Im looking to add an eq to my mackie mixer, profx22, and lookimg for advice. I saw behringer has some eq's that show you where you are getting feedback, I like that since this is pretty new trying to play and also be the sound guy. Looking for best bang for buck right now. Suggestions? What needs more eq's, mains or monitors.
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Are behringer eq's good? 15 or 31 band?
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I have a Behringer EQ in my rack. It does what I need it to do and hasn't let me down in the nearly 2 years I've had it.
I've never found the little red lights to be much help with eliminating feedback, but they're fun to watch with a full band or recorded music going through the system.
Peavey and others have graphic EQs in the same price range, but without the little red lights.
Good EQ control on the mains helps you get a good sound in the room, where it's most important. Good EQ control on the monitors lets you get more volume without feedback. Get a 2 channel EQ if you can afford it. 31 bands are better than 15 (if you can afford it) so you have more fine-tuning ability.
I've never found the little red lights to be much help with eliminating feedback, but they're fun to watch with a full band or recorded music going through the system.
Peavey and others have graphic EQs in the same price range, but without the little red lights.
Good EQ control on the mains helps you get a good sound in the room, where it's most important. Good EQ control on the monitors lets you get more volume without feedback. Get a 2 channel EQ if you can afford it. 31 bands are better than 15 (if you can afford it) so you have more fine-tuning ability.
Ive been told 15 band for mains and 31 band for monitors. Any opinions on that or were they just trying to sell me.
Skip the Behringer EQ's they are complete junk.
Don't believe me...do a A/B comparison with even the cheapest model offered from DBX.
Run the same source through both EQ's and drop the same freq. fader on both EQ's....
You will find that the Behringer cuts MUCH more then just the freq. you are trying to isolate....never mind the added noise that is present on every Behringer EQ.
For a few more bucks....possibly less if you shop used, buy a DBX.
Don't believe me...do a A/B comparison with even the cheapest model offered from DBX.
Run the same source through both EQ's and drop the same freq. fader on both EQ's....
You will find that the Behringer cuts MUCH more then just the freq. you are trying to isolate....never mind the added noise that is present on every Behringer EQ.
For a few more bucks....possibly less if you shop used, buy a DBX.
I wouldn't expect miracles but for a low price, they work pretty well. However, how you set the levels and gain makes a big difference. I put one in a bar over two years ago and, along with one of their A500 power amps, it has been flawless. In that environment, any noise is unnoticed but in a quiet place, like a studio, it may/may not be what you want. I would agree that a DBX or other higher end model would be a good idea as long as your budget allows for it.
see what you can find used. Since alot of people are buying driveracks there are some good EQs out there used. DBX would be a good choice, some of them have automatic feedback suppression built in.
EQ for the monitors is very useful as a feedback elimination tool. I use the behringer for this and the little red lights work great to see what freq. is feeding back. In setup, I just boost the volume until feedback happens and then drag the slider down to kill it. Repeat until you've got lots of volume headroom before feedback. I think this is called ringing out the system. Of course you can do this by ear but it's much slower - I've tried.
As to 15 or 30 band it's a question of how natural you want the end sound result to be. The more bands the narrower the freq you'll be able to target. So just the freq feeding back can be cut without affecting the neighbors.
As to 15 or 30 band it's a question of how natural you want the end sound result to be. The more bands the narrower the freq you'll be able to target. So just the freq feeding back can be cut without affecting the neighbors.
Yes, that’s the best way. Typically, to get music on the PA (if the PA is decent) to sound right in the room, gradual EQing is all that’s needed…
but on the monitors, when you need to address a runaway frequency, the fewer other frequencies affected, the better, so having more bands to work with would be advantageous.
As for the Behringers, for live use in a bar band, the lighted faders could come in handy, and imo, they’d do the job just fine.
I like and use dbx and an old Rane, but also have a couple behringer units doing some work (not for recording, so if there’s noise, I don’t hear it).
Other than the individual channel EQs on the mixer, I don’t find much need for EQing.
In fact, since I’m on stage and others feel the need to get their grubby paws on my processing, sometimes I’d like to just get the stage volume down and eliminate all the graphic EQs.
