Is Behringer really that bad?

[chrisghost]

Behringer simply copy products made by other brands, but with cheaper components.

Their products are cheap because they don´t invest in development and use those cheap parts.

The result depends on:

1. The quality of the product they copied.

2. If the cheaper components can hold their own.

There´s some great Behringer stuff like the VVerb and the Edison.

I take it the mentioned chorus pedal is the Space C, a copy of the discontinued Boss Dimension C. A great pedal in deed.

I use a Behringer headphone distributor, which isn´t even in the actuall signal chain, so what the hell.

It´s said that with intensive use Behringer products have a much shorter life span than other products, because the components are more likely to burn out, break, what have you. Which makes sense, but hasn´t happened to me yet.

 

[djeaux]

First post. I own a Behringer X1204 USB, which I bought simply to be able to stream a guitar/vocal mix to my laptop and thence out as a Shoutcast stream (using B.U.T.T.), mainly for performing in the Second Life virtual world. It works fine, and the effects (AUX 2) are nice, basic, and easy to use. It has quirks, but in my experience all electronic devices do. I've been using it for over a year now with no major issues, just the quirks. (In fact, I joined this forum to hopefully get some possible solutions for one of the quirks. I guess that will now be my second post! ) Is it a fine-made piece of equipment that I expect to use in tough environment for many years? Nope. Has it been worth the money I spent? Yep.

I also own a set of Behringer C-4 condenser mics. They were given me by a friend who bought them for field recording but got sick. They work great and have a nice warm sound. Again, not something I'd expect to hold up for years, but for a field recordist who might have them confiscated, smashed, etc., it's hard to beat the price points.

 

[AL P]

I also own a few Behringer products and have no complaints...
I run a EP4000 amp for my mobile DJ setup, and have for a few years now..works perfect, and sounds great IMO..

I just ordered a Behringer FBQ6200 31 band EQ today..hopfully it`ll work good also..if not..I guess I`ll return it..

 

[Supercreep]

I have used the Behri Truth powered monitors, and liked them until the tweeter driver took a shit.

Everything else I have tried from them has sucked ass (compressors, converters, pres).

It's your money.

 

[kcearl]

i just bought my third behri mixer...an rx1602, perfect for what it is


their stuff does vary in quality...but its reflected in the price most of the time

 

[witzendoz]

I have used the Behri Truth powered monitors, and liked them until the tweeter driver took a shit.

Everything else I have tried from them has sucked ass (compressors, converters, pres).

It's your money.

When people make comments like this I wonder 2 things,

1 what do they expect for the price

2 If you can get anything decent out of any Behringer product, maybe it's operator error.

Some of their stuff is a bit average, but I have quite a few Behringer products that work fine and I have no complaints about what they give for the price. I would however never recommend any of the guitar pedals, I have bought 2, some bass flanger thing and a basss eq, both got tried and put on the drawer, however they price was so cheap it was worth a try.

Alan.

 

[GuitarLegend]

First the disclaimer that this may be taken out of context and may be unfairly coloring the situation but I felt it was worth checking out. It has no bearing on whether Behringer products work or how well. Just that they seem to be a somewhat shady company to deal with and may take shortcuts for the purpose of getting prices down. Behringer products may do what they are designed to do and are built to a price but I don't feel they are robust products. They seem to be very unforgiving. There seems, in any case, to be enough information against them to cause me to choose other products before buying Behringer.

In June 1997, Mackie accused Behringer of trademark and trade dress infringement, and brought suit seeking $327M in damages but such claims were later rejected by the court. In their suit, Mackie said that Behringer had a history of copying products by other manufacturers and selling them as their own. The Mackie suit detailed an instance in which Behringer was sued by Aphex Systems for copying the Aural Exciter Type F—in that case Aphex Systems won 690,000 Deutsche Marks. The Mackie suit also mentioned similar cases filed by BBE, dbx and Drawmer. On November 30, 1999, the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington, dismissed Mackie claims that Behringer had infringed on Mackie copyrights with its MX 8000 mixer, noting that circuit board layout was not covered by U.S. copyright laws.

