Behringer effects

mikeyb

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone here has some experience with Behringer products. I have heard almost all sorts of mixed reviews, just from general chats with other musos. Has anyone here ever owned or used any of the behringer products over a period of time to get reliability etc.
With specific regard to the V amp which is bascially a knock of the line 6 pod. There is also the vintage tube monster vt999 that has a tube in the pedal. I would assume similar to the ibanez tube king.
Any thoughts and helpful advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks guys.

IceCreamMan

Nothing wrong with the Behringer stuff , they pretty much reverse engineer the products of others so its the same kit in dioffernt clothes at a hellova cost saving....

lots will poo poo the idea of using Behringer, imho its workable kit at a great price.

Would not suprise me if various manufacturers are utilising the same factories as behringer in china with the same components and charging a premium for the name.

AlanRatcliffe

They have a few decent products, but generally they are cheap knockoffs of other products. Without even getting into the ethics of copying other people's designs, they are good on a tight budget, but generally not something you can really rely on. For the most part they are not the same components - same values, but lower quality.

raithza

I ordered a few off take2, i figure for the price, why not? If you like an effect you can always just get the 'proper' one but it saves some $ from experimenting.

mikeyb

Thanks guys. I have always been an experimenter and have in the past resorted to micing up my amp with a cheap mic and trying to do edits etc through audacity. I am on a fairly tight budget, and want something I can use for editing and mixing etc. Are there any other options that any of you could recomend. Ideally my goal is to get some line 6 products because I really like their ideas on amp modelling and the whole variax guitar still blows my mind. But that is a future dream.

TomCat

Biggest problem with Behringer here in SA is that if it breaks, you have almost no chance of repair. The agents have very poor backup service.

rikus

I just checked some of these on Take2...

You can get a TS clone for R443 (currently on special)... http://more.take2.co.za/moreusa-behringer-to800-vintage-tube-sound-overdrive-pedal-b000kirt74.html

That's quite tempting!

MIKA-the-better-one

I would not consider a behringer.... I say this with much experience.......... In my old band our bassists dad helped import behringer, so i could get most pedals for about R200 NEW............

Let me tell you now, they are cheap cheap, crap........... yes you can buy 10 for the price of one good pedal, but really if you take guitar super serious and you care about tone at all, you will give them a pass......

If you want an overdrive, go get a boss pedal second hand, it sounds a bit better and is strong, and you can actually gig it and not feel like you are stomping on a plastic lunchbox, and you can look fellow musicians in the eyes without shame.

As for the V amp, I had one, I bought it brand new...... it was uninspiring, sounded awful, I resold it for half what i got it for......

Really there are cheaper, better alternatives to behringer pedals.

Jack-Flash-Jr

rikus wrote: I just checked some of these on Take2...

You can get a TS clone for R443 (currently on special)... http://more.take2.co.za/moreusa-behringer-to800-vintage-tube-sound-overdrive-pedal-b000kirt74.html

That's quite tempting!

I would hold out for the real deal, R500 more but you'll save in the long run. You can always get a TS 10 (that has TS9 mode) for even less.

raithza

you can get the digitech bad monkey for R100 more...

louwd123

MIKA the better one wrote:
As for the V amp, I had one, I bought it brand new...... it was uninspiring, sounded awful, I resold it for half what i got it for......

I completely agree with Mika, if you behringer, you are going to buy again. As for the V-amp, stay away from it as far as possible. No matter how much you change the knobs, it will just sound the same, with different levels of toneless noise coming from it. I started on it, didn't know better. Well on second thought, I replaced it with a brand spanking new Boss GT-8 when they came out. And guess what. That has been replaced as well with a analogue pedal system and a LV300 twin amp. hmmmmm. GAS! ??? A transformation of over 9 years. Best of luck. I would jump to a proper multi-fx unit first and then when you have decided what you like, take it from there.

Banditman

Most of their pedals are cheap knockoffs tonally. They're fine if you're on a limited budget, need the pedal & can't find a used Boss or similar equivalent for the right price. Not great if you're serious about tone though.

But....

I bought their copy of the BD2 Blues Driver in 2006; partly because of budget issues then but also on the strength of a Guitarist mag review.

I've got to say that for a R295 pedal in a plastic housing, it's tonally not bad at all. It's also been played every week for the last 4 years without the slightest issue. I replaced it with a TS9 (which will visit Matta sometime soon hopefully), but the Behringer BD is still on my pedal board & set for a more fuzz-ish sound. Maybe I'm just fond of its sheer cheek in still going strong.

