Behringer vs. Behringer "Pro" ?

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Gear_Junky

Gear_Junky

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So there are older Behringer units and the newer "Pro" units. I'd apreciate all coments on which ones are better, particularly:

Virtualizer vs. Virtualizer Pro
Modulizer vs. Modulizer Pro
also
Multicom (quad compressor)
Multigate (quad noise gate)
etc.

Are the older units worth more money in your opinion?

Thanks.
 
I'm more inclined to believe that the differences are basically cosmetic to justify a price icrease. When comparing specs (i.e. Virtualizer vs Virtualizer Pro)I have noticed the specs remained the same while a new feature was added (an additional reverb algorithm was added to the Pro)
but everything else was identical. You can check this out at
http://www.behringer.de
 
I have a hard time with calling the Virtualizer "Pro". It doesn't have controls to adjust input and output....that's a big deal and not what you would expect on a pro piece of gear. It's inexpensive but you get what you pay for. I think some of the effects are real good such as the delays and flanging but you can only adjust two parameters for each preset. I wish I would have spent more money and got a more programmable processor.
 
It's just that some people were saying that the older non-"Pro" units are actually better.
 
Gear_Junky said:
So there are older Behringer units and the newer "Pro" units. I'd apreciate all coments on which ones are better, particularly:

Virtualizer vs. Virtualizer Pro
Modulizer vs. Modulizer Pro
also
Multicom (quad compressor)
Multigate (quad noise gate)
etc.

Are the older units worth more money in your opinion?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Here's my take on the "old" series vs. "pro" series.

Behringer got the shit sued out of them for Pantent and design infringement.
Everybody under the sun sued them.
Their Distributors all bailed-and nobody could get their orders filled for about 6 months or so.
I have some friends who are higher up in the "food chain" of Pro Audio and this is what I was told.

The increase in price I believe (after being told what I was told by a Behringer dealer who bailed out of it) is because of two things:The Designs had to be "redesigned" a bit, and they had to pay companies whose patents they had infringed upon.
I think Mackie must have gotten a hell of a lot of money-because they Bought EAW (Eastern Audio Works)-which is one of the Biggest Pro Audio manufacturers in the world (biggest as in Quality Audiophile Pro Audio-not quantity, that goes to peavey who probably outsells everyone else combined! We're talking like $1,500-$2,000 for a single 15" and 2" horn speaker box!!)

Behringer's still basically crap grade equipment made by Chinese prisoners. (I don't see them being able to make it that cheap any other way.) Come one-German's make twice what we make in the States. Even with Cad/Cam they can only cut so many expenses-and I'll bet it's a hell of alot cheaper to use some Communist Government's prisoners to make the stuff than it is to buy or build a machine to do it no matter how you slice it.

I have a Virtualizer, and you know what-It sounds okay, but it's just a pain in the butt. It's really not that versatile. When I bought it, I was told that it was a "Multi-effect", in the same sense as an ART SGE (like 12 effects at once) Nope-It does true stereo/dual Mono.
Big damn deal.
I like the reverb from my Studio Workshop stereo SPRING reverb better, ON MY DRUMS!
I have a "Stereo Tube Spring reverberation unit"(It's aPioneer or Panasonic-I can't remember at the moment) that I got for like $10 or $20 at a yard sale when I was 15 (17 years ago) that sounds better!

I'm not kidding either.
Okay, I'm a Cynic, but I'm not kidding!

Save your Money and Put it on a better effect unit.

I will bet, that if you get The Zoom Bass pedal (I THINK it's the 506-my brother has one, but it may be the 505. they are going for under $70 bucks @ Musician's Friend right now) that it has better sounding effects in it!


There is nothing "Pro" about these types of units.

Save your Money and take a look at some stuff that's in the $300-$500 range, and make sure it's a REAL Multieffect if that's what your after.
Also, take a look at Yamah's units-they aren't as expensive as you might think.



to Wide Awake

-there IS a way to control the Volume through the software in it.

You hit the nail right on the head-plus, it's just not user friendly at ALL!

I have no problem with the gates and Compressors-they are all "knobs".(I wonder if these were made by Chinese prisoners* as well?! Hahaha)

*
In regards to any Chinese Prisoners who may be reading this. I'm sorry about laughing at your expense; I do not know for sure that you are making Behringer's products-it's just my own theory that you are.
Now get back to work on that new Virtualizer "Pro", or you won't get your bowl of rice this week!


Tim

(Okay So I'm not "pc"-but I still think they are using Chinese POW's to make this stuff)
 
I don't mean to be ungrateful, I really do apreciate the advice, but if I could afford something better, I wouldn't ask this question :) (no offense here, please). The question was: which ones are better? (of the 2). Like I know that some old Boss pedals (MIJ) are actually better, etc. BTW, the new "Pro" aren't neccessarily more expensive and besides, I'm buying them used and pay 50-70% of the new price.

Like, when I got my non-"Pro" Multicom and Multigate I noticed that they don't have as much metering as the new units. How about sound?