In 2005, Roland Corporation sued to enforce Roland's trade dress, trademark, and other intellectual property rights with regard to Behringer's recently released guitar pedals. The two companies came to a confidential settlement in 2006 after Behringer changed their designs.

In 2009 Peavey Electronics Corp. filed two lawsuits against various companies under Behringer/Music Group umbrella for patent infringement, federal and common law trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution and unfair competition. In 2011 The Music Group filed a lawsuit against Peavey for "false advertising, false patent marking and unfair competition". Basically, the lawsuit was about Peavey also failing to comply with the same FCC regulations Behringer had troubles with, which was felt to create unfair competitive advantage.

 

[witzendoz]

And the story moves on in that Behringer products are now being copied by other companies.

The wheel turns.

 

[GuitarLegend]

And the story moves on in that Behringer products are now being copied by other companies.

The wheel turns.

Do you have any information on who is copying Behringer products, Alan?

 

[AL P]

First the disclaimer that this may be taken out of context and may be unfairly coloring the situation but I felt it was worth checking out. It has no bearing on whether Behringer products work or how well. Just that they seem to be a somewhat shady company to deal with and may take shortcuts for the purpose of getting prices down. Behringer products may do what they are designed to do and are built to a price but I don't feel they are robust products. They seem to be very unforgiving. There seems, in any case, to be enough information against them to cause me to choose other products before buying Behringer.

In June 1997, Mackie accused Behringer of trademark and trade dress infringement, and brought suit seeking $327M in damages but such claims were later rejected by the court. In their suit, Mackie said that Behringer had a history of copying products by other manufacturers and selling them as their own. The Mackie suit detailed an instance in which Behringer was sued by Aphex Systems for copying the Aural Exciter Type F—in that case Aphex Systems won 690,000 Deutsche Marks. The Mackie suit also mentioned similar cases filed by BBE, dbx and Drawmer. On November 30, 1999, the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington, dismissed Mackie claims that Behringer had infringed on Mackie copyrights with its MX 8000 mixer, noting that circuit board layout was not covered by U.S. copyright laws.

In 2005, Roland Corporation sued to enforce Roland's trade dress, trademark, and other intellectual property rights with regard to Behringer's recently released guitar pedals. The two companies came to a confidential settlement in 2006 after Behringer changed their designs.

In 2009 Peavey Electronics Corp. filed two lawsuits against various companies under Behringer/Music Group umbrella for patent infringement, federal and common law trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution and unfair competition. In 2011 The Music Group filed a lawsuit against Peavey for "false advertising, false patent marking and unfair competition". Basically, the lawsuit was about Peavey also failing to comply with the same FCC regulations Behringer had troubles with, which was felt to create unfair competitive advantage.

or...could it be the big names, want the afffordable name, out of biss..no doubt mackie etc, has lost ALOT of sales to Behringer....so if Behringer was taken out....that`s be great for the bigger-"better" names...

yeah that`s probley a rediculess stretch..LOL

 

[witzendoz]

Do you have any information on who is copying Behringer products, Alan?

Lets just say that there are a couple of low cost brands out there that look a lot like the same product and come out a short time after Behringer. Now you don't want me to make a libellous comment do you. I don't disagree with your comments but Behringer nowadays is developing new original designs.

A lot of Behringer bashing is the anti China syndrome, but as the quality of build from China is getting better all the time, it's a worry for manufacturers all over the world. I try to support as many smaller audio brand names as I can but when you just need a mixer for a small PA or an odd job it's hard to justify spending more money when it will do the job.

Just on another point I own a few Behringer products including 2 x Composers which were the original 1st version and cost $800 each when they come out (pre china build) and a Ultrafex original version. When other (older) engineers come into the studio they reconise the original Behringer gear and comment of how good they are, the early composers got great reviews when they were released.

alan.

