Behringer MIC100 Mic pre. ANY THOUGHTS??

[Gregg Juke]

+1 on Behringer gear being very reliable, in my experience, if not being as good as gear that costs 20X as much. That's a no-brainer. I know a lot of people have given them and Mackie bad reviews, but really, the few things I've owned (and still do) are fine, albeit not SSL, Neve, API, Altec, Grace, Langevin, etc., etc., etc.

+1 (2X) on the ART Tube MP. Also because you can change the tubes and boost the quality that much more. It's a pre-amp and a DI and we like ours.
I said DI, not API.

GJ

[changeng]

for the fact that if your client starts researching and sees your recommendation of a Behringer is hated in many circles he may question your opinion, you'd do him and yourself a solid by reco'ing a small soundcraft unit -

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Notepad102

they're cheap, they sound good, have a decent rep and are quite useful even if he expands to better units in the future.

[jgimbel]

I used to have a Behringer mixer, active DI, and a few other pieces. They've all either fallen apart or been gotten rid of in one way or another. When I had the mixer, it was the center of my rig, and despite being on a super low budget at the time and therefore getting for the most part what I could afford, the Behringer had to go ASAP. It was just one of those things that I could never get anything to sound usable with. I do personally not care for Behringer gear at all, but I found an Alesis mixer I owned at one point to not be much better at all. As I worked in my low budget, I always came across (as one still will) recommendations "just save your money and get something nicer, it'll sound better and last longer". If I had stopped using Behringer gear earlier, I think my progress into being really happy with the sounds I can get would have started much sooner. Sound is one thing, if it's the right price then you can often work with some sound issues. But tack on the build quality, and I'd take most things over a Behringer. A lot of companies I've had less than favorable experience with at least have one or two pieces of gear in their lines that I think are redeeming, but I've yet to find something in Behringer's gear that does that for me. I did hear a Bugera amp that I didn't think was terrible though, honestly.

[ott0bot]

Definatley go towards something like the ART Tube MP (i like the project series actually). Presonus Blue preamps are decent for the money as well.

Personally, I would not recomend the behringer, it will fall apart over the course of either a couple of uses or years(if your lucky). Cheap input jacks, and low quality connections, not to mention the cheapest components money can buy. not worth it, IMO.

[BrontoSoreAss]

Not sure of his current set up since he has not told me of any changes since the last purchase that i secured for him about 2 yeasr ago. but at that time I set him up with a PTHD1 package with a Lynx Aurora 16 A-d/D-a converter.

Maybe it's just me but it seems silly to primarily use a cheap/mediocre (ie. Behringer, Art, etc...) pre with a converter as nice as that.

[Snarl 12/8]

I've been guilty of buying a couple Behringer things. Even though I've regretted them both, I might do it again someday, but if I was a consultant I surely wouldn't stake my reputation on theirs without a huge disclaimer.

I used to run my bass through my Composer Pro in the rig (after trying it in general use on the mixer inserts). I would spend half an hour dialing in what I thought was a pretty slamming sound. Then, just to be sure I'd hit bypass to make sure it was getting better. Every single time I preferred the bypassed version. It's basically a one space "tone suck" unit with a lot of knobs for dialing in exactly the suckage you're looking for.

I'm sitting here, literally looking at that comp and pondering patching it into my "upstairs office" recording rig to get the occasional "compression as effect" action on the drums or bass. I can't quite bring myself to do it.

[JeffT]

Not sure of his current set up since he has not told me of any changes since the last purchase that i secured for him about 2 yeasr ago. but at that time I set him up with a PTHD1 package with a Lynx Aurora 16 A-d/D-a converter.

Maybe it's just me but it seems silly to primarily use a cheap/mediocre (ie. Behringer, Art, etc...) pre with a converter as nice as that.

Again I am trying to set him up with something that would give him more bang for his bucks.. If his budget was larger I would not be looking at low (loooooooooooow) cost options but rather focus on quality and great performance items. That being the case I jumped on here to test the waters before moving forward.

thanks for all the responses so far.

[casey campbell]

dude, just do the art tube mp...it's $30 on amazon and gets great reviews.

and like the previous guy said, if you need a converter to boot, then here ya go....$68 and the reviews are solid on it as well:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4 ... eries.html

[BrontoSoreAss]

Again I am trying to set him up with something that would give him more bang for his bucks.. If his budget was larger I would not be looking at low (loooooooooooow) cost options but rather focus on quality and great performance items.

