BEHRINGER iNUKE NU3000

bertbass666 · #1 09-02-2011, 05:36 PM

I've just posted my experiences with the Behringer inuke nu3000 power amp on Bill's site but I thought that I would post it here as well for those that don't go there.

It seems a long time since I posted that I’d got an inuke NU3000 and I’d let you know how I get on. Well a lot had to happen before I could even try it, let me explain.

I had to wait for a few days without any gigs to be able to get all my gear together and experiment.

My normal bass setup is a Carvin B1500 into a Carvin 8x10, I replaced the stock Carvin 10s with 16 ohm Gamma 10s making a 2400 watt 2 ohm cabinet. Being 2 ohms means that I should be getting the maximum 1900 watts from the amp. The power amp clip light came on before I changed the speakers.

I had to wait for a few things to be delivered before I could try out the inuke. 2 Ashdown 4x10s, speakers taken from the 8x10 and put into the Ashdowns so each cab is now 1200w @ 4 ohms.

I already have a Trace Elliott V type preamp but I hadn’t tried it. Finally the flight case arrived and I racked the preamp and the inuke. I know that I could have tried them without the case but it made it easier. So there it was, my new stack?

Test results.

Now I know that this is not going to be very scientific, but I’m sure that you’d all like to know how I got on.

Firstly, I used the Carvin with the new cabs at the volume from the last gig and measured the level on the super SPL app on my new super iphone. Surprisingly, and thankfully, the sound was the same as with the 8x10. I got a reading of 101.2 db, unweighted. Didn’t sound that loud in my shed, but that was what the volume was. Unplugged the Carvin and plugged in the preamp and inuke and set the volume to the same 101.2 db. Messed around with the preamp until I got a sound that I nearly liked and reset the volume again.

Playing hard, I was able to get the limiter lights to flash on on the inuke. The Carvin was OK. Switched on my flanger and booster pedal, I love toys. On the Carvin no problem at all and the SPL went up to 102.6, sounded louder than that. On the inuke the limiter lights came on for most of the time.

If I turned the bass up on the preamp, the limiter lights came on sooner as you would expect.

Now the inuke is rated at 880w per channel at 4 ohms but this is peak watts and unless Behringer have exaggerated more with the wattage than they should have I make that 622 watts a channel at 4 ohms RMS and I’d say that was about right. As the preamp was new to me, I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m pretty sure that the inuke didn’t colour the sound.

Will I use the new pre and power amp at a gig? Probably not. I didn’t like the sound of the preamp that much and there is not enough headroom for me. Would I recommend it to others? Yes I would. 600 watts a channel, weighing next to nothing and costing peanuts, Give it a go. The inuke will not be wasted as I intend to drive the Otop mids with it and the CDs with an inuke NU1000 and I’ve bought another inuke NU3000 to use for foldback. I’ll wait until the inuke NU6000 comes out and maybe try again but with a different preamp and if I still don’t like it I can always drive my T39s with it, How light will the amp rack be then?

I hope this has given you some idea of what the inukes are like.

grendle · #2 09-02-2011, 05:56 PM

I was looking at the inuke. Were you clipping the power amp with the preamp gain or by turning up the power amp gain? Was it clean or did it start distorting at all? Thanks for the report!

bertbass666 · #3 09-03-2011, 05:05 AM

I was clipping the power amp with the preamp gain and the sound stayed clean. I had the power amp volumes on full and turned up the preamp master volume.

fenderhutz · #4 09-03-2011, 05:31 AM

Ok. 3000 watts at 4ohm bridged off a standard circuit?

Someone at Behringer is making fudge.

Mr. Foxen · #5 09-03-2011, 07:02 AM

It says right there that it is peak, that is totally reasonable for peak wattage.

grendle · #6 09-03-2011, 07:34 PM

Even if its off, for that price get 2. Lol.

seamonkey · #7 09-04-2011, 11:44 AM

I think Behringer has a solid winner here.
They have never claimed "RMS" (fake), IEA, or FTC ratings.
They don't sell them into markets that demand this.

