or effects view, access settings, and navigate without ever touching a physical button. The touchscreen puts all the WING’s features at your fingertips.
Initial Channel Configuration
Name all 32 channels appropriately. For a large church, you might have channels 1-8 for drums (kick, snare, toms, overhead left, overhead right, room left, room right, parallel compression), channels 9-12 for bass and guitars, channels 13-14 for keyboards, channels 15-16 for strings (if orchestral music is part of your service), channels 17-20 for lead and backup vocals, and channels 21-32 for additional instruments, click tracks, backing tracks, recording sends, or future expansion.
Set gain for each channel. Even with 32 channels, proper gain staging is essential. Set each input so peaks sit around -12 dB.
Configure routing. Most channels route to the main L/R output, but you might also create subgroups. For example, all drum channels might route to a drum subgroup, which then routes to the main. This lets you adjust overall drum level with a single fader rather than adjusting eight individual channels.
Scene Management at Scale
The WING’s scene system is the same as smaller Behringer mixers but even more powerful at this scale. With 48 channels, effects, multiple aux buses, and complex routing, a good scene saves you tremendous time.
Create a master “Sunday Service” scene with all 32 channels configured, all your standard effects, and your typical routing. Save variations for different service segments: opening worship, announcements, sermon, closing prayer. Each scene perfectly positions all 32 faders for its specific purpose.
Connectivity and Networking
With the optional WING-DANTE card (it replaces the pre-installed WING-LIVE card), the WING joins a Dante network, which allows audio to flow over standard Ethernet connections to other Dante-compatible equipment. This is useful for large churches that want to distribute audio to multiple rooms, manage remote monitoring via networked audio devices, or integrate with video production equipment that supports Dante.
For streaming, the WING also has USB audio capability and can route auxiliary mixes to streaming software just like smaller Behringer mixers.
Remote Control and Monitoring
The WING can be controlled remotely using Behringer’s control software (similar to X32-Edit but designed for the WING) from a separate control station on the network. This allows you to have your mixing console in a fixed location while operators work from remote positions.
Some churches set up a monitor engineer station with a remote WING control interface, allowing the monitor engineer to operate the band’s stage monitors independently from the main mixing console operator.
Training Your Team
Because the WING is complex, invest time in training your mixing team. Assign one primary engineer responsible for the main mix, one monitor engineer for stage monitors (if using remote control), and potentially one streaming engineer managing auxiliary buses.
Each engineer gets trained on their specific role. The main engineer learns channel configuration and main mix operation. The monitor engineer learns subgroup routing and sending to monitor speakers. The streaming engineer learns auxiliary bus management and USB routing.
Getting Started This Week
Week one: Power on the WING, confirm system settings, and name all 32 channels for your typical service. Set gain on all primary inputs. Route all channels to the main output. Test audio flow to your speakers.
Week two: Configure any subgroups (like drums or vocals), set up effects that you typically use, and create your first complete scene.
Week three: Train your primary mixing engineer and have them execute a full service mix.
By week four, you’re running regular services on the WING with confidence.
The WING’s Power
The WING represents the pinnacle of Behringer’s mixing technology. You have 48 channels with full control, motorized faders for visual feedback, professional-grade effects, optional Dante networking, and the ability to handle productions of any complexity. Most churches never need this level of mixer, but if you do, the WING delivers without compromise.
Welcome to professional-grade mixing. Your WING is ready to serve your church for decades.