Behringer X32

[Soundhunter]

Joe,

Is there someone I can contact in the UK re a demo on site of the X32, We have a number of our conference rooms with Behringer equipment that has NEVER let us down including the 4882 (used everyday for 12 hrs a day!) and we are looking at going digital in our main auditorium.

Hope you can help

Steve

[ajay_m]

Hi

I was wondering, if anyone at Behringer is listening here, whether there are any plans to enhance the X32 firmware so that all the faders can also be used for DAW control, rather than just the 8 faders currently available.

I am the author of a control surface plugin for the Behringer BCR2000 for which I released the full source some time ago, and quite a lot of people have adapted this and built setups with multiple BCR and BCF units as DAW controllers. Prior to this software, there was no really easy way of setting up a BCR2000 in full-duplex mode and the only way to get the BCF working was to use Mackie emulation.

Writing this was straightforward because these units obviously just send and receive MIDI messages to set their encoders and knobs. So all the X32 would need to do is send and receive MIDI messages to do the same and accept some SysEx messages to set the scribble strips.

Personally, I would buy an X32 tomorrow if all the faders could be used for DAW control, and the scribble strips updated from the DAW, even if that meant writing the control software myself. In my opinion, the market for this unit would be substantially increased since, for the price, there's nothing remotely comparable in terms of the hardware controls alone. There are one heck of a lot of home studio owners who would happily purchase one of these. Right now its not so attractive for that purpose because of the 8 fader limitation.

[bremusound]

Originally Posted by Joe Sanborn

Hi,
Let me look into this with our development team.

The S16 has MIDI in/out which I believe is to remotely control any internal parameters. As the S16 is not released yet, I will get an official answer. I will also see if we have a MIDI implementation chart as well.

Best
Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

Thanks a lot!

Cheers

[jeronimo]

Originally Posted by ajay_m

Hi

I was wondering, if anyone at Behringer is listening here, whether there are any plans to enhance the X32 firmware so that all the faders can also be used for DAW control, rather than just the 8 faders currently available.

I am the author of a control surface plugin for the Behringer BCR2000 for which I released the full source some time ago, and quite a lot of people have adapted this and built setups with multiple BCR and BCF units as DAW controllers. Prior to this software, there was no really easy way of setting up a BCR2000 in full-duplex mode and the only way to get the BCF working was to use Mackie emulation.

Writing this was straightforward because these units obviously just send and receive MIDI messages to set their encoders and knobs. So all the X32 would need to do is send and receive MIDI messages to do the same and accept some SysEx messages to set the scribble strips.

Personally, I would buy an X32 tomorrow if all the faders could be used for DAW control, and the scribble strips updated from the DAW, even if that meant writing the control software myself. In my opinion, the market for this unit would be substantially increased since, for the price, there's nothing remotely comparable in terms of the hardware controls alone. There are one heck of a lot of home studio owners who would happily purchase one of these. Right now its not so attractive for that purpose because of the 8 fader limitation.

[Temple of Light]

I would buy 2 of these in the next 6 months if they would provide 32 direct outs via analog,{and a pair of S16's to boot} but it ain't gonna happen just like the automation you are suggesting ain't gonna happen, they are not interested in being a forward thinking company taking a leadership position in their technology.They are good at compromising and copying designs in order to make a buck, nothing more.

[OzGizmo]

Golly people are expecting a lot for the $$$$, it's a budget priced digital desk that will suit many people for many reasons.... It was never designed it to be the ultimate audio desk, if it was there would be a coffee maker and beer cooler software package to go with it
Enjoy it for the change it's made to the industry if you don't like it or doesn't suit your needs then buy a desk that does.

[Falcatta]

Love the board and have been using it to record. Only problem is Made the mistake of upgrading to Windows 8 on my recording computer and now the USB driver refuses to install because of the OS Version.

Any chance the USB driver will be updated soon so I don't have to rip my setup up just to satisfy the USB driver?

[Murton]

You updated to Windows 8 on a audio computer this soon as it was released? You're dreaming if you expected anything to work in pro audio land. Give about three months and most things have drivers out.

[ssaudio]

Originally Posted by Falcatta

Love the board and have been using it to record. Only problem is Made the mistake of upgrading to Windows 8 on my recording computer and now the USB driver refuses to install because of the OS Version.

