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Hi guys, does someone know if Behringer ub1832 fx is a good choice for a recording studio?, if isn't could you teel me why, couse i'm about to buy it, please any replays will help me.
thanks

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CoyoteTrax Sat, 06/18/2005 - 06:45

I have nothing but good things to say about the UB series boards. If you take the time to learn how to properly use gain staging on those boards and you're matching impedences correctly in your signal path you will have absolutely no problem with noise and it's a very useable tool.

The pre's are decent if you're looking for something that doesn't color the sound in any way and is relatively transparent. For the money it's not a bad buy but you might want to consider a Soundcraft Compact 10 as well. MusiciansFriend is blowing them out for about the same price ($179?) and they're a bit of a better board in my opinion.

KurtFoster Sat, 06/18/2005 - 08:38

You're kidding? :roll:
When I hear people tout a board or mic pre by saying things like ...

"If you take the time to learn how to properly use gain staging on those boards and you're matching impedences correctly in your signal path you will have absolutely no problem with noise and it's a very useable tool ..... The pre's are decent if you're looking for something that doesn't color the sound in any way and is relatively transparent.
"

.... I just have to smile. There is not one modern pre amp or mixer on the market that this cannot be said about. It's kind of like saying, "Date my sister, she has a pulse". It doesn't guarantee that she doesn't smell bad or have a face that looks like a mud fence. The first question I would ask is why do you feel you need a mixer and what are you going to do with it? If you are going to track with it, don't expect to get radio friendly recordings. The second question to ask is does it sound good? The answer is NO!


For the money it's not a bad buy but you might want to consider a Soundcraft Compact 10 as well. MusiciansFriend is blowing them out for about the same price ($179?) and they're a bit of a better board in my opinion.

Well a little better in terms of build quality, QC and customer service but if you are talking about the sound, yeah a bit of an improvment but still no cigar. These small mixers really are fine for PA or monitoring DAW inputs but I would not pass a signal to a recorder through one if I had any other option.

Guest Sat, 06/18/2005 - 09:57

The bottom line is...
Well Behringer. :lol:
Berhinger is the bottom line, there is hardly anything out that is as bottom line as Behringer. They cut every corner possible. And then some
They are the last and bottom option. There are a few others that suck almost as much, but Behringer has them beat too.

CoyoteTrax Sat, 06/18/2005 - 18:26

Kurt Foster wrote: You're kidding? :roll:
When I hear people tout a board or mic pre by saying things like ...

"If you take the time to learn how to properly use gain staging on those boards and you're matching impedences correctly in your signal path you will have absolutely no problem with noise and it's a very useable tool ..... The pre's are decent if you're looking for something that doesn't color the sound in any way and is relatively transparent.
"

.... I just have to smile. There is not one modern pre amp or mixer on the market that this cannot be said about. It's kind of like saying, "Date my sister, she has a pulse". It doesn't guarantee that she doesn't smell bad or have a face that looks like a mud fence. The first question I would ask is why do you feel you need a mixer and what are you going to do with it? If you are going to track with it, don't expect to get radio friendly recordings. The second question to ask is does it sound good? The answer is NO!


For the money it's not a bad buy but you might want to consider a Soundcraft Compact 10 as well. MusiciansFriend is blowing them out for about the same price ($179?) and they're a bit of a better board in my opinion.

Well a little better in terms of build quality, QC and customer service but if you are talking about the sound, yeah a bit of an improvment but still no cigar. These small mixers really are fine for PA or monitoring DAW inputs but I would not pass a signal to a recorder through one if I had any other option.

Then perhaps you could recommend something else in that price range that's worth mentioning, Kurt.

This is the "Budget Gear" section after all. Perhaps in your vast experience and supreme knowledge you could enlighten us all (or at least me) as to what is a better mixer in that price range.

Personally, I have a UB that I use from time to time and I'm always surprised at how useful it is for the money. But that's just me and I'm not quite as hung as you are.

anonymous Sat, 06/18/2005 - 19:10

I am not Kurt, but I guess I can answer that one anyway. No, there is nothing decent in that price range at all. I have found the Allen and Heath stuff acceptable, but I usually say: Nothing less than a Midas console. That said, if you are starting out you might as well pick up a Behringer. If you find out that making recordings are your bag of tea, you will be looking at huge investments in gear and the Behringer will go first.
Truth be told, Behringer IS the low end but not all Behringer products are truly bad. Some products actually work OK but I wouldn´t exactly call them great. The mixers are among the less fortunate stuff they make. They do however make a digital mixer.. a 32whatnot thingie that makes a decent quick and dirty monitoring mixer in a budget project studio. Monitoring is not recording. These are different concepts. By the way, are you completely sure you actually need a mixer?

anonymous Sat, 06/18/2005 - 19:29

Hey if it does the job you got it for ...... well cool !

