Behringer X AIR XR12 12-Input Digital Mixer

I am looking at getting this Behringer X Air XR12 for my use when I do shows. It is not that expensive and it very flexible to use. The XR12 is a 12 input portable/rack-mountable mixer for iPad and Android tablets, and is ideally suited for both live and studio applications. It has MIDAS-designed mic preamps and an integrated Wifi module for wireless control, plus USB connectivity for file storage, system updates and stereo recordings via the USB Stereo Recorder. It also can be mounted in a rack with the provided rack ears

This has more channels than my current analogue Yamaha MG82cx but the only “drawback” I can see is I need to purchase an iPad to use this mixer with the app installed. The price, as I mentioned, makes it very attractive indeed.

One metre long XLR Y-cable connected to DI box

I have a project coming up where we are setting up a boardroom with speakers and a projector. One little problem though. The mixer and the amplifiers are delayed, thanks in no small part to this global supply chain issue that we are having. So what we are going to use in the interim is the same shitty Behringer mixer that we have in our store, the one I wrote about some time back. The reason I say shitty is because firstly, the sound is horrible and it is noisy like hell and secondly, that Behringer mixer does not have any balanced outputs. But as the saying goes, beggars can’t be choosers so we have to live with it for the time being. The temporary amps that we loaned from our store to put in the client’s place all come with Phoenix connectors or Euroblocks. So what we are going to do is to connect that mixer to a DI box with a summing cable. After that, we are connecting the DI box to the amplifiers via this Y-cable. There will be two amplifiers in that boardroom and we will daisy-chain them for the time being, until the delayed digital mixer gets in. The system is a mono system with some mics connected to it. That being said, it is not the most ideal of solutions but it is the only solution that I have at my disposal for the time being.

Behringer UM2 USB audio interface

A few weeks back, I installed a a few Behringer UM2s for a client that wanted to use Zoom. I must admit that I was skeptical of this cheap Behringer UM2. I looked up the specs in the Behringer website and these are some of the features of this little unit:

• 2×2 USB audio interface for recording microphones and instruments
• Audiophile 48 kHz resolution for professional audio quality
• Compatible with popular recording software including Avid Pro Tools*, Ableton Live*, Steinberg Cubase*, etc.
• Streams 2 inputs / 2 outputs with ultra-low latency to your computer, supporting Mac OS X* and Windows XP* or higher
• State-of-the-art, +48 V-powered XENYX Mic Preamp comparable to stand-alone boutique preamps
• Powerful Phones output with Level control and Direct Monitor select
• Status, Signal and Clip indications for perfect overview
• USB port for connection and power
• Free audio recording, editing and podcasting software plus 150 instrument/effect plug-ins downloadable at Behringer.com

I must admit that I was very pleasantly surprised at the audio quality from this little USB audio interface. The wireless microphone that we hooked up to it performed faultlessly and the sound was pretty good. One thing I warn people who buy this is to NOT use the ASIO4ALL driver that Behringer advises you to load on your system. Our client was using a PC with Windows 10 and the default driver in Windows 10 was more than sufficient and it worked a charm. We tested the recording from this with Audacity and that recorded voice turned out superb.

So if you want an inexpensive USB audio interface, this one will be a good one to get. My only pet peeve about it are the controls which are located on the top of the unit. When mounted in a rack, it was very difficult to access them. But other than that, a good unit and worth the price

