You think Behringer can win you over?.... X32 that is...

[Bruce Weldy]

I've had my Presonus 1642 for two months now and really like it. Nice sounding preamps and tons of headroom. It just seems to be a very quality peice of equipment for the price. My only dissapointment is that I thought it had eight assignable 31 band graphics. As it turns out, it only has two for the main outs. I mistakenly was reading the manual for the 24 ch. version.

Nope. You need to do the software update. You have the old firmware. Mine was also the old version when I got it. Just go to the website and follow the instructions - it may take a while to get all the software right, but when you are finished - you'll have all 8 GEQs.

[la80vette]

Nope. You need to do the software update. You have the old firmware. Mine was also the old version when I got it. Just go to the website and follow the instructions - it may take a while to get all the software right, but when you are finished - you'll have all 8 GEQs

Man, Bruce are you serious. I don't know how I missed that. Thanks alot! I'll go get it.

[maxo]

Just a couple of behringer facts for people that just run for cover when someone pronounce the name

CoolAudio acquisition

In May 2000, Behringer acquired the rights to the entire CoolAudio technology from Intersil Corporation, a US-based semi-conductor manufacturer. CoolAudio is a high-power Class-D amplification technology with power ratings up to 4,000 Watts and efficiencies up to 90% which has been rated high audio quality. The acquisition included an extensive intellectual property portfolio and licensees such as Alpine and Rowe, among others.

Midas has been designing and manufacturing audio consoles since the early 1970s. Later on it became part of the Telex group. When, in January 2006, Telex Communications was acquired by the Bosch group, Midas consoles became part of the business unit "Bosch Communications Systems". Midas parted company with Bosch in February 2010 and are now part of "The Music Group".

Midas' sister companies include Klark Teknik, famed for their graphic EQs and signal processing; EV (Electrovoice) who produce microphones, loudspeakers and electronics for the professional market; Dynacord, producers of loudspeakers, amplifiers and electronics; and DDA Consoles, who offer consoles for studio, broadcast and live use.

In December 2009, Midas and Klark Teknik were acquired by Music Group, a holding company chaired by Uli Behringer, which also owns other audio companies such as Turbosound, Behringer and Bugera as well as Electronic Manufacturing Services company Eurotec

so this guy Uli Behringer
must be doing something right
imho

[Grant Bunter]

Hi Max,
There's no doubt Uli is an astute businessman.
And as long as he doesn't introduce the Behringer ethos to the other brands he now owns they will continue to be in the class they deserve to be in.

Various Behringer products have plenty of known issues, and these issues don't seem to get addressed with various revisions. I have multiple pieces of Behringer gear, but I researched their known faults before buying.

Problems with product creates a history of doubt when you're a newcomer to the high end market. Will the X32 overcome that?
As has been said, for similar money, I would go to the Presonus before the Behringer.

[maxo]

Hey Grant
There is a well known saying
you get what you paid for

we well see if the x32 holds up,
according to a behringer rep i saw in the last namm show
they implemented some production lines for the x32 parts, all of the x32 is made inhouse ,
i mean on the behringer factories, nothing is imported from a third manufacturer or supplier
they made a special line for the motorized faders, and all pots and stuff is made there
and according to him there is a lot of MIDAS touch inside the unit

anyway, well see
personally i have mixed results with behringer
i had a couple of things that failed in the 1st month , like some digital reverb and one bass amp
but
i have a DSP8024, rock solid for 8 yrs ( i have it some closet now )
a couple of behringer mixers from 2003 are still kicking as utility summing mixers on a radio station dubbing room in texas
yes they are not Neve, SSL or Trident consoles, but you cant tell if you listen to the radio, unless somebody take you to the room and show you what little board was
summing channels

there is a lot of hype about makes, and brand names
at the end is not the bananas but the monkey

[Razor]

Just a couple of behringer facts for people that just run for cover when someone pronounce the name

CoolAudio acquisition

In May 2000, Behringer acquired the rights to the entire CoolAudio technology from Intersil Corporation, a US-based semi-conductor manufacturer. CoolAudio is a high-power Class-D amplification technology with power ratings up to 4,000 Watts and efficiencies up to 90% which has been rated high audio quality. The acquisition included an extensive intellectual property portfolio and licensees such as Alpine and Rowe, among others.

Midas has been designing and manufacturing audio consoles since the early 1970s. Later on it became part of the Telex group. When, in January 2006, Telex Communications was acquired by the Bosch group, Midas consoles became part of the business unit "Bosch Communications Systems". Midas parted company with Bosch in February 2010 and are now part of "The Music Group".

Midas' sister companies include Klark Teknik, famed for their graphic EQs and signal processing; EV (Electrovoice) who produce microphones, loudspeakers and electronics for the professional market; Dynacord, producers of loudspeakers, amplifiers and electronics; and DDA Consoles, who offer consoles for studio, broadcast and live use.