Any chance the USB driver will be updated soon so I don't have to rip my setup up just to satisfy the USB driver?

Do some research into how to get Win 7 drivers to install onto Win 8 - you shouldn't have a problem, as far as I can see...

[Buggaluggs]

My problem is with the manual. I downloaded the PDF and the font is too dang small for me to read. Is there anyway to get a Word doc of this so I can up the font size?

[Matti]

Really,
your first PDF file in your life and Behringer ****s it for you, now think if possible

Matti

[ssaudio]

If only the text view in a PDF could be user scalable - great idea actually, I think I'll write Adobe...

[neko1004]

I have a question about the X32. I saw a review on Amazon, about this board where they stated:

"The two biggest are the lack of adequate mix buses for the I/O and FX and the general sound quality. It looks like you get 16 mix buses PLUS a rack of 8 FX. But you don't. Actually, every time you use an FX slot, you're eating up a mix bus (unless you insert it). So, you're sharing the 16 mix buses between auxes, FX mixes, AND subgroups (which have to be assigned stereo, so you use up two mix buses every time you create a subgroup). It does have DCA groups, which is a good alternative, but I really like to put an EQ and a compressor on my drum bus to tighten it up and the DCAs are level only. Anyway, those mix buses go fast once you start adding effects and subgroups to your mix."

I'm just wondering if this is true, or if the person didn't know how to use the board. He didn't keep the board for that long, and wound up going with a "24 channel Presonus mixer". If you look on Amazon you can see the full review, it's the only one with 1 Star.

From everything else I've read, including on GearSlutz, and watched about this board, it's pretty amazing.

Thanks

[Joe Sanborn]

Originally Posted by neko1004

I have a question about the X32. I saw a review on Amazon, about this board where they stated:

"The two biggest are the lack of adequate mix buses for the I/O and FX and the general sound quality. It looks like you get 16 mix buses PLUS a rack of 8 FX. But you don't. Actually, every time you use an FX slot, you're eating up a mix bus (unless you insert it). So, you're sharing the 16 mix buses between auxes, FX mixes, AND subgroups (which have to be assigned stereo, so you use up two mix buses every time you create a subgroup). It does have DCA groups, which is a good alternative, but I really like to put an EQ and a compressor on my drum bus to tighten it up and the DCAs are level only. Anyway, those mix buses go fast once you start adding effects and subgroups to your mix."

I'm just wondering if this is true, or if the person didn't know how to use the board. He didn't keep the board for that long, and wound up going with a "24 channel Presonus mixer". If you look on Amazon you can see the full review, it's the only one with 1 Star.

From everything else I've read, including on GearSlutz, and watched about this board, it's pretty amazing.

Thanks

Hi Guys,

I wanted to correct several points in this Amazon post, that are incorrect.

X32 Sound Quality:
The X32 uses a proprietary analog mic pre design as well as an ADC stage where we opted for Cirrus Logic CS5368 converters and Analog Device AD21273 DSP’s; the very same components found in many $50,000+ digital consoles!
The sound quality of the X32 has proven to pass the test by independent blind sound tests such as one we did in August.
Please read the comments by veteran engineer Geri O’Neil:
Thoughts on the Mixer shoot-out and the VUE presentation...

Or this post by an engineer at Egg Performing Arts Center in Albany, NY:
behringer x32 - Page 2

In regards to the Buses on the X32:
16 Buses all with 6 Band Fully Parametric EQ and Compression
8 DCAs
16 Dedicated P16 buses to feed the 16 channel P16 Discreet Monitoring system
6 Matrix Mixes

If anyone is interested I can send you a spreadsheet showing a few examples of mixes, using the 16 busses, 8 DCAs, 16 P16 buses and 6 matrix mixes.

X32 FX:
Some digital mixers in this price range only have reverbs and delays.
The X32 has over 40 FX.

I hope it helps!

Best
Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

[neko1004]

Again, I'm new to all of this. I've never owned a board, and am just learning about boards and mixing. I'm trying to find out the validity of the following statements, "So, you're sharing the 16 mix buses between auxes, FX mixes, AND subgroups (which have to be assigned stereo, so you use up two mix buses every time you create a subgroup)" and "Anyway, those mix buses go fast once you start adding effects and subgroups to your mix"

Is this the case with all mixers, is this a limit of the X32, or is reviewer just not using the board correctly?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but as you can tell, I'm an extreme newbie...

