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http://www.prosoundnetwork.com/article/behringer-x32-32-channel-16-bus-total-recall-digital-mixing-console/15125

 

Street price $2400. Designed by Midas (owned by Behringer) using Midas engineers, parts and circuitry. Will record 32 tracks simultaneously thru firewire according to tech support's response to my query. Will ship with the firewire adapter pre-installed. Also hooks up to the Behringer version of the Avion for a fraction of the price and it has a digital snake designed by Klark Teknik (also owned by Behringer). This is going to change the face of live and studio sound. High end will be affordable by home studios. This will be the bain of sound system rental companies. Bands will be able to purchase what they used to only be able to rent.

 

There are links to other youtube videos at the end of the one embedded on the above article that get into more detail about the product. Even Sweetwater is featuring videos about it.

 

Look, I know Behringer sucked in the past. Many companies have improved leaps and bounds over the years. Take my car for instance. I have owned new Mercedes, Saab 9000, high end Volvo, BMW M3. I know cars. The best, most balanced car I have ever had with the least amount of trouble is my current Sonata 2.0 Turbo. They used to be the worst car on the road. Not anymore. The South Koreans are going to rule the road with their product.

 

Same with Behringer. They bought the right companies for pennies on the dollar and they are making great use of them. This X-32 is just the beginning. I use Presonus now and love it, but this is going to be hard for any company to beat.

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Hard to keep up in these times. It looks like quite a console. I wonder where there are places were this technology will get used? What do you see as a typical venue? I see some big cities where this stuff can get used. Do you ever wish you could dump everything and jump in fresh? Connecticut? We have Toads place, a place called Black Eyed Sallys in Hartford. I have no idea what is in the NYC suburbs. Club life seems really bleak around here It would be really cool at our local High School Auditorium I wish those kind of gig events could make some headway.

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Street price $2400. Designed by Midas (owned by Behringer) using Midas engineers, parts and circuitry. Will record 32 tracks simultaneously thru firewire according to tech support's response to my query. Will ship with the firewire adapter pre-installed. Also hooks up to the Behringer version of the Avion for a fraction of the price and it has a digital snake designed by Klark Teknik (also owned by Behringer). This is going to change the face of live and studio sound. High end will be affordable by home studios. This will be the bain of sound system rental companies. Bands will be able to purchase what they used to only be able to rent.


There are links to other youtube videos at the end of the one embedded on the above article that get into more detail about the product. Even Sweetwater is featuring videos about it.


Look, I know Behringer sucked in the past. Many companies have improved leaps and bounds over the years. Take my car for instance. I have owned new Mercedes, Saab 9000, high end Volvo, BMW M3. I know cars. The best, most balanced car I have ever had with the least amount of trouble is my current Sonata 2.0 Turbo. They used to be the worst car on the road. Not anymore. The South Koreans are going to rule the road with their product.


Same with Behringer. They bought the right companies for pennies on the dollar and they are making great use of them. This X-32 is just the beginning. I use Presonus now and love it, but this is going to be hard for any company to beat.

 

 

My buddy who owns a live sound company is selling other gear right now so he can buy this board. He's freaking out about it.

 

I owned the last digital mixer behringer made... the DDX3216. Bang for the buck could not be beat. The design and layout were great, very compact yet usable. Sounded great. The downside? Developed a problem with distortion on all the auxes after about 3 years. Getting it fixed would be like getting a walmart toaster fixed. They stopped making the board and I always wondered what happened to the technology... now I know, the specs and features on this board are very similar.

 

Hopefully this one lasts longer.

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Hard to keep up in these times. It looks like quite a console. I wonder where there are places were this technology will get used? What do you see as a typical venue? I see some big cities where this stuff can get used. Do you ever wish you could dump everything and jump in fresh? Connecticut? We have Toads place, a place called Black Eyed Sallys in Hartford. I have no idea what is in the NYC suburbs. Club life seems really bleak around here It would be really cool at our local High School Auditorium I wish those kind of gig events could make some headway.

