32 channels on budget

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Ruphus

Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010

32 channels on budget

Every other time receiving invites to return to "my" trusted AE-forum, I decided recently to log in after many years, say hello to ol´chaps and read up a bit on state of the art and gear.
( Which I shouldn´t, as GAS got me back right away, eventhough the local place not being the one for studio work anyway. Man, I really miss tracking and mixing. >sigh<)

Anyway, I was surprised to learn that Behringer decided for a turn around and uplift of production and image. And in that sense they released a live board, largely suiting studio work as well, as long as you can accept to not track at 96 kHz / only at 44.1/48 kHz ( which would be hard to accept for me personally ) ...
That thing receives a lot of praise as bang for the buck and decent sounding mixer that is incredibly featured for its price. And QC seems to hold to the brand´s new promise.

32 channels for around 3 grands, and you be enjyoing knobs and faders under your hands and a sound way beyond of what you would expect in such price range.
This seems fantastic news for project budgets.

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/X32.aspx#overview

I am already drooling and would hardly withstand if they introcuced 96k ( even at only half channel count) and digital I/Os for outboard convertors.

Technically, these are the days.

Ruphus

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 27 2014 11:23:33

tri7/5

Posts: 570
Joined: May 5 2012

RE: 32 channels on budget (in reply to Ruphus)

I wonder how quality the A/D converters are and mic-pre's sound. It's hard to trust Behringer so I'm partially a skeptic that they had to skimp on something. I don't see an issue with tracking at 44.1 as long as you have a good A/D clock source and are mainly using for music and not soundtracking for DVD/Blu-ray where that could be used. It's going to go that way anyways once you encode to cd/red book. IMO 24 bit is where you can hear the most difference vs. 16 not to take this thread down a completely different road.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 27 2014 12:27:22

Ruphus

Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010

RE: 32 channels on budget (in reply to Ruphus)

Bits can make a difference in view of processing and headroom, but you can do pretty well with just one bit like in SD.

When 96 k was new a bunch of folks would jump on me for my favourable findings with the new resolution, claiming that it couldn´t be better than 44.1 and 48, but they got beaten by files provided, and very soon by confirmation of the majority of trackers.

And vice versa with 192 khz, which we found to be giving no advantage worth.

Regarding the reservations you list, everyone had the exact same.
Meanwhile there are threads over 4 years with the revealings being very positive and only getting better along the development and upgrades. Even folks who wouldn´t want to be mentioned with that brand in one sentence ( like me too

) love that desk.

The pres have been designed by Midas, yielding smooth, and cheap convertors have improved vastly anyway. Durability, customer service and fair dealing seem good as well.
- Even the inclusive emulated SW vintage racks seem to be perceived as good quality. ( Preferred over standard Steinberg stuff for instance.)

And the constantly added features ( like multi remote through android apps, iPhones /iPads, etc.) come in for free along the road.
You only need to pay extra for the connecting card you might chose ( wifi, ethernet, ADAT whatever) and possibly for pre / line expansions.

Make a search, you are in for a positive surprise. (To me the reading was like a thriller.)

To my ears the top end still comes out a tad brittle, and maybe there is not all the meat that could be, but hey: Its dozens of tracks for small cash after all, and a really great value for that. - And if they do more on digital I/O / clocking one might be taking his fine convertors for the crucial takes.

... And imagine how it must be now for who wants to start out!
Get yourself an X32, some typical suspects like SM57s and a number of KEL mics maybe and you are ready to go for quite a while, until you broke your horns enough to be ready for gradual upgrades with better outboard.

And when there´s a gig you take that thing with a laptop and are ready to go.

With such a base ( board + mics´n cables) for hardly 5 grands you be good for years to come.
Compare that to the entry level / mediocre devices you had to spend tens of thousands on only ~ 15 years ago.

Ruphus

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 27 2014 14:48:59

ToddK

Posts: 2961
Joined: Dec. 6 2004

RE: 32 channels on budget (in reply to Ruphus)

Nobody's gonna buy that crap. It just can't touch a DAW on a desktop for
home recording. I don't need a million mic pre's, because like most people
i dont even own more than 3 mics anyway.
You might mix live with it i guess, but if i were looking for a live mixer,
this is not even close to what i'd want.

I have read countless interviews with my favorite engineers, and none of them
track or mix at 96khz.
There has been years of discussion about this at Gearslutz forum, and the
general consensus is, there's a slight difference in the high frequencies
but not enough to justify the extra processing power it takes.
I dont work @ 96khz simply because i don't hear a difference.
YMMV

_____________________________

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 28 2014 21:45:26

Ruphus

Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010

RE: 32 channels on budget (in reply to Ruphus)

A part of why I opened this thread was for the entertaining challenge to overcome image and prejustice.

And it seems like in this case you are not being that good at that.

The fact that the vast majority on Gearslutz now records at 44.1 seems to reflect on the increase of home recordists that appear to have joined the board in the past years. This sample rate pref. is a statistic condition certainly differing from the forum´s average from years ago.

And that engineers like Bob Ohlsen or my favorite William Wittman ( both at 96 kHz) must not count to those whom you consider, might indicate how hearing or taste could be an individual matter.

Having said that, for a mixer primarily meant for live use, limitation on sample rate should be alright. ( It is just my personal take that it is a pity to not allow 96k for studio work.)

But most relevant being how you seem firmly convinced this desk to be crap, while probably having not experienced it ( in actual use).

Because on GS as well you will find a vast majority of surprised people who came to positive experience since the introduction of this product.
Among them no small number of professional users.

Naturally, why should you find this mixer with major bands who / their crews have no reason to not stay with fine gear they are used to. But this thing seems to be used by a lot of acts meanwhile who are popular enough for extensive touring.

And regarding your estimation of noone buying this crap. Don´t know where it´s at now, but 30 000 desks were sold already not so long after release.

Why call crap what you don´t know, only because of a brands infamous history?
( Aside from the fact that Behringer wasn´t crap initially, and that they have always had single items that were exceptions of the makes typical characteristics / allowing actual bang for the back.)

Ruphus

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 29 2014 13:30:10