Thanks again.

BTW, who cares if Behringer gets sued for ripping off Mackie mixers and stuff? Their mixers are still a fraction of the cost of Yamaha, Mackie, etc. and if they're as good as Mackie, then they should be prized, not penalized :D

My Virtualizer Pro cost me $95 new from SamAsh - sounds like a great alternative to a Nanoverb to me!
 
Gear_Junky said:
I don't mean to be ungrateful, I really do apreciate the advice, but if I could afford something better, I wouldn't ask this question :) (no offense here, please). The question was: which ones are better? (of the 2). Like I know that some old Boss pedals (MIJ) are actually better, etc. BTW, the new "Pro" aren't neccessarily more expensive and besides, I'm buying them used and pay 50-70% of the new price.

Like, when I got my non-"Pro" Multicom and Multigate I noticed that they don't have as much metering as the new units. How about sound?

Thanks again.
My Virtualizer Pro cost me $95 new from SamAsh - sounds like a great alternative to a Nanoverb to me!
Click to expand...

Btw, The Nanoverb is junk too.

There is virtually no difference in the units, it's mostly cosmetic from what a distributor friend told me; they were given updates on them, and essentially it's all for looks...

If you can afford a Multicompressor by Behringer, then why can't you wait a little longer, and get a quality unit?

The 8 Channel PreSonus ACP-88 can be purchased for around $699, and that's for 8 channels of QUALITY gate AND Compression.

Look at the price break per channel.

The Presonus is cheaper in the long run per channel. It winds up costing you less trhan $90 per channel, for TWO processors (gate and Compression).
 
Uhhh Tim,you make a good point in re to saving for something
much better. But let's see...$95 for a Virtualizer or $700
for a Presonus?....hmmmmm Well if I forgoe my daughters tuition,skip the mortgage and car payments "WALA" I can afford the hi-end gear.Tim I whole-heartedly agree with you
however there are some of us who try to make the most out of what we have on our meager budgets.
BTW,I have 2 Behringer Multi-coms,an Auto-Com and 2 Virtualizers that I got from Sam Ash,brand new and spent
Approx 400.00 tops! Man,when you got bills,you try your damn
best to s-t-r-e-t-c-h you gear-related dollars!

It's almost bonus time at my job('bout 2 months) and luv
the Presonus..."Now if I can just find a way to sneak it past my wife!!" :)
Peace.
 
MISTERQCUE said:
Uhhh Tim,you make a good point in re to saving for something
much better. But let's see...$95 for a Virtualizer or $700
for a Presonus?....hmmmmm Well if I forgoe my daughters tuition,skip the mortgage and car payments "WALA" I can afford the hi-end gear.Tim I whole-heartedly agree with you
however there are some of us who try to make the most out of what we have on our meager budgets.
BTW,I have 2 Behringer Multi-coms,an Auto-Com and 2 Virtualizers that I got from Sam Ash,brand new and spent
Approx 400.00 tops! Man,when you got bills,you try your damn
best to s-t-r-e-t-c-h you gear-related dollars!

It's almost bonus time at my job('bout 2 months) and luv
the Presonus..."Now if I can just find a way to sneak it past my wife!!" :)
Peace.
Click to expand...

I know about the Bills man. I put my enitre studio on Visa.
I kept trying to "piece it together". and by the time I could save for something else, one piece of gear that I already ownedd would have gone bad, or broken beyond repair, etc.
So, I bucked up-figured out exactly what I wanted/needed to get started, and budgeted $12,000 for the gear. I put it on Visa.
CHA-CHING!

It was the only way that I could get it all at once.
I wanted to step up from the world of 8-track to 16-track, and I was looking at a minimum expense of about $7000 just for that. (2 Da-38's, a 16-channel Mixer, a Dual DAT machine, Monitors, and all the Cables to hook everything up)

The Rest I spent on Mic's, Outboard gear, and Road cases.
My entire setup is Rack mounted in Road Cases, so that I can go and Record remotely.
Works out great.


Well, In the case of the Virtualizer-what I'm saying is, take a look at least at Yamaha's lower lines, along with Lexicon's lower lines. They are better units for the money.

Also, if you want an AWESOME effect (I say best unit under $1000!) take a look at Rocktron's "Intellefect". You can update the softwar via Internet Downloads, and the Effects are so "Lush" and Thick sounding.
I've seen them as low as $350 new, just shop around.

That's all I'm saying.
I'm paying just under $700 a month for the Visa bill on this gear-but that's what it took for me to be able to get the gear.


Well-there is one thing, you have the Family, and I don't..so that does make a difference.
Hell, record some extra bands for money-and there's your effect money!

Tim

Tim
 
Tim,I'm jealous!! :) But I am going to undergo a major gear upgrade in 2 months.My Virtualizers and AutoCom will be passed down to my younger brother who's starting his own home-studio thing and I too will increase from my present
8 trk to 16 tracks.(will keep the MultiComs,luv those things) My only problem.....like I said B-4....I have 2 months on coming up with a plan to sneak this stuff past my wife into my basement studio!
Peace.
 
