BEHRINGER: Bad rap, or just bad?

S

SoundQuarters

New member
Never owned any Behringer gear, but people seem to have a bad opinion of it. A year or so ago I read an article about the (then) new digital console they had recently introduced. The price was very low for the fearure set offered and the reviewer gave it high marks.

Now, Behringer is introducing a new 8-input preamp with phantom power. It has analog and digital (ADAT) output. Supposedly has the same preamp technology as the aformentioned mixer. Suggested price is $250. Got to say that's pretty attractive. It's called the ULTRAGAIN PRO-8 DIGITAL ADA8000.

Anyone know anything about it?
 
I think Behringer are good at what they do, and if you want what they do..... great !

Don’t expect the $200 pre to sound like an Avalon or a Focusrite, it wont! But is will be better than the pres on say a D1600 multitrack (an entirely respectable bit of kit) !

If the bit of kit does what you want at a price that’s right does it matter who makes it ?
 
I don't have any hands on with the piece you mention - but I do own a few Behringer units ( compressors, headphone systems, patch bays an EQ and a channel strip - All things that I'm satisfied with.

Behringer bashing comes in part from a perception that they reverse engineer (ie: rip off) the designs of other companies - and in part because of some QC issues (hey something has to suffer at that price).

I've had good luck with the B-stuff I have, but it is either stuff that seemed to get good comments (compressor, EQ, patch bay) or things that were not critical (headphone amp).

If you buy B-stuff - make sure you buy from a store that has a decent return policy and make sure you take the unit out of the box and use alot before the return period lapses - to make sure you are satisfied.
 
Besides the design rip-off issues with Behringer, there are also numberous horror stories about people returning unit after unit after unit trying to get one that will work. It seems some models have more of a problem with this than others, but certainly anyone who has gone through several units to get one that works will not have a good opinion of Behringer.

I bought the 4400 headphone amp a couple years ago and sold it not too long after. It just felt cheap, sounded cheap. I didn't enjoy owning it or feel like I got anything of value. It's like the stuff is disposable gear. It's made so very light, it just feels cheap. Let's be realistic: you can't get prices that low without making major compromises along the line.

This is not to say that all of their gear is bad. I think that certain pieces could be quite useful, if one selects carefully from their offerings. I haven't checked it out yet, but their new DEQ2496 looks like it could one of those items. Some people rave about the Edison, for example. Their DI's are not bad, I've used them in various venues and while not the greatest, they certainly did their job competently.

The other way that Behringer has their place in the world in that they cater to beginners, hobbists, and those that don't have big money to spend on gear. So this is really important and good. There needs to be somebody making gear that anyone can afford.

As far as those preamps, I personally think there are better deals out there. The Yamaha MLA7 would probably sound much better, for example. The thing about preamps is that they are one of the most important pieces of gear in a studio or on a stage, so that's not where you want to cheap out.

Just my two cents, for what it's worth! (probably not much).
 
Thanks for the input about inputs! ;)

I haven't read any reviews on that Behringer unit yet. Think I'll wait until one of the magazines has had their way with it.

I've got some nice pre's now (BSS & Focusrite), so I'm not in a hurry. The Behringer interested me from the standpoint of putting together an inexpensive, portable rig with 24 inputs.
 
mikeh said:
I don't have any hands on with the piece you mention - but I do own a few Behringer units ( compressors, headphone systems, patch bays an EQ and a channel strip - All things that I'm satisfied with.

Behringer bashing comes in part from a perception that they reverse engineer (ie: rip off) the designs of other companies - and in part because of some QC issues (hey something has to suffer at that price).

I've had good luck with the B-stuff I have, but it is either stuff that seemed to get good comments (compressor, EQ, patch bay) or things that were not critical (headphone amp).

If you buy B-stuff - make sure you buy from a store that has a decent return policy and make sure you take the unit out of the box and use alot before the return period lapses - to make sure you are satisfied.
Click to expand...

I agree. While some nitwits bash Behringer, they will fight about some cheap ass chinese mic until the end of time. It is all in what they hear from the "pros" and they formulate their opinions from there. Try any gear with your setup and your ears and don't listen to bashers. They rarely know jack shit except for the fact that they bought something and had to return it 'cause it was broke. I guess Avalon sucks too since at least one person on the BBS had to return theirs for repair. Use what makes you happy and make music.
 
Except for 1 or 2 of their comps and the ECM8000 omni, Behringer gear is cheaply made and are prone to breaking down!!
 
Some of Behringer's bad rap is deserved. I've had a hit and miss relationship with them. A few things I've had have broken suddenly. Other stuff worked just fine.

Bottom line, use the best gear that your pockets can afford. BUT, try to live on a small amount of quality stuff rather than a lot of lesser quality stuff. For cheap pres, the Mackie mixers (regardless of what people say) are good choices. Soundcraft is also venturing in that market with their E series (very decent... I've used these). Don't go behringer for a mixer.

