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Behringer BEQ700 insides. Warning Big pics

seamonkey

seamonkey

Aug 6, 2004
14,916
6,315
UNITED States of America
#1
Battery:
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You push on black tabs on left and right of hinge to remove the battery box. Pedal plastic is 4mm thick.
Battery rests on foam, and foam under the pedal. Spring for pedal is in a hole but not attached - don't lose it. Stiff foam is use to push a microswitch that toggles the effect on and off. A LED shows when on.
Paper clip in slider slot is 1.75" long. They are wide open to crud. It could be a problem for street musicians as people could throw small change in the slots (joke). The sliders push very easy - so settings change when pulling it out of the bag. It doesn't come with a box so there's no handy transport. Bottom is non slip and works pretty good.

Inside:
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4 screws to remove cover.
Jacks attached directly to circuit board.

Pots:
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Pots are open.

Inside bottom:
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Case bottom is a ground plane.
It is weighted, to heavy to be aluminum. Magnets do not stick.


Close up Circuit Board:
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TI parts!

Summary in brief: For $20 it's quite good construction. Sound is good but I'll do another post on measurements later.
 
#2
Thanks for posting those. The jacks are supported by the circuit board, with apparently no nuts on the bushings. That's going to be the achilles heel if the pedal is used on the floor. Treated gently, it should last for a while.

Yes, genuine TI parts. The TL064 op amp is a noisy little guy. I would use this in the FX loop, rather than between the instrument and the amp, to avoid giving up dynamic range.

There is evidence of manual re-work in 4 places on the board. This is a case where "cheaper is not always cheaper" because they have to hire manual labor to debug and re-work boards that could have been fabricated to high quality in the first place.
 
#3
very interesting, nice work seamonkey. Now I can direct all those Behringer defenders to this thread so that they can see for themselves the "quality" of construction!

Still, you get what you pay for.

Note the microswitch is dangling below the mounting screw on a "diving board" portion of the PCB. Hmmm... sturdy!
 
#7
Some measurements. Not scientific.
Done with line level outputs/inputs.

The "Bypass" mode is not a true bypass, it cuts lows, but it's identical to setting the controls flat and the gain at zero. The lows it cuts are not normally reproduced by bass amps. (Or you don't want them to be)

The white trace is my sound card with a loop back cable.

Green is with the BEQ700 in the loop, and bypassed. You'll have to trust me that setting the controls flat is very close.

The blue cut-boost is with 50 cut, 120 boosted, 400 cut, and so on. I didn't cut or boost them all the way, only 10db marks.

The boost cut is just the opposite.

Frequency

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Noise
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THD
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Frequency adjustments are fine and are close to marked frequencies. Noise is good, Distortion is good.

Time will tell if it's wll engineered, but it works good for me. Handy to have. Well worth the money. I'm really only concerned about the open pots.

PS, I tested the base metal and it is Not lead. I'm curious what it is. No lead on the circuit board either.
 
#8
seamonkey said:
Some measurements. Not scientific.
Done with line level outputs/inputs.

The "Bypass" mode is not a true bypass, it cuts lows, but it's identical to setting the controls flat and the gain at zero. The lows it cuts are not normally reproduced by bass amps. (Or you don't want them to be)

The white trace is my sound card with a loop back cable.

Green is with the BEQ700 in the loop, and bypassed. You'll have to trust me that setting the controls flat is very close.

The blue cut-boost is with 50 cut, 120 boosted, 400 cut, and so on. I didn't cut or boost them all the way, only 10db marks.

The boost cut is just the opposite.

Frequency

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Noise
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

THD
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Frequency adjustments are fine and are close to marked frequencies. Noise is good, Distortion is good.

Time will tell if it's wll engineered, but it works good for me. Handy to have. Well worth the money. I'm really only concerned about the open pots.

PS, I tested the base metal and it is Not lead. I'm curious what it is. No lead on the circuit board either.
Click to expand...
Zinc is a common die casting metal. And anything is probably an alloy.

There's nothing that can go wrong on a graphic EQ, and also little reason to copy someone else's circuit. The big killers are maximum input level, and of course noise.
 
#9
I forgot to mention another design flaw. Most good slide pots are encased in a metal shell. The shell does more than keep out dust. I provides mechanical support for the slider, protects the element from damage if the slider is subject to impact, and usually has thick support posts that attach to the circuit board. The board is still supporting the pot, but in a more substantial way.

So we are up to 5 design flaws:

1. Jacks supported by the circuit board
2. Microswitch on "diving board" portion of circuit board
3. Fragile pots
4. Inferior op amps
5. Evidence of re-work (hopefully not lead based solder)

My guess is that this is not a copy of a quality product.
 
