Building a "Behringer homestudio"

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mr. Ins@ne
  • Start date Start date
go for it!!!!!!!!

I think we all go through self doubt and buyers remorse. I hope I can make a point using mics as an example. There is member here how is a recording engineer with his own studio that was contributing to one of the threads and sharing his knowledge about mics and which ones he liked for certain applications and the reasoning behind his choices. He said if memory serves me correctly that he rarely bought new mics instead he bougth them at flea markets, yard sales. What he had learned over the years was when and how to use mics of all types to achieve his goal and that the best mic was not always the best performer when you were trying to capture a particular piece of a performance. I think this could be equally true for any studio equipment. Look at them like musical instruments with thier own unique sound or voice. The all have a use they just cann't all be used for everything.
When it comes to the things we buy, some of us can only buy a certain type of bluejean from a particular store, because everything else is crap. I could go on, I just hope you get my point. You could get a bad piece of gear from anyone . If you spend your time before you spend your money and have a clear return policy that you fully understand don't be afraid to buy Behringer or nady. You probably will not like everything but you will also probably find some things that do work and save you some money. I think it is verey prudent to start out slow and responsibly cheap.

Just my opinion at 3:00 A.M. Ozlee ;)
 
the Ozlee said:
Don't be afraid of the Behringer gear.
I agree with what the people who admitted to using Behringer had to say and some of what those who thought it was crap had to say. You will probably buy some gear no matter which way you go that you don't like, but hopefully spending your time before you spend your money will help eliminate some of that for you.

Just my opinion, Ozlee :cool:
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tis true, Ozlee, I spent many a wasted times in the Guitar Center looking for the holy grail of mics..only to realize the importance of a good pre-amp(thanks to the gang here).
I was returning, some slightly expensive mics that had exceptionally good
reviews and industrys standard mics..that sounded thinly and craply.
...or so I thought until i added a decent pre-amp.+ lucky the let me return the stuff or I'd been eating dogfood for awhile.

i think the post here can help save time, and maybe some Behr sht is ok...
the gang here is usually just saying there is even better "cheap" stuff than Behr. I agree with.
But Behr makes for a good laugh now and then. Somebody has to be the ass-end...and Behr got it. :)...kinda like the other post on Heavy MEtal, and someone mentioned Phil Collins? it's great.

...like software and microphnes already are=No Return Policy...the HR gang will become even more important and it's free polled advice.

I personally ain't offended if you like Behringer guitars and Ultra-Ultra Pro Compressors.
 
I'm kinda with Lumbago on this one. I originally bought a few Behringer pieces and managed to start learning about home recording. For that reason, buying cheap will at least definitely help you start learning. I'm at a point now where I'm starting to replace the Behringer stuff with better quality gear (I always check gear reviews at Harmony Central first). I have replaced the Composer Pro with a DBX compressor and the Tube Ultragain with an MAudio DMP3 (a GREAT, a wonderful preamp for $ 159). I do like the Behringer patch bays though (I have one in every rack) and the rack-mounted Bass V-Amp Pro, while any of the Behringer "tube" stuff allegedly designed to "warm up" sound have been dismally disappointing.
 
and then someone had to swear

HangDawg said:
The idea was to save all that money by not buying all the crappy behri gear that you won't need anyway and get yourself a nice pair of monitors (not behringer monitors) that you will have for awhile. Maybe look into the Mackie HR624's. There's alot to choose from though.

As far as a preamp. There's the Joemeek threeQ with a pre/eq/comp for $199.
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And then someone had to bring up the M word.
Sell me Behri gear all day long, I'll pick out the goodies and sell the rest. Just keep the Mackie crap to yourself.
Noisy. Ineffective. Feature FREE. Tinny. And what the loving banana is a "Rude Solo Light" supposed to do for me when I NEED that item on pfl for a while? Should come with Tylenol.
Bassist for 22 years. Live Engineer for 15. I like some Behri stuff. Agreed, the consoles aren't Allen and Heath... the outboard isn't Yamaha... but the prices reflect that.
I own some Behri... not the mixers......... not the mics..... but the eq's are great for live, the Bass Vamp Pro is cool WITH an ACTIVE bass.. it hates passives, and gets all noisy.....
Monitors..... true- get good. The Truths are passable.
Yamaha. JBL. EV. trust them.
 
A true professional can get better results with Behringer gear than a beginner with expensive gear.
 
Ed Dixon said:
I have a somewhat different view of Behringer gear. I own and use regularly a number of pieces of Behringer gear, including mixers and outboard units. I have been very happy with their gear.
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That's been my experience....
 
Don't be fooled. I once learned from a big time Mackie fan that mackie had to take beringer to court because they were ripping off mackies pre-amp specs. Behringer won and now here we are :)

I also have a behringer mixer, VAMP2 and ULTRAG and a Sweet Behringer mic(PRO2) and I have NO complaints my friend. I would also add that the more I learn about recording/home studio stuff the more I see the light so to speak.

IMO From what I know right now(which isn't much) Your money should go towards a KICKASS Pre-Amp and Microphones. I don't understand it fully yet but i'm learning (It takes me a while). lol Most "Pro's" will tell you this from my experience.
 
deepwater said:
A true professional can get better results with Behringer gear than a beginner with expensive gear.
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Yeah, but they'd probably be pretty pissed off if they had to work with Behringer stuff lol.
 
Mr Ins@ne made a good choice. Although I'm still being tempted by those BCF2000s they just released.

As for your monitors instead of the Truths, many people are making happy noises about the Wharfedales - Massive Master uses a set as his 'B' pair I think, so he should be able to advise further.
 
