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Don Grieser
Dec-15-2004, 1:17pm
I'm not a big Behringer fan but their latest powered mixers look pretty good. Plenty of power, enough inputs for a 4 piece band, and very lightweight. Anybody using one of these? It sure looks easier than dragging a heavy power amp, separate 16 channel board, and rack case of effects around.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7....1 (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/631251/)

And they're about 1/2 the price of comparable powered mixers; I forgot that.

mandroid
Dec-15-2004, 11:20pm
looked at the Carvin.com powered mixer too?, I would favor the 3 amp design, with levels for each, 333w each R, L, and Monitor. neutrik speakon outputs. 8 or 12 channel.
Hecho san diego and not Shanghai.

jim_n_virginia
Dec-18-2004, 1:54am
Was at my local music store talking to my friend who works in the Pro Audio Department and when I walked in last Monday he excitedly tells me ..."Man! You gotta see what we just got in!"...... As I turned to run as this usually means I am about to lose a lot of weight in my pockets, my eye catches a very small mixer hooked up to a pair of 15" JBL speakers. I ask "What the heck is that?"

Two hours later not only do I walk out with the odd little mixer but the "Bad To The Bone" JBL speakers.

What I came home with is Behringer’s newest flagship powered portable mixer.
It has 10 channels (6 mono and 2 stereo) plus stereo tape returns. I have already hooked up my Yamaha AW16G Digital recorder and drum machine to it and the ease of hook up was amazing (to me anyways) very user friendly and easy to figure out (I have limited experience with sound engineering).

It has 400 watts per channel or you can bridge them together for 800 watts. There are TWO FX sends instead of the usual ONE that I can send to any channel. Every mono channel has a switchable -30 dB pad.

It has two independent 24-bit/46 kHz effects processors, each with 99 presets, which I will probably will not use in public but it is fun to play with them. Another cool thing is it has a built in voice canceller so I can hook up a small portable Walkman CD player in a RC input and hit "voice cancel) and it will play the music and not the vocal ala instant Karaoke or for cool music in between sets.

It has a 7 band graphic equalizer with a really neat option I have not seen before. Maybe new technology may not I don’t know but it it called FBQ Feedback Detections. How it basically works is when you turn it on the faders on the Graphic Equalizer light up and if there is any feedback whatever frequency it is lights up that particular fader and you don't have to hunt it down you just back it off a little. I actually have used this part already when I called my buddies over to test the mixer out. Usually it takes a minute to find out what’s wrong, with the FBQ detection it took exactly 2 seconds.

I like that it has a big easy to see and use mute switch so you can mute and pull out jacks so you don't have to turn anything down and you can keep you setting exactly the way you have set it.

There is still a lot I have to learn on this baby but so far I love it. And if all these features weren't good enough (many other powered mixers have similar features) the feature that sold me was the size. Using something called "Cool Audio Technology" (whatever that means LOL!) the unit is so small yet powerful. It is the size of a shoebox you would get if you bought a pair of boots! It is about 18" wide X 10" tall X 8 " deep, and this thing is SO light you can easily pick it up with one hand. It might weigh 10 or 12 pounds.

I called some friends over and we put it too the test. I plugged in 3 vocal mics, two guitars and bass and plugged in my new 15" 500 watt JBL's and cranked it up! I'm telling you this thing was LOUD! My neighbors all started coming over because they thought a party was brewing.

I'm sure that having the new speakers helped (been meaning to upgrade from 12's to 15's for a while now). Mostly all our gigs are small to medium so this unit is perfect for that I think.

Mostly what I look for is ease of setup and transport and small and compact. I think I will use the PMX880S with the 12" speaker cabs for most of our inside coffehouse and small indoor venues and save the 15's for anything I
do outside like festivals or fairs, or big auditorium if I need to.

With my 12's and the unit I could pack it up in my hatchback car and transport instead of my gas guzzling work pickup truck. Having already owned a Behringer mixer board that I have been using for a while for mixing and recording I know Behringer makes good quality equipment.

