Treeline said:
Behringer-bashing is a bit of a hobby on the board, but QQ speaks from experience, having bought a lot of the gear. I've had mixed results myself, but I do use a little B mixer as a patchbay and it has turned out to be a decent signal splitter for a couple of subwoofers. The thing is, it cost me about fifty bucks. What can you expect for the price?
Where Behringer makes enemies is in people who believe what they want to believe. So the gear looks great and specs out well. When it sounds harsh or breaks after two years, they get pissed, forgetting that it was the lowest priced unit in the market when they bought it. And worse is the feeling of a guy who blows a whole bunch of money on B gear and gets discouraged because the mixes still sound tinny. Sometimes the problem IS the gear.
I'm convinced that if Behringer promised less, people would be drooling over their products. They meet a definite need - but the gear tends to be disposable. Just make sure your expectations are in line with the product.
Wassup my good friend Glenn-Tree!
In all fairness, Beh does have some useable gear that provides adequate perf in certain situations as far as sig'nl dynamic proc'ing. Thier older model processors such as the AutoComm & Composer Pro(I still own both) yield decent peak-levelling control, capable gating functionality & acceptable compression work (though Thresh & Attack ratio settings require a hi'er level from the norm; such as accomplished using either a RNC,DBX or even a Crane). However, I've become addicted to my RNC's overall transparent & clear proc'ing. Also, some small props to Beh for it's lucky hit/miss production of the Harvey Gerst-rec'mended omni, the ECM8000. For $35+/- price as you can't really go wrong for a decent, room-measuring mic( got 2 of 'em). I also count Beh's Intelligate (useful for it's hi/lo filter function that comes in handy for containing minor "hiss/rumble" noise produced by drum machines, git efx boxes, etc), Edison Stereo Enhancer (for trying to provide a wider 2-trk,mixdown field-sounds fake), UltraBass(s'posedly to enhance subharmonics below 65hz...totally useless) and a Pro2000 patchbay( cheap-@ss connectors).
For the umpteenth time although I do not consider myself a rec'ding expert, i have gained enough knowledge thru trial & error and what I have gleaned from here, there and var meeting learning from various pros. Most importantly I have learned that buying cheaply-made gear, besides losing 70-85% of it's re-sale value(like Beh), whose track record of hit/miss quality perf and operation is never guaranteed (like Beh), whose Cust Serv Ctr is horrid (again, like Beh) where mixers, monitors & pre's are designed to appeal to the uninformed via it's numerous cheap-@ss bells, whistles, doo-dads with below avg results built within a cosmetically attractive exterior (BEH!!), will eventually make the user realize that he has to buy twice!!
Save your money & purchase a product that offers quality rather than something that "looks good & cheap" but in reality, sucks!
Signed,
Been There, Done That, Ain't Never Goin' Back!
... I don't know how I did it...
