JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Microphone and Vocalist Forum Powered Mixers: Behringer vs ?

Looking at the Behringer Europower PMP5000 20 channel, 1200 watt (2X600) power mixer.

German technology I assume. Cost is low compared to 16 channel power mixers of brands like Yamaha, Mackie and Carvin. (Just about half the cost, and four more channels.

Any experience with Behringer power mixers, especially this latest model? Or the brand itself. Will be used for five piece band at small to medium venues. (Any venue "much" larger would mean we would need a sound company anyway). We now use a 10 channel 900 watt Samson and the power is fine. Just need more channels and some more headroom for the watts ,(would be 300 watts more with the 1200 power mixers). Good thing?

Thanks for any advice, opinions.
John

Hi John. Over the years we have used many sound systems.
I do not recommend using a powered mixer per say.
For a good number of years we used passive mixers and power amps it is generally a better sound. Do not put all your eggs in one basket in case of malfunctions or breakdowns.
A few years ago we started using powered speakers, JBL EOn and other makes. Then I bought the Mackie system it blows away anything else. Might be a tad more expensive but worth every penny of the extra. The Mackie mixers are very good and match the active system which can be daisy chained to suit the size of venue.
My advice go Mackie.....a passive mixer, pair of 450s and a bass bin will fill most medium sized venues (200-400people) with the best quality sound you could hear. Money from a couple of gigs should pay for it.

Thanks Jim! (and Hi back at you!) Good to get your real experience in on the whole thing.

John

Behringers are great...at first. They are made using the cheapest of cheap components in (basically) off shore sweat shops. They do work though, but I've found with their mixers especially, that the most often used pots will not stand up to years of regular use. I'm not sure if it's the solder type or the quality of the soldering, but they almost all work their way loose over time. I've seen a few come with cold solder joins and have to be serviced even before initial use.

Here in Canada, we have an awesome product: Yorkville Sound, who can be found at any ART dealer, which are distributed by Yorkville in Canada. They, to me are the answer to the vacuous middle ground in sound gear. They have their own low end, but their middle end gear is awesome, and has the best warranty/guarantee anywhere on anything. If you can track down Yorkville Sound gear at any of your local dealers, they're definately worth a look.

If you can manage a few extra bucks, Mackie is by far the best choice, it'll never let you down and has the best preamps of any board.

If you are going to use the equipment to earn money with you'll need something that's as bullet proof as you can find and afford. Behringer is not a piece of gear I would consider bullet proof. Your new piece may or may not work out of the box, may fail after a very short time and will certainly fail at sometime down the road when you least need it to fail, ie; in the middle of a gig.
Go with a better unit. Any of those you've noted will serve you well and Yorkville should certainly be in the mix.

Don't disregard a decent mixer and a pair of powered loudspeakers in lieu of the powered head.

Just what do you consider small and medium size?
For the latter you really should consider a sub setup as well.

I've been considering Mackie powered cabs, the 10" ones, wha ta smokin' product they have. Match them up with my 1402 and I'll be ready to go! But alas, I just bought a new car, so I think I'll be slumming it with my passive mains for now!

Anybody who goes for Mackie powerd speakers will not be dissapointed. The Mackie passive mixers are pretty good as well. They match the sound perfectly and were made for each other.
Maybe just a tad more expensive than some similar systems but you get what you pay for and worth the extra both in durability and performance.

We use the Mackie system too. The passive board16 channel, and and active tops with subs separate for when we need 'em. I have JBL's myself, the Mackie's are superior. My bass player has Peavey, The JBL's and Mackie's are both superior. We do have a couple of Behringer Monitors that are fine, but monitors don't get pushed the way mains do. An old saying comes to mind, and not to say things won't work out fine if you go the way you posed originally, but for what it's worth...
"The sweetness of low cost will soon be overshadowed by the bitterness of poor quality"
with some things it just doesn't matter, i think the Behringers are fine for monitors, it's not what the audience is hearing, and we can hear them well enough to stay in key on harmonies, it's those mains and that board that everything runs out through to the audience that is "your sound". Good luck with it John, I know it's not an inexpensive proposition either way...check e-bay, maybe there's a way to pick up some good Mackie gear at Behringer prices?
All that said, in our small beaches community we do throw downs at parties here and there,guys from this band or that band etc, with whatever PA somebody has set up, the crowd doesn't seem to actually notice or care...ha...other than the occasional techie guy, who'll ask what year is that amp or something to that effect? ya know, so it is just gear...see ya...Moker

I have had good luck with my Yamaha system.

Hi John

IMHO I dont recommend using powered mixer.

I still go with the seperated one for safety purposes during your road tour. But Im using mostly behringer product here like my mixer, condeser mic and monitor speaker. because this German inventor hire mostly loyal Filipino engineer in Germany and we have a service center here with impressive interpersonal approach to their clients.

Lynman

With all due respect Lynman, Behringer is not really top of the range reliable gear as it is aimed at the middle to bottom end of the market. Whilst parts and service might be great in the Philippines that cannot be said about most other places. Most people I know would not use Behringer as a first option.

I agree about powered mixers they generally have I/O limitations and are not my preferred options.

Thanks for everyone’s input.

After much talk and changing our mind several times we decided on and bought a 24 channel Mackie with two 1400 watt Mackie amps. Hopefully they will serve us well. If not, at least Mackie has a pretty good resale value!

Congrats Iggy. I bought my Mackie system over 5 years ago and have gigged almost daily with it since. Never had one problem and it is in as good condition now as the day I bought it.

with age comes wisdom, not to say you're old, just wise

They will definatley serve you well! So, what did you do with the rest of the lottery winnings Iggy?

Took singing lessons!

Money well spent LOL

Only thing worth saving money with with Behringer is their patchbay, I've heard. And Allen & Heath should be the bang for the buck, in terms of mixers for recording..