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JackLudden
Published on 08/10/08 at 12:59
This mixer is not rackable, it is a small/midsized desktop unit. However, included in the package is a little rack-mounted plate on which you can put the mixer - so I guess it's semi-rackmountable. This mixer has 8 mono XLR inputs, and 4 stereo 1/4" inputs. Each of those channels has an EQ strip with 3 bands. There are also 3 sends, a pan pot, mute, and solo buttons. This mixer also provides phantom power. There is also an input section for RCA if you want to input a CD player or something. There are integrated effects that you can send into the individual channels. These range from reverb, delay, chorus, pitch shifting, and combos of those effects. There are also inserts on the back panel. This is an analog console.
UTILIZATION
The setup is pretty generic and simple, so there is not a lot of new ground here. The only thing that steers from the norm that jumps out at me is the FX section. The FX are digital and built into the mixer. So you select which one you want to run, and you can then send that in various amounts to your channels. All the other normal mixer functions are easily accessible. I personally found the manual to be a little bit vague at times. It is not as in depth as it could be. However, most of the functions are largely self-explanatory so it's not a huge deal.
SOUNDS
The console is not very transparent. Most of what this unit does sounds rather cheap, I guess because the unit itself is cheap. Sounds are brittle, small, and lack a lot of extreme high end that can bring a track to life. I definitely do not recommend this for recording. Noise tends to be a problem on Behringer products, and you can hear it as you push up the gain - another reason you maybe wouldn't want to use this in a studio. The EQ does what it's supposed to do, but again sounds grainy and not very smooth. The effects fall into a similar category, although a couple of the stranger ones sound kind of neat - such as the delays/reversal one which sounds like it could be used for scary movie whispers. A couple of the reverbs are not bad.
OVERALL OPINION
I have had this mixer for about 2 years. I like the very low price about it, and that it is reliable. The sound is definitely a weak point however, so I only use it for live things where a top sound quality is not necessary. I've used a good amount of mixers. If you are just looking for a workhorse mixer, not for studio use but for other things such as an open mic or for speakers, than this would be a good value due to the very low price. For my purposes, it hasn't done me wrong, though I do not use it for many musical applications due to the sound being second rate.
UTILIZATION
The setup is pretty generic and simple, so there is not a lot of new ground here. The only thing that steers from the norm that jumps out at me is the FX section. The FX are digital and built into the mixer. So you select which one you want to run, and you can then send that in various amounts to your channels. All the other normal mixer functions are easily accessible. I personally found the manual to be a little bit vague at times. It is not as in depth as it could be. However, most of the functions are largely self-explanatory so it's not a huge deal.
SOUNDS
The console is not very transparent. Most of what this unit does sounds rather cheap, I guess because the unit itself is cheap. Sounds are brittle, small, and lack a lot of extreme high end that can bring a track to life. I definitely do not recommend this for recording. Noise tends to be a problem on Behringer products, and you can hear it as you push up the gain - another reason you maybe wouldn't want to use this in a studio. The EQ does what it's supposed to do, but again sounds grainy and not very smooth. The effects fall into a similar category, although a couple of the stranger ones sound kind of neat - such as the delays/reversal one which sounds like it could be used for scary movie whispers. A couple of the reverbs are not bad.
OVERALL OPINION
I have had this mixer for about 2 years. I like the very low price about it, and that it is reliable. The sound is definitely a weak point however, so I only use it for live things where a top sound quality is not necessary. I've used a good amount of mixers. If you are just looking for a workhorse mixer, not for studio use but for other things such as an open mic or for speakers, than this would be a good value due to the very low price. For my purposes, it hasn't done me wrong, though I do not use it for many musical applications due to the sound being second rate.