I whole-heartedly recommend this unit for anyone looking for a small PA system. Would be great for a practice room too if you play big venue's. I am 100% happy with my purchase (even though I again will be eating beans for a week or two! LOL)

Oh yeah and the price? A whopping four hundred clams for the unit! In my opinion, totally worth the money.

JohnF
Dec-18-2004, 2:34pm
One thing with these mixers is that the power rating is usually 4 ohms. So when using regular speakers that cuts it in half. There's other factors also but just realize that the power numbers are deceiving. Behringer also uses cheaper circuitry so getting an extended warranty may not be a bad idea.

Dennis Schubert
Dec-18-2004, 7:16pm
huh???

A power amp rated for 4 ohms (minimum) impedence will drive one 8 ohm cabinet, producing less power because there is more speaker impedence holding it back. Or, it will drive two 8 ohm cabinets for a total load of 4 ohms (1/8 + 1/8 = 1/4)and produce even more power. From published specs for this mixer...

Load Impedance
Main L/R: 4-8 ohms
Monitor/Main Mono: 4-8 ohms
Main Mono/Main Mono: 4-8 ohms
Bridge: 8-16 ohms

Amplifier (Power Amp Output)
Power @ 4 ohms: 2 x 400 w
Power @ 8 ohms: 2 x 200 w
Power @ 8 ohms (Bridge): 1 x 800 w

...there are two separate power amps. Each one will drive 200 watts into a 8-ohm load, or 400 watts into a 4-ohm load.

If the impedence for either amp drops below 4 ohms (by adding even more speakers) it will overproduce power, overheat, and probably self-destruct.

A power amp rated for 2 ohms (minimum) is more sturdy, and will handle anywhere from one to four 8-ohm cabinets. The more speakers, the less total impedence, and the more power the amp will produce.

Most self-contained PA heads are designed for two 8-ohm speakers per power amp. Most stand-alone power amps that you'd use in a rack setup are rated for 2 ohm minimum load.

Mackie 400 and 800-series PA heads are designed for up to four 8-ohm speakers per power amp, which makes them more flexible & forgiving out there in gig-land.

Crowder
Dec-18-2004, 7:44pm
At $400 you could buy a spare to take everywhere http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

danmills
Dec-18-2004, 8:27pm
Does anyone have an informed opinion about Behringer vs Yorkville? I'm looking at getting a small PA for a bluegrass band. In doing my homework, the top local PA rental/sales company (Santa Cruz Sound Co.) recommended Yorkville as bulletproof, good sounding, and with a 2 year unconditional warranty. However, they want $680+tax for a unit (M810) comparable to the Behringer being discussed here. I can get it for $550+shipping online, but I'd rather work with somebody local. I can get the Behringer locally for a lot less.

What to do, what to do...
Thanks,
Dan
p.s. If this constitutes "thread hijacking," somebody just say so, and I'll start a separate thread.

JohnF
Dec-18-2004, 9:14pm
If I'm wrong about the power I apologize. A guy at Guitar center told me the 4 ohm rating is misleading so if it's rated at 200 watts per channel you are really getting 100 watts per channel with most speakers. Looking at other posts about guitar center maybe I should not have necessarily believed that. Once again, sorry if I was wrong.???

steve in tampa
Dec-19-2004, 6:08am
The general rule I always adhered to is to buy 25%-50% more power than you actually need for headroom. Once you turn anything up past half, you are getting into some S/N areas reservered for the rockers. Match the impedences. As far as outputs go, look ahead at what your monitor needs are. If you use 2 speakers, then you need a powered monitor system, ie, another amp system. Look at some of the rack mount systems where there are multiple amps, w/ cooling fans for obvious reasons. We have 2 systems right now, a small coffee house size, and a larger 6 channel powered mixer/12'speaker w/ stands type, and I would love to dump them both for one that could handle all the chores. The technology has gotten to where you can get a lot more power with a lot less stuff to carry.

jim_n_virginia
Dec-20-2004, 11:44pm
Thought I'd give an update on the Behringer PMX880S mixer.

Been using this mixer for about a week now. Having put this baby through the rigors of live music I have to say I am 100% satisfied.