If it doesn't or you don't like the way it sounds well that is another story

Is it the best on the market...no, however if that is not something that bothers you...well !

Some people want to car to get them form A to B.

Others want a Porsch or a Lamborghini Testerosterone.

As long as you are happy with it and it dose the job in hand...go for it !!

Guest Sun, 06/19/2005 - 04:30

Dr_Simon wrote: As long as you are happy with it...

I totaly agree with you and eletro80. But I would like to add, that happy today and happy tommorrow does NOT mean a happy future. And sometimes it doesn't take long, sometimes a yearish or so. Reguardless, when you've sunk all that money in gear, and you can't get a sound worth a damn. And you were atleast expecting something, better than what it is capiable of.
Then it becomes an issue of,
"Damn, what do I do now?" :cry: :oops:
"How much money to upgrade?" :shock: :cry:
"Why didn't I think this through?" :oops:
"I need to stop going to the Budget Gear forums @ RO." :lol: :x

But being serious again. I hope it works out for you man.

anonymous Sun, 06/19/2005 - 05:00

I totally agree, having had my own bits of behringer kit. Although I dont have any in my critical path at present, I did find the that, when starting out the channel strip was a big step up from the pres on the D1200 / D1600 I was working with.

Saying that I know a couple of people who make their living as recording engineers who use Behringer desks as part of their live rigs and get some great results.

CoyoteTrax Sun, 06/19/2005 - 07:59

Budget gear allows guys to start tracking and learning right here and now instead of saving up for a year to buy a bunch of stuff they're not really sure how to use yet because of skill level or experience...or whatever.

How many guys that are now using a Ghost desk and Distressors started out with a Tascam Porta 02 and a Radio Shack mic?

Probably quite a few.

Ya gotta start somewhere.

KurtFoster Sun, 06/19/2005 - 10:09

CoyoteTrax wrote: Then perhaps you could recommend something else in that price range that's worth mentioning, Kurt.

This is the "Budget Gear" section after all. Perhaps in your vast experience and supreme knowledge you could enlighten us all (or at least me) as to what is a better mixer in that price range.

Personally, I have a UB that I use from time to time and I'm always surprised at how useful it is for the money. But that's just me and I'm not quite as hung as you are.

First off, there's no need to be sarcastic or insulting. I usually find that when people resort to personal insults they don't have anything else to offer. It's usually a last ditch effort.

I'm sorry if you feel I intentionally set out to offended your sensibilities or to make you feel in some way that I was invalidating your selection of gear. That's not my intentions at all .. so please stop projecting your own sense on inadequacy into my remarks. You are the one who makes that connection in your mind That's not at all what I was saying.

Second off, no there is nothing in that price range that's really worth a sh*t.

As for this being the Budget Forum ... it's what it says .. Budget Forum not the Crap Foum!

On a budget? That most likely means you're going to be on a budget for some time in the future. What's the point of wasting money on something that will not retain value, sounds sh*tty and will more than likely fail the nanosecond the warranty has lapsed.? I read your posts and gear recommendations and it all reads to me like some Guitar Center rep pushing garbage. That's why I asked you if you were kidding.

CoyoteTrax wrote:
Budget gear allows guys to start tracking and learning right here and now instead of saving up for a year to buy a bunch of stuff they're not really sure how to use yet because of skill level or experience ... or whatever.

How many guys that are now using a Ghost desk and Distressors started out with a Tascam Porta 02 and a Radio Shack mic?

Sounds like more Guitar Center hyperbole. You really should stop pay attention to anything they tell you over there.

Distressor :?:

OK well built, I just personally don't like them.
I wouldn't say The Ghost is a console to look at either. Some guys like it and it is defiantly a step or five in the right direction from any Behringer mixer but seriously until you get into the +$20,000 area there are no new mixers worth passing a signal through to the recorder. If all it's good for is a monitor section then a simple built like a tank and will last for years Mackie 1604 will do.

