T1952 changed my opinion about Behringer

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OMG:
This might be the first time that I actually really praise Behringer and came to conclusion, that within the seaload of shitty/average products it has a small selection of VERY good products that can compete in price with almost anything many times more expensive products. These are the good products that I've had the positive experiences from:

- ADA8000 - 8 channel adat preamp
- 2030A(?) TRUTH - studio monitors
- BG412 - guitar cabinet
- and this

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INTRODUCTION:
I paid 150€ for it, which is about 200$, so its very affordably priced. T1952 is a very basic transistor gate/compressor/limiter just like dbx 166XL, but what makes it interesting is that it has a very gentle tube colorizer/exciter (a.k.a. warmth -knob). Also the the vintage-look with oldschool knobs and VU-meters is a plus. The best thing is that it works well both live and in studio.

LIVE:
You can't really hear it why its good, unless you compare. The difference was really drastic live (atleast in the bassdrum and vocals) when I compared it to the normal Behringer Composer and dbx 266XL. I inputted exactly the same settings to the kick (slow gate, 4:1 ratio, automatic attack/release) and switched the compressors to test which sounded best. I added full warmth to the Tube Composer and it just crushed those two. I came to the conclusion that it works beautifully live.

STUDIO:
But what about studio? Well atleast it works with 22" maple ludwig kick like a charm. I used AKG D112 and Yamaha O1V2 to Cubase for capturing the kick. After removing the hum near ~200-250hz, I added a small boosts (~+4db) to 50hz and somewhere between 2-6khz (cant remember) and I didn't have to do any eq'ing in Cubase and it still just KILLED. I never had that experience with any previous compressors that I used. Listen to the 25 second sample of this non mixed song (~850kb). I don't know about you, but I like it. I have this really bad habit to sacrifice individual instrument sounds to make the whole mix sound better, so if any instrument plays alone/solo it usually sounds like shit unless its the vocals or guitars, so thats why I didn't put a clip of just the kick :)

SUMMA SUMMARUM:
It looks cool, sounds warm and is dirt cheap, what more could I ask? Only bad sides are that it takes two rackunits and weights like a ton (~10kg?). What about the most feared "feature" of behringer products, the extranoise? I didn't notice that it did any more hiss than the Joemeek SC2.2 or Furman LC that I use at the studio, I heard the noise live only when I boosted the gain from the channel like ~15db more from what I would ever do, so it was pretty low. Wouldn't use it as a master compressor/limiter tho.

MY RATING:
Ease to use: 9/10 - you really have to read the manual for the weird SC thingy, otherwise pretty simple
Sound quality: 9/10 - couldn't get much better unless you add one zero to the pricetag
Reliability: 8/10 - I think one of the VU-meters was broken from the beginning, but I don't really need to look at it as there is the led indicating if its compressing, so that it doesn't really matter.
Overall: 8.5/10 - for 150€ compressor it really kicks ass
Basic EQ tip: highpass all that don't hit subs, usually all but bass and kick

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Indeed, Behringer isn't crap by definition. Only snobs would say so ;-)
We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. Image
My MusicCalc is served over https!!

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ahjteam wrote:What about the most feared "feature" of behringer products
... is actually the fact that they skimp on the moving parts and connectors and things will eventually break, get scratchy and unreliable.

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Kingston wrote:
ahjteam wrote:What about the most feared "feature" of behringer products
... is actually the fact that they skimp on the moving parts and connectors and things will eventually break, get scratchy and unreliable.
The moving parts section is usually the problem with many hardware producers, not just Behringer. I've had numerous knobs snapped in various devices. the switches in this is made of metal (not sure of the material, my guess is brass), not sure of the smaller knob as I couldn't pull off the caps, but the larger ones had plastic rods in them.
Basic EQ tip: highpass all that don't hit subs, usually all but bass and kick

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In your clip, the kick is barely audible. So I can't really say much about the sound as it could be just any kick.
There are 3 kinds of people:
Those who can do maths and those who can't.

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There is a few in that line that is tempting. Besides the VU meters they delve into that valve sound.....mmmmm..not too expensive. The preamp interested me, but then again I might make mine.

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ahjteam wrote:These are the good products that I've had the positive experiences from:

- ADA8000 - 8 channel adat preamp
- 2030A(?) TRUTH - studio monitors
- BG412 - guitar cabinet
- and this

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There was quite some talk here about a reverb unit of theirs not long ago - I can't recall the model, but it was around the same price as this one and some users felt it was 'pro' quality too.

I'm really sceptic about their monitors.

