How are Behringer Mixers?

[Randy]

I'm sorry, but I'm not really sure why everybody here thinks Behringer mixers are so noisy.

Maybe it's a quality control thing. The two I have listened to were just plain noisy. The noise on the one I helped track with wasn't so noticeable when using just the preamp with a mic that had a good strong signal, but when it was used to submix drums, taking 4 mics and outputting one signal, it was a fizzy mess.

[Mradyfist]

Maybe it's a quality control thing. The two I have listened to were just plain noisy. The noise on the one I helped track with wasn't so noticeable when using just the preamp with a mic that had a good strong signal, but when it was used to submix drums, taking 4 mics and outputting one signal, it was a fizzy mess.

I suppose that's possible. People with problems are always louder than people without. Also, maybe it's a size issue? I don't know that much about analog electronics, but for reference the Behringer pre I used for the test was in the baby mixer, which had (I believe) 2 pres total. Could it be that the larger Behringer mixers are underpowered or trying to pull too much from the power supply, or does that only affect headroom?

Also, I do know that most Behringers use a switching power supply (which is usually noisy in RF), and the little ones (like the one I tested) have external inline boxes while the larger ones (like the 12-channel one I have) put the power supply in the case, with just an IEC plug going to the back.

Has anybody compared the noise levels between a Behringer with an internal power supply, and a Behringer without?

[weatherbox]

I'd seriously urge towards the Mackie. Just the difference in build quality is worth the difference.

[inverseroom]

I'm sorry, but I'm not really sure why everybody here thinks Behringer mixers are so noisy.

I think that Behringer mixers are noisy because my Behringer mixer is noisy. If yours is nice and quiet, whoopee for you, but that doesn't mean mine is also quiet.

I will say that their rackmount line mixer, the RX16something, is actually fairly quiet and sounds OK.

[Derrick]

This shouldn't even be debatable! Behringer makes horrible stuff. It's cheap and breakes easily. If it works, it usually barely does the job. Sound harsh to you? I have a good sounding Soundtracs mixer in my studio and my friend has a Behringer Mixer in his. All his recordings sound noisy, thin, and full of terrible artifacts from the on board effects. I cannot listen to these recordings. If the mixer were to be used in such a way that it would be moved around, it would surely break.

[The Real MC]

In addition to chronic failure rates and poor quality mic preamps, Behringers have the most useless EQs on the planet. When you cut or boost, the spectrum across the affected bandwidth is not uniform - you can hear uneven harmonic distribution. Couple that with bandwidth that is too wide and you can't attenuate a problem resonance without sacrificing something detrimental. Boosting the EQs has no color at all.

The only good EQ on a Behringer mixer is the low cut switch.

[The Real MC]

I will say that their rackmount line mixer, the RX16something, is actually fairly quiet and sounds OK.

That is a given with ANY line mixer. Line mixers operate at unity gain because they are designed to work with +4dB inputs (that's *LINE* level) and do not require a 60dB mic preamp.

Noise, distortion, bandwidth, and the like are much less of an issue with unity gain preamp than they are with 60dB preamps. So yes, *ANY* line mixer will be quiet and pristine. That doesn't put a saving grace on Behringer in my book.

[Mradyfist]

I mostly like discussing Behringer because of how angry people get over it. I noticed nobody addressed my question; has anybody compared Behringers with internal power supplies to Behringers with external power supplies? And as a reference for noise, I run sound over at my church, which has a Mackie 24:8. THAT thing is noisy; I have a policy of only bussing channels that I'm going to use, because even with the faders down there's a noticeable amount of hiss added with each channel bussed to the master fader. And I know this isn't a gain structure issue, because I installed the system myself. My Behringer MX3242X doesn't put out anywhere near this much noise from the line amps; I always zeroed it out with everything bussed to the main mix for quick setup.

Again, I'd like to raise the possibility that Behringer's older MX series was usable, albeit not great sounding. Reliability on my MX has been great; If anybody here has heard of the Mifflin Street Block Party (kind of like Mardi Gras in Madison WI, 20,000 drunken frat kids crammed into two city blocks worth of street), my MX did two tours of duty there, and every knob and fader still works great. Every UB series mixer I've used has had problems with the faders in a smoke-free studio setting, so I'm willing to concede to anybody who says they're shit for reliability.

This is the problem you run into when asking about something as generic as an entire brand of mixers. Behringer has at least three distinct lines of mixers, two of which I tried, one which was good and one which was bad. I'm not going to claim that every Mackie product is noisy because the one I used was noisy, especially since I think Mackie's stuff has gone through a number of revisions since the one I use.

The Real MC, apparently not all line mixers are quiet and pristine, because the Mackie at my church can't mix more than 8 channels together without making enough noise to get on my nerves in a live setting. Again, this is even with the faders and preamps down; as far as I'm concerned, I've had just as much success with Behringer as with Mackie. With regards to Behringer EQs, I've never tried using them in anything other than a live setting. They worked alright for that, but I don't think I'd pick them over anything else I have available.

[trodden]

Get a used Mackie 1202, the original one.

My electronica duo has a Behringer powered mixer and it's noisy as hell, and very thin sounding. It was a waste of money.

yeah, or the 1202 with the mid freg eq as well. mine has seen the most brutal touring/road conditions and is still going strong after 8 years. I use it to route synths/samplers/effects for my live set up. its been dropped numerous times and at least 50 gallons of sweat and beer dumped on it.

and at least 10 of those 50 gallons are from one show in drinkin' lincoln, Nebraska.

[A-Barr]

I noticed nobody addressed my question; has anybody compared Behringers with internal power supplies to Behringers with external power supplies?

My noisy Behr has an external psu, if that helps any.

[Mradyfist]

My noisy Behr has an external psu, if that helps any.

Hmm, that's interesting to note. What model is it?

[A-Barr]

I think it's a Euromix 602A. It's a 35 dollar piece, so it's not like I had a right to expect anything more from it.

[Chris_Avakian]

i think this is absolutely classic...

http://www.sweetwater.com/feature/not_a ... ringer.php

[Mradyfist]

A-Barr-

As far as I can tell, your mixer is very similar to the one I used for my test.. I might stop by my studio and try it again, to see if I get the same results.

[A-Barr]

Yeah, who knows? Maybe it's a quality control thing or a bug they worked out later? Curious that yours seemed quiet with high gain on a 57, that's where mine was really noisy.