You can look around for a used console but then you have to keep it running. Sometimes this is just not worth it. It's good money after bad.

I started out with what was called back "before dirt" semi pro equipment. Dynamic mics, Teac and Tascam mixers, Dokkorder Tascam and Fostex recorders, forget about reverb or digital delays. They didn't exist. It was real cool when I got a BI AMP Quad limiter and a BOSS analog delay line.. I wuz in Heaven :!:

So I understand all this but back "BD" (before dirt) at least the companies and the marketing was a bit more honest. They called a spade a spade.. it's semi pro gear. Now days everything is "pro quality" .... shessh! yeah right! Gimmie a break!

CoyoteTrax Sun, 06/19/2005 - 11:31

Well, to be honest, Kurt, I just hink you're "full of it" man. It's just my opinion of course.

You were, in fact, very insulting in your first post on this thread and you were insulting to me specifically. You directly implied that my reply to the post was incorrect or inappropriate which is untrue. What I said was perfectly valid in every way and hopefully was helpful to the person that started this thread. And you are continuing to be insulting toward me in this particular thread by saying that I "...probably don't have anything else to offer." You say you didn't intentionally set out to invalidate the selection of gear but yet that is absolutely what you are doing. You even re-enforced that slant by saying "there is nothing in that price range that's really worth a sh*t." which is also completely untrue. Perhaps you wouldn't use something in this price range yourself, but that's completely irrelevant to initial question. Your arrogance is showing.

My experience with the few Behringer items I own (which happens to be a board in the same series this person posted their question about) is the board lasts well beyond the warranty and becomes more and more useful in recording engineering as you work with it and learn more about it as a tool. It is absolutely not a waste of money and that's a fact.

You are making assertions that are absolutely incorrect and giving this guy bad advice. If you don't work with the board this fella is asking about then you have no business commenting on it. By defaulto-facto you have no clue what you're talking about because you're not currently working with this particular piece of gear. Whether or why you "would" or "would not" work with a Behringer UB board is completely irrelevant to this thread.

You further attempted to insult me by saying that I sounded "like a Guitar Center rep pushing garbage." How is that Not insulting...toward me...And toward Guitar Center reps? It's a direct insult. You went on even further to say I should "stop paying attention to anything they tell me over there." Now, let me clear up the fact that I am not a GC rep, nor am I a rep for anyone. And I don't post about things I don't directly know about or have real-life experience with.

But I can say this just from reading what you've posted: That you seem to be out of touch with what can be accomplished using budget gear because statements like "...until you get into the +$20,000 area there are no new mixers worth passing a signal through to the recorder." are absolutely untrue and indicate to me unequivocally that you have no clue what you're talking about.

After reading statements like that I get the impression you aren't actively engineering anything. I hope that's not true, but that's how it sounds to me.

In the end, this thread was a simple question about whether or not the Behringer UB1832FX is a good board for a studio. I have experience with the UB series and own a UB board and I'm of the opinion that for the money it's a great tool that can be very useful.

True story, believe it or not. :)

KurtFoster Sun, 06/19/2005 - 12:39

Again with more direct personal insults. You should work on arguing the questions and issues, not the person.

You were, in fact, very insulting in your first post on this thread and you were insulting to me specifically. You directly implied that my reply to the post was incorrect or inappropriate which is untrue.

Hey! You offered your opinion. I don't agree with you. I think it's a POS mmmm-kay? I have a right to speak my mind, You want to post an opinion on a BB? You run the risk of being called out to back it up, that's the nature of the beast. If you can't stand the heat .....

Ok you're right! Behringer is the best stuff on the planet, Guitar Center only sells the best stuff in the world and the sales reps always know all the answers and will give you a great deal no matter how savvy you are or aren't and I'm full of it ... happy?

One of three things IMO 1) you're a schill sent at the behest of rack crap manufacturers to tout crappy gear (it happens all the time) 2) your a deaf moron (we get these all the time too) or
3) you are very young and inexperienced. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are young and inexperienced and have obviously never been exposed to really good equipment. Otherwise you would know better. You attitude belies your youthful ignorance. It must be wonderful to be so young and to know everything.

