Limiters Help

[Robster 0]

I have heard and read that reliability may be an issue with the Behringer units..is this anybodys experience?

[Robster 0]

no one so they must be rock solid then ..i will be adding one when funds permit

[TonyB 0]

I use a Behringher Ultrafex and FBQ3102 both of which are getting on for a couple of years old and not had a problem (touch wood).

 

Crossover limiter I use is a Ecler FAP 30L

Edited June 21, 2008 by TonyB

[superstardeejay 0]

For anyone interested in Behringer there is a factory tour movie (2 parts) on youtube.

 

[Robster 0]

For anyone interested in Behringer there is a factory tour movie (2 parts) on youtube.

 

 

 

interesting video that

[gadget 0]

I have heard and read that reliability may be an issue with the Behringer units..is this anybodys experience?

 

Well since last year, the default warranty period increased from 1 year to 2 years.

 

If you buy from thomman you'll get 3 year warranty...

 

 

David

[superstardeejay 0]

Like any budget brand, I think it all depends on the model and type of equipment you've got. The signal processing stuff seems pretty dependable, I've had a few major problems with their powered speakers and powered mixers which is due to engineering rather than poor assembly.

 

 

 

 

[spinner 0]

Like any budget brand, I think it all depends on the model and type of equipment you've got. The signal processing stuff seems pretty dependable, I've had a few major problems with their powered speakers and powered mixers which is due to engineering rather than poor assembly.

 

 

Does that mean the design is at fault?

 

If so , can you expand on that point please?

[superstardeejay 0]

I kinda knew this was coming!!

 

My customer base includes several DJ's who own /owned Behringer powered speakers, and in addition we used to do all the repairs for two Behringer highstreet dealers (now defunct).

 

Some powered speakers would come in every couple of months or so literally vibrated apart..the chassis holding the electronics wasn't strong enough to resist the continuous bass radiated by the speaker and would flex and stress the output devices so much they eventually failed through metal fatigue and more often than not went into DC and blew a driver or two. They would also vibrate free the DC Bus electrolytics which i was able to mount away from the chassis on flying leads. Occasionally they would develop weird IC related problems such as making a loud 'pop' noise when they were warm after a couple of hours, or the mains switches failing.

 

Soem of the powered mixers have switch-mode power supplies (so-called lightweight design, leaving out the large transformer) and would come back to the dealer blown to smithereens (ICs/ transistors just blasted off the board) or with really weird buzzing faults caused by such design characteristics as using the jack sockets as the only means to earth the top panel to the case and the nuts working loose.......etc. We also had write-off faults such as the FX pcb failing or going intermittent.

 

We had several DJ mixers with VCA IC failure (cause unknown..possibly external??) which, despite being tiny 8-pin SOIC packs, cost several pounds to buy. A couple of DJ mixers came back under warranty having worked a few months, because the mains transformer had been incorrectly wired from new, getting the centre tap and outer leg swapped..causing the demise of the transformers and voltage regulator IC's.

 

Obviously, as a service engineer, I'm only going to see equipment (of whatever make) when it's gone wrong! The reason for my former post was to highlight the way budget equipment can fail..my experience applies equally to other budget brands in the same price bracket. By way of contrast, I'd not expect to see such a repeated speaker failure from the likes of JBL, RCF, Mackie, HK etc since their products demonstrate an 'evolved' design approach where the effects of vibration for example would have been conquered in their earliest active designs of long ago. And imagine a Citronic SM350 mixer with an incorrectly wired mains transformer? I doubt it would happen even in the industrial quagmire of 70's Britain.

 

In Behringer's defence, the offending speaker design has now 'evolved' into another model and the former model discontinued..however the various PA / Audio forums on the WWW are littered with owners having similar experiences with these models (which shall remain nameless). I would say the Behringer/Eurotech factory highlighted on the youtube video is probably pumping out goods with better quality control now it's under Behringer's thumb; maybe the problems I've seen were the result of 3rd party OEM's.

 

 

The Ultradrive Pro seems to have been one of their major successes and for good reason; price-point, function, performance, reliability and ease of use. In fact, there was a serious shortage of these a couple of years ago when demand outstripped supply! I've used and set-up many of Behringers effects units and can't really fault them, although other forums have a few reports of weird manufacturing faults. The WWW casts a very large net!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[spinner 0]

Thanks.

 

Very interesting.

 

Hypothetically, in your opinion, if Behringer, or anyone for that matter, had copied a proven powered speaker design of another manufacturer, but using cheaper components/materials, would similar problems have occurred?

 

[Robster 0]

Thanks.

 

Very interesting.

 

Hypothetically, in your opinion, if Behringer, or anyone for that matter, had copied a proven powered speaker design of another manufacturer, but using cheaper components/materials, would similar problems have occurred?

 

what like that Russian concord? lol I know you asked for superstardeejay's opinion but i would have thought that depended where they saved the money .

 

if they skimped on the instruction books and packaging and in the bits that didn't matter to performance then i wouldn't have thought the sound would be any different.

Many TV's for example (an area i do know about )from non brands look like Sony's and Panasonic sets but that's where the comparison ends the performance for people who are discerning is very apparent.

 

I think you cannot have a blanket rule for your hypothetical situation saying you will have problems or wont because of cheaper parts because on each model it depends where they have saved the money.

Behringer cheap mics are great ..they saved the money on the body of the mic not the capsule which is very good for the money for example.

but i am sure superstardeejay will tell us from his experience if i am on the right lines or talking :poo:

[spinner 0]

I think you cannot have a blanket rule for your hypothetical situation saying you will have problems or wont because of cheaper parts because on each model it depends where they have saved the money.

Behringer cheap mics are great ..they saved the money on the body of the mic not the capsule which is very good for the money for example.

but i am sure superstardeejay will tell us from his experience if i am on the right lines or talking :poo:

 

 

Good point and, as you say, Behringer saved money on a part of the unit which isn't crucial to performance.

 

A blanket rule probably wouldn't apply but some possible examples would be interesting.

[norty303 0]

There were issues with the DCX about 18 months ago just before supply dried up. It was due to poor connections on one of the IDC headers inside and caused some of the outputs to experience a 'frying eggs' noise. I have one of these units which i simply remade the connection on. Some people went as far as replacing the ribbon connector but it was a minor issue (imo). There were a number of red herring reports of the problem linked to bad I/O boards and badly trimmed components shorting on the case (fixes included gaffa tape and cardboard shields under the board) but were i suspect only deemed successful because the problem went away afterwards, but most likely because to get the board out you have to unplug/disturb the aforementioned IDC header.

 

Since the resupply of the DCX about 1 year ago I've not heard of any similar issues.

 

There were a number of DCX which appeared on ebay that had the problems that still fetched good money because people knew how easy the fix was.

 

 

Behringer have a number of great and not so great products, its unfortunate that the whole product range gets slated because of a few dodgy ones. Composers, particularly the older ones are excellent value for money, especially second hand now.

Edited June 23, 2008 by norty303