Spirit Absolute Zero monitors (waiting for upgrade)
Behringer UB1204FX Pro mixer (waiting for upgrade)

I will have:

Behringer UB2442FX-Pro mixer
Behringer B2031A Truth Monitors
Behringer Virtualizer DSP2024P (Fx)
Behringer ULTRACURVE PRO DEQ2496 (Eq/ dynamics)
Behringer Tube Composer T1952 (Tube dynamics)
Behringer TUBE ULTRAFEX T1954 (Tube audio enhancement)
Behringer POWERPLAY PRO-XL HA4700 (headphone amplifier/ mixer)
Behringer B-CONTROL FADER BCF2000 (interface controler)
Behringer Bass V-amp PRO (goes without saying)
Behringer B2-Pro (mic)
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I bizzarely agree with both the people who say that Behringer is crap and wouldn't touch it, and those who have some equipment and like it. Theres always going to be something much better than behringer out there, however, it's cheap stuff, so maybe it can be useful in some low end situations.

Whoever said be selective hit the nail on the head! Different companies excel in different areas, even at the low end.

I've heard lots of people say that behringer mixers are okay.

I wouldn't touch a behringer reverb unit. If you want cheap reverb you should get an old and nasty alesis reverb. They may not have the best sound quality, but frequently they contain little bits of magic, and it's good to have magic in your studio especially at the price.

If I was to get a mic pre, it would probably be the 2200 because, it's supposed to be okay if you are careful with the settings and it's so cheap it's almost disposable.

If I was to get a behringer mic, it would probably be the C1 because it's the cheapest large diaghram mic I have ever seen! As soon as you start paying more for a mic, then you have to consider Oktava. Oktava mics are where it's at! :)

The headphone amp is probably fine.

I think the trick with behringer stuff is to get the cheapest stuff they make, the most basic stuff they make, (less to go wrong) and then when you have finished with it you can give it away or put it on e-bay or something. It's fairly disposable stuff. If you buy their higher end stuff, you can bet that somebody else has something more groovy that is cheaper.

I'm facinated by the monitor thing tho. I've not come across either set of monitor mentioned but would the behringer monitors REALLY be that much better than Spirit Absolute zeros? I mean they are both low end monitors and while I've heard good reviews of the truth monitors, I have to ask if the upgrade would be big enough to be worthwhile, but not having heard either I don't know! What can you tell me?

love

Freya
 
BTW, surely if you equipment goes wrong in the first 3 months you can take it back to the shop and get a replacement??? In this country you could demand your money back as it obviously wasn't of merchantable quality.

love

Freya
 
I own the Truth Monitors, Tube Composer, and B-Control
-The Truth Monitors B2031A have good flat,accurate sound.
-The Tube Composer does the job.
-The BCF2000 makes mixing alot more easy.

The quality of these 3 products are good for the most part. Sure there are better Monitors, Compressors, and Control Surfaces but these will do fine. As far as all your other stuff you wan't to buy I advise you to get the B-2 mic, Truth Monitors, UB2442FX-Pro mixer,Tube composer, and BCF2000 controler. Those will give you pretty good quality and accurate sound for the price. If you are going to get a sound enhancer/exciter I would recommend the 204 Aural Exciter made by Aphex. The previous items I just listed are not all that bad for the price and will get the job done.
 
I see that Behringer has found a few more suckers to buy their bogus crap called "recording gear"! :mad:
 
You make me laugh, Mr Qolley. I heard if you buy the new 'Orpid' and wire it backwards it turns into 'DI Pro'. And that 'ser pebut' turns into a 'Tube Pre' if you use the right power supply.
 
I have owned and used a lot of Behringer gear (DSP8024, DSP9024, MIC2200,Their Format converters, "Truth Monitors")

It is very good quality and does exactly what they say it will do.
Naturally, the snobs have to "diss" it. :)

PS: I am an Acoustic Engineer by full-time profession. If it was crap, I would just say so. :)

I have also A/B's their stuff against Earthworks, Great River, ART, M-Audio, and numerous other brands all over the price spectrum. Are there differences ? Sure. But some people seem to assume that a "difference" always means the more expensive unit must sound "better".
It ain't necessarily so...except in the case of earthworks, which is audibly and measurably higher quality that just about everything else.


Let your ears be the judge.
 
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The Axis said:
I have owned and used a lot of Behringer gear (DSP8024, DSP9024, MIC2200,Their Format converters, "Truth Monitors")

It is very good quality and does exactly what they say it will do.
Naturally, the snobs have to "diss" it. :)

PS: I am an Acoustic Engineer by full-time profession. If it was crap, I would just say so. :)

I have also A/B's their stuff against Earthworks, Great River, ART, M-Audio, and numerous other brands all over the price spectrum. Are there differences ? Sure. But some people seem to assume that a "difference" always means the more expensive unit must sound "better".
It ain't necessarily so...except in the case of earthworks, which is audibly and measurably higher quality that just about everything else.


Let your ears be the judge.
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I strongly AGREE. There is more to it than just having "the best?!?!?!?!".

Keep the faith, Ozlee
 
Gotta Say...

I use Behringer gear too...
Have a number of pieces in my studio...

Remember that song about a "master" picking up a violin at an auction and making it 'sing'??? Same principal...
I've seen people who can make gold out of crushed aluminum...

If your ears have it (ie: you have talent), It won't matter what mixer your stuff runs through - Most gear nowadays (Just like golf clubs, rifles, etc.) runs rings around the older stuff (Of COURSE not the 'classics'!)...

I heard a great comment from an engineer friend of mine a few years ago that I've lived by for a long time...

He said: "If you are using really good gear, it only means that you can make more mistakes with your recordings... Because of the specs and ability of 'lesser quality gear', you just can't make mistakes"

In other words - pay attention to the detail of your mix...
 
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