Otherwise their previous line of amps are very solid. I don't expect less from these.

BassmanPaul · #8 09-04-2011, 11:53 AM

You do realize, I hope, that drivers and the enclosure they are mounted in have to match. Just because a driver is 10" in diameter doesn't mean that it will work well in ANY box made for 10" drivers.

billfitzmaurice · #9 09-05-2011, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

Ok. 3000 watts at 4ohm bridged off a standard circuit?

Someone at Behringer is making fudge.

The OP has posted on my forum that he measured actual output at 28 volts before the amp got, shall we say, uncomfortable. That indicates its true continuous output capability is 200 watts/ch into 4 ohms. That's just what you'd expect from a $300 amp. As for the 3000 w/bridged figure, that would have to be measured in TC watts.

seamonkey · #10 09-05-2011, 01:07 PM

You just have to email Behringer support, I did, and they said it was Peak.
It's a lightweight amp with peak ratings. Still a good deal.

TC on the other hand has some elaborate slight of hand as to why their Peak rating doesn't mean "peak"

Tunaman · #11 09-05-2011, 05:35 PM

Peavey IPR 3000 is $379 at GC, for $80 more I'd go that way personally.

seamonkey · #12 09-05-2011, 09:50 PM

FWIW, Peavey isn't playing fair with its IPR ratings either.
It's still a fine amp. Wish they'd get their DSP models out.

Tunaman · #13 10-10-2011, 07:54 AM

Have my Eden Navigator for sale but I'm thinking of the Inuke 3000 to make it portable. Any more trials out there?

BurningSkies · #14 10-10-2011, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seamonkey

FWIW, Peavey isn't playing fair with its IPR ratings either.
It's still a fine amp. Wish they'd get their DSP models out.

Supposedly the DSP models are out and in the general public. I've been liking my IPR-3000,which I've been using consistently for gigs and for rehearsals since the spring. The DSP part of things only sweetens the deal.

I have run into a few occasions where I believe there's been low wall voltage and the IPR has had lowered headroom. Its only happened twice, and while again, the amp functioned well and loudly, I did get some DDT limiting.

For the price I paid for the IPR $400, I'd go with that over the B*. But if you're looking at the IPR/DSP it's closer to $600. Of course the extra flexibility and ability of the DSP with Maxxbass is worth more than 200 bucks...

I'm soon to try a Maxxbass unit with the IPR just for the halibut. The 'home' unit (MB-102) is selling new for 35$ plus shipping and the 107 is long gone.

modulusman · #15 10-10-2011, 08:25 AM

The moral of the story is, don't waste your money on anything Behringer.

Tunaman · #16 10-10-2011, 08:47 AM

Just had my Behringer EP2500 do wedding last night, rocked the place down.
I'd love to have a Peavey DSP but pumping that much money into a backup amp is wild. I'd just buy a micro instead. The Behringer would be my only shot here

bill15142 · #17 04-07-2012, 06:16 AM

Hi All

I thought I'd post my experiences with the Behringer iNuke NU3000DSP here since I read this thread before ordering one, I thought it might be a useful contribution.

For the record, I'm not a default Behringer hater. I've owned bits of their gear over the years (mostly outboard processors or splitters/mixers), liked some (their compressers are great value IMO), not been impressed with some others (ultrabass processing is utter bobbins, sounds terrible).

I was looking to replace my aging (but reliable) Matrix Audio UKP-1000 power amp that I have been using as my main gigging power amp for years. (I don't think this company exist now, but it's a solidly made beast with a massive transformer that I've owned from new about 12 years ago, when it cost about £400 (maybe about 650 USD). I thought I'd replace it mainly because it's a heavy beast and my back isn't as young as it was! Plus I could at least keep the old one as a back-up which I don't currently have. That old amp is rated RMS at 300w per channel at 8ohms, 500w per channel at 4ohms and 1000w bridged into 8ohms. So on paper it looks like the Behringer amp (when you eventually track down their hard-to-find RMS figures) would be a similar match.

