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moosers
Published on 07/11/10 at 21:56
The Behringer MDX2200 Composer Pro is a dual channel dynamics processor, consisting of a compressor/limiter and an expander/gate. It’s designed for home studios, and I definitely wouldn’t use it anywhere else, if at all. It’s got both XLR and ¼” connections for your inputs and outputs for each of the channels, as well as ¼” connections for side chaining. It is rack mountable and will only take up a single space.
UTILIZATION
The make up of the Behringer MDX2200 Composer Pro allows for a good amount of control over your sound between the two sections on each channel for your compressor/limiter and expander/gate. The expander/gate section has parameters for threshold and ratio, while the compressor/limiter has those for threshold, ratio, attack, release, output level, and another threshold for the peak limiter it has on board. There’s also a button in between the two channels for stereo coupling. Each channel also has LED metering for threshold, gain reduction, and input/output level. A manual might be a good thing to have if you’re new to the world of dynamic processing, but otherwise it’s probably not necessary.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound of the Behringer MDX2200 Composer Pro is a bit below average in my opinion. I’ve got plug-ins that sound a whole lot better than this, although they certainly cost more as well. It does give you a lot of control over your sound, but most of the time it kills your signal more than anything. The expander/gate section is pretty useful, but I’m just not a big fan of the way the compressor/limiter sounds. This is an okay unit to get started with if you have a really basic home studio, but even then I’d recommend getting plug-ins over this for convenience purposes.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall, I can’t say that I’d recommend the Behringer MDX2200 Composer Pro to anyone really. It’s cheap for sure, but it’s not an equal trade off in my opinion. If you’re looking for a dynamics processor for your home studio, I’d encourage you to either spend a few more bucks on hardware, or go with a plug-in like Digidesign’s Smack LE, which sounds better than this even though there isn’t as much control there. Behringer works from the inside out with their products, and it definitely shows.
UTILIZATION
The make up of the Behringer MDX2200 Composer Pro allows for a good amount of control over your sound between the two sections on each channel for your compressor/limiter and expander/gate. The expander/gate section has parameters for threshold and ratio, while the compressor/limiter has those for threshold, ratio, attack, release, output level, and another threshold for the peak limiter it has on board. There’s also a button in between the two channels for stereo coupling. Each channel also has LED metering for threshold, gain reduction, and input/output level. A manual might be a good thing to have if you’re new to the world of dynamic processing, but otherwise it’s probably not necessary.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound of the Behringer MDX2200 Composer Pro is a bit below average in my opinion. I’ve got plug-ins that sound a whole lot better than this, although they certainly cost more as well. It does give you a lot of control over your sound, but most of the time it kills your signal more than anything. The expander/gate section is pretty useful, but I’m just not a big fan of the way the compressor/limiter sounds. This is an okay unit to get started with if you have a really basic home studio, but even then I’d recommend getting plug-ins over this for convenience purposes.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall, I can’t say that I’d recommend the Behringer MDX2200 Composer Pro to anyone really. It’s cheap for sure, but it’s not an equal trade off in my opinion. If you’re looking for a dynamics processor for your home studio, I’d encourage you to either spend a few more bucks on hardware, or go with a plug-in like Digidesign’s Smack LE, which sounds better than this even though there isn’t as much control there. Behringer works from the inside out with their products, and it definitely shows.