What's wrong with Behringer?

word_play

New member
Ive been reading posts on this board and people seem to be swaying away from Behringer. im going to purchase my first mixer in a couple months and i want to do research before i buy it. Right now i'm looking at the UB 1202 and the 1204 Pro. (are these good for a first mixer?) also hows the Soundcraft notepad?
do the two compare? (notepad & 1204 pro)

thanks
 
I think most Behringer stuff is great for the money! But will a "pro" say that a mixer that costs $100 is any good? The answer is no. That's why...

/Anders
 
The biggest issue with Berhinger is their quality control.

In my experience, their compressors are great workhorses, and it's suprising how many of them are used in the most pro studio's.

Personally, I wouldn't touch any of their mixers with a barge pole, nor their digital processors.

I am quite interested by their headphones they've just released. They are selling them for $20 a time! :)

The quality doesn't bother me too much, the main thing i'm interested in is they will keep the sound in. http://www.behringer.com/02_products/prodindex.cfm?id=hps3000&lang=eng

Their headphone amps are supposedly pretty good, as well as their DI boxes and guitar amps. For the money, their guitar amps are supposedly good workhorses.

All of that is "supposedly though" - YMMV.

Cheers..

R
 
Hey there! :)

word_play said:
is the sound quality THAT bad?

That depends on several factors.

1) Are you looking for pro sound, as in the sound of the boards used in any studios you've been to? A Behringer will not sound like a Neve, ferinstance. It sounds like an inexpensive piece of gear. Does that mean that all Behringer mixer recordings automatically suck? No. They can sound good. It's more difficult though to get a good sound than with higher-quality, pricier gear.

2) Quality control. The first B mixer I bought was a piece of junk. The pres threw hissy fits at around +20dB gain. The knobs were all of different tensions, the power supply pins were bent, the phantom power would not shut off once turned on, etc. It went back to the store. I gave another B mixer a shot and I've had no problems at all with it. (But I only do one or two tracks at a time; some curse the B mixers for crosstalk between channels.)

3) What you're using it with. A pro board won't make junk instruments and bad playing sound good ;) . And if you're totally new to recording, though, a pro level board may be overkill and tough on the budget. For me, my B mixer was a good choice. Perhaps I would be happier having spent another $300 and gotten a Mackie... but I don't know that for sure (ignorance is bliss!! :D ), and I had another $300 to spend on mics and cables and stuff.

4) Your budget. If you have the cash, almost anyone will recommend a Mackie over a Behringer mixer. Having not used a Mackie I can't say so myself. But B mixers are smokin' in the bang-for-buck department. Yeah, you won't get the sound of $1000 preamps and such, but what you can get from B for $100 is pretty nuts. If you get a quality B unit (as opposed to the first one I bought), it can be a good and useful purchase. And if you get into recording and want to upgrade all your stuff, your little old B mixer will be there to use for headphone mixes and stuff like that.

5) The EQs. People say they suck. They probably do. They do sound OK when used lightly. When used heavily they sound better than some cheapo EQ plugins I've heard, for what that's worth. Oh yeah, the pres come with a low cut switch (in addition to the EQ) which is pretty dang handy.

Just some info to help you make your decision. Only you know your budget, experience, the amount of passion you have for recording, etc. If you are low on the first two (and most especially if you are low on the third! ;) ), then a B mixer is a good choice. If budget is your only area of deficiency, you might be happier in the long run holding off for a Mackie or better.

Hope this helps! :)
 
i have some behringer stuff-a mixer, a DI box, a couple of those omni SD conensors, and while they seem to function decently, they're pretty noisy. would i take this mixer before i'd try to use my old 4-track for preamps again? hell yes. would i expect my 80 dollar mixer to compete with someone else's 400-dollar or so bottom-end product? probably not on sound quality.

if you don't know mixers, and you don't have a lot of money to spend, behringer offers entry-level equipment for prices that are amazing for what you get, in my opinion. however, they don't necessarily compete well against things costing ten times as much. i'm curious as to how one of those eurodesks would sound. i have one of the ubercheap mx602a's or similar, and i'm torn between that and my sblive card as next link to be upgraded, which shows a> my rough equipment level b> how obvious the quality issues are to even my inexperienced ears. note that i AM using the mic pres on this thing-my guess is that the line-level is not nearly so bad. perhaps a dual pre should be next in line..

anyways, a mixer is better than no mixer, so if your budget allows you a> behringer and b> behringer, and you aren't expecting to get really clean tracks right away, then, for chrissakes, just get one!
 