 

[kcearl]

First the disclaimer that this may be taken out of context and may be unfairly coloring the situation but I felt it was worth checking out. It has no bearing on whether Behringer products work or how well. Just that they seem to be a somewhat shady company to deal with and may take shortcuts for the purpose of getting prices down. Behringer products may do what they are designed to do and are built to a price but I don't feel they are robust products. They seem to be very unforgiving. There seems, in any case, to be enough information against them to cause me to choose other products before buying Behringer.

In June 1997, Mackie accused Behringer of trademark and trade dress infringement, and brought suit seeking $327M in damages but such claims were later rejected by the court. In their suit, Mackie said that Behringer had a history of copying products by other manufacturers and selling them as their own. The Mackie suit detailed an instance in which Behringer was sued by Aphex Systems for copying the Aural Exciter Type F—in that case Aphex Systems won 690,000 Deutsche Marks. The Mackie suit also mentioned similar cases filed by BBE, dbx and Drawmer. On November 30, 1999, the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington, dismissed Mackie claims that Behringer had infringed on Mackie copyrights with its MX 8000 mixer, noting that circuit board layout was not covered by U.S. copyright laws.

In 2005, Roland Corporation sued to enforce Roland's trade dress, trademark, and other intellectual property rights with regard to Behringer's recently released guitar pedals. The two companies came to a confidential settlement in 2006 after Behringer changed their designs.

In 2009 Peavey Electronics Corp. filed two lawsuits against various companies under Behringer/Music Group umbrella for patent infringement, federal and common law trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution and unfair competition. In 2011 The Music Group filed a lawsuit against Peavey for "false advertising, false patent marking and unfair competition". Basically, the lawsuit was about Peavey also failing to comply with the same FCC regulations Behringer had troubles with, which was felt to create unfair competitive advantage.

one dismissal

one agreement made outside of court

one case that went against them

and one that you mention no outcome


???

 

[grimtraveller]

Interesting that Behringer preamps were among those criticized, my Behringer two channel preamp has been a revelation. Since I've worked out how to get quietness and power from it, I can get relaxed but good level vocals from those with quieter voices and I can record good acoustic guitar pickings that are loud enough and carry enough presence to sit in a pretty dense mix. Now obviously, I should be able to do this with a preamp, that is what they are for.
Exactly.

 

[Dogbreath]

I own one peice of Behri gear and that's the Composer Pro something or other de-esser hootcher-majigger.

Waaay too much hiss and noise so I just turn it on every now and then to check out the pretty lights.

 

[witzendoz]

I own one peice of Behri gear and that's the Composer Pro something or other de-esser hootcher-majigger.

Waaay too much hiss and noise so I just turn it on every now and then to check out the pretty lights.

I have used the composer pro's and they are not noisy. Of course if you are compressing a noisy signal the noise floor increases due to the noise on the track sounding louder when the signal level goes down. Another problem is that people don't use the -10dB +4dB switches on the back, run them with the wrong settings and then wonder why it's noisy when the gain is cranked right up.

alan.

 

[Dogbreath]

And that's cool. Maybe ya got a good one.

Mine's noisy.

 

[guitarguy101]

Microphones are like prostitutes. You can get an ok one for $50-100, a pretty nice one for $200, and an awesome one for $500
-Confucius

 

[guitarguy101]

'Nuff said

 

[phriq]

Microphones are like prostitutes. You can get an ok one for $50-100, a pretty nice one for $200, and an awesome one for $500
-Confucius

In a matter of speaking.... But there are many situations where for the sound you want or the sound you need, the $200 mic has worked better than the $500 mic. Mics are not grouped by crappiest to best by price, otherwise SM57's would be AWEFUL! It all comes down to how you use them.

 

[kcearl]

i like $50 hookers..I meant mics



nope I meant hookers