What exactly is wrong with Behringer brand mixers?

[Electrofan]

First of all, thanks to all who replied. I'm a believer that when starting out, you need to take into consideration EVERYBODY's opinion and advise.
Having said that, I do believe that after some thought and thorough testing, that for now at least, I made the right choice with this mixer. The point that LT. Bob made
hit home with me. Being new to home recording, I should not be starting with expensive gear. I will use the gear I have to "get my feet wet". As long as the equipment holds up and gives me decent results, I will stick with it until it either goes south, or I outgrow it, as has also been suggested on here. I have a recording desk that I aquired from someone for free who was moving overseas. The mixer will NEVER be dropped as it is mounted on the flat surface of the desk and does not get moved. I made it so that I can move around the mixer and not the mixer having to be moved around. I am a Ham radio operator, so I am used to dealing with expensive gear and know too well first hand what happens when there is an "oops"! LOL... I am also very much into maintainance and care. I keep towels or sheets over gear when not in use, I wash my hands before touching the gear, and I keep a clean food/drink free working area. I don't smoke so no problems there either. I know that even with all these measures and practices, gear can still break down. But at least at that point I can feel good knowing I did my part in keeping things clean and in working order. Thank you all again for your input and suggestions. I'm sure I will be coming back with more questions. I do try my best to do my own research online first before anything else.

[ranjam]

A while back, you were laughed at with any Japanese guitar gear. Not that long ago, the Japanese Fender stuff was as good, if not better, than most USA stuff of that period. Unfortunately, everyone knows it, so today that 80's Tokai Strat is up to $1,600 or so, but still cheaper than a $3K Fender. Now, you have 'low end' guitars coming out of Indonesia. The Chinese 'stuff' was at one point real low end, but they realize we'll pay for decent quality, and the Chinese are sending us better quality gear every day. I know this is 101% off topic, but look at golf clubs. The 'best' are coming from China, end of argument.
One day soon, you'll see Chinese recording equipment be of excellent quality, and a better bargain than any US made gear. Enjoy the price now, because it will start to go up as the quality goes up, and they catch on we'll pay for good gear.
For now, if you aren't moving/bumping/dropping your Behringer gear, it'll be fine for your needs today. Most guys have that attitude that they have to brag about something they've got ( ), and you sure won't brag about a Behringer mixer. But in your untreated bedroom, and with an SM57, going into a P4 with Windows XP Pro, it all sounds the same to me.
Be thankful you live in an age where you can have a bedroom 'studio' set up for a few hundred bucks, and I don't mean an old Portastudio. This is just to get your music out there, and not to try and outsell Dark Side Of The Moon.

[Bobbsy]

There's nothing wrong with Behringer mixers (or, indeed, other Behringer gear) AT THE PRICE POINT.

However, the bit about the price point is key to this answer. Behringer makes gear very much at the economy end of the market and, to be able to sell equipment that cheaply, inevitably has to cut corners. These cut corners include component quality, build quality and reliability.

With the mixers, the deficiencies tend to be in several areas. First, the microphone pre amps are prone to sounding very noisy when you turn up the gain past about 3 o'clock. This might not be a problem if all your mics are high output--but on quiet mics/material you'll probably find an objectionable hiss in the background--and the more mics you turn up the worse it gets.

Similarly, reliability can be extremely variable. Some people get years of service from their Behringer gear; others find it breaks down just outside the warranty period--and it's rarely economic to repair.

Third--and a bugbear of mine--the routing options on Behringer mixers can be limiting in strange ways. Things that should be simple on any mixer can be difficult or impossible on some models of Behringer--for no obvious rhyme nor reason.

So, as long as you go into the purchase with your eyes open, Behringer may do the job for you at least when you're starting out. However, you may have been better off buying a second hand model of a better quality mixer than a brand new Behri. (That's another thing--brands like Allen and Heath hold there value and sell for a meaningful amount years later. Behringer has practically no resale value.)

[moresound]

Caveat emptor

[Lt. Bob]

yeah but for beginners they're perfectly appropriate. It's just senseless to spend a lotta money on something when you don't know enough to pick out the one that's best for your needs.

[moresound]

yeah but for beginners they're perfectly appropriate. It's just senseless to spend a lotta money on something when you don't know enough to pick out the one that's best for your needs.

True, true.

Gosh! Am trying to remember what I had way back when I first started out ...?...

Let me see electricity was just a new item!

A Lafayette maybe?

[Lt. Bob]

True, true.

Gosh! Am trying to remember what I had way back when I first started out ...?...

Let me see electricity was just a new item!

A Lafayette maybe?

well .... my first mixer would have been one of those Shure mixers with only volume for each mic and no tone controls ... just a strip mixer with what, 5 mics and a Master volume was it? I know you know the ones.
Then my first actual mixer was ..... wait for it ..... a Kasino!! They were ahead of their time with active speakers.
Even their bass rig used a powered speaker. That wasn't common back then.
We used the Kasino into some DuKane amps I got somewhere into home made cabs.
That sure was a lot of fun back in those days.

[jaynm26]

when i find out what george bush was good for, I'll tell you what beheringer is good for.

[moresound]

well .... my first mixer would have been one of those Shure mixers with only volume for each mic and no tone controls ... just a strip mixer with what, 5 mics and a Master volume was it? I know you know the ones.
Then my first actual mixer was ..... wait for it ..... a Kasino!! They were ahead of their time with active speakers.
Even their bass rig used a powered speaker. That wasn't common back then.
We used the Kasino into some DuKane amps I got somewhere into home made cabs.
That sure was a lot of fun back in those days.

Oh yeah I know them well - still have a few in storage in the antique pile. Also had a peavey that was set up like a keyboard (you had to screw the legs on the bottom then stand it up) With knobs that were the size of tea plates! Real Sci-Fi looking.
Then on to the ..... wait for it ..... Tascam.

[Bobbsy]

Of course the other thing to say is that, for 90% of home studio folks, there's no need to have a mixer at all. An interface with the right number of inputs plus monitoring outputs will do the job and at far better quality.