Behringer: Better than a four-track!

Originally posted by zer0sig
would i take this mixer before i'd try to use my old 4-track for preamps again? hell yes.

Do I hear a "hallelujah," brothers and sisters? :D
My inexperienced ears easily heard a quality difference between the Behringer mixer and my Yamaha MT 120's preamps. The B mixer sounded far better. :)

i have one of the ubercheap mx602a's or similar, and i'm torn between that and my sblive card as next link to be upgraded, which shows a> my rough equipment level b> how obvious the quality issues are to even my inexperienced ears.

I'm starting to think that my SBlaster needs upgrading before the Behringer does. Stuff sounding good through the mixer loses something by the time it hits the hard drive. Personally, in order to make sure I'm not the weakest piece of gear in my chain :) , I want to use this Behringer until I'm positive it sucks too much for me to use. I'm not there yet. :D (For what THAT's worth!) But I do think my SB card is handicapping my sound more than I am. :D
 
Thanks for all of your responses, appreciate it.

i'm new to recording, right now i am using my 60 dollar radioshack mic a filter and cool edit, the mic is going straight into the soundcard. i want better quality and im thinking the behringer and a shure sm 57 or 58 will produce much better sound, right?


thanks.
 
behringcraper

These mixers and dynamic processors are cheap because thats what they are........cheap! I can understand if you're new to all of this and don't want to invest in something you're not sure you'll be into later. Behringer mixers are poorly made. Many times I see defective parts....potz that wear out fast....pre amps that fry easily etc....etc. Step up and at least get a mackie board which i dont find to be very promising as well. Want a good mixer.........look for Alan & Heath.
 
word_play said:
the mic is going straight into the soundcard.

Even using the Radio Shack mic through a Behringer mixer will probably produce better sound then using a Shure right into a Soundblaster. The mic preamps on most consumer soundcards are crappy-doo.

The SM57 will be a step up (to say the least) from your average Radio Shack mic. (But you may still find uses for the RS mic!) A decent condenser for about the same price as an SM57 is the Studio Projects B1. Condensers need phantom power, but a Behringer or a Mackie will provide it.
 
lets say i get the behringer 1202 and a Studio Projects B1, for a newbie in recording, is my untrained ear really going to say i wish i had bought a mackie? i really just want a good step up from my current set-up, the radio shack mic and a filter going into the sound card.
 
Don't let everyone make up your mind for you...

I've been using Beheringer for years with no trouble whatsoever...

I have a MX2004a and an MX602a...
I'm also using a rackmount 24channel mixer for my keys...
(Check it out if you want: www.homepage.mac.com/riverdog )

I regularly produce comercial jingles for radio and have recorded a number of albums using this modest setup...
(Just a note: I record only minimal live insturments... Mostly vocals and keys using Logic Audio for effects and mixdown)

I constanly have people telling me that they are more impressed with my recordings than ones they've heard coming straight out of Nashville...
(Yes, I know... Don't hack into me now...)

The final decision maker should be YOUR ears... Are YOU satisfied with the sound that your gear is making... AND if you get comments like I do, even if you don't have the big bucks (Like I DON'T!) - THAT should be your deciding factor...

If I had my druthers I'd do what zallen25 said and get an Allen & Heath... I'd also have a 48 channel board and a 10,000 mic cabinet...

But I can't do that... BUT THAT DOESN'T STOP ME FROM MAKING GREAT MUSIC>>>!!!!

I happen to like the sound that comes from my studio... If I didn't, I'd throw the boards out and get something else for sure...

