Behringer, a jem or crap?

[Gear_Junky]

i only have 2:

xenyx 1202fx
v-tone gdi21 (sansamp gt2 copy)

and no problems. they work as should/described.

i also just ordered acoustic and bass DI's (adi21 and bdi21) and ultra-g gi100 direct box/cab sim. will see.

disclaimer: i don't record, only use it for live jams (hobby, not gigs). but i used to be in a band setting, we had a nice PA with a yamaha powered mixer and i owned all of the original tech21 sansamps and Trademark 60.

 

[DAS19]

They arent made well quality wise. I took a bargin and went with the vamp instead of the pod and I got what I paid for. 100 dollars and some of the effect patches dont patch in correctly. Like it will be on flanger but have echo on it or not have anything at all. Ehhhh whatever it probably was worth the 100 bucks anyway the clean sound is decent and I dont even like using its effects.

Some people like behringer a lot some hate it. SEe how your experience goes and take it from there.

 

[Creep]

Cheers for this! I've been looking at some Behringer products lately and this has given me a little more insight.

 

[potthoff]

i have a beringer bass amp and it sounds great. pa speakers are pretty good but i hate the way beringer's guitar amps sound.

 

[Lt. Bob]

They arent made well quality wise. I took a bargin and went with the vamp instead of the pod and I got what I paid for. 100 dollars and some of the effect patches dont patch in correctly. Like it will be on flanger but have echo on it or not have anything at all. Ehhhh whatever it probably was worth the 100 bucks anyway the clean sound is decent and I dont even like using its effects.

Some people like behringer a lot some hate it. SEe how your experience goes and take it from there.

I have a POD and a V-Amp and in general I like the sounds of the V-Amp a lot better than the POD.

 

[superspit]

Having repaired a few of their FX rack units, I've found that the 'encoders' (rotary controllers)/'pots' and power switches are pretty bad, quality wise, and I can also see why their stuff is very economically priced.....but I feel that as long as their rack stuff stays safely in the rack. As a package it's all quite good...and, for the money...............
I do happen to like the stuff I own from this company, and will continue to purchase their stuff!......until I win lotto or sumtin'.

 

[Maynar]

What always pissed me off about Behringer was they are corporate pirates. They reverse engineered a lot of Mackie products and were blatant enough that Greg Mackie felt the need to file suit(s). I never did hear how that turned out. Shamelessly exploiting the Chinese labor differential. Hard to get warm and fuzzy behind that soul-destroying ethic.

That said, I bought a Behringer 802 for my puter mixing chores for $50. God help me... talk about self loathing

 

[Lt. Bob]

What always pissed me off about Behringer was they are corporate pirates. They reverse engineered a lot of Mackie products and were blatant enough that Greg Mackie felt the need to file suit(s). I never did hear how that turned out. Shamelessly exploiting the Chinese labor differential. Hard to get warm and fuzzy behind that soul-destroying ethic.

I get the fact that they steal cosmetics. But things like basic mixing boards and shit were hardly invented by Mackie. Just like everyone else, Mackie also used circuits and basic designs that had been around for years.
Also .... once your past the cosmetics, I don't think the electronics are particularly copied from Mackie or anyone else that makes better products, otherwise .... the Behringer stuff would also sound like them which it doesn't.

 

[Maynar]

Well I kinda doubt Greg would file a multimillion dollar lawsuit over just cosmetics. He does hold a few patents, or so I'm told....

 

[Zarathustra]

I have the wah pedal. It was the most fun thing in the world until the battery part broke when I was trying to change batteries. I wish they packaged the power unit it with it, but I'm just going to buy another.

I figure that if I like the sound for 30$ then I can't really go wrong. If the new one also breaks I'm just going to save up a bit get a Rocktron or something, but I hold no ill will.

I'm interested in the bass and acoustic amps, as they're temptingly low-priced, but I suppose you've got be careful about everything you buy.

I figure some things are good, some things are bad, some things just suck, at least you didn't pay a lot of money for it.

 

[telemonster]

What always pissed me off about Behringer was they are corporate pirates. They reverse engineered a lot of Mackie products and were blatant enough that Greg Mackie felt the need to file suit(s). I never did hear how that turned out. Shamelessly exploiting the Chinese labor differential. Hard to get warm and fuzzy behind that soul-destroying ethic.

That said, I bought a Behringer 802 for my puter mixing chores for $50. God help me... talk about self loathing

I googled and hit this thread, so I figure I should log a followup.

First, others have searched for the so-called lawsuit over Behringer getting sued over copying designs. I think it all goes back to a rumor that a mixer company sued Behringer for copying their layout, or their PCB. Behringer has never mentioned it, the mixer company in question has never mentioned it, and the folks looked for court cases and could find nothing. I think this is all a rumor.

Second, if I remember correctly Behringer *did* get sued over 3d spatial stuff, but everyone else did too. Patent stuff, you know.

Third, there is a trick to Behringer's cost. The products far and wide use ADCs, DACs and DSPs. These chips form the basis of most of their products. So in the end, many of their products use the same foundation, with different software and different front control panels. I *think* it might be possible to take some products and turn them into others by means of midi sysex dumps or firmware manipulation, but I haven't tried.