Behringer OT-2 transformers

A few months back, I was ragging on the POS Behringer DI box that had failed miserably at a gig. That Behringer DI400P sounded muddy and the ground-lift switch just was not working and I had to replace it with my SM Pro DJDI. In any case, I did some digging to find out what others were saying about it. Some have said that if you send a hot voltage (like a bass guitar with a very hot output) into it, the DI box output loses the lows. So I started looking to see what kind of transformer they had in it and that is when I found out that they use the Behringer OT-2 transformer. Very little is know about these audio transformers of theirs. But from what I read, the original OT-1 series did not have magnetic shielding. That is bad news, especially if you have one of those on top of a bass player’s rig. Apparently, Behringer learnt from this and are now shipping these DI400P DI boxes with these new, shielded OT-2 transformers. I have not opened a DI400P DI box to check if they really have these new transformers inside. What I can vouch for is that the DI box that we used at that event was pretty beat up. Another thing that Behringer need to look at is the ground lift switch on these DI400P DI boxes. Those plastic switches are seriously horrible. I would buy spares and replace them every 6 months or so, especially if they are heavily used. I have a client that recently bought some Behringer DI boxes. I guess I will check out if Behringer really shipped those with these OT-2 magnetically shielded transformers or not.

Amplifiers powering ship sound-system

Remember a couple of months back, I said that I was doing a gig on a ship? Remember the speakers I talked about in that post? This is the amplifier stack that was powering them. These people had some good stuff and some not-so-good stuff in this amplifier stack. For starters, the mixer was an Allen & Heath QU16. You cannot see it in this photo unfortunately. The amplifiers were monsters…heavy boat anchors made by a company named Sound Tech. They worked pretty well and I was amazed at their punchy-ness. There was a Behringer Ultradrive Pro loudspeaker management processor taking care of the speaker management. The two big amps below drove the main speakers while the smaller amplifier drove the monitors, which were Mackie un-powered ones. It was not thee best choice of equipment but hey, it worked fine and people had a great time with the music. It proves sometimes that one does not need to have the latest and greatest to run events.

Pioneer DDJ-SB3 at a wedding

My cousin got married a few days back on Sunday and he asked me to be the DJ at his wedding. He had a live band and DJ and all I cam say that his guests were in for a treat. I knew the band quite well as we have played together in the past at a few functions. The lead guitarist was a sound-man and he had a wonderful QSC Touchmix 16 hooked up to the sound system. But the night did not go smooth-sailing however. The people who the sound-system was rented from gave us a sound-system that left a lot to be desired. That is why the lead guitarist plugged in his QSC Touchmix, so that he could have better control of the sound-system. But even then, as I wrote about in an earlier article, one of the DI boxes was shot so I had to sacrifice my own SM Pro DJDI for the acoustic guitarist to use. So how did I hook up my DJ setup? Very simple. I had an RCA to female mini-jack adapter in my toolkit. I hooked that up to a 3.5mm to 3.5mm mini jack cable to the stereo inputs of the Touchmix. The show was rocking and we had many satisfied guests.

A lesson here that many others can learn from. Always carry spares. I did not carry a spare set of XLR cables that night but then again, I suppose the acoustic guitarist should have brought her own. But always carry spares. You never know when something conks out (like the bloody useless Behringer DI boxes) and you may need to use your spare. Also the RCA to female 3.5mm mini-jack adapter…that was a spare I always carry and it turned out to be e life-saver. So bring spares…all the time!

Behringer DI box completely useless

This Behringer DI400P Ultra-DI DI Box was a complete failure at a wedding function I attended last night. The band’s acoustic guitarist  was at a loss at what to do. So in the end, I lent them my own trusty SM Pro DJDI DI box for the acoustic guitarist to use and all I can say, that one act saved the day. This Behringer DI-400P goes into my shit list today. It sounded muddy, the ground-lift switch was terrible (it did not work and there was hum a-plenty) and it just was a very bad experience using it. So spend your money and get a better DI box. Just stay clear of this Behringer junk!

Audio engineers are always right

Saw this on Behringer’s Twitter feed. I must say that it is pretty arrogant considering the company that I am in but damn…I like it! LOL!