The Beheringer and a Studio Projects Condenser will sound fantastic if used to the best of your ability... Don't sell YOURSELF short! Killer albums have been recorded on FAR less...

Remember when the first Mackie 1604 came out? And Los Lobos cut an album using it? Everyone was "mortified" and "amazed" that an album could be conceived with so little...

It's so hillarious when some people hear my music and they say: "You did that with WHAT?!" I just laugh...

Sorry this is getting long - But this is an important point...

Use everything at your disposal... Start with Behringer... Move up or stay with Behringer... If you don't like it - You "can" go to something else... Gear is ever changing... YOUR experience is the deciding factor...

Good Luck...
 
thanks for your responses guys, i think im pretty sure im gonna go with the behringer and a studio projects B1 unless i hear otherwise.

appreciate all ur help, and anyone else feel free to post an opinion im still learning ;)

thanks.
 
My two cents, after using my 802a for the last 9 months:

The quality is inconsistent. Noise varies from channel to channel. I only paid $80 for the thing, just to see where I was at with this whole recording thing. I have that phantom power problem as mentioned before. I have learned to work around these problems for the most part, but it took some time just figuring out where some of my problems were. Many of them pointed back to this mixer.

It's doable as it will have to be. But if I had my choice, and a little more money to burn, I would step it up. Mackie's maybe aren't the greatest, but my experience with them, at least for live performance, has been great.....consistent. Consistency can be very important if you are producing (or trying to produce) something longer than say one song or jingle.
 
I have a MX802A, and I think it's... "okay".... And for the money I think it's very good. I don't use it much any more. Just sometimes for preamps for my drum mics. But the UB mixers are supposed to be a step up from the MX mixers, so I think you do the right thing to buy a UB mixer. The new "invisible" preamps are said to have a bandwith up to 100kHz or something like that. ;)

/Anders
 
word_play said:
lets say i get the behringer 1202 and a Studio Projects B1, for a newbie in recording, is my untrained ear really going to say i wish i had bought a mackie? i really just want a good step up from my current set-up, the radio shack mic and a filter going into the sound card.

I doubt that right off the bat you'll be saying "I wish I bought a Mackie." That and a B1 will have you getting much better sound than you currently do.
It'll take experience recording and mixing to hear many of the things that people complain about.
 
Re: Don't let everyone make up your mind for you...

Riverdog said:
I'd also have a 48 channel board and a 10,000 mic cabinet...

Well, if you're going to fantasize you might as well raise your standards a little... $10k won't buy you as much of a fantasy mic cabinet as you might think...

Kind of like fantasizing about your ideal woman and settling for Hillary Clinton over Catherine Zeta Jones.
 
Let me add one more opinion. I have a 802a mixer. I really don't use it for mic recording, but have it hooked up in my computer room for line mixing. I use it for things like transfering old cassettes to digital.

Is it a great mixer? No. But I have no real complaints about it, and for $100 I have gotton great milage out of it. For someone just starting out I think it's a great buy. 8 channels, 4 mic pres, Aux outs, phantom power, for $100? Can't beat that with a stick.

I like my Aleisis Studio 32 mixer which I actually record on much better, but that cost me almost $800, so it SHOULD be better. I think the Behringer would be fine for a beginner starting out, and it will allow you to spend limted $$$ on other things like mics. If you continue to pursue recording you can buy a better mixer later, and probably still find a use for your Behringer - remote / live stuff, a keyboard mixer, a monitor mixer, whatever. Or just sell it on E-Bay.

HOWEVER - having said all that, I'll add this. Enough people have complained about Behringer quality that you would be very wise to carefully check out the mixer once you buy it. Most stores have a very limted time period where they will exchange defective merchandise. Check out everything on it - all the inputs, outs, Aux, headphone jack - and if something doesn't sound right or is unusually noisy, take it back and exchange it for a different one. You don't want to find out that channel 7 is noisy weeks after you buy it and then be stuck with a lemon.
 
Back
Top