Let's talk Behringer

[paul_5]

Just remembered I used to have the Behringer SYB-5 clone. I actually preferred it to the Boss one, as the Boss pedal (when used in 'hold' mode) has a filter sweep that you can't turn off, and at the time I just wanted a simple drone.

Behringer 1
Boss 0

[discreet]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1462812004' post='3045878']
The BDI21 is great. Also the DC9 Compressor is pretty good...
[/quote]

+1 for both. The DC9 is also recommended by Ovnilab as 'very good for the price'. I think the last one I bought was £18. Works well.

[GarethFlatlands]

Had a bad experience (well, several) with their aluminium cone cabs but I love my BDI-21. Best to read around and get user experiences with whatever you're looking at as they seem to vary between great for the price and terrible depending on the product.

[Lozz196]

Well this thread - and a couple of others - have pointed me in the direction of another BDI21. At £22 from Amazon it`s a no-brainer. They sound like the Sansamp, and considering I use one of those, well may as well have a BDI21 as backup to that and for home use.

[discreet]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1463340334' post='3050648']
Well this thread - and a couple of others - have pointed me in the direction of another BDI21. At £22 from Amazon it`s a no-brainer. They sound like the Sansamp, and considering I use one of those, well may as well have a BDI21 as backup to that and for home use.
[/quote]

Yes, I would recommend that everyone keeps a BDI-21 in their gig bags! They warm up an amp very nicely and if the worst should happen with your amp it's good to have some kind of control over your sound if you need to go straight into the desk. Benchmark bit of kit IMHO at any price. The fact it's affordable is a bonus.

Edited May 15, 2016 by discreet

[uk_lefty]

I have had three of their bass chorus pedals, each one has failed after less than two hours use.
I have used for about four or five years their tuner pedal though and found that did it's job admirably. However, now I have enough pedals to warrant a board I've only replaced it for something smaller, no quality issue.

[kevvo66]

BdI-21 great pedal , love mine

[Ed_S]

Not strictly a bass pedal, but I've heard of people using a stock Tube Screamer on bass so it's maybe worth mentioning that the TO800 Tube Overdrive is a very good clone. It's one of the plastic ones so I don't know how well it would stand up to regular live use, but tone-wise I actually sold the Ibanez TS808 reissue that I also owned at the time and kept the Behringer as it was every bit as good.

[uk_lefty]

I have heard that the behringer plastic cases are ABS and not standard plastic, so much tougher.
The tuner pedal I used for four years or so is still in one piece with no signs of cracks or anything. I really don't think the casing is anything to worry about. Put the behringer guts in a metal case and you'll still have the same effect.

[Ed_S]

Yeah, I don't think you'd ever have issues under normal circumstances - it'd just be if you tripped over and stamped on / dropped something heavy on one that I might expect a Boss type metal chassis to come off better. I have the grey tuner pedal too, bought as something to make a thomann order up to the point where you get free shipping I seem to recall. The tuner function never impressed me all that much (bit slow to track and not too clever on dropped tunings) but the blue LED on it is absolutely retina-searing! :-)

[rmorris]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1463091877' post='3048618']
It's a [url="http://www.music-group.com/Categories/Behringer/Signal-Processors/DI-Boxes/DI100/p/P0062"]Behringer Ultra-DI 100[/url] and the EMO is the [url="http://www.emosystems.co.uk/Products/Passive_Direct_Injection_Boxes.html"]E520[/url].
[/quote]

Sorry - meant t reply to this earlier but it got lost...

So I looked up the EMO E520 and it seems to be a passive (transformer only) design.
From that it would seem that your output from the Theremin is wired the 'wrong way round' ie signal to GND/Screen ?

So with the active input Behringer DI the signal is grounded hence no signal from DI.

With the EMO it sounds like it has a ground lift switch in the 'lifted position'.

Used like this the transformer input cares only about the differential at its input and is oblivious to the polarity.
There will be an output from the transformer - it will be 'phase reversed' but you can't tell that in isolation.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1463737001' post='3053684']
Sorry - meant t reply to this earlier but it got lost...

So I looked up the EMO E520 and it seems to be a passive (transformer only) design.
From that it would seem that your output from the Theremin is wired the 'wrong way round' ie signal to GND/Screen ?

So with the active input Behringer DI the signal is grounded hence no signal from DI.

With the EMO it sounds like it has a ground lift switch in the 'lifted position'.