I might be full of it and out of touch ... but at least I can say I have seen both sides of the issue ... semi pro budget gear and the high end and I'm here to say there is defiantly something to the high end. It sounds better, has more depth and dimension, last and lasts (just try to have one of those board assemblies in any cheap mixer repaired after the product is no longer in production) and is easier to work with. For every person who claims their Behringer gear has lasted past warranty, there's another who will say it was a POS that died the first day. Behringer doesn't even ask questions, they just send a new one out as a replacement. But after the warranty is expired, you're screwed! There's no fixing those things.

There's a lot of hyperbole flying around about low end gear and most of it you have repeated verbatim in your past posts ... things like:

"If you take the time to learn how to properly use gain staging on those boards and you're matching impedences correctly in your signal path you will have absolutely no problem with noise and it's a very useable tool ..... The pre's are decent if you're looking for something that doesn't color the sound in any way and is relatively transparent.

Again I ask, what piece of modern gear is there that this cannot be said of? Yeah, my Sister has a pulse ... with good gear, these things are not as critical ... more room for margin of error, you do not need to coax the sweet spot out of a cheesy IC ... of course, you probably don't know that not having ever being exposed to a room full of great gear for any length of time longer than a few hours at best, if at all.

Budget gear allows guys to start tracking and learning right here and now instead of saving up for a year to buy a bunch of stuff they're not really sure how to use yet because of skill level or experience ... or whatever.

Youthful impatience. I've heard that all before too. Congratulations on memorizing the "party line". There is so much wrong with that line of logic I don't know where to start. Lessons learned on crap often only apply to crap gear. A lot of the song and dance needed to coax even a reasonable recording out of this kind of gear is simply unnecessary with good equipment.

What is so wrong with saving up for a year and getting something good that will hold it's value and last forever? Is it so important to achieve instant gratification? Are not good things worth waiting for? Is it not important to learn to set and achieve goals any more? Of course this may be a foreign concept to you having only left Mommie and Daddy in the past few years.

I asked why he needs a mixer in the first place ... and I still question that he does. It's you that may be out of touch .... The whole idea of DAW is to avoid mixers for the most part.. Let's see here. Any major records out there mixed on a Behringer .... uh, I don't think so. On the other hand, how many major releases have been done in the past year completely in the box?

Do yourself a favor and contact any large studio owner and ask them why they don't use Behringer gear ...

_______________
I think it's your head exploding!

anonymous Sun, 06/19/2005 - 13:50

I understood the initial question to be something like: Is a Behringer mixer OK for use as the main recording console?

The answer is :No

I will not argue that it is possible to use a Behringer mixer for various tasks. Even with success. At least these things have little noise and when they stop working you can throw them away and and buy a new one.

I have in fact had to use Behringer mixers several times. I am not impressed. I can not truthfully say they sound OK. I should add that I actually think a lot of products in the low end are unsuitable for use in a recording studio. They might be just what the doctor ordered for use in a no budget hobbyist music room or for some less critical PA purposes.

I must add that I don´t think Behringer has done a bad job on these mixers. They actually almost work as advertised and they are basically free. That does however not make them good.

Stop kicking poor Kurt in his face. He might have phrased his first reply a tad on the creative site, but he is basically telling it like it is.

CoyoteTrax Sun, 06/19/2005 - 13:56

See, it's as I surmised. All 3 of the opinions you posted about me are incorrect. There you go again.

And I sure hope the people in this forum that are young, ambitious and making kick-ass rock n roll music aren't offended that you feel youth is such a negative thing. That's a generalization they probably don't appreciate.

I think you may have offended a lot of people when you enumerated your predjudices.

What I was trying to illustrate actually is that if you're not actively working with some of the latest low budget gear out there and tracking with it then you really have no businesses offering opinions about it because you don't have current and authentic experience. You're just spouting off what you've read or what you've heard, or maybe what your experience was 10 years ago or so.

The challenge of having to work hard in a tracking session is an excercise that keeps one's love alive for the art of making recordings. How boring it must be for you to go in and not ever have to work hard to coax the sweet spot out of a piece of gear?

It can safely be said that money can make life a lot easier sometimes and it sounds like your philosophy (in part) may be that if you spend enough money you'll have a great record.

There are less and less modern records produced by the major labels you speak so lovingly of that are nearly as exciting as some of the records being launched by the independent and unsigned groups in this world. Not nearly as exciting.

