Behringer B5 mic

[crazydoc]

Without wanting to elaborate, most of us know why Alan and to some degree Harvey are reluctant to post here.

Hopefully it could be a pretty objective thing, like

1) circuit's the same, components the same, housing different
or
2) circuit's the same, different components
or
3) circuit's similar but not a duplicate
or
4) circuit's different.

Of course, Alan could just post a smiley around here and some ulterior motive would be imputed to it.

 

[DJL]

Others continue the pure conjecture that it is a C4 clone. Here's a novel idea: someone with a C4 could dissemble it and shoot a pic of the PC board and post. Someone with a B5 could do the same. Then we could see how similar or different they are, at least component-wise. Or maybe Alan Hyatt would care to respond - I'm sure he or Brent have had the B5 apart.

I bet Alan and or Brent have had the B5 apart too... and I'd love to see pictures of inside the C4 and B5 too.

 

[alanhyatt]

I bet Alan and or Brent have had the B5 apart too... and I'd love to see pictures of inside the C4 and B5 too.

Actually, you would lose that bet!

Brent should answer this one, but it is ot the same mic. Same factory which pissed us off a bit, but not the same mic. According to the people at Behringer and the inside details from 797, it is a different capsule and thickness, and different electronics. Brent keeps updating the C4's along the way.

It was nice for Behringer to honor us by taking our model numbers and look....

 

[DJL]

Actually, you would lose that bet!

Brent should answer this one, but it is ot the same mic. Same factory which pissed us off a bit, but not the same mic. According to the people at Behringer and the inside details from 797, it is a different capsule and thickness, and different electronics. Brent keeps updating the C4's along the way.

It was nice for Behringer to honor us by taking our model numbers and look....

Well, it wouldn't be the first bet I've lost, or the last... lol. Hey Alan, thanks for taking the time to respond to this thread and helping. You wouldn't happen to have any photos of inside the C4 your willing to post are you? Thanks again.

 

[wilkee]

Wilkee- are your self noise observations based only on live experiences? I would think it hard to judge in a situation with lots of noise already (clubs/bars). Just curious
Carry on ..........

The Mics were first tried at home in my little studio were I do some fairly casual listening tests using my ATC and Dynaudio monitors to give me some idea as to the sound quality.

I also listen on a pair of Sennheiser Headphones which gives me a much better idea of self noise etc.

The only thing that worried me about the B5's was the handling noise, which with the cardioid head was very high.

 

[Bobalou]

would the b-5 be a better choice for hi-hat recording, say over an mc012 or the mxl 603?..or even that ECM8000 currently being discussed?

which would you reccomend?...Any experience?

 

[wilkee]

would the b-5 be a better choice for hi-hat recording, say over an mc012 or the mxl 603?..or even that ECM8000 currently being discussed?

which would you reccomend?...Any experience?

I have always found the Hi-Hat the most difficult part of the drum kit to get a good clean sound from.

But be very careful when listening to other peoples opinions. Do you want a good clean sound that is faithfull to the original or do you want the output to sound more impressive (Tizzy springs to mind).

I have never used a dyno on Hi-Hat I have always HATED the resulting sound.

I would suggest that the ECM8000 would be of no use because of it being an omni.

 

[Flatpicker]

Thanks for the info, Alan. I figured as much business as you guys give 797, they wouldn’t dare copy one of your mics for another company if they had any sanity at all.

 

[acorec]

Actually, you would lose that bet!



".............It was nice for Behringer to honor us by taking our model numbers and look....

See? Good things come to those who wait.

The other company who copied some of your intellectual property would be Hormel..........

 

[ausrock]

FFS acorec, I hope that comment doesn't mean what it seems to mean.

 

[crazydoc]

See? Good things come to those who wait.

The other company who copied some of your intellectual property would be Hormel..........

Of course, Alan could just post a smiley around here and some ulterior motive would be imputed to it.

 

[DJL]

One of the things I'm wondering about is, if 797 Audio in China is making both the B5 and C4... why do the B5's cost so much less than the C4's? Do the C4's really cost that much more to make than the B5's or is PMI just charging more... or what's the deal?

 

[ausrock]

Think about it for a minute...........Behringer can afford to sell new items cheaply (ie: have an item lose money until sales quantities increase enough to start to break even) as there are so many other lines in their product range that are making a profit. Also, they probably order in significantly more numbers than companies like PMI, so they are going to have far greater bargaining power with their manufacturers.

There were/are other companies selling a rebadged ECM8000 and they have to sell at much higher prices than Behringer can. It also seemed to illustrate the point that you can't trust the Chinese manufacturers not to copy and sell a product they are supposed to be producing exclusively for one company.

DJ, I can assure you that in general terms, the likes of MXL and PMI are pricing their items fairly in relation to their intitial buy prices.

 

[ausrock]

The other thing..........If as I believe, and I'm happy to be correctd, the C4's were designed by SP (Brent Casey), PMI have every right to price those mics in a way which will ultimately cover their investment in the R&D of that mic. How much time and effort to you think Behringer put into designing their B5......they have done the same thing with most of their products........think Mackie and Ebtech.

 

[Marik]

Another thing, as far as I know, SP 4 sold in matched pairs, that increases the cost (and value) even further.

 

[ausrock]

I really think that this type of question is a "no brainer" when you are talking about Behringer.

It is also not uncommon for a distributor or retailer to be making more $ per item than the company who are making it, although with what I'm aware of about Behri prices, that may not be so much the case.

 

[Flatpicker]

Don't forget that Alan said 797 told him it's not the same circuit OR capsule. It's probably a rebadged Nady (Also made at 797? I know Nady uses capsules from 797, anyway.) disguised to look like a C4. Sad part is, some poor souls will buy one thinking it is.

 

[crazydoc]

Do the C4's really cost that much more to make than the B5's or is PMI just charging more... or what's the deal?

Of course, they're just charging more. It's still the same old crap. Just part of the great PMI conspiracy to take over the studio recording industry and flood the market with inferior products.

 

[DJL]

Thanks for the info, Alan. I figured as much business as you guys give 797, they wouldn’t dare copy one of your mics for another company if they had any sanity at all.

According to ausrock, Behringer is much bigger than PMI.

Think about it for a minute...........Behringer can afford to sell new items cheaply (ie: have an item lose money until sales quantities increase enough to start to break even) as there are so many other lines in their product range that are making a profit. Also, they probably order in significantly more numbers than companies like PMI, so they are going to have far greater bargaining power with their manufacturers.

 

[DJL]

Of course, they're just charging more. It's still the same old crap. Just part of the great PMI conspiracy to take over the studio recording industry and flood the market with inferior products.

I remember reading a thread similar to my question above... where Alan was asking Larry (ADK) why he was selling one of his ADK mics for so much... and Alan went on to say that he knew the mics cost much less.

ADDED: I wish I could remember Larry's user name so I could find the thread. Does anyone remember what user name Larry from ADK used?