I don't have the metering ability to check output figures so results are subjective, but I compared the two amps side-by-side.

The Good:

1: I'd say both amps could go about as loud as each other before starting to struggle, so I'd give Behringer their due on the output being about right.

2: The Behringer amp is extremely light and reasonably compact, and still manages to look quite nice in spite of the cheapish plastic front panel used to keep the weight down.

3: DSP processing is extremely well implemented. Everything seems to work well, sounds good, and is an absolute cinch to program using the free PC editor software they provide. I had a ball playing around with that and will sadly miss it as I am now returning the amp for the following reasons...!

The Bad:

1: Fan Noise: Absurdly loud. sounds like your car heater on full blast the moment you switch it on. Comes with intermittent buzzing suggesting poor mounting inside. Not a good sign. Probably wouldn't be a problem at loud gigs. But in studios or quieter rehearsals (I sometime play with a jazz trio) forget it.

2: The clipping limiters when triggered as you pass the maximum level produce an awful clicking noise in the signal as they step the level down and then up again. The level steps in nasty discrete leaps that is very obvious and totally unmusical sounding. I can't imagine I could keep playing in time if I was hearing that, it sounds obviously faulty. Horrible. I did notice that the problem seemed to be reduced if one activates the limiters in the DSP settings and reduces them from the maximum level slightly. But restarting the amp results in it defaulting to the nasty clipping sound. I'd have to remember to fiddle with the settings every time I power up to avoid this, and even then, as I don't know the reason for it (a software flaw or component issue?) I don't trust it.

3: The output signal is out of phase with the input signal!!! Yes, I checked this carefully, I do have the ability to test this, and I made many careful cross-checks with multiple other gear to be sure it was the amp that was the problem. Somewhere, somehow, they have managed to reverse the default polarity. (both channels are reversed, so they don't fight each other, but would be out of phase if used with other amps, such as with a PA at a larger gig for example) Again this might be software or hardware related, it's entirely possible to work around since the polarity can be reversed in the DSP settings. But again, one must remember this and set it up to always avoid the problem. Moreover however it just rang alarm bells with me. If something so fundamental as phase has been messed up inside, what else might be wrong?!

Now, it may be that I have received an amp with specific faults, or it may be that some or all of the above are design flaws inherent in all models. Either way that was enough to put me off chancing their amps any further. Back to the shop it goes, and I guess I'm going to have to budget higher.

Hope this info it useful

All the best
Will

seamonkey · #18 04-07-2012, 10:26 AM

That is great information.
I found some more spec info.

NU3000 RMS ratings from Behringer.com
8 315W
4 620W
2 1040W

Bridged 8 1100w
Bridged 4 2200w

Example of fan replacement
Behringer iNuke Amplifier Fan Swap DIY - YouTube
Personally, fans ought to be designed out of amps - it's time.

Hadn't heard about the step limiter problem. I have heard that you need to turn the gain knobs full up or it can add extra distortion.

Also hadn't heard of the polarity swap. That could be fixed by Behringer with a simple buffer. Maybe the DSP version offers a polarity switch?

bill15142 · #19 04-07-2012, 01:04 PM

Hi there. Thanks

Yes, as I mentioned, Polarity can be reversed in the DSP settings so the problem can be worked around, but it should not be reversed by default, that's just wrong, and by that point I had found enough things to dislike or distrust about it that I really didn't want to hang on to it, and certainly not to open it up and start replacing bits when I could just send it back for a full refund instead. If on the other hand I'd picked it up second hand and dirt cheap, then ripping it open and replacing the fan and rewiring the outputs the right way round is the first thing I'd do!

All the best.

Pilgrim · #20 04-07-2012, 01:22 PM

There is definitely a place in the world for budget amps. I have used the Behringer 4500 and it worked great for me. But claiming 6000W for $399?? Interested in some prime bottom land in Florida??

However, if you need a high-powered Class D amp, I'd suggest looking for a used Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0 or 9.0. New models have come out and the past models are available.

You'll probably pay at least twice the money, but you'll get more than twice the quality and tech support.