If you think the latest Coldplay record (for example) sounds nearly as exciting as say "dynomike's" latest EP then I would be of the opinion that your taste leans toward the overproduced glassy Hollywood sound that is squeezed out of a machine like a bag of chips. Sort of a Britney Spears sound. The Geurillas are making the real records these days. The sounds coming out of home recording studio's are getting more exciting every day and those very musicians, those indie musicians would all argue that.

No matter anyway. As I said before, if you're not using the equipment we're talking about then your opinion isn't valid anyway.

anonymous Sun, 06/19/2005 - 14:07

CoyoteTrax wrote: Budget gear allows guys to start tracking and learning right here and now instead of saving up for a year to buy a bunch of stuff they're not really sure how to use yet because of skill level or experience ... or whatever.

This is a valid point.

Kurt Foster wrote: Lessons learned on crap often only apply to crap gear. A lot of the song and dance needed to coax even a reasonable recording out of this kind of gear is simply unnecessary with good equipment.

This is also a valid point.

CoyoteTrax Sun, 06/19/2005 - 18:28

Eh, "poor Kurt", that's an overstatement. Kurt posts more negative stuff around these boards than most that I've noticed. He just doesn't seem to contribute in a positive way.

There are a lot of threads where you'll find him absolutely bashing this "piece of crap" or that "piece of crap" and it's just not helpful.

There are a lot of people making really cool recordings with crappy gear. Low budget, cheap, crappy gear. But they're laying their songs down and learning and grooving along the way. That a positive thing. It's nice when people just leave it at that and look at the art as art and not like "oh, but a major label would never pick up that record because it sounds like sh*t."

It's the expression that counts, not so much the gear that was used to record it.

At least people can pop a few bucks to be able to express themselves. Not everybody's goal is to make hit records and sign up with Hollywood. Remember? There are still some people out there just doing it for fun.

And people like Kurt can't just let people have their fun sometimes. I feel sorry for the dude (in some ways)...and others' like him. When your fun comes from making fun of others', life must really suck.

The fact remains in the end that there is a large group of people that simply cannot afford even a $300 mixer or can't even think about spending $1,000 for 2 channels of quality mic pre's. They simply can't afford it. They can't even get close to having the expendable income for that. So Kurt would rather that they just didn't record at all then. That's someone who has lost the knowledge of what the joy of life is. That's pathetic.

It's so much more positive to support someone's decision making process when they're in the market for low budget gear and then answer their questions along the way as they're recording their music and learning about tracking and mic placement and depth of field and arrangement and envisioning the sonic canvass as they're working with (and learning) the basics. Share your knowledge with others on Their level, not Your level. That's what helps people get their groove on.

There are plenty of threads about "should I buy a Distressor instead of an 1172?" And "what's the difference?" Or "Should I buy the Sebatron or Hamptone mic pre's?"

Share your knowledge with others on Their level, not Yours. And do so in a way that's not degrading.

anonymous Mon, 06/20/2005 - 03:32

HansAm wrote:

Is this how every American comunicate?

looks like it, i am curious too...

hmm, it's a dificult one, i can see often kurts point, pushing the "real" gear a step ahead and being fuzzy about pristine quality, fine...

but on the other hand i agree that it seems that kurt has problems to comunicate with budget or entry-level guys under us, yepp i agree behringer is shite, but talking of 20.000 dollar plus boards in the budget section in this forum????????????????????????????????? it's a little bit deplaced isn't it?

whereby the whole thing reminds me of a topic i just read in the mastering section of RO, i feel the need to copy and paste it over here, to cheer the mood a little up to concentrate on the important, making and recording music, if you budget allows you to use a behringer, then use it, and i think you are very aware that you don't purchase a top notch piece of gear in the long run... n'ough said.

just always remember:
michael fossenkemper wrote:

It's not about promoting fast food, it's about getting the most out of the gear you have. I don't necessarily need to own a ferrari to be a good driver. If you know how to use and not use certain types of cheap gear, there is no reason that it can't sound good. Once you can make it sound good, then you step it up with better gear. I think this is an important learning experience. Rely on your skills and know how instead of a piece of gear. I'm not advicating buying cheap gear here. All I'm saying is use your brain and your ears to make it sound good.