 

MJG Audio. :p He does sound at On the Rocks, the block parties in Hartford, clubs at the casino, monday night jazz series in Bushnell park, etc. Tomorrow evening it's Ticket to Ride (great Beatles cover band) at Evergreen Walk in Manchester. I'll tell you when the board is up and running, maybe you can check it out at an event. Right now he's settling for Allen and Heath boards. :D Yeah, CT club scene is rough. Not many people going out to listen to original music... lots of boring 20/30-somethings who work insurance during the day and troll for boring members of the opposite sex at night. Bad sign: guys with their shirts tucked in at rock clubs.

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Well, I dunno. It's just really hard to believe that the same company that STILL makes unreliable crap on it's low end stuff can be trusted to maintain the quality standard of the once trustworthy companies they bought out. :idk:

 

Terry D.

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Well, I dunno. It's just really hard to believe that the same company that STILL makes unreliable crap on it's low end stuff can be trusted to maintain the quality standard of the once trustworthy companies they bought out.
:idk:

Terry D.

 

I bet those folks at those once trustworthy companies are very thankful that the still have their jobs in this economic environment. With the financial backing that they now have, they will be able to stop cutting corners and be trustworthy again. Just another way of looking at it......

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Well, I dunno. It's just really hard to believe that the same company that STILL makes unreliable crap on it's low end stuff can be trusted to maintain the quality standard of the once trustworthy companies they bought out.
:idk:

Terry D.

 

Different show now, they opened an office locally here in the Seattle area, after their re-org.

 

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Our-Story/Midas-and-Klark-Teknik-Join-the-Music-Group.aspx

 

Starting to see some of results of the merger with MIDAS and KLARK TECHNIK with the new product line.

 

:cool:

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I know what Beck is saying, though. Firewire may be great when it works, but I don't know that I've ever had a more unstable connection. My old PCI connection was far more stable than firewire. If one must go digital, D-Sub connectors, PCIe connectors/cards, Toslink or Thunderbolt if it ever comes around and proves to be stable, I don't know, whatever....but firewire....

 

And I'm not sure firewire is going to be around for all that much longer anyway.

 

If we're discussing the quality of the recording, then, firewire aside, the proof is in the final recording.

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spe

I know what Beck is saying, though. Firewire may be great when it works, but I don't know that I've ever had a more unstable connection. My old PCI connection was far more stable than firewire. If one must go digital, D-Sub connectors, PCIe connectors/cards, Toslink or Thunderbolt if it ever comes around and proves to be stable, I don't know, whatever....but firewire....


And I'm not sure firewire is going to be around for all that much longer anyway.


If we're discussing the quality of the recording, then, firewire aside, the proof is in the
final recording
.

 

 

Not all firewire is equal. The HD utilized must have a certain set of criteria to make it function with greater stability. I used to know what it was called. I remember it had Oxford in the name of it. My Neptune OWC drive fits the criteria and has been very dependable.

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Products don't change games, users change games. How will this help you work better or more importantly, make more money?

 

I agree. I am not dropping everything and going out to buy this product. It requires the test of time. I am quite happy with what I have. If however my studio was destroyed for some reason, I would certainly consider it if it proves to truly be a game changer.

 

The impressive thing about it is the integration of the 16 track headphone/monitor system that is proprietarially linked to it, four units and distribution system for under $1200, which is a fraction of the cost of Avion. Although Studio One Pro has integrated monitoring for each user, it is still up to me to mix their unique personal mix. Also the proprietary digital snake system is very inexpensive. These are engineered by some very impressive folks at the companies that Behringer acquired. The cost would be far greater to acquire equivalent equipment from other companies.

 

As far as working better, I am currently working 100% in the box. Need I say more?

 

BTW, it is fun to have the time to participate on SSS since I am taking off this whole week from the LASIK clinic. :)

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Maybe I'm missing something but I don't think Firewire and usb are the ways you'd set this up on stage or in the studio.

 

There are AES50 and ethernet connections on this thing.

