Behringer Powerplay 16 Personal Mixers

[fifthflaw]

Originally Posted by therecordinghous

I am, in general, not a fan of Behringer. However, this new mixing system is a very tempting replacement to my Hearback System.

Anyone have any personal experience?

An input module, distribution module, and 4 mixers for $1200. With more capabilities beyond an Aviom system at nearly 4x the cost.

Yes I'd be interested in hearing about anyones experience with these as well. Im a little concerned that they might be fiddly to use.

[RoundBadge]

Originally Posted by therecordinghous

I am, in general, not a fan of Behringer. However, this new mixing system is a very tempting replacement to my Hearback System.

An input module, distribution module, and 4 mixers for $1200. With more capabilities beyond an Aviom system at nearly 4x the cost.

+1
interested too

[therecordinghous]

Originally Posted by fifthflaw

Im a little concerned that they might be fiddly to use.

How so?

[ambiguity]

i haven't used it, but i did have my hands on the little personal mixer a few weeks ago, and it felt surprisingly solidly built.

[suedesound]

never used but i seem to remember several gs'ers liking the b word headphone amp awhile back as one of the things they did right. cheap and worth a try i guess?

[fifthflaw]

Originally Posted by therecordinghous

How so?

Just from the perspective of the performer having to select a channel via the buttons at the bottom then turn the single volume knob. I have enough issues getting musicians to understand the large furman ones with a knob for each channel. Probably says a lot about the people I work with.

I do like the look of this a lot though. If it sounds reasonable and is hard wearing it will be a winner.

[Jay M]

It appears to be a direct replica of Aviom, and people love Aviom systems.

New Personal Monitor Mixing System from Behringer

I do agree that trying to mix 16 channels while I'm performing might be a more trouble than it's worth.

~Jay

[therecordinghous]

no one says you have to send 16 channels. i am alot of times just one channel short on my Hearback when recording an entire band.

[Jay M]

Originally Posted by therecordinghous

no one says you have to send 16 channels. i am alot of times just one channel short on my Hearback when recording an entire band.

That's true. Especially when the Behringer system might even be cheaper than the Hearback.

I read of one situation that made a lot of sense where everyone got a really nice stereo mix in the IEMs plus a more me knob. The stereo mix made it much easier to hear everything as opposed to mono. In that scenario each person only needs 3 channels, but the system still needs to have a high channel count.

~Jay

[RoundBadge]

I was about to grab a hearback system.

16 channels on cat5 for that price?
hey if the thing is built well and sounds good its kind of a no brainer.

[fifthflaw]

Anyone tried this yet? My 4 channel powerplay has started buzzing, might be time to upgrade to a proper headphone system

[erikdrink]

Looks interesting!

[OwDU7]

I think they will only start delivery in late March or April.
Anyway going to subscribe this thread and wait. I have had mixed experience with Behringer stuff, from ok to bad.

Z.

[PDC]

Originally Posted by erikdrink

Looks interesting!

Anyone that says they have used one or has any experience is a liar. These are not shipping. Along with the X32, these products are just boxes with lights that have never passed audio at a trade show...FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS...unless they surprise us at NAMM.

We are dealers, but we are not holding our breath.

[The Byre]

I met Uli Behringer back in the mid-90s and I was really impressed. A workaholic, charismatic, exciting, intelligent and very young. He spoke at length about his quality control and his evangelical mission to give young musicians the tools to make great music at low prices. At the Frankfurt Musikmesse he was cheered by the crowd like some rock-god.

Shortly afterwards, I bought a small rack mount mixer for foldback from Behringer. The second time I used it, it went up in flames.

(We use several small Phonic mixers for personalised foldback, fed by four stem mixes off the desk and it works a treat!)

[ScoobyDoo555]

waiting with anticipation with this one - could be quite good.

IF it's ever released :D

[fifthflaw]

Byre- which phonic mixer are you using? Is the onboard headphone amp suitably powered?