Maybe some of you have never been in a situation where you have limited gear but still need to pull it off. I've been on a tour bus with nothing more than a laptop, a 57, and a joe meek VC1 preamp that I had to rig to run off the bus's battery. I'm talking windows 32 laptop. I recorded a lead vocal while driving down the freeway at 70mph because he felt that he needed to put it down right then while it was fresh. we ended up using that vocal on the record. Was it the best sounding vocal ever? no. But it did not sound like crap, in fact it sounded pretty good.

even the best gear has limitations, you have to know what those are and be able to use it in a way that makes it sound the best it can. It doesn't mean crap gear is good, it means the person behind the gear is good.

sorry michael hope it's fine with you to drag this excellent and all essential statement into this section of RO.

thanks so much for that michael,
axel junkuhn

Guest Mon, 06/20/2005 - 04:10

axel wrote: but talking of 20.000 dollar plus boards in the budget section in this forum?it's a little bit deplaced isn't it?

Sheeeesh! What kind of a budget is that. A squirel could run around the park and pick up enough pennies to by gear with that type of budget.
I'm guessing you meant to type $200.00. Or maybe that was suppost to be $20,000. But just the same, what budget gear is to one guy, is not what another conciders budget gear. And no one is talking about any $20,000 board on this post.
Is something "budget gear" just because someone refuses to spend any "real amount" of money? So any loose change I find in the living room couch will do?
In my opinion "budget gear" is what is in your budget. Not "what is in your pocket".

I need a guitar amp. The one I want is $1600. But I only have about 50 bucks to my name at the moment. Is it in my budget?
Sure, but only because I will live to make enough money to "someday" buy it. Not today, not tomorrow, but in my lifetime.
Unless there is any change left over in the couch in the basement :shock: !
Then I can just forget about saving up for quality gear. And go and get me a Behring*r "clone" machine. That does it all, just as good :x NOT

HansAm Mon, 06/20/2005 - 04:41

Hm. I dont think i agree with your interpretation of "budget".
"budget"-stuff is in my opinion things the average man/woman can buy on impulse or without seriouse saving without starving half to death the following month.
Budget products will land fair close to the term "consumer products". Consumer products will land fair close to crap.
But they work, atleast for a while, and then you throw them away.
-
Back to the initial question.
Well. if we for a moment forget that its a behringer..
The ub1832 is a "allround/live" mixer. thats not what you want in your home studio. The 9-band graph. EQ? for what? Dont need it.
Realy. you need to give us some more information.
Will you be using analog equipment with this mixer? like tape-recorder, compressors, gates, reverbs and such? or is the mixer just for the pre-amps?

If you will be doing everything on a computer you only need some pre's with a gain control...

M-audio, Terratek, presonus. They have stuff like that, consumer stuff.

KurtFoster Mon, 06/20/2005 - 10:37

Yeah, that's the question I asked in the first place and where I was trying to go before the thread got hijacked with an onslaught of personal insults.

Why do you think you need this mixer ?.. Most of what it offers is redundant when used with a DAW.
So what are you recording to? Is it a stand alone system or a DAW?

There are a few other solutions that are just as cost effective that will yield better results.

The challenge of having to work hard in a tracking session is an excercise that keeps one's love alive for the art of making recordings. How boring it must be for you to go in and not ever have to work hard to coax the sweet spot out of a piece of gear?

yeah ... it's a drag only having to focus on the music and the talent.

________________
Luke, you're cracking me up! :D

anonymous Mon, 06/20/2005 - 10:54

yepp, personel insults should stay out, agreed.

and yepp i like kurt and his high end attitude...
but agree also to HansAm that 20.000 dollars in my eyes are not budget, for this section of RO!!
of course it's pennys if you have 5 million to spend on a studio, where is the relation here??? 20.000 dollar is pennys if you would post in the pro gear section!! IMHO (i just felt that the answer in this context is a bit strange, but maybee i am wrong)
but the question was asked by someone who has probably (i assume) not even worth 20.000 dollar of gear.

that's all, and yes still the question open do you need a mixer for your set-up / work, still no reason to slag the "potential buying power" of someone off, who asks in the "budget gear section..."

peace :P

KurtFoster Mon, 06/20/2005 - 11:09

If I had a better idea of how the original poster wants to record, I could suggest a solution for under $1000 (maybe less?) that I bet would yield better results than anything recorded through and mixed through any Behringer piece of crud. They may not even need a mixer.

I myself do use some inexpensive pieces myself every day.

OK let's take a look at this Behringer mixer that lists for $299 but streets for $229.

