I brought this mixer along with 2 Yamaha BR series 12 inch cab speakers. I was stunned with the crispness and clarity of vocals. The compression knob works, really, really, well. I would not buy the 212 version of this unit which does not have the compression knob. This one knob is worth the difference in price and then some, trust me. You would kick yourself with out getting this unit with the compression knob. The unit is very powerful and only slightly turned up you will find lots of power on your mike, that is just touch your mike and you will hear and feel it. The 12 inch speakers would never be turned up much past the 1/2 way mark in most of the churches I sing in. All the way would probably drive the people out! The 12 inch BR speakers make good monitors, they can be layed sideways on the floor and are angled perfectly for monitoring. Then later you could invest in bigger speakers for out doors if need be. This mixer has a speaker processing switch witch works with almost any brand of speaker. I have seen some reviews suggesting it only works with Yamaha club series speakers, this is incorrect. The switch works with most brands and you can really hear the difference. This unit is also very quite and I can hardly hear the fan work after using the unit for a couple of hours. I really like that. This unit is as I said quite powerful and only minor movements of the dials is required. The effects work great, I only wish there were more for vocals. The sound quality of this unit is VERY crisp and clean. A beginner singer could really benefit from having this unit to learn to sing on. I use my Martin Acoustic guitar plugged into it. Wow is that nice, much nicer than what I used before. It really brings my D-28 to life, I can really hear those hammer ons now. My guitar sounds so nice too, I test these things out by plugging my guitar in, than turning the unit off, than strum a cord and slowly turn the volume dial up. On this unit both the guitar and the unit will combine and you will hear no difference in sound quality and of course if you keep turning the volume up it will drown out the guitar, but it is amazing how my martin still sounds like a martin using this thing. I will repeat though that, that compression dial is so good, that as a vocalist, I can sing quite loud and then in the same sentence whisper a passage and it easily gets heard. Very crisp and clean, I wouldn't part with this dial for anything. I would really, really suggest you invest in a sure sm58 mike. The difference is unbelievable. The compressing dial also works on my guitar which is nice as it brings out the hammer ons and the quitter notes. I highly recommend this mixer.