#10
hm when i took my BCH(bass chorus) apart i found that it never worked again, the screws that hold the pcb to the chassis of the pedal had this red tape stuff which kind of ripped off in some parts. Now it still lights up and sound still goes through but the chorus effect doesnt apply, its like its just on bypass all the time. Would that red stuff seperate some parts in a way
 
#11
The tape may have been providing some extra insulation against a short circuit to the lower chassis. Try running it bare without the chassis and see if it comes back to life. That way, you will also have it open, allowing you to post some pics. ;)
 
#12
dirtgroove said:
Why? Just curious.
Click to expand...
If you have both the Boss version and Behringer version side by side its very easy to see the quality difference. The sliders are flimsy the casing is plastic. Another issue is that the Behringer sucks the battery dry in no time, while the Boss lasts probably almost double the time (although I would prefer if it lasted longer too).

Bottom line is if you are going to be stepping on the behringer as its "designed" to do, I would suspect it will break in time.

Buy a pre-owned Boss, for essentially the same price as a new behringer, and it will last for years.
 
#13
fdeck said:
I forgot to mention another design flaw. Most good slide pots are encased in a metal shell. The shell does more than keep out dust. I provides mechanical support for the slider, protects the element from damage if the slider is subject to impact, and usually has thick support posts that attach to the circuit board. The board is still supporting the pot, but in a more substantial way.

So we are up to 5 design flaws:

1. Jacks supported by the circuit board
2. Microswitch on "diving board" portion of circuit board
3. Fragile pots
4. Inferior op amps
5. Evidence of re-work (hopefully not lead based solder)

My guess is that this is not a copy of a quality product.
Click to expand...

It's a $20 pedal.
1. The case also supports the jacks. I don't think this is going to be a problem. I noticed my expensive sound card also has jacks like this in it's outboard rackmount case.
2. There's a screw close to the microswitch and the plastic support underneath and the circuit board is 2mm thick. And the switch itself is pushed with a piece of foam.
3. True, and there's no brushes or rubber to keep crud out of the pot area.
4. What are other pedals using for op amps?
5. No lead anywhere - I tested.

So let's see some inside shots of other pedals.
 
#14
Tomass said:
hm when i took my BCH(bass chorus) apart i found that it never worked again, the screws that hold the pcb to the chassis of the pedal had this red tape stuff which kind of ripped off in some parts. Now it still lights up and sound still goes through but the chorus effect doesnt apply, its like its just on bypass all the time. Would that red stuff seperate some parts in a way
Click to expand...

Red stuff in the BEQ700 is just lock tight.
Manually push the microswitch and see if it switches on. If so - then you've miss-aligned the little piece of foam that pushes it.
 
#15
VEGANBASS said:
If you have both the Boss version and Behringer version side by side its very easy to see the quality difference. The sliders are flimsy the casing is plastic. Another issue is that the Behringer sucks the battery dry in no time, while the Boss lasts probably almost double the time (although I would prefer if it lasted longer too).

Bottom line is if you are going to be stepping on the behringer as its "designed" to do, I would suspect it will break in time.

Buy a pre-owned Boss, for essentially the same price as a new behringer, and it will last for years.
Click to expand...

Post some inside pics of the boss.

Can't always find pre-owned, and if you do it's as is and may have a problem. Test it well.

I wouldn't buy a used Behringer - it's only $20 new. With a year warranty.
 
#17
Tomass - I would put the bass chorus back together and take it back for a replacement. Or call or email Behringer for a replacement. It's under warranty, and taking something apart does not automatically void the warranty. Only if they saw you did something to harm it. The only thing I could think of is static electricity, but it's pretty rare now days.

What I'd really like to see is the pictures of the inside of a Boss that people claim the Behringer's to be copies of.
 
#18
seamonkey said:
It's a $20 pedal.
1. The case also supports the jacks. I don't think this is going to be a problem. I noticed my expensive sound card also has jacks like this in it's outboard rackmount case.
Click to expand...
I have repaired numerous gadgets that broke because of this achilles heel. Hope you are not putting your expensive sound card on the floor and stomping on it.
 
#19
Tomass said:
ok heres some pics, i have run it with out the case off, through both output jacks etc.

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Click to expand...
Ah, those pots. I just got done repairing a keyboard amp with those pots. Not only is the pot supported by the circuit board, but the shaft is supported by the resistive element. A gentle push on the knob crushes the resistive element and causes the guts to spew out the bottom of the pot. For musical instrument use, a pot should have a metal bushing and nut, allowing the case to be the primary mechanical support for the knobs.

Just to clarify, I am not claiming that Behringer is a copy of anything. Also, I have no problem with a $20 pedal being lower quality than a $60 pedal, so long as nobody is claiming otherwise.
 
#20
im not really to fussed about taking it back for warrenty, it was a nice chorus and all but i dont think i would to get it fixed. I just buy something more ruggard, although iam thinking of doing a little modifications aputting it in a metal case, with a heavy duty swtich and more beefier pots(at the same resistance):bassist:
 

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