Used like this the transformer input cares only about the differential at its input and is oblivious to the polarity.
There will be an output from the transformer - it will be 'phase reversed' but you can't tell that in isolation.
[/quote]

That's an interesting thought regarding the signal polarity of the Theremin. I'll have to open it up and check. The external PSU looks as though it's earthed. Should there be electrical continuity between that and one side signal wiring from the Theremin? However the output jack is attached to the metal front panel along with all the other controls so I would have thought it would have been wired up the right way round.

Having said that IIRC it's only when we have to use it with a Behringer DI that we have a problem. Were normally happy to use whatever DI is being supplied by the PA and only get out our EMO if they are short on DI boxes or if the engineer is getting no signal at the desk in which case it always turns out to be a Behringer DI. The EMO does have a ground lift but it is switchable and although I would normally have it in the lifted position, the Theremin is usually set up by Mr Venom and so there's no guarantee that it is always like that. If you are correct about the Theremin would disabling the ground lift on the EMO also kill the signal?

[rmorris]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1463740327' post='3053715']
That's an interesting thought regarding the signal polarity of the Theremin. I'll have to open it up and check. The external PSU looks as though it's earthed. Should there be electrical continuity between that and one side signal wiring from the Theremin? However the output jack is attached to the metal front panel along with all the other controls so I would have thought it would have been wired up the right way round.

Having said that IIRC it's only when we have to use it with a Behringer DI that we have a problem. Were normally happy to use whatever DI is being supplied by the PA and only get out our EMO if they are short on DI boxes or if the engineer is getting no signal at the desk in which case it always turns out to be a Behringer DI. The EMO does have a ground lift but it is switchable and although I would normally have it in the lifted position, the Theremin is usually set up by Mr Venom and so there's no guarantee that it is always like that. If you are correct about the Theremin would disabling the ground lift on the EMO also kill the signal?
[/quote]

Could be a problem with the Behringer DI I suppose - do you use it with other sources ?
Does the Theremin work okay into,say, a guitar amp ?

I would expect disabling the ground lift (ie having ground continuity In to Out) to kill the signal.
Always a bit difficult to tell without being 'hands on' as there are so many ways to wire / miswire balanced / unbalanced circuits and various types of circuits used.

[Twincam]

My sig says it all lol

[rmorris]

[quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1463552981' post='3052176']
I have heard that the behringer plastic cases are ABS and not standard plastic, so much tougher.
The tuner pedal I used for four years or so is still in one piece with no signs of cracks or anything. I really don't think the casing is anything to worry about. Put the behringer guts in a metal case and you'll still have the same effect.
[/quote]

I think that mechanically the cases are fine but it's the switch mechanism that can be a weak point on the 'BOSS' type pedals.
The BDI21 (and GDI21 etc) have a different switch arrangement and while it's an odd sort of thing it seems to be more reliable (???)

Does anyone know if the plastic cases are coated internally for screening ?

[Marvin]

The Behringer gear I've got has been as good as anything I've bought. I don't use it at the moment but I've got a rack mount 15 band eq unit, a switching pedal - which is quite versatile and ideal for changing over basses mid set if need be, and I've just bought a BDI21 which is fantastic value.

I think they get a raw deal. It's inexpensive gear that in the main does the job it's design for. Some of isn't great but you pay your money...

What 'turned' my attitude regards Behringer was 3 bands who have use their gear. The Winery Dogs were using personal onstage mixers by Behringer for their IEMs. I saw another professional local band to me use the very same piece of kit and they couldn't fault it. Finally, a band I supported whose bass player used a Behringer head and they had a Behringer PA cabs. These guys gig relentlessly and the Behringer gear never failed them and it all sounded fine.

[Lozz196]

Good point, a bassist I know uses a Behringer Ultrabass set-up of some sorts, head/410, and with his Jazz bass it sounds fantastic. It`s his only amp and he was using it at least once a week,for a period of at least 5 years, never any issues.

[geoham]

For someone with a low gear budget such as myself, I'd normally say Behringer is a great choice. I gigged one of their Ultrabass amps for years and it gave me no problems - not to mention it sounded great. Had few of their pedals too, which were always fine (except the EQ's lack of centre detent which I found annoying!).

[i]However (!)[/i] - my band were playing at a small festival yesterday, and my guitarist's tuner pedal (a few week old, second time out the house) suddenly died on stage.