Behringer Mixer Users

[YesZep Lick]

For any Behringer Mixer User:

1) Which mixer do you use?
2) Are you happy with it?

I know there are a lot of people who don't care to much for them on this BBS, but I have read good reviews outside this BBS, and am wondering the opinions of the behringer users here.

Thanks,
YZL

[shackrock]

i dont really know why people dont like them.....but i got a Behringer mx802a - 100 bucks...and i like it a lot. look it up on musiciansfriend.com or something if you want mroe info on that. they got a load of them there, so you can look at them all.

its a smaller one, but it has worked out great for me so far. no complaints.

[scodu]

Yo YZL-

Sounds like your going through the same thought process I did back a few months ago. Which board to get?

I had been using a friends Mackie 14 channel board I think it is model 1402LVZ. Having the use of that board for 3 months showed me how useful a mixer is. Well after I gave it back I want out looking, figuring I'd buy a Mackie. I went over to another friends house who had a Behringer 24 channel. I was able to ask him some questions about how he liked it and play around with it for a couple of hours. The board felt very good to me, maybe not as heavy duty as the Mackie but I think it is very close. I went out and bought the Behringer MX 2004a. This thing is great, 16 channels, 8 mono w/inserts and 4 stereo channels. The mackie was 14 channels 6 mono w/inserts & 4 stereo. The two boards are very close feature for feature.

There are a couple of minor (IMO) features the Mackie does a little easier, but nothing the Behringer manual doesn't tell you how to do with their board by patching back thru two mono channels. Remember the Behringer starts out with two more mono channels anyway!

But the thing that the Behringer has that the Mackie doesn't is in the eq. Both boards have a low-cut filter on each of the mono channels and none on the stereo channels. But besides that the mono channels on the Mackie have low,mid & high all shelved, the Behringer's highs and lows are shelved but the mids are semi-parametric! The Mackie's stereo channels have the same eq as their mono ones. The Behringer has low, low mid. low high & high all shelved!

The Mackie board does give you one option that the Behringer didn't have any answer for. Each (4) of the stereo channels on the Mackie gives you a switch for input sensitivity (+4/-10). Most of what I am ever going to put thru these inputs will be line levels anyway (stereo electric guitar, midi sound modules and maybe a synth).

Both boards are dead quiet. The pres in both boards are good, I can't tell any difference between them from my recordings with both.

IMO the Behringer gives me better eq'ing options. After looking at everything and seeing that the Behringer gives me two additional channels and better eq options and cost $300.00 less it was an easy choice. I paid $219. at Guitar Center. I've also picked up 3 new mics since buying this board. I wouldn't have done that had I bought the Mackie.

Both are very good and very functional, you just need to figure out how much you want to spend!

Oh yea the Behringer has one of those floor warts, yes I mean floor not a wall wart (too big for the wall). For 300 bucks that floor wart aint so bad!

Good luck making a choice,
scodu

[dr.colossus]

i got the mx2004a and i think its a great little mixer, i wish i had gotten the 2442 for the extra channels...... the value for money is exeptional, i have a/b tested it with a soundcraft, and imho the soundcraft was a little quieter, but (again imho) that did not warrant paying twice the price, and it felt a lot sturdier than the soundcraft to me..... what i think is that a lot of people have been burnt by bad quality control, but its not as if a mackie has never come out of the box with a few loose screws...

[Beltrom]

1) MX1602 & MX602A
2) Yes

[lucid]

yeah i own the mx2004a

NO problems what-so-ever... yet!

but yeah, i love this thing. i have had no problems, and no complaints!

the behringer has suited me fine, and the direct outs on this model are VERY useful in my situation...

go check one out for yourself...

[pratt]

I have a MX1604a - use it mainly for the preamps (I record with a Delta44) and mixing down to 4 lines (if using more than 4 mics, etc)....I have mixed stuff recorded with an ADAT on it as well - and gotten good sounding mixes...

it serves my purpose (screwing around in my 'studio' creating self-indulgent music by myself and with my friends)....it has good features for the price...it's fairly quiet...

if I had the money I'd buy a better mixer- but I don't so I won't....I have other things to spend the dough on (monitors, etc.)

[lucid]

woah! not one 'behringer sucks' so far!

[pratt]

I'm sure mistercue will be along shortly to throw in his obiligatory 'behringer sucks'....spend twice as much on a mixer and you'll get a much better unit (really???)

[MISTERQCUE]

Never said anything bout paying twice to avoid buying those
crappy-@ss mixers!! You cwould do yourself a whole lot better getting a Nady or peavy at a comparable price that will guaranteed will work in the long run!!

Oh, I forgot! Behringer Mixers SUCK BIG TIME!!!

You have been warned!!

[pratt]

hey mistercue...

prior to picking up the behringer mixer that I have....I bought a NADY mixer (the SRM14 model)....it had good features, good price, etc.

now I brought that mixer home, plugged it into an ADAT, started mixing, and LOW AND BEHOLD....the Right Channel of the board kept cutting out....immediately sent back that 'crappy-@@s' mixer

now according to your logic.....NADY MIXERS SUCK!!! - right?



peace

pratt

[MISTERQCUE]

Yup! But you don't lose as much money on a blown-up Nady
than you would on one of them suck-@ss Behringer mixers!
Trust me, I know!

[YesZep Lick]

So right now its

6 thumbs up
1 thumbs down


I appreciate all of the replies. Anybody Else?

MisterQCue - Did you have a behringer that blew up on you?

[YesZep Lick]

Lucid,

Just curious how you use the outs in your situation? There's no direct outs on every channel right?