I own:
2 Ultramizer Pros - I now has a bad dial, but I transported it a lot unprotected. I bought them to use to clean up streaming audio sources (police scanners). Love the midi implentation, and figured I would end up with 12 of them. So $50 used is quite allright.

2 8024 EQs. Use them with QSC DCA amps in my home theater. One has a LCD that is getting a line or two that are bad, but they spend days sitting on. No complaints. Want the new ones

1 MDX-2100. One knob is a bit dirty. Old unit, bought used, and used for a pirate radio station. I was happy.

Vamp pro. No complaints, cheap. I actually bought it new!

FCB 1010 .. I use it with keyboards. No complaints. Bought it used.

the patchbay. .. Lots of audio cables get dirty, I suspect it won't be long before I have issues with it. Bought it used (see a trend here).

My mixer is a Sony. Sometimes I get tons of hiss. It's from one of the inputs.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[deacan doepoach]

comparable to line 6 in quality (I've actually had way more probs with line 6 stuff randomly breaking) for less money

 

[SuperGeek]

Eurolight LC2412

My Eurolight LC2412 worked great for the 5th year now.

Use it 24/7 during the Xmas season to run my lights on the tree and outside. Using Leviton D4DMX dimmer packs.

My Composer PRO-XL MDX 2600 runs 24/7 year round never turn it off !!
Stops over modulation on a small FM exciter that I use so I can have music through the house and in the yard. Never had any issues with it and its now been running 4 years plus.

Would I use the MDX 2600 for recording no but for the FM exciter it does a great job.

For what I paid they have work great. But I favor DBX Klark Technik Drawmar ect.

My 2kws

 

[isfahani]

Also .... once your past the cosmetics, I don't think the electronics are particularly copied from Mackie or anyone else that makes better products, otherwise .... the Behringer stuff would also sound like them which it doesn't.

You don't think? I think that people knowledgeable enough in electronics (being as they are in the industry) have scoped the difference out. Of course, if build and component quality is lesser, the sound will not be the same. Also reflected in the price, and durability/reliability.

 

[Ben P Music]

yeah, they have the XYNEX series mixers, which i just got the nicestversion of, for about 350 and i love it, the built in effects suck, but the rest of it is great, so... overall, i'm okay with behringer

 

[bassbrad]

From Behringer I have; 2 mixers, headphone amp, several pairs of headphones, couple of DIs, beat counter and a pair of mics that I am satisfied with. For my home studio use they are just fine but I don't think any of it is road worthy with the exception of the mixer and one of the DIs and even then.....

 

[LemonTree]

Behringer is pish!

Anything I owned by that brand (before I knew any better) broke, blew up, spontaniously combusted or fell to pecies long before I had my moneys worth from it.

 

[Ed Dixon]

I have had good luck with most of their products. I have 2 FCB1010 units and 3-4 different mixers. I've also had their V-Amp Pro, and some other rack units. All worked well and reliably.

Behringer is not a high end gear firm. For folks who play every day on the road, other gear is probably better. However for the $, much of their stuff seems good.

Ed

 

[the-audio-man]

pedals for guitar - however, mixer wise and rack effects wise they are not bad for the money!

Anything particular in mind?

Their pedals in my opinion are a mixed bag. There TO-800 is as good as my ibanez, if not better - Check out youutube for demo video and a/b comparisons with ibanez pedals. I usually say in regards to Behringer - they get some things right and some stuff wrong. Some of their pedals in my personal experience are awesome (BO-100, TO-800, OD-400) These are 3 I think are well worth the 30-50$ price tag and perform the same as the pedals they are cloned off.

Some of their mixers rack mounted preamps do the job quite well "for the price". It's tough to find anything as good at their price which is pretty much the whole point of behringer.

I have a Sonic Exciter rack unit and that is really amasing, it got very favorable reviews in audio magazines and I can see why.

I have had good experiences with their products. Do I use them for professional results? ....... well.... not really. Occasionally, I would use a set Behringer Tube Preamp in a chain after my meek to "warm up the sound". That reminds me, I have to change the tubes over to something better - why do companies put crap stock tubes in their products!

My 2 cents.

 

[DYBE]

behringer rack units

I have a fairly nice 1,200 sq. foot facility. It makes money. Good Recordings.

I have two 4 channel behringer head phone amps in two opposite locations on-site and bought one of those ADA converters (ada8000) just to see if it worked well

It stays hooked up and everyonce n' a while I use it for added scratch tracks
I dont have to go to the back of the desk and unplug a cord from a MOTU unit. The jacks are in the front!
Very convenient !

ONLY ONE BAD COMMENT ABOUT BEHRINGER RACK GEAR !

PAY ATTENTION!

USE THE POWER SWITCHES ROUTINELY. Keep them clean of dust and debri!
If you havent turn your head-phone amp on in a week or so... do it. If you dont use those buttons, they will jam.

Dont rely on hooking it up to a power strip and using that to turn it on and off. Their power buttons are not well manufactured!