[Buggaluggs]

-> Joe Sanborn

I'd love some examples of routing to try out. I'm using 16 in and 16 out to the PC I am struggling with understanding how to route from a channel to a bus then to the PC and then getting outs from the pc back to the X32 for monitoring.

Links to some basic training videos would be useful too.

Thanks

[Murton]

The thing is, most people don't use buses correctly.

16 buses, 6 matrix's, 8 DCA's, LR/C.

In effect, 25 buses to work with and 8 DCA's which can take care of many tasks that one could use a mix bus for.

Every digital console uses the concept of buses that can be configured how you want. They don't limit you to say having 8 groups, 8 FX sends and 8 foldback sends, this way you can setup the board to act as say a monitor board and use effectively 25 sends for foldback. You can basically assign the mix buses and DCA's and matrix's as you need.

The idea is to use the 16 mix buses for monitor sends, FX sends etc, exactly as you would on an analogue console. And then use the DCA's as you would subgroups, if you need processing on your subgroup, you use a mix bus instead. Matrix's can act as certain types of mix buses as well, so say you want to run LR and 6 foldback sends, you have the LR buses, you can route channels directly to matrix's such like a mix bus, there you have LR and 6 foldback sends, maybe use the C bus for subwoofer send, easily done. All without using any mix buses. Then you can use your mix buses for subgroups for processing, FX sends, additional foldback sends etc.

The point is, a Yamaha LS9-16 cannot do this. You have 16 mix buses, 8 matrix's, LR/C. That's it. And you can't send directly to a matrix send. No DCA's. Having DCA's and channel sendable matrix's is an amazing feature at this price point.

You just have to mix smartly and use your available sends how they should be used. If you require more sends than 25+8, then this board doesn't suit your requirements and you should be moving up to something like a Yamaha M7CL that has 24 standard buses, and 8 channel sendable matrix's and 8 DCA's. Moving to a Presonus Studio Live 24:4:2 won't solve this problem, they don't have any more available buses than an X32 nor do they have matrix's or DCA's.

[Joe Sanborn]

Hi Guys,

The BEHRINGER forum is up and running, you may also want to check out posts and info there as well:
Forums

This is our X32 YouTube channel with some videos and past X32 Webinars:
X32 Resources - YouTube

This link is for our upcoming X32 Webinar/User Group Events:
X32 Live! Webinar/User Groups


X32 & FX In-Depth:
11/19/2012 (MON) 4:00PM - 6:00PM PDT
Registration Web Link: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/844415039

Please join us for our X32 Live! Webinar/User Group #9.
This webinar will focus on the X32's built-in FX processors. We will go over how to operate the FX section, how to assign different FX to control surfaces, DAW's, and within the X32 itself. We will also focus on routing, as well as digging into how each one of the FX sounds, what the major parameters are for editing, and some useful real world tips and tricks as well.

The first hour will be a presentation on this topic followed by one hour of questions and live demos!

MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

X32 & P16 Personal Monitoring Systems:
11/20/2012 (TUES) 10:00AM - 12:00PM PDT
Registration Web Link: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/987776839

Please join us for our X32 Live! Webinar/User Group #10.
This webinar will focus on connecting the X32 with our P16 Personal Monitoring Systems. We will discuss the P16M (Mixer), P16I (Interface), and P16D (distribution hub), and how to route signal between the devices via CAT-5e cabling.
The first hour will be a presentation on this topic followed by one hour of questions and live demos!
(*Please Note* This will be the second time we have run this presentation on this topic).

MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

X32 & Sonar In-Depth:
11/26/2012 (MON) 11:00AM - 1:00PM PDT
Registration Web Link: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/772118743

Please join us for our X32 Live! Webinar/User Group #11.
This webinar will focus on connecting the X32 with Sonar, the popular Digital Audio Workstation. We will cover routing options, useful tips and tricks, mixing a session in Sonar, passing audio back from the X32 to the DAW, and using the X32's remote functionality to control Sonar.
The first hour will be a presentation on this topic followed by one hour of questions and live demos!

MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

X32 As a Monitor Console:
11/29/2012 (THURS) 1:00PM - 3:00PM PDT
Registration Web Link: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/835451647

Please join us for our X32 Live! Webinar/User Group #12.
This webinar will focus on using the X32 as a monitor console. The X32 is a digital console built to handle the live sound world, and this webinar will dive into specifics of how to use your X32 as a FOH monitor board. We will cover routing specifics, how to set up a session, how to save a template and bring it up in a recall, as well as discuss tips and tricks of mixing a live show on the X32.
The first hour will be a presentation on this topic followed by one hour of questions and live demos!

I hope you can make it!

Best
Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

[jgrannell]

One of the main reasons I can not recommend this board to my church is that there are no presets. The sound men in my church really do not understand how to eq and compress things, and although I realize that I could attempt it and save a setting for them ie. vocal or kick or high tom or low tom, etc... the one thing that the presonus board definitely has over this board is factory presets already in the board that are easy to load and that sound pretty darn good. I think this would be an incredible asset to have already in this x32 board when you buy it. Even for someone like myself who has a decent grasp on how to do this, these presets would get me close and then I could do some small tweaks afterwards. A great time saver! Please add this for all common things (see presonus presets for example) not trying to say presonus is better, just pointing out something that would eliminate one of the pros for the presonus over this x32. You could even offer this as a dowload online onto a USB card and transfer it that way!!!!!!

[blindjoni]

Originally Posted by jgrannell

One of the main reasons I can not recommend this board to my church is that there are no presets. The sound men in my church really do not understand how to eq and compress things, and although I realize that I could attempt it and save a setting for them ie. vocal or kick or high tom or low tom, etc... the one thing that the presonus board definitely has over this board is factory presets already in the board that are easy to load and that sound pretty darn good. I think this would be an incredible asset to have already in this x32 board when you buy it. Even for someone like myself who has a decent grasp on how to do this, these presets would get me close and then I could do some small tweaks afterwards. A great time saver! Please add this for all common things (see presonus presets for example) not trying to say presonus is better, just pointing out something that would eliminate one of the pros for the presonus over this x32. You could even offer this as a dowload online onto a USB card and transfer it that way!!!!!!

Just pay someone to make up some presets and email them to you!!!
Stupid to trash a product for a reason like that.

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by blindjoni

Just pay someone to make up some presets and email them to you!!!
Stupid to trash a product for a reason like that.

I don't see anyone trashing any product.

All I see is a sensible reason why someone would choose one product over another.

[Murton]

I'm sorry, the lack of EQ and compressor presets isn't a sensible reason to purchase one product over another when you can easily create your own presets and save them.

[jctaudiodesigns]

Ok so I bought a Samsung ATIV smart pad with full windows 8 and networked it with my X32 with wifi. The only reason I bought this instead of an ipad is because the app for the ipad is VERY limited and does NOT even allow access to channel processing, eq, compressor, ect. It helped me do my gig BUT, it's very glitchy.
The faders are all way too small, it is too easy to grab the wrong one. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, all of the controls are too small, an option to choose lager controls is NEEDED. One other thing, it would be nice if on the eq you could grab the eq bands on the graphic picture and shift the frequencys and gain without going to the dials.

One thing is for sure, unless you absolutely had to you would NOT want to mix only on the tablet alone. I wonder how the ipad version is as far as fader moves. My opinion.

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by Murton

I'm sorry, the lack of EQ and compressor presets isn't a sensible reason to purchase one product over another when you can easily create your own presets and save them.

Of course it is if that is what you want.

Preference for one product over another is a very personal thing and two products that are both good will have some preferring one over the other for very personal reasons.

No reason to criticise someone because his preferences are different from yours.

I hasten to add that I don't favour either product because neither of them do what I want - I am neutral in this.

[SixAndChange]

Originally Posted by John Willett

Of course it is if that is what you want.

Preference for one product over another is a very personal thing and two products that are both good will have some preferring one over the other for very personal reasons.

No reason to criticise someone because his preferences are different from yours.

I hasten to add that I don't favour either product because neither of them do what I want - I am neutral in this.

Out of curiosity, what is it that you want that the Behringer does not have?

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by SixAndChange

Out of curiosity, what is it that you want that the Behringer does not have?