[The Byre]

Originally Posted by fifthflaw

Byre- which phonic mixer are you using? Is the onboard headphone amp suitably powered?

MU1002 - I do not think that they are made any more, the smallest I see from them is the AM105 Mixers :: Analog Mixers :: AM :: AM 105 - Phonic | Manufacturing Quality Professional Audio Equipment since 1977

Volume - enough for everybody except drummers, they get a 3W booster using the Kemo stereo amp module (available in the UK from Maplin) http://www.kemo-electronic.de/katalo...og_gb_2011.pdf

Because we use these small mixers, we can feed four stereo stems off the desk AND add a spot feed from whatever they are playing. That way, you do not have a room full of musicians, all calling for their own monitor mix and usually all at once. Each stem is labelled and whatever they are playing has the word 'ME' written on it. I usually use an SM57 just for everybody's 'ME' channel.

The stem mixes are daisy-chained and fed using a set of headphone amps as a line driver.

[beau_mckee]

I will keep my eye on you

[OwDU7]

Does anybody actually tested one of these?

[therecordinghous]

had a chance to use them at a church locally. mixers feel VERY solid. functionality is great. eq with sweepable mids is fantastic. takes a bit to get the hang of though. easy enough, you don't have to use the eq.

only thing i find weird is that there is a master fader, AND an output volume knob. can be confusing.

overall, solid product. i use Avioms more at a another church, and the behringer units make the Avioms feel cheap. how is that for a twist of fate?

another bit of useful info. the behringer mixer do NOT work with an Aviom system, no matter how much the sales guy insists that they do.

[ofie]

My eyes are on this for my church. It will be great not to have any backlines on stage and also use the pearl epro live drums. I want cd quality sound. I will see if I can also hook the x32 with waves soundgrid. That will be super.

[cyjanopan]

I'm buying one set for 3 musicians in next two months just for one project, if it works I'm keeping it. Recently I used Aviom, loved the workflow, hated build quality. At the moment Behringer looks better in every regard but we'll see in real use.

[therecordinghous]

time will tell, that is for sure.

[unknown]

I will be ordering 5 of these for my church in a few weeks. I'll keep you guys posted on my findings in a large band setup. They look amazing! I've used Avioms many times and these look better and I like the nice intuitive way they have with the Behringer x32. I have the Behringer VM1 and love it! I think they are doing better and better with quality.


EDIT!!!!!

Well, guess I won't be ordering quite yet... looks like they won't be ready for shipping till July or Aug. Awwwwwwwww Dang!!!

[The Byre]

Originally Posted by unknown

I will be ordering 5 of these for my church in a few weeks. I'll keep you guys posted on my findings in a large band setup. They look amazing! I've used Avioms many times and these look better and I like the nice intuitive way they have with the Behringer x32. I have the Behringer VM1 and love it! I think they are doing better and better with quality.


EDIT!!!!!

Well, guess I won't be ordering quite yet... looks like they won't be ready for shipping till July or Aug. Awwwwwwwww Dang!!!

You must be joking!

You do realise (I hope!) that Behringer gear is the very, very, very cheapest (in build quality) that there is out there. Your church won't be singing your praises, when one after another, these turkeys fail!

Behringer stuff is what economists call 'below marginal utility' - i.e. they either can't do the job, or they will break very soon.

[The Real MC]

Originally Posted by The Byre

You must be joking!

You do realise (I hope!) that Behringer gear is the very, very, very cheapest (in build quality) that there is out there. Your church won't be singing your praises, when one after another, these turkeys fail!

Behringer stuff is what economists call 'below marginal utility' - i.e. they either can't do the job, or they will break very soon.

It's his very first post.

He's a Behringer fanboy.

Behringer has been infiltrating discussion forums with these trolls for the last five years.

[Bratwurst]

I just bought two P-16M and a P-16D hub. Shoot your questions

[Joao B.]

How does it sound?

Is it well built?