I pretty much have everything figured out on it and have to say that it is very user friendly and easy to understand. I know next to nothing about sound engineering except how to plug in and listen to what it sounds like.

I am playing through 2 500 watt JBL 15" PA speakers and I tell you this thing is louder than I need. But then again I do not play Heavy Metal music but Bluegrass, Folk, Contemporary Christian music, Old Time, Country& Western and acoustic rock (think James Taylor, Neil Young and Dan Fogelberg)

I have a 12" floor monitor but really don't need it for what I do.

Don't know nothing about amperage, watts, ohm and the like but I know I only have it cranked up a third of the way and it is almost too loud for a decent size coffee house or small bar (50-75 people).

This system could easily hand a medium sized night club (100-150 people).

Haven't done an outdoor gig yet due to the weather but I have no doubt I could crank it up if I bridged (very easy to do, all you do is switch the pins on the Speakon plugs)the two channels together for 800 watts.

Having gigged this past year on a borrowed Mackie 880S I think I like this Behringer mixer better. It is about half the size and half the weight. In fact I can put this mixer on the front seat no problem and the speakers in the back of the hatchback.

Before I needed my little Toyota pick-up to haul stuff around. Now it is a cinch to set up and plug in.

And one thing this mixer has that the Mackie doesn't have. I can mix in TWO effects into ANY of the 10 channels (8 mono and 2 stereo)where as the Mackie and most other powered mixers you can only mix in 1 effect at a time.

Can you do an outdoor gig for 500 hundred people? Can you gig in a large club like Mickey Gilley's in Texas? Of COURSE not but you can just about play anywhere else.

You can buy two of these powered mixers for the price of any other 10 channel portable mixer out there. At $400.00 to me it's one of the perfect little snatch, run and set PA system out.

As for Behringer using cheap circuitry I have had a Behringer mixer for years with no problems and as all Behringer products it has a one year warranty.

Dennis Schubert
Dec-21-2004, 8:32am
Be careful with that bridging switch, Jim. You have to use a higher impedance load (8-16 ohms) when bridged to keep the amps from self-destructing. Note that you can get same 800 watts of output using two 8-ohm cabinets per side. Different ways to use that...

(1) Hook your two 15" speakers to the left side of the amp, and one or two monitor cabinets to the right side, to hear yourself. Completely different volume and EQ available for the monitor mix. Often helps to EQ some of the bass end out of the monitor mix, to make it brighter and more intelligible, IMHO.

(2) Beg, borrow, or steal two more 8-ohm cabinets (full range or subwoofers). Hook one pair to the left side, and one pair to the right. No monitors, but very loud for outdoors.

I have a rack system, but have been looking at this new Behringer as a (a) backup unit, and (b) small venue alternative. Can't beat the 20 pound package. All PA gear seems to weigh twice as much after midnight, when you're carrying it back to the truck.

jim_n_virginia
Dec-24-2004, 4:20am
Be careful with that bridging switch, Jim. You have to use a higher impedance load (8-16 ohms) when bridged to keep the amps from self-destructing. Note that you can get same 800 watts of output using two 8-ohm cabinets per side. Different ways to use that...
Yeah thanks for the warning on bridging, in the manual it warns of this too and offers several precautions to keep from messing up the amps. I don't see me ever bridging anyways because just running the stereo Monitor/Main mode is plenty loud enough for what we play.

Now that you mention it I have been thinking of eventaullu adding two sub woofers and then poling the 15" JBLs on top of the subs. I would hook them up like your suggestion. I would "daisey chain" two mains to the left side and subs to the right eliminating the floor monitors, maybe switch to ear monitors.

Can you picture this wall of PA speakers all powered by a mixer the size of a shoebox. It's unreal! LOL!

mandroid
Dec-31-2004, 5:07pm
the manual:
http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pdf/man/m_631251.pdf

Don Grieser
Jan-03-2005, 1:49pm
I finally saw one of these in person. Very light weight. Didn't have time to test it out, but it looks like it would be perfect for small venues. I noticed that watts/ohms labeling on the back and thought that was a little misleading. Is there any way to go out of the mixing section and into a different power amp?