In December 2009, Midas and Klark Teknik were acquired by Music Group, a holding company chaired by Uli Behringer, which also owns other audio companies such as Turbosound, Behringer and Bugera as well as Electronic Manufacturing Services company Eurotec

so this guy Uli Behringer
must be doing something right
imho

Midas may be owned by Music Group, but that does not mean that Behringer products are going to suddenly be as high of quality as Midas products.

As Bill said the electronics in the X32 will most likely be just fine. But I'm still leery of the build quality. Time will tell, of course.

[technicaldave]

At least it's got a little help from Midas, might be able to nudge it in a slightly nicer direction

[dswpro]

I've spent some time on the x32. Here are my observations:
Sounds very good. Better quality than any Behringer product I've used.
Big learning curve, especially if you are a musician rather than a technician.
Don't drag this desk to a gig without 2-4 hours or training or prep time, perhaps more.
Learning how to route and name things will take you an hour or more.
If you don't need so many inputs you might be happier with an 01v96 which is rack mountable.
X32 is superior to the Presonus mixers for me in live use, as the Behringer has delays on outputs.
Color and naming on channel strips - kind of cool. Needs the moving faders as it has layers.
Lots of I/O. Digital snake ready. 8 internal effects sound pretty nice.
Built in 2 track recording to USB memory stick but you will need class 6 or faster memory.
Multi-track recording to USB works pretty well.
Remote control program works well..
Altogether the flagship Behringer product.
I have some house mixes up from recent gigs if you want to hear an x32 mixer in action.
buck.acash.com/ if you like country, buck.acash.com/crush/ if you like rock.

YMMV.

[rotebass]

I've had one for a few months, has met expectations so far. Did a two week theatre run where I programmed cues for 23 RF mics, along with a mic'ed orchestra and a stereo playback for sound effects.

Recently did a somewhat well known Touring Act who opted to leave their SL24.4.2 in the truck when they found out an X32 could be provided. The SL is not comparable to any of the entry level digital boards IMO.

I look forward to getting my hands on a Soundcraft SI E1, that thing looks to be an 01V killer if I ever saw one.

[Rick Lee]

Recently did a somewhat well known Touring Act who opted to leave their SL24.4.2 in the truck when they found out an X32 could be provided.

From the other forums I read it's obvious the migration has begun. Some fairly big names appear to be using them as monitor mixers. And the rewards from the NAMM show aren't hurting it.

[rotebass]

Recently did a somewhat well known Touring Act who opted to leave their SL24.4.2 in the truck when they found out an X32 could be provided.

From the other forums I read it's obvious the migration has begun. Some fairly big names appear to be using them as monitor mixers. And the rewards from the NAMM show aren't hurting it.

Presonus is out of that race as far as I'm concerned. Yamaha isn't going anywhere, Soundcraft is adding it's horse to the race, I've noticed a lot of interest in the Mackie board as well. I'd be interested to see where the Digico SD11 sits price wise, but feature wise Behringer and Soundcraft have it beat.

[Bruce Weldy]

Recently did a somewhat well known Touring Act who opted to leave their SL24.4.2 in the truck when they found out an X32 could be provided.

From the other forums I read it's obvious the migration has begun. Some fairly big names appear to be using them as monitor mixers. And the rewards from the NAMM show aren't hurting it.

Presonus is out of that race as far as I'm concerned. Yamaha isn't going anywhere, Soundcraft is adding it's horse to the race, I've noticed a lot of interest in the Mackie board as well. I'd be interested to see where the Digico SD11 sits price wise, but feature wise Behringer and Soundcraft have it beat.

I don't think that Presonus was ever in that race or intended to be. They've catered to the gigging band and HOW crowd. Easy board to learn and use - and more functionality than the average weekend warrior can get from what they've been using at a decent price point.

Whether or not the success they've had with the SL series will entice them into the touring market remains to be seen.

[Rick Lee]

I just love that there's some nice consoles out there at a very comfortable price point. For the same price we paid for a Peavey board (Mark III?) back in the day and the sales guy walk up with a 16.0.2 our sound man would have fallen over dead.

[Bruce Weldy]

I just love that there's some nice consoles out there at a very comfortable price point. For the same price we paid for a Peavey board (Mark III?) back in the day and the sales guy walk up with a 16.0.2 our sound man would have fallen over dead.

No kiddin'....

I remember in 1981, we bought a used Tangent 16x16 for our studio.... $9500.

And I had to wire it up using molex connectors as it didn't have XLRs or 1/4 inch inputs.

The Presonsus does 10 times more in less than half the footprint of that behemoth.

[biggerrigger]

After having spent over an hour demoing the X32 with a guy that knows all of the ins and outs of the unit all I can say is it seems to be a bargain at the $3000 price point. Only time will tell if the hardware holds up to the rigors of use and transport. After only an hour of supervised time on the unit I would feel comfortable gigging with this desk for a large show. The features offered in one package is quite mind boggling when you realize that it can replace a whole rack of gear if needed. Now I am sitting back waiting patiently for a smaller channel count rack mount model to DJ with. If they only made this in a 6-7 channel model with all the features of the X32 and around the $1000 mark I would be all over it.