* Ultra low-noise ULN design, highest possible headroom, ultra-transparent audio
* 6 new state-of-the-art, studio-grade IMP “Invisible” Mic Preamps with:
- 130 dB dynamic range for 24-bit, 192 kHz sampling rate inputs
- Ultra-wide 60 dB gain range
- Lowest possible distortion 0.0007% (20 Hz - 20 kHz)
* Integrated 24-bit digital stereo FX processor with 99 great-sounding VIRTUALIZER presets including reverb, delay, chorus, compressor, tube distortion, vinylizer and more plus 1 kHz test tone generator
* Breathtaking 3D stereo surround effect for more vitality and enhanced stereo image
* 9-band stereo graphic EQ allows precise frequency correction of monitor or main mixes
* Effective, extremely musical 3-band EQ with semi-parametric mid band plus switchable low-cut filter on all mono channels
* Inserts on each mono channel for flexible connection of outboard equipment
* 14 balanced high-headroom line inputs with +4/-10 level selection on stereo channels
* State-of-the-art 4580 operational amplifiers provide lowest noise and distortion—better than 4560 op amps
* 3 aux sends per channel: 1 pre fader for monitoring, 1 pre/post fader switchable for monitoring/FX applications, 1 post fader (for internal FX or as external send)
* Peak LEDs, mute, main mix and subgroup routing switches, solo and PFL functions on all channels
* 2 subgroups with separate outputs for added routing flexibility
* 2 multi-functional stereo aux returns with flexible routing
* Balanced main mix outputs with TRS and gold-plated XLR connectors, separate control room, headphones and stereo tape outputs
* Control room/phones outputs with multi-input source matrix
* Tape inputs assignable to main mix or control room/phones outputs
* Long-wearing 60 mm logarithmic-taper ALPS® faders and sealed rotary controls
* Internal switch-mode power supply for maximum flexibility (100 - 240 V~), noise-free audio, superior transient response plus lowest possible power consumption for energy saving
* Extremely rugged steel construction ensures long life even under the most demanding conditions
* Rack mount brackets included
* Manufactured under ISO9000 certified management system

All that for $299? Come on, it's gotta be a POS! The freaking chips and components are probably glued to the PCB which is probably a cheap piece it self ... there's no way there can be any kind of quality built into this thing. It's interesting that they have a can of fader lube included in the Accessories package .... hee heee hee
[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.123dj.co…"]link here[/]="http://www.123dj.co…"]link here[/]

A Brick pre amp will sound waaaaayy better ... sure it's only one channel.

CoyoteTrax Mon, 06/20/2005 - 14:08

The Brick is only 1 channel though. I know you said that already but I thought I would repeat it. The guy asked about a mixer so he must be thinking of needing more than one pre and a few line-in jacks or he'd be looking at a much smaller mixer.

What if the dude wants to do a submix on a drum kit and send that submix off to a compressor or antique line amp before printing to the DAW?

Or maybe he wants to mics (front and back) on a combo amp with a compressed room mic?

The mixer in question also has Line Gain and Level adjustment features which are really necessary when incorporating gear into your signal path that have different output voltages. Without that feature you may be stuck dealing with unnecessary line noise from vintage devices in the signal chain, or not enough Gain from the output of a synthesizer or keyboard or other low voltage devices.

It's a cheap way of allowing yourself more options to use other gear as you're involved in the "just getting started" phases of engineering recordings.

Heck, some guys start out with a $99 Tascam and a $3 Realistic mic they picked up at a garage sale. Gotta start somewhere man. I'd hate to discourage anyone from not starting at all just because you don't have the money.

Why recommend someone wait for next year when there may not be a next year? There are no guarantees the sun will rise tomorrow so "seize the day", right?

KurtFoster Mon, 06/20/2005 - 15:40

again,

At $299 it's gotta be a POS! The freaking chips and components are cheap and rated barley within spec for the design, they're probably glued to a cheapest of the cheap PCB. One good jerk on a connector and it's probably over .. the jacks are mounted to the PCB, again with glue (I'm not exaggerating, they glue components to these robot stuffed surface mount assemblies because the traces are so thin and delacte that a soldering gun would obleterate them) and not nutted to the case. Same with all the pots and faders. Don't plop a clipboard down on the face of one of these things.

