All user reviews of 3/5 for the Behringer B-1

What kind of microphone? (Voice, sound, mixed ..) What technology? (Electret, condenser ...)

Electrostatic

OVERALL OPINION

How long you use it?

A year and a half

Did you tried many other models before buying it?

CO1U a samson USB ...

Today a ribbon mic.

What is so special that you love the most, least?

+ Cheap

+ Simple and precise enough

- Too cold

- A sort of veil on voice

How would you rate the quality / price? With experience, you do again this choice? ...

Cool to model.

No, you can have a Sennheiser MK4 for 300 €!

I'm a part-time DJ for a couple of local clubs. I'm not professional nor do I intend to be but it's a great hobby. I play guitar somewhat but other than that I enjoy mixing it up more.

This condenser microphone only cost about $89 and at least in this case, I'll have to admit that you get what you pay for. It did come with a decent hard-case that was padded well.

The mike does work pretty decently if you're not making a professional quality recording. The trick with this particular model is to only use the -10db setting and always use the foam shield that comes with it. Otherwise, you will pick up every little background noise even the smallest that most mikes wouldn't catch.

I've not been happy with it for recording instruments as it seems a bit flat, not picking up the full tones for some reason. It does pretty decently with vocals though. The only vocalist that didn't record well with the Behringer was one woman who had one of those breathy type of voices. The mike unfortunately caught every little inhale/exhale so that she sounded quite wheezy.

I am on my second one of this model because the first model went berserk after only a year of use. I was recording and all of a sudden it just began making these popping noises and then a hissing noise and it died. I thought it was because I had dropped the case (even though well padded) because condenser mikes are rather known for being delicate. I've since heard of the same poor durability from others so I no longer think that is what happened.

Overall, I guess the Behringer B-1 will do okay for the home studio but for anything else, it's better to pay more to get something that will do the job satisfactorily.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The Behringer B-1 is a large diaphragm condenser microphone designed as a budget microphone for low end home studio owners. I've only used the mic one time in the recording studio, and this is the sort of application that I would recommend using it for and this is what it is designed for. With standard features across the board, the mic has a cardioid pick up pattern and picks up all the frequencies of human hearing, ranging from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. It has transformer-less FET based circuitry, and also has a switch for both a -10 db pad and a high pass filter.

OVERALL OPINION

In general, I'm really not a big fan of the Behringer B-1. While it is true that I might have somewhat of a bias against gear made by Behringer, it is also true that this is a low end microphone that isn't capable of very much. Especially in a world where there are so many different microphones to choose from in this price range, I don't think that one should settle for this mic. Just from picking it up and feeling it you can tell right off the bat that it isn't well made. It has the look to match as well, but the second that I held it in my hand to set it up I could feel that it wasn't sturdy. I used it to record vocals in a home studio, and the results were less than stellar. While I guess it would be fine for recording a demo or something like that, it sounds really bright and lacks depth. The price will certainly make a lot of users check it out, and if you're looking for a microphone in this price range I would encourage you to check it out for yourself. There is only so much that you can get from reading a review, so definitely check out this microphone and others in the price range like those made by MXL, Rode, and others to see what will work best for what you need.