Well I have
the Behringer MX9000 and it is dead quiet. What is hiss?

And new they are only 1300.00
There is plenty of headroom on this thing. I can run 12 tracks out of the computer into it and do all of the external mixing I want. PLUS I love the LED meters. That is about a 500.00 option on a Mackie.
Concerning the pre's, well I don't use them much. They sound fine for keyboardsand such but I certainly use an external pre for vocals, but then who doesn't?
The EQ is good, however it is very sensitive and a little twist goes a long ways.
This has been a great mixer for the price. Would I want a Mackie 32x8 over it. NO! I would save my change and get a Soundcraft Ghost.
If the Behringer is an exact copy of the Mackie, then why would you want to spend 4 times the price for the same thing?
If we are going to get off on that American made thing, which is why the Mackie costs more, then everyone better start packing up all of those Chinese mics.