Last but not least, Behringer is selling this POS as a PA mixer. It's not even intended asa studio mixer and as such it probably doesn't have CR sends or TB facillitys. A Mackie SR 24 is the best little board around for this kind of application.

anonymous Tue, 06/21/2005 - 01:15

yeah,
certainly behringer is far away from being good gear, but you have to splash out quite a little more to get either a half decent direct multiple I/O interface with pres (and do your mixing within the DAW) or an at least mackie or soundcraft, which are for shure better than a B. if you really think you want to go for an outboard mixer the 12 or 16's mackies doing a good job for the money you pay... but i think they go for around 600 - 800 dollar (but not shure as i am not living in the states...)

KurtFoster Tue, 06/21/2005 - 07:52

I think we are still getting ahead of ourselves. We don't know what pepon wants to record, how many tracks at once ? Most likely only one or two because with the UB 1832fx you can only record 2 or 3 tracks anyhow as it's not a multiple bus mixer. If all pepon wants to do is record one or two tracks at a time, we may be able to suggest a solution like a couple Bricks, that would be waaaaaaay better.

I don't think that "Well, there's nothing else available for the money" is a very good criterion for selecting a piece of equipment. That kind of approach insures that the cheapest thing will be choosen. There's more to consider that what's the cheapest.

There I go again.

KurtFoster Tue, 06/21/2005 - 08:38

axel wrote: :D , where is PEPON? disappeared??

He might have been scared off by all the "off topic" flames. That is why it not good for people to personally attacking others on the BBs. Argue the issues, not the people.

Or .... perhaps pepon hasn't re appeared because the initial question was really bait to set up Coyote tracks positive response to a Behringer question? Do not think for one second that the people over at Behringer do not know how much negative response to their products is generated at RO. Do you really think that they wouldn't resort to this kind of tactic? This is a company that steals all their designs and has been accused of unfair labor practices ... I still think that Coyote Tracks is a schill for some type of a distributor. There I go again .....

Whether or not I or anyone else is "hung", "full of it", "out of touch", or their "opinion isn't valid", is never the issue. If people want to argue those points, they should start a thread on the subject.

The question was; "Is this Behringer mixer any good?"

Coyote Tracks offered an opinion. I offered an opposing opinion. It should have stayed there and not turned into a personal attack on me and the question of if I am "hung", "full of it", "out of touch", or my if "opinion isn't valid". pepon did not ask if I was "hung", "full of it", "out of touch", or my if "opinion is valid". He asked if the UB1832fx is any good.

Coyote Tracks took the opportunity to turn the whole thread into a Kurt bashing festival. Was that the intention in the first place and thus the baiting of a topic I was sure to respond to? Coyote Tracks spent far more time attempting to discredit me, suggesting I am not actively engineering and that because I don't eat a fresh crap sandwich every morning, I don't have enough insight to know whether or not it taste's like sh*t. I have seen this before from some manufacturers (one who registered as "Ferd Berffel" just to come after me without revealing his identity) and others who have vested interests in keeping me from pointing out the weaknesses of products like Behringer.

anonymous Tue, 06/21/2005 - 08:49

point well made, i agree...

it should be always about the topic, mind you we are all human, and i personally lost it a few times myself (apologies at this point to all i've might attacked!), naturally i think, if you read something that "cooks you up" like hmm... behringer (or in my very personal case steinberg, arrghhh..).

but nevermind, not to be off topic again, but it seems to happen often at RO that the initial holder of the question disappears during a 'discussion' which i think is odd, the whole show here is about discussing opinions, expertise and experience, right??

so guys DON'T BE SCARED, only because things are heating up a bit from time to time...

PEPON?? hello!!

HansAm Tue, 06/21/2005 - 11:01

Kurt Foster.. I dont think you should talk to loud about that. You were'nt exactly avoiding a conflict. more like pooring huge amounts of gasoline on a allready big anough fire.
You didnt directly call Coyote an idiot, but figrativly, very well illustrated.
Not very professional IMHO.

This hole personal conflict could have been and should have been avoided.

anonymous Tue, 06/21/2005 - 11:23

got some klotz?? --- hey just kiddin'

yeah of course, i think it's being said already, i agree with kurt often (when it comes to hardware), but i think too - that it got out of hand / communication skills to except the possibilities of a guy who saves hard bucks to do music... in the budget section, eh, i think i repeat myself here...

peace :D

and where the hell is PEPON ?? hello!