24/96

[jgrannell]

Well I love how people love to jump to conclusions about stuff and are quick to defend things regardless of facts.
All I said was that adding presets would be a GREAT addition to the board. I never "bashed" the board, in fact I think it looks pretty impressive and the reviews thus far seem to say the same thing. IT's just that some churches do not have a lot of people with knowledge about how to run sound and at times it can be a chore just to find someone that knows how to adjust sliders appropriately, let alone all the other stuff. (I did call it my church above, but in fact I do not go there anymore, only when I visit home)
So, like the presonus board, factory presets already being in the board would be a great thing to add. It has been great for my band as I am sure it has been for others that use the presonus studiolive. Yes, there are ways around the behringer x32 not having them, by "hiring somebody to make them" but wouldn't it just be a lot easier to have them already programmed in the board?
So, the point was to offer some constructive criticism about ways to improve the board and taking away one of the pros for presonus over the behringer x32 away. It is a fact that churches will choose to go with the presonus studiolive24 over the behringer x32 because of the presets the presonus has, as well as the usability of its ipad app (I agree this reason alone would be stupid, but the presonus board is a pretty darn good board in the first place). I think by adding these presets to the behringer, it would be a great easy addition to the board, as well as improving its ipad app I probably will be buying this board later on in 2013 for my studio by the way if I was bashing this board as I was accused, why would I be planning on getting it later ??????.........

[RightOnRome]

Originally Posted by Joe Sanborn

Hi Guys,

The BEHRINGER forum is up and running, you may also want to check out posts and info there as well:
Forums

This is our X32 YouTube channel with some videos and past X32 Webinars:
X32 Resources - YouTube

This link is for our upcoming X32 Webinar/User Group Events:
X32 Live! Webinar/User Groups


X32 & FX In-Depth:
11/19/2012 (MON) 4:00PM - 6:00PM PDT
Registration Web Link: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/844415039

Please join us for our X32 Live! Webinar/User Group #9.
This webinar will focus on the X32's built-in FX processors. We will go over how to operate the FX section, how to assign different FX to control surfaces, DAW's, and within the X32 itself. We will also focus on routing, as well as digging into how each one of the FX sounds, what the major parameters are for editing, and some useful real world tips and tricks as well.

The first hour will be a presentation on this topic followed by one hour of questions and live demos!

MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

X32 & P16 Personal Monitoring Systems:
11/20/2012 (TUES) 10:00AM - 12:00PM PDT
Registration Web Link: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/987776839

Please join us for our X32 Live! Webinar/User Group #10.
This webinar will focus on connecting the X32 with our P16 Personal Monitoring Systems. We will discuss the P16M (Mixer), P16I (Interface), and P16D (distribution hub), and how to route signal between the devices via CAT-5e cabling.
The first hour will be a presentation on this topic followed by one hour of questions and live demos!
(*Please Note* This will be the second time we have run this presentation on this topic).

MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

X32 & Sonar In-Depth:
11/26/2012 (MON) 11:00AM - 1:00PM PDT
Registration Web Link: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/772118743

Please join us for our X32 Live! Webinar/User Group #11.
This webinar will focus on connecting the X32 with Sonar, the popular Digital Audio Workstation. We will cover routing options, useful tips and tricks, mixing a session in Sonar, passing audio back from the X32 to the DAW, and using the X32's remote functionality to control Sonar.
The first hour will be a presentation on this topic followed by one hour of questions and live demos!

MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

X32 As a Monitor Console:
11/29/2012 (THURS) 1:00PM - 3:00PM PDT
Registration Web Link: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/835451647

Please join us for our X32 Live! Webinar/User Group #12.
This webinar will focus on using the X32 as a monitor console. The X32 is a digital console built to handle the live sound world, and this webinar will dive into specifics of how to use your X32 as a FOH monitor board. We will cover routing specifics, how to set up a session, how to save a template and bring it up in a recall, as well as discuss tips and tricks of mixing a live show on the X32.
The first hour will be a presentation on this topic followed by one hour of questions and live demos!

I hope you can make it!

Best
Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

I registered on your forum and never got a activation email .. any idea why? also I noticed that one led segment on the meter on one of the channels is not working ..what should i do about that

[Temple of Light]

Originally Posted by RightOnRome

I registered on your forum and never got a activation email .. any idea why? also I noticed that one led segment meters on one of the channels is not working ..what should i do about that

How long have you had your board?

[RightOnRome]

Originally Posted by Temple of Light

How long have you had your board?

aug-sept.ish