Sometimes it's worth trying stuff - guitars, pedals, amps etc. - that you'd normally never consider just for the hell of it. You never know what you'll find.

GoeieGenugtig

I have to confess that I tried a behringer noise suppressor (NR 100) stomp because it was more affordable +- R350 and while the BOSS NS-2 was +- R1000. The berhinger almost did the job but in truth it just made everything worse. I tried to use it with PB1000 berhinger pedal board. I really thought that the stomp would work with their power supply, but it didn't it clipped all the sound it only worked on my line6 stompbox supply. I returned the PB1000 got refunded. They couldn't get a PB1000 to work properly.

So I had to buy the NS-2 anyway (not perfect but it actually works) which I got at a sale for R550. I still have the stomp and I feel morally obliged not to sell it to anyone. Maybe I can use the box in some DIY project, paper weight or just give it away.
Just my opinion but I don't think the resale value is really good, except if anyone want to prove me wrong and buy my noise NR100. Anyone? Just kidding, don't buy it.

Maybe you can use behringer if you really need some effects now and cannot wait for good deals on other brands. Apparantly the berhinger compressor isn't bad.

On reliability: I have the NR-100 for about 2-3 years and it is still operational, I think. I should probably use it before I can test this.

Overall I didn't expect much, and was still disappointed.

2 products and two bad experiences. I'd rather save up. I don't even look at any of their products again. Haven't had the same problems with other stomps and supplies.

Vick

Oky,like a while ago...maybe 2years now,I got a vintage time machine for 300 bucks...was and is still a lota fun for that price,it would get muddy on longer settings(muddy even considering that its a semi based on the ehx delux memory man)....but yea,for that price its awsum ?

ryanguit

I also have NR100 and NS2! Similar experience at first, but after 2 years of being a paperweight in my music shack, i realized recently it is far from the boss in function altho it looks similar, i use them both on my board. I also have a multifx single pedal which i use for trem and as a 2nd delay when i feel like making MarsVolta NOISE! But not on my board Haha. I have also broken 2 behringer products in the past. Measure your power supply! Must be less or equal to 9 volts. If using a crappy unregulated ps, use on 7.5V Setting and you'll be less likely to break them. Flashing LED = help me too high voltage. And all the hiss and buzz is gone if you use proper power supply. Just saying. Cheers

GoeieGenugtig

ryanguit wrote: I also have NR100 and NS2! Similar experience at first, but after 2 years of being a paperweight in my music shack, i realized recently it is far from the boss in function altho it looks similar, i use them both on my board. I also have a multifx single pedal which i use for trem and as a 2nd delay when i feel like making MarsVolta NOISE! But not on my board Haha. I have also broken 2 behringer products in the past. Measure your power supply! Must be less or equal to 9 volts. If using a crappy unregulated ps, use on 7.5V Setting and you'll be less likely to break them. Flashing LED = help me too high voltage. And all the hiss and buzz is gone if you use proper power supply. Just saying. Cheers

Then its probably not worth it for me. The crux berhinger ps + berhinger stomp does not mean it will work even though it is as per berhinger instruction. I currently have 10 stomps connected on just my boss psa, one of them is a ML-2 and I play with single coils. Its not perfect but I don't have big buzz or hiss issues except if the stage lights are on the same phase as the stage equipment when the lights use two of the three phases. I will probably buy another PS in the future.

Actually a good question: Does the BOSS PSA fall under the crappy supplies. Can I do much better, while still being affordable? BOSS PSA feels really steep for what you get. I'll always prefer less hiss, less noise ?
There are really expensive powersupplies out there, wonder if it is worth it.

Setting berhinger on 7.5V while all the other work fine? Nah not worth the effort now, but good to know that not all is lost with NR100. I'll prefer to use only 1 noise suppressor, actually no noise suppressor. It is just too much cables >.<

Vick wrote: Oky,like a while ago...maybe 2years now,I got a vintage time machine for 300 bucks...was and is still a lota fun for that price,it would get muddy on longer settings(muddy even considering that its a semi based on the ehx delux memory man)....but yea,for that price its awsum ?

The berhinger can be fun to play with, still need to be convinced for serious use and abuse. I loved my zoom 505 II and GFX1 also, you can do crazy things if you have the expression connected it. I actually wonder how well the berhinger stomps work at high volumes on stage.

Playing with decent equipment once gives tremendous GAS. Back in the day I dreamt of having a zoom505.