:))))))))))))))))))

Tim, that's like if I was a kid, buying his first guitar practice amp for $100 and you'd tell me to "save my money" and get a Marshall DSL stack! "It would sound great for the money!" :) I'm just teasing 'ya here, but seriously, let's be a little more understanding. I only need 4 channells at this time. My Multicom+Multigate cost me $258. That's less than 40% of what you're suggesting. When I choose a Presonus Blue Tube over ART Tube MP - the choice was obvious - one more channels of better preamp for like $30 more. But here it's just way out of my budget. Everyone has different circumstances. I had $9000 of college loan debt and ~$10000 of credit card debt BEFORE I even started buying recording stuff. So there! :)))))))
 
Tim Brown should have got a small business-low interest loan and used that gear professionally instead of paying credit-card interest rates. Plus you can depreciate the equipment and save on taxes.

I think his point about only buying quality gear is valid because good gear has a longer usefull life. However, I'm not sure that in a home studio you are going to gain a lot using higher-end pre-amps, compressors, cables, equalizers. There is a point of deminishing returns. At the end of the day you will still end up with quality demos( compared to a big-budget recording) depending a lot on the skill of the musicians and engineer. Everyone's situation is different on this board, there are hobbyists( like myself) and professionals. I put my "real" money in things that matter to me like quality guitars and synthesizers. If you must have that $3000 pre-amp-compressor-can opener then go for it.
 
Thanks, Wide Awake, you're understanding as always =) For us hobbyists it's important to stay "wide awake" to reason ;) Your notion about diminishing returns is also fair and apreciated.

BTW, I like the idea of depreciating gear and writing it off taxes. Does a "small business" have to show profit to do that? :) I've been thinking of opening a small business. With all the gear I have I could support a small live concert (rent of gear + help with sound setup) and I could help bands record demos, etc. I wonder how realistic this is.

Hey, MisterQ, do you have Multicoms or Multicoms "Pro"? It seems that the Multicom Pro has an extra meter per channel and the Multigate Pro has better meters than the old Multigate. I learned this after starting this thread :)

Thanks, everybody.
 
MISTERQCUE said:
Tim,I'm jealous!! :) But I am going to undergo a major gear upgrade in 2 months.My Virtualizers and AutoCom will be passed down to my younger brother who's starting his own home-studio thing and I too will increase from my present
8 trk to 16 tracks.(will keep the MultiComs,luv those things) My only problem.....like I said B-4....I have 2 months on coming up with a plan to sneak this stuff past my wife into my basement studio!
Peace.
Click to expand...

Don't be jealous! hahaha
I just figured it was worth it to me to be able to have the equipment to use. My band wanted to make a CD, and I looked at studio cost, and knew what we would spend.
(We had spent $5,000 on a Demo that never saw the light of day! We had a deal in the works-and the Bass player decided halfway through, that He hated our two guitarists! Hahaha

You don't really know somebody into you go into a pro studio, and put your own money on the line! Hehehe)


Anyway, The Bassist and I quit the band-and since the two of us had written the songs-we took the material with us!
The record deal wasn't that great anyway-but I learned that he and I spend ALOT of time recording.
That was in the early 90's, and that's studio's rates have doubled since then-SOOOOOOOO I was guessing that I could either buy the gear-or put the money on studio time, so-I bought the gear.)

NOW, I'm trying to find somebody who wants to go in "Halves" on a Studio, and open a business, but I'm not having much luck so far.
I would even be willing to start a real remote production company-locally, there was 1 guy who did this, and it was all live to 2 track. He is now gone, so there are no more remote units here.
I've got Snakes and all of that good stuff.



Wide Awake

A small business Loan? are you kidding, they wouldn't look at me!! Hahahaha
No seriously, when I bought the gear I had no intentions of "opening a studio", it was all for personal use.
Since then, I've decided that I do want to open shop.
Here in North Florida, you are not allowed to Operate a Commercial Studio from your home-so it has to be in Commercial property-and we're talking at least $1,000 a month rent-rent on commercial/industrial property is mighty high from what I've seen.

The only way that I've seen around this zoning law MIGHT be, to say that you are a Production company.
So that someone hires you to Produce for them; and you make no mention of "throwing in the reacording for free" aspect of production...(I.e, if they hire you for $50 an hour, they can use your studio for free, hehehe)
Essentially, it's "fibbing", but in my case- it would be the truth, because that's what I tend to do.
Band's call me all the time to work on their material, and to remix for them.


Peace,
Tim
 
I bought a Virtualizer Pro, and the guy I got it from told me that the main difference is that the "Pro" model also has XLR inputs/outputs on the back, whereas the plain old "Virtualizer" only has the 1/4" phone jacks.

Isaiah
 
Did somebody say that the old Virtualizers don't have a level meter? Cuz my Virtualizer Pro has nice input meters.
 
Hey GJ,my VIRTS' meters work well also. My Multicoms use
in/out bar metering.
 
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