 

In use in a studio, I don't see where you'd use firewire or usb at all .......this thing would either go to available inputs/outputs on an existing computer card via the analog or aes50 ports to your card ...considering there are 16 xlr outs on the back, it's certainly one way... or ....if you're a digital purist and don't want to use the built in ethernet route....

 

likely via the expansion slot on the mixer loaded with an optional optical card or thunderbolt card .... which is my guess as to the plans for that slot.

 

It seems firewire or usb would be more for a quick i/o port to some sort of portable device that only has usb or fw on IT.

 

Regardless, I do understand that this is aimed for live use. The faders seem pretty quiet when moving on a few demos I've seen. The upper left section seems pretty straightforward.

 

I don't see a pre/post option for the 16 aux (or buss) sends. Maybe it's there. I don't see it.

 

A standard dvi/hdmi/vga out for a third party display of one's own choosing would be helpful in these portable mixer sandwiches. Provision for an external touch screen would be even more useful.

 

Can you set up its midi i/o to communicate as a daw controller? I think I saw that somewhere in the limited info, but not sure.

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Maybe I'm missing something but I don't think Firewire and usb are the ways you'd set this up on stage or in the studio.


There are AES50 and ethernet connections on this thing.


In use in a studio, I don't see where you'd use firewire or usb at all .......this thing would either go to available inputs/outputs on an existing computer card via the analog or aes50 ports to your card ...considering there are 16 xlr outs on the back, it's certainly one way... or ....if you're a digital purist and don't want to use the built in ethernet route....


likely via the expansion slot on the mixer loaded with an optional optical card or thunderbolt card .... which is my guess as to the plans for that slot.


It seems firewire or usb would be more for a quick i/o port to some sort of portable device that only has usb or fw on IT.


Regardless, I do understand that this is aimed for live use. The faders seem pretty quiet when moving on a few demos I've seen. The upper left section seems pretty straightforward.


I don't see a pre/post option for the 16 aux (or buss) sends. Maybe it's there. I don't see it.


A standard dvi/hdmi/vga out for a third party display of one's own choosing would be helpful in these portable studio sandwiches. Provision for an external touch screen would be even more useful.


Can you set up its midi i/o to communicate as a daw controller? I think I saw that somewhere in the limited info, but not sure.

 

 

Yes it is very versatile. AES50 and ethernet. It even has a usb thumb drive insert for quick stereo mixes of events. I am limited to Firewire because I have an iMac quad core and no other alternatives other than thunderbolt. I don't think there is any thunderbolt support in the industry as of yet. I may be wrong.

 

The firewire connection will allow you to record 32 discreet tracks simultaneously. This is almost $1000 less than Presonus 24 track unit with 8 more tracks available. Pretty cool.

 

I am beginning to consider purchasing this system this more and more as we talk about it. LOL.

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A wise man once said, think very hard before spending more than $100 on a piece of Behringer gear.

 

Oh wait, that was me said that.

 

I bought a few pieces from them when they were still in Germany and still charging 'regular prices.'

 

One piece (the Composer, a stereo compressor) was OK-ish but died while still in warranty. Unfortunately, when I investigated the warranty repair program, it involved shipping your gear to Germany (your dime) from the States where it, apparently, according to many score personal stories on a web site I found devoted to collecting Behringer horror stories (this was maybe '96 or so so the www was still quite young but there were so many horror stories), would sit in some holding facility and rot. Many people had been waiting many months, some over a year. And they all complained that their attempts to communicate with Behringer were largely fruitless.

 

The other pieces were a pair of 5 band full parametric EQs. They sounded like crap -- real crap -- right off the top. I couldn't believe I had over $600 in a pair of EQs that sounded like $40 Rat Shack crap. Crap.

 

 

Now, that all was BEFORE they moved operations to China.

 

The problem with Behringer is not, to my thinking, about China. It's about the people who run the company.

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To be fair, the horror stories of `96 are a lot of water under the bridge. As a foil to your third-hand report of horrors from days long past, here's a first-hand experience:

 

I bought one of the Behringer analog mixers a few years ago. In the first month it developed a noisy channel. I sent an email to Behringer and had a reply within twelve hours; they said I should arrange a warranty exchange with a local Behringer dealer. I called the place where I bought the mixer and explained the situation. They told me: "Sure, we have another in stock; bring yours in and we'll exchange it." So I did. The mixer is still in use today.

