Berhinger Mixer Experience

[Larryboy]

I'd never used one of their products before but had heard lots of unkind words on this forum about this company. Well, I just finished doing a job at an establishment which used to have a Spirit mixer which for some reason is gone now, replaced by a 12 channel Ber. I never remember having such a hard time with any mixer (I'm no novice with mixers). This thing is crap. Unidentifiable high ringing. I had to cut the highs and cut and cut, and cut on every channel (only three, thank God). It wasn't feedback. We were using SM58s and standing a bit behind the speakers, performing at low volume, but could not get rid of the ringing completely. I know it was the mixer because that was the only thing that had been changed. What kind of jokers make things like this? I know that a lot of you said that you would never buy anything from this co. and I have joined you. I'm taking my Spirit with me wherever i go.

[JFreak]

sorry to hear that, but you should always ask what console you have in use when you go to mix something. maybe you really learnt a valuable lesson about this, and behringers? if so, good for you.

i'm personally taking my protools rig whenever i go to mix something and will not need more than 16 tracks. spirits are fine, i know them by heart, but whenever i can, i choose to mix in protools

[Larryboy]

Maybe I should have mentioned that this was a live performance, not recording.

[whereO219O]

Now you know why Behringer gets bashed so much...4th rate rippoff junk, that even at the insae cheap prices they charge is not worth it.

[Icabod]

You didn't mention monitors...pretty rare to get feedback from mains unless the mics are in front of them.
When you cut the highs, the ringing went down, but not away, correct?
Could have been a bad cable in the mix? Maybe from the board to the power amp, or whatever was plugged in between?
Were acoustic guitars a part of this?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending the B-word, but I am thinking that if the Spirit was gone, maybe it was replaced in an attempt to fix this problem??
I would find out why the Spirit was replaced.
Just my thoughts, could be the the board you were working with was just a piece!!!

[Gkyaun]

quite the contrary, ive had wonderful experiances with Behringer. they arent as durable as other brands, but they are pretty dang cheap, and when you have no job like me, they do the job.

[martian]

I only used a behringer once- my immediate thoughts was it was a bit ugly- but having used a Yammy 02R it was pretty easy to get around and seemed usable- had a fair few effects thrown in and was pretty cheap!!

obviously not one for the "gold ear" crowd as did not cost loads of gold....

maybe something else was going wrong? dare I say operator error? incorrect wiring- internal patching can cause these types of noises!!!

[DJ Insomaniac]

sounds like a classic case of "holy crap, that mic is WAY too hot"

happend to the best of us, myself included. I've never had this problem on a Behringer. I have a smaller one, i only get added noise when I have the gain up all the way with the faders all the way up, even then it's only a few of the more used channels. Granted, it's not that robust, but it does what it's built for.

Given the coice, I'd take a Mackie, but this was bought when i was on a really tight budget. It works, it sounds fine, not excellent and beautiful, just fine. It doesn't crap up my mix, it just works, and simply at that. They degrade fast if you'r enot careful, though. I've used one that was just on the verge of dying. Not fun.

[Larryboy]

I don't think that the ringing was feedback since it was on every mic, a high picthed soft noise was that lasted a second or two, almost like a high-pitched reverb on both channels (no effects going at that time). Come to think of it, the gain on the mics was turned up pretty high because the volume going through was quite low. IE, there was very little gain put out by the preamps and even with the trim turned up to 3:00 the input volume was quite low. It was a small room so I didn't need much volume, I think the vocal was turned to 12:00, guitar to 2:00 and my sax to 10:00. I'm going to ask my friend at the place if they've had complaints from other musicians. It was just such a head-banging experience, me being part of the performing duet and having to get the board right trying to eliminate this terrible sound. One positive note, I used my iBook and Logic for the effects loop, using the Space Designer for the reverb, man that was swwet, absolutely the most natural reverb my friend and I have ever used live. My M-One might be regulated to dust collecting after this experience.

[K-Man]

quite the contrary, ive had wonderful experiances with Behringer. they arent as durable as other brands, but they are pretty dang cheap, and when you have no job like me, they do the job.



It's like comparing "Audiovox" to "Bang & Olufson" in home audio systems. There's just no reasonable comparison! The gear works the best it can for it's total dollar amount. You get what you pay for.

If you're a seasoned pro and are picky about your audio, save up and get what you want & need. Do the research before you buy (or work a venue). If you don't, you will then just have to deal with it. I have a Behringer UB2442FX at home for a backup. It does the job when I need it too. I have to setup and tweak more than I'd like to. But it works, and that's that. At least Behringer is there as a saving option. And many people out there use that option from time to time. That's one of the reasons why they're so successful.

But one shouldn't rip on a company that's geared towards the budget minded musician and/or beginner. Instead, rip on the pros that are just too cheap and refuse to, even though they have more than enough money, get something worthwhile like an A&H, Soundcraft, Mackie or what not to mix from as their first choice.