Behringer EUROPORT EPS500MP3

Take a look at this offering from Behringer…the EPS500MP3. Look familiar? It should. I knew that it was only a matter of time before Behringer ripped off the very popular Yamaha Stagepas Series. Then again, isn’t that what Behringer is known for? But no matter. Let us have a look at this offering from Behringer. These are the features:

• Ultra-compact 8-channel PA system with dual speakers and detachable 500 Watt powered mixer
• Enormous power, incredible sonic performance, and super-lightweight
• Mixer can be used either while installed in the speaker or detached for easy positioning and access
• High-performance MP3 player included to play audio files via USB stick
• Studio-grade stereo reverb adds finishing touch to your sound
• “Wireless-ready” for high-quality BEHRINGER digital wireless system (not included)
• Broadcast-like Voice-Over-Priority Function dims music when microphones are used
• Extremely powerful 8” woofers and 1” compression transducers for incredible sound reproduction
• 8-channel mixer section features 4 mic/line and 2 stereo channels
• 4 high-quality mic preamps with switchable +48 V phantom power for condenser microphones
• Effective and extremely musical 2-band EQ on all channels
• Music/Speech switch to set overall system equalization
• Auto limiter prevents overload damage to power amplifier and speakers
• Storage compartment available for microphone, cables and accessories (2 x 6.1m (20′) speaker cables included)
• Integrated stand mounting with 35-mm pole socket
• Switching power supply for maximum flexibility, noise-free audio, superior transient response plus low power consumption for energy savings

Therein lies the differences folks. First of all, compared with the 500-watt Yamaha offering with 10″ speakers, these ones come with only 8″ speakers. Also, it comes with a USB in, so it looks like you can play music from an MP3 thumb drive or something like that. But other than that, it has the same protective rails as the Yamaha. It has almost the same mixer layout as the Yamaha. The mixer is detachable, like the Yamaha. One of the speaker cabinets has a compartment in the rear for storing cables, just like the Yamaha. This is the mixer below:

It has been said that a picture paints a thousand words. I will leave it to you all to see if that is true or not.

Price-wise, it will definitely be a lot cheaper than the Stagepas. The Yamaha Stagepas series is not that expensive…but it there is quality in the build. I have not tried out this offering from Behringer so I cannot vouch for its quality. You can read up about this EPS500MP3 here.

Behringer X32 mixer

I have just installed this fantastic Behringer X32 mixer in a client’s place. This is a pretty good mixer for the price. For that rather inexpensive price, as far as digital mixers go, you get a 40-Input, 25-Bus Digital Mixing Console with 32 Programmable MIDAS Preamps, 25 Motorized Faders, Channel LCD’s, 32-Channel Audio Interface and iPad/iPhone Remote Control. There are many others like this but I say again, for the price-point, you get a lot of mixer for that money. My client also bought an 8-channel stagebox, that is connected to the mixer via an Ethernet cable, using AES50. Some people say that it is a cheaper Midas. I dare say that they may have a point, given the fact that Midas is also owned by The Music Group, Behringer’s parent company. Besides the brief description of what this mixer has to offer, there are some other features like:

 

• 16 XLR outputs plus 6 additional line in/outputs, 2 phones connectors and a talkback section with integrated or external mic
• Individual and dynamic LCD Scribble Strips on all channels and buses creating easy assignment and intuitive channel distinction
• 32 x 32 channel USB 2.0 audio interface, with DAW remote control emulating HUI* and Mackie Control*
• iPad* and iPhone* apps for professional remote operation available free of charge—no host PC required
• High-resolution 7″ day-viewable Color TFT for easy viewing of workflow components and parameters
• Main LCR, 6 matrix buses and 16 mix buses each featuring inserts, 6-band parametric EQ’s and full dynamics processing, plus 8 DCA and 6 mute groups
• Virtual FX rack featuring 8 true-stereo FX slots include high-end simulations such as Lexicon 480L* and PCM70*, EMT250* and Quantec QRS etc.

I like this mixer. But I am thinking more about the portability of mixers for shows. To be honest, this mixer is a bit on the big side. If you wanted to get a mixer with faders that can still fit in a 19″ rack, you can consider the Allen & Heath QU-16. But the beauty of this mixer? It was the iPad app that allows you to control this baby via remote. I could do everything with this mixer and did not have to sit in front of it…just go to a place close to the stage with the iPad. But I did say in a previous post that I loved the fader-less version of this mixer, the Behringer X32 Rack. Maybe that will be a better choice