Behringer

[JD01]

Was chatting to [mention]Bubba[/mention] earlier about Behringer gear. I'm pretty sure he fucking hates it and everything it stands for.
I'm not sure what I think of it really.
If it sounded like the cheap shite it is it wouldn't really be an issue.... but it actually doesn't sound too bad and its really cheap. So it does seem like really good value for money.
I think its probably decent sounding stuff that's then made as cheaply as its possible to make something.

Just curious what people think about it.

[Tadpui]

I used to despise Behringer, mainly due to reputation and partly due to direct experience. They really did put out some terrible products where the quality was demonstrably poor.

But I have to say, they're doing a lot of things right lately. Their owner is still a detestable twat, but their products have really taken a turn for the better.

It all changed for me when I first played around with their U-Phoria interfaces. Those things are no joke, and they offer features that few others in their class do, and at a price point that nobody else can touch. The Midas preamps are solid (I've got 8 of them in my ADA8200). They've put out several instant classic hardware synths (all direct copies of actual classic units, but still...). They put out the Wing digital mixer/control surface/interface to compete with the PreSonus Studio Live series, and it has been very well received.

If they can continue this trajectory, hopefully their brand name won't be considered a curse word anymore at some point in the future.

[Lt. Bob]

meh ....... I've had some that performed very well and others that didn't.

Kinda like everything else really.

Some people hate them because they plagiarized other companies designs but personally, I think that's true of all the electronics companies plus the main examples of that were many years ago.

Cheap stuff is cheap stuff and hit or miss as to how it performs or holds up.

[JD01]

[mention]Tadpui[/mention] I don't know anything about the owner. What's up with him?

[Armistice]

I had a pair of Truth monitors which were fine and are still pumping away at a friend's place. My impression was much what [mention]Tadpui[/mention] has said above - were crap, now much better, knocked off other people's circuitry along the way. Not much practical experience with them though, so it remains an impression.

[Tadpui]

@Tadpui I don't know anything about the owner. What's up with him?

I guess you could say that he's a "controversial" guy, to say the least. He's just had a history of being smug, easily offended, and the reputation for shamelessly ripping off other peoples' designs hasn't helped either.

There was the time that he sued 20 people from Gearslutz for defamation. And that time he released a fake synth called the Kirn Corksniffer, named after a critic that he disliked (for which he apologized, then deleted his apology). And his reputation as a manager of people seems pretty rough.

Nothing really diabolical, but just enough things come up when reading about him that it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

[Bubba]

My antipathy towards Behringer and its products can't be articulated here. I would just end up insulting people who use them and I don't want to do that. For myself I despise the company ethos, I despise the aftersales support, I despise the quality of the products (there is at least one where they bought out an excellent firm and rebadged their product - I'm not counting those) and if I was given a Behringer product for free I would seriously consider smashing it with a hammer.

[Lt. Bob]

lol ..... I would never be insulted by someone hating something I use.

If I gave a crap about what others think of such things I would ask them ...... I never do.
personally I use what I want and I make my own deisions about what to use without any regard for others' thoughts on it.

Basically even the crappiest stuff out there is better than what we had 50 years ago unless you were rich and had the top line studio gear.
I wasn't and didn't so everything everyone makes is pretty much better.

[rayc]

JHS doesn't shy away from copying/cloning classic circuits.
They do create their own as well - even their clones are four to five times the price of Behringer. JHS also do surface mount stuff now...not the "handwired" boutique systems of the origins - that's a matter of keeping up with demand.
Behringer do it on an industrial scale - creating & cloning to a small price.
I have a small number of Behringer pieces I use regularly: they're solidly built and do what they're supposed to do. I've had a couple that were complete duds too...they were replaced or a return+refund arranged, no questions asked, by the businesses I bought from.
Behringer's/Music Tribe's treatment of factory staff is better, by all accounts certainly not worse, than those subcontracted by Crapple, Nike etc.

[vomitHatSteve]

I've had some beri stuff work great and some be crap.

I can't hate the folks who made the $70 two channel mixer that I've been using for 15+ years, you know?

[Greg_L]

I think Behringers working-man's stuff is pretty decent. Mixers, interfaces, preamps, PA heads, etc. They're fine and might hold up to heavy use.

Anything they make that actually makes sound is pretty crap IMO. Amps, pedals, speakers, not so good.

[Bill L]

I have a couple of Behringer products. Some of them work well, some of them don't. I would be very apprehensive to purchase much of their product offering, though.

Having said that, I can't speak highly enough about the X32 mixer (I have the rack mount version but I've used both the Compact version and full version of this board) as well as the X18R. I've been using them for years and have few complaints. I would never buy their speakers at this point, but when I got started it was an affordable way to get up and running. I also have their patchbay and headphone distribution unit. Those, in my experience, were decent purchases. Their pedals, amps, effects units, etc; you can probably find better at the same price point. I would imagine the same is true regarding many of their other products. Just my opinion/experience, of course.