 

My experience with Behringer's tech support is another story altogether. Their response time is commendable, but their knowledge of the products and applications is laughable. My own tech-support interactions with Behringer could have been handled by a bot on their end. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure that they weren't.

 

And then there's the issue of Behringer's "copies" of other products. (You didn't bring it up, blue2blue, but someone always does.) Let's make sure we're all on the same page: Behringer copies "trade dress". I'm sure that saves them some serious money when it comes to marketing when consumers buy something because it "looks like" X, only way less expensive. Problem is: building X to sell at half or a third of the "normal" price is going to introduce compromises. Caveat emptor.

 

I've had other bits and pieces of Behringer gear. Some of it I sold because it underperformed. (That's no different, BTW, than my experience with other manufacturers... "Not Behringer" does not necessarily equal "performant and trouble-free".) Some of my remaining Behringer gear is still in regular use after almost a decade.

 

I personally wouldn't build a studio around Behringer gear; especially something with a lot of movable parts, like a mixer. To me it's worth the upcharge for a board that has field-replaceable wear parts. But for something in a non-critical role: sure, why not?

 

 

A wise man once said, think very hard before spending more than $100 on a piece of Behringer gear.


Oh wait, that was me said that.


I bought a few pieces from them when they were still in Germany and still charging 'regular prices.'


One piece (the Composer, a stereo compressor) was OK-ish but died while still in warranty. Unfortunately, when I investigated the warranty repair program, it involved shipping your gear to Germany (your dime) from the States where it, apparently, according to
many
score personal stories on a web site I found devoted to collecting Behringer horror stories (this was maybe '96 or so so the www was still quite young but there were
so many
horror stories), would sit in some holding facility and rot. Many people had been waiting many months, some over a year. And they all complained that their attempts to communicate with Behringer were largely fruitless.


The other pieces were a pair of 5 band full parametric EQs. They sounded like crap -- real crap -- right off the top. I couldn't believe I had over $600 in a pair of EQs that sounded like $40 Rat Shack crap. Crap.



Now, that all was BEFORE they moved operations to China.


The problem with Behringer is
not
, to my thinking, about China. It's about the people who run the company.

 

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Also, since Behringer's painfully obvious attempts to mislead consumers by copying trade dress has come up, I'd like to refer folks to p. 176 of the July 2012 Musician's Friend catalog where Behringer's Eurolive active PA speakers are side by side with Mackie's strikingly similar (but earlier) design, the Thump TH-15A.

 

DV016_Jpg_Large_485392_V.jpgDV016_Jpg_Large_620521_V.jpg

 

If one looks around the surrounding pages, he will see a number of other PA cabs by other makers -- none of which looks like either of these not-quite-separated-at-birth speakers. (Although he may see that another low end company, Harbinger, rather shamelessly nicks Peavey designs. But it's not quite as fussy in mimicking details.)

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Actually, I always thought the Behringer powered speaker looked more like the Yamaha MS-400

ms400.gif

Hmm. Yes... Given materials and basic form factor [time-aligned, wave-guided treble on top, woof on bottom, and handles in sides], the fruit isn't going to fall too far from the tree. But if you put the three of them in a row, I think the Mackie and the B-word unit are clearly a lot closer in detailed appearance.

 

But, that said, yeah, ports on top, ports on bottom (and upper sides in the Behringer looks like which might even be a trade dress differentiation -- or perhaps they couldn't get enough opening in the lower ports). Not that much wiggle room to differentiate yourself.

 

Good job on pointing that out.

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spe


Not all firewire is equal. The HD utilized must have a certain set of criteria to make it function with greater stability. I used to know what it was called. I remember it had Oxford in the name of it. My Neptune OWC drive fits the criteria and has been very dependable.

 

 

Oxford 911. I've been cutting to firewire drives for more than a decade without problem.

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