Behringer stuff is usually ok for non-critical stuff. I just bought one of their headphone amps (HA 4700). I also have one of their cable testers which works just fine. Their ECM 8000 small diaphram condensors aren't bad, especially at the price. Good for an audience mic in a live setting and decent as a drum overhead and choir mic. I generally won't hesitate to use Behringer stuff, as long as it doesn't go in the signal path (mics, mic pres, converters, effects that go to tape, etc). There are a couple exceptions to this: ECM 8000s. But generally that's my rule.
 
I can only relate my experience: I've had a small Behringer mixer and an AutocomPro compressor for the last year with ZERO problems.

I think it all boils down to:

Make sure ANYTHING you buy has a good return policy from the vendor and if you don't like it, TAKE IT BACK. (A high return rate will fold any truly bad manufacturer... and just DONT buy anything that you cant return!)
 
Wide Awake said:
Another "Is Behringer Any Good ?" thread. Is it Tuesday already ? :rolleyes: :)
Click to expand...

Is Tuesday "Behringer Day"? Glad I got that right. In that case, which day is "Yamaha Day"? Got a few ?'s about them too! ;)
 
I do know you can do some decent work with those little Behringer mixers. My buddy, Steve Beckett, records through one. He does report that it's hard to tell the difference between mics. Here's his page with a song tracked through his Behringer:

www.piemusic.com/sb/mad.html
 
Bought a Behringer mixer many moons ago (since sold).

Won't be buying any more of their products, however, due to their
blatant business practices. Rather not support that kind of thing...

Chris
 
:( The quality is fair, at best. Uli should be spanked, greg should be praised for excellent engineering!!


da MUTT
 
I have an analog mixer (MX2004A) and a dualfex... Never had a problem. I really like Behringer products. Low Price, High Quality...
There is not difference between Behringer, Mackie, etc... It's always the same story: it all depends on you, you can have the most powerfull instruments of the world but if your music sucks...
 
so what about the behringer V-Amp modellers. How do they compare to POD. I have a POD for guitar but am seriously considering getting the new behringer bass amp modeller instead of a bass POD.
 
Re: Re: BEHRINGER: Bad rap, or just bad?

MaxB said:
I have an analog mixer (MX2004A) and a dualfex... Never had a problem. I really like Behringer products. Low Price, High Quality...
There is not difference between Behringer, Mackie, etc... It's always the same story: it all depends on you, you can have the most powerfull instruments of the world but if your music sucks...
Click to expand...

To a certain extant that is true. One may achieve optimal performance from a particular unit made by Behringer but eventually the individual will realize the limitations of the Beh gear that have been incorporated in their productions.
Thier Comps, while adequate and useful does not come near a say, RNC in clarity and transparency. A much wider attack and thresh is required to achieve basically the same dynamic processing on a signal where an RNC or even a DBX will produce at a lower level. Thier DSP's do not offer minimal fine-tuning of parameters which often produce mettallic-sounding 'Verbs.
Their line of mixers.......................I'm just going to leave that alone.
Beh is either hit or miss. Most of my Beh crap has some what afforded me some small satisfaction at a small price, but eventually the need for better signal processing will eventually
lead the user to seek units that will allow greater control and performance than what they presently are using.
It's like when you 1st started recording with 4 tracks; Yeah, you producing songs that sound good, but eventually the need for more tracks are required as one grows old of constant bouncing.
You move up to eight tracks,than 16 and so forth!
Should one own 8 or 9 diff units of Beh comps,dsps,modellers,gates,pres etc spending some $4-500 or take that $4-500 and buy 1 or 2 pieces of gear that provides excelent results!!??
The choice is yours!

I learned the hard,broke-@ss way!
 
Whether reverse engineered, or original design (is there one?), I‘ve heard that Behringer farms out all their engineering duties to cheap Chinese designers. Sometimes they’ll even go to a Chinese manufacturing company and just have them copy another customer’s product that’s already in production, with a few minor changes. Although of questionable ethics, this practice is perfectly legal if the said product is not patented. Do to the difficulty of getting a patent on this type of product (probably because of the sheer volume of related patents) I’d say this is usually the case.

As someone mentioned earlier, I think of Behringer as disposable products. From what I hear, it’s really tough to get one repaired under warranty, and once the warranty runs out, you just as well toss it when it breaks if you can’t fix it yourself. That’s a far cry from the customer service you get from someone like Studio Projects.

Case in point - a friend has a V-Amp that just suddenly lost it’s mind one day. Since it’s out of warranty, do you think it would pay him to send it back for repair when he can pick another one up for around $100?

Michael – IMHO, the V-Amp 2 compares favorably to the POD 2.0, but doesn’t touch the PODxt as far as realism. They’ve got a version of the V-AMP mounted in a little foot pedal like the Digitech RP100 coming out at the end of the year for around $70 street. At that price, if it only worked for a year, it’d be worth it.
 
Re: Re: BEHRINGER: Bad rap, or just bad?

MaxB said:
I have an analog mixer (MX2004A) and a dualfex... Never had a problem. I really like Behringer products. Low Price, High Quality...
There is not difference between Behringer, Mackie, etc... It's always the same story: it all depends on you, you can have the most powerfull instruments of the world but if your music sucks...
Click to expand...

Yep, even Harvy Gerst says that the Behringer boards are not a limitation to getting good recordings.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top