Thanks,
YZL

[NYMorningstar]

I have a Eurorack 1804 mixer. It's an ultra low noise designed 18 channel 4 bus mixer with 32 - 24bit onboard effects. It has six channels with pre fader/eq inserts and 4 stereo input channels and two additional multifuntional stereo channels. I got it on Ebay bout a year ago on EBay for bout $350 and it's been worth every penny. I shopped around all the music stores and online for about a month before I decided to go with Behringer and quite frankly I am glad I did. I see them in Mars for about $399 now and am thinking of getting another just as a back up if I ever need one which at this point I kinda of doubt. I use it with a Peavy rack mounted amp with a couple MR series JBL's on tripods for playing live and I also use it as a mixer for recording with Cubase. I couldn't be happier with it for what I have invested. I also use a Behringer Composer and the 'Truth' nearfield monitors. Dang I feel spoiled now hehe, oh well we deserve the good stuff aye! Now if I could just compose that killer of a song...back to the lab my 'good Watson.

[lucid]

yeszep lick:

i use the direct outs when i want to record 4 tracks at once (into delta 44) while monitoring previous tracks.

the direct outs are available only on the mono (preamp) channels.
i have read that some smaller behringer mixers do not have this feature...

[richthirst]

I bought a Behringer MX602A about six months ago and so far its working okay. I use it mainly to monitor sound coming back from my PC and it's quiet enough to do that job well.

I wish I'd never sold my Spirit Folio F1 16 channel though as it was quieter, more versatile and not much bigger in footprint. A moment of maddess though...sob

[MISTERQCUE]

Originally posted by YesZep Lick
So right now its

6 thumbs up
1 thumbs down


I appreciate all of the replies. Anybody Else?

MisterQCue - Did you have a behringer that blew up on you?

Yup!! Brand ,spanking new from Sam Ash of which the manufactured date sticker on the d@mn thing was less than 2 weeks prior to my purchase.
Besides, the piece of sh#t blowing up, I was disgusted with it's overall performance!
The sweepable mid EQ is more geared for lower range frequencies (70-80hz) than it's intended purpose! Excessive line noise was produced by the huge-@ss transformer,inconveniatly built next to the pre's (Don't get me started on those suck-@ss pre's).
The faders,measured at 60mm (bull-sh#t) produced an audible hiss when rode past "UNITY",because again the circuitry of the 48v phantom power ran in series with the trim and fader producing audible sound artifacts (Who in the world designed the
schematics fro this board!!?? A monkey!!??) Behr mixers also produce a great amount of heat that doesn't dissipate well do the design of it's semi-plastic and metal casing!
And customer service for Behringer is NON-EXISTANT!!!

But, if you guys are happy with those suck-@ss mixers, than I'm happy for you!!

BTW, famed Jazz guitarist, Eric Gale's, FOH man used the Behringer EuroDesk 9000 in a concert my wife and I attended and Eric was constantly signaling the FOH'ist to asj this tone , trim the hi's etc, etc ,etc! After the concert I asked the man, was he satisfied with the mixer's overall performance and he replied
to me
"Behringer mixers including this one sucks-@ss!!"
hence, I've been using that line ever since!

Peace
Mr.Q

[lucid]

well, i am happy... and i have to be happy cuz i cant afford anything else!

[MISTERQCUE]

Originally posted by lucid
well, i am happy... and i have to be happy cuz i cant afford anything else!

Yo' lucid dreams, I hear ya'!!

[AlChuck]

I'm with pratt... I too use a Behringer MX1604A. It's perfectly adequate for my purposes -- to provide mic preamps and phantom power, and to allow me to route the outputs of my two soundcards (Delta 66 for audio tracks, SB Live for MIDI tracks) to my monitors. I almost always record just myself or some other lone musician or singer overdubbing over existing tracks, so I have not outgrown the number of preamps (4) or tracks (14). I have had it for almost two years and it has not had a single problem.

If I had a larger budget I probably would have bought the Mackie, but I didn't, and I have no pressing reason to get one now.

For a musician/composer who is just trying to get usable results, not make a completely magnificent, technically state-of-the-art master recording, my Behringer is excellent. I have never heard any sucking sounds coming from it or any ass in its proximity.

[pratt]

have you had any problems with the Delta66 and SBLive! coexisting?? I have a Delta44 in my 'music machine' and would like to install my SBLive! (for midi/soundfonts)...but am SCARED (now that I've had my Delta recording flawlessly for 9+ months....I don't wanna screw it up).

Is there any way you can route the midi output through your Delta outs for monitoring?? I guess that I'm a little unsure how mixing the two cards will work....for example - I record in Cubase - say I have 4 audio tracks and 2 midi....I alwasy assumed that the could monitor a stereo mix of the 6 tracks via the Delta1&2 outs (when set to monitor)...is this possible - or do you need to monitor the midi separately via the SBLIVE (as it sounds like you do...)?

[lucid]

and even if you are recording music that will be released, most 'average listener type' people would be too stupid to notice anyway

[hux]

Lucid's right on...

Berry mixers are like mopeds...fun to use till yer friends see ya on one...

I have a 602a and it fits my needs nicely...but I'm just fartin around at the house, nothing serious...

paraphrased >>who designed this circuit?

depending on who you ask, none other than Mr. Mackie himself

[tdukex]

I've had an 802 for a couple of years and it has served me well. If I could have afforded a better mixer at the time I would have bought a better mixer. But I couldn't, so I didn't.

I've more than gotten my $100 out of it. Now it performs as a headphone amp and part-time preamp.