I just don't understand how his budget can only allow for a behringer pre when he has a $3000 converter... budgeting seems a bit out of wack to me...I really don't get the logic at work here.

Anyways... if he really needs some "bang for his [very few] bucks" he should consider a used small format mixer (mackie, toa etc.). They're easy to find used for very little money, he'll get multiple pre's, eq and a ton more flexibility.

Although I have to say if I was in his place, which I understand to be (correct me if I'm wrong here...) having no money to spend on equipment he actually needs, while sitting on an expensive converter which he apparently does not have the means to take advantage of (ie. he can only feed it with a mediocre signal path which likely won't be getting much better anytime soon...) I would likely sell the converter, get a cheaper one then use the ton of money I now have on something more useful to my situation.

[JeffT]

Again I am trying to set him up with something that would give him more bang for his bucks.. If his budget was larger I would not be looking at low (loooooooooooow) cost options but rather focus on quality and great performance items.

I just don't understand how his budget can only allow for a behringer pre when he has a $3000 converter... budgeting seems a bit out of wack to me...I really don't get the logic at work here.

Anyways... if he really needs some "bang for his [very few] bucks" he should consider a used small format mixer (mackie, toa etc.). They're easy to find used for very little money, he'll get multiple pre's, eq and a ton more flexibility.

Although I have to say if I was in his place, which I understand to be (correct me if I'm wrong here...) having no money to spend on equipment he actually needs, while sitting on an expensive converter which he apparently does not have the means to take advantage of (ie. he can only feed it with a mediocre signal path which likely won't be getting much better anytime soon...) I would likely sell the converter, get a cheaper one then use the ton of money I now have on something more useful to my situation.

that is not the case. If he wanted to spend the money on a high quality device NOW he would.

When I refer to his budget, it is a dollar amount that I created in order to get the job done. A person tells me what they are looking to do and then I come up with a price range in order to achieve the best results.

Again, at the moment his use of his gear is for PERSONAL use only. I recommend and secured the Lynx converter plus the other components for his PT rig since he spoke of possibly bringing in other people to record and maybe even selling time in his space in the future. His issue now is that ever now and then he wants to use a mic that needs phantom power. Still not ready to hire himself or the space out yet and probably will not do so for a few more years. So in order to bridge that gap, i'm just looking for an low cost product to help.

[iC]

I doubt a behringer pre could handle percussion transients and still offer any kind of functional signal to noise ratio.

Go with the Sytek. One is better off with high end pres into low end conversion, rather than crap pre's into high end conversion.

People have offered many functional options, though you seem pretty sold on (un)behringer(able). Why? Budgets are guidelines, like laws they get fudged on all the time.

[KennyLusk]

I doubt a behringer pre could handle percussion transients and still offer any kind of functional signal to noise ratio.

this is a good point and very true IME. The ultragain can't handle percussion transients very well at all and more often than not it clips instead of distorting. Not the kind of thing that's very acceptable.

[JeffT]

I doubt a behringer pre could handle percussion transients and still offer any kind of functional signal to noise ratio.

Go with the Sytek. One is better off with high end pres into low end conversion, rather than crap pre's into high end conversion.

People have offered many functional options, though you seem pretty sold on (un)behringer(able). Why? Budgets are guidelines, like laws they get fudged on all the time.

??? Sold on the Behringer. Not the case at all. If it was, I would not be seeking reviews/comments on it and I would just go buy it.

Also he would not be using this pre on percussion instruments, only for when he is looking to do ruff vocals using a mic from his collection that needs some phantom power..

The only issue that I am SOLD on is finding a low cost item that will serve his needs at the moment. Trust me I would rather go with a higher priced piece of gear since my end commission would reflect that. But I would not be doing a service to the people that I work with if I'm only looking to pad my wallet and give them something that is above budget and ends up collecting dust in the corner.

[the finger genius]

Does he already have a pre for other mics that don't use phantom?

[JeffT]

Does he already have a pre for other mics that don't use phantom?

Still trying to locate my past notes on his set up. And as I mentioned before I have requested a new spec sheet on all that he has so I can kept current with his future needs.

At the time of the original PT purchase ( 1yr and half ago) I had recommend buying a simple mixer like a Mackie 1604 to put in the chain, but he said that he already had something to feed his mic output to the A-D's. Again, not sure what it is since I can not find my notes at the moment, but it does not provide phantom power.