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Yeah, I've been impressed with the V-Verb Pro 24/96.
That is, I was listening to some music at a fiend's and I loved the lush reverb and asked what it was. A <$200 Behringer was NOT the answer I expected.
It's got spdif i/o as well, so I'm still thinking about getting that unit.
Rakkervoksen

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Sascha Franck wrote:In your clip, the kick is barely audible. So I can't really say much about the sound as it could be just any kick.
Try to turn up the volume. This any better? http://www.ahjteam.com/upload/kanava_premix2.mp3 (6sec, 205kb)
Basic EQ tip: highpass all that don't hit subs, usually all but bass and kick

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ahjteam wrote:The moving parts section is usually the problem with many hardware producers, not just Behringer.
yes of course, but behringer has - for a very good reason - a notorious reputation of this: cheap thin plastic and thin metal parts all over. they will break, and not just by bad luck like it is with most stuff.

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My friend has a rack of the Behringer "Tube" line of products such as the TUBE ULTRA-Q T1951, TUBE ULTRAGAIN T1953 (mic preamp), TUBE ULTRAFEX T1954 (harmonic enhancer/exciter/stereo width), as well as the Tube Composer (compressor)T1952. All of them have a tube warmth knob. Each one used alone they are just OK. But use all them in chain with the tube warmth boosted and you get a nice warm sound on vocals, electric guitars (mic'd and DI'ed), and acoustic guitar (mic'd). Of course he has a pair of the Behringer DUAL DIAPHRAGM CONDENSER MICROPHONEs B-2 PRO. He doesn't record drums so I couldn't tell you what it sounds like. For budget outboard gear it doesn't get any better, and they do have a nice pleasant character.

If you want to hear what all that sounds like, check out his myspace page. He is a guitar teacher so they are only short clips demonstrating what he can do. He used the Behringer stuff for guitar, vocals, and DI Bass on all the clips. Also uses the 2030A Truth studio monitors.

http://www.myspace.com/187585219

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I can verify it is a nice compressor. OF the 4 compressors I own, this one fits in nicely. Juyst for f**ks sake, the other 3 are a VIntage DBX 165(easily the best, smooth and transparent can only begin to describe it, but its only 1 compressor) A DBX 166XL, (Id say The Tube composer is comparable to this.) And the compressor in the Presonus Eureka, which is a very nice compressor. I find running vocals and bass thru the Tube COmposer seem to always work.. THey seem to fit nicely in the mix with a little bit of the "tube" warmth engaged.. Many have questioned the actualy functionality of the tube, but I replaced them with Re-issue Tung Sol 12ax7's and that seemed to liven things up, so the Tube is doing "something", besides being backlit by a light!!haha

Anyway you can't dismiss that Behringer's toughness is really an issue. The knobs on this couldnt be more cheap,, my VU meters, when linked, do not show the same. One of them has drifted, although no big deal.. . Also when linked one of my channels doesnt give out the same output all the time, at times being about 6-8db's quieter, so I basically have to unlink them and operate as 2 seperate compressors and set them up identically. Other than these little peeves, it does work very nicely, although I'm always wondering when its gonna go south, probably during a good take, of course...
link to my Asspace page(Myspace) This has become a necessary evil http://www.myspace.com/worldofshit1

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Nothing wrong with my Xenyx mixer. Even the built in fx are surprisingly good - better than my previous Alesis one.

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I have the behringer DDX3216 digital mixer with 4 adat pairs. I have to say, I am very pleased with it. Morotized faders, intuitive interface, solid sync, decent pres, automations , dynamics and effects galore. One reviewer SOS I believe said that this unit of great value, sound construction and excellent sound quality. I am pleased.

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I have a bunch of tubes laying around, since Im a guitar freak, I decided to swap out the tubes in the T1952.. First off there IS a difference, actually now, the tubes make a very subtle difference compared to before, but it is definitly smoother and just a lot less, which is good thing, cause I hardly considered the tubes WARM in the first place. IT still isnt but, the effect seems more usuable if desired. I usually don't

The funny thing was, althought not suprising, was the complete CRAP tubes that were in there..HAHAH Man, they were making a ton of noise by just holding them!!ah There were loose parts all over inside the tube.. So as a joke I put it in the V1 position of my 5150, and the AMP just SCREAMED!!!!COmpletely Microphonic and generally BROKEN!!! These are totally unuasable tubes under ANY other situation. I guess this goes to point out how STARVED these tubes actually are in the T1952, and in fact they are barely doing anything, except adding some high end sizzle on HI-hats and such. Its still best when I leave the "warm" control at 0. I also found it odd, that the insides of this compressor is literally EMPTY!! I can't believe they couldnt have condensed this into a rack space, but I guess becasue its "Vintage" they would make it like most old hardware and make it 2 rack space.
link to my Asspace page(Myspace) This has become a necessary evil http://www.myspace.com/worldofshit1

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