To answer the first question, NO! Its a pizzacrap. And yes, I have drank the Behringer Kool-Aid at one time as well, but Grandpa was right, I did grow out of it.
To answer the second question, I'd use 31 bands on everything since it allows you to take out a thinner slice of the pie so to speak, leaving more non-offending frequencies in place. They are much more accurate than a 2/3 octave (15 band).
+1 on the guys suggesting the low end DBX units. For cheap EQ they are the base level you want to get stuck with using. With today's digital signal processing getting to be so inexpensive, analog 31 bands are selling for under $100 on CL and ebay and the local music stores. A used graphic EQ is not a bad thing usually, but really the DBX new are very cheap.
Also there are a ton of iPad and iPhone apps out there with Real Time Analysis (RTA) to help you with getting rid of feedback. They are much more accurate than the Behringer Feedback Locator LED's. And several are free. And they will have instructions with them on how to use them for your purpose of locating feedback.
And please remember, real true friends don't let friends buy Behringer.
To answer the second question, I'd use 31 bands on everything since it allows you to take out a thinner slice of the pie so to speak, leaving more non-offending frequencies in place. They are much more accurate than a 2/3 octave (15 band).
+1 on the guys suggesting the low end DBX units. For cheap EQ they are the base level you want to get stuck with using. With today's digital signal processing getting to be so inexpensive, analog 31 bands are selling for under $100 on CL and ebay and the local music stores. A used graphic EQ is not a bad thing usually, but really the DBX new are very cheap.
Also there are a ton of iPad and iPhone apps out there with Real Time Analysis (RTA) to help you with getting rid of feedback. They are much more accurate than the Behringer Feedback Locator LED's. And several are free. And they will have instructions with them on how to use them for your purpose of locating feedback.
And please remember, real true friends don't let friends buy Behringer.
Another vote for the entry-level dbx EQs. Over the years I've "briefcased" on many systems with Behringer stuff somewhere in the signal chain, and invariably had to deal with LEDs that were dead or flashed for no particular reason, dead channels, weird noises... you get the idea.
If you really want LEDs to help find frequency issues, go with the original (black or grey bezel) FLS models from Peavey. John Roberts (now with Resotune) invented the FLS (Feedback Locating System) when he was with Peavey, and Behringer promptly swiped the idea (the running joke is that Behringer's R&D department consists of a photocopier). If you choose another EQ, try to find a used Peavey Mentor, which is a discontinued 1U device that gives you digital FLS functionality to any decent 2x31-band EQ. I've got two, and sorry, they're not for sale!
To answer the OP's other question - if you only have one 31-band and one 15-band, then yes, the 15-band should go on the mains and the 31-band on mons (which benefit more from the ability to take narrow slices out of the signal to fight FB). If you have one 2x31 band EQ, just run FOH in mono through one channel, and your mons (presuming you're only using one monitor mix) through the other.
If you really want LEDs to help find frequency issues, go with the original (black or grey bezel) FLS models from Peavey. John Roberts (now with Resotune) invented the FLS (Feedback Locating System) when he was with Peavey, and Behringer promptly swiped the idea (the running joke is that Behringer's R&D department consists of a photocopier). If you choose another EQ, try to find a used Peavey Mentor, which is a discontinued 1U device that gives you digital FLS functionality to any decent 2x31-band EQ. I've got two, and sorry, they're not for sale!
To answer the OP's other question - if you only have one 31-band and one 15-band, then yes, the 15-band should go on the mains and the 31-band on mons (which benefit more from the ability to take narrow slices out of the signal to fight FB). If you have one 2x31 band EQ, just run FOH in mono through one channel, and your mons (presuming you're only using one monitor mix) through the other.
I would stay away from an iPad with RTA. iPads iPhones and their android cousins use a 15 cent microphone. How accurate is that gonna be? The mic also clips above 105dB so is useless at performance volume . Any decent RTA needs a decent microphone. The apps claim to compensate via an eq filter but I would not trust it.
If you wanna fool around just go to the app store and type RTA in the search.
If you wanna fool around just go to the app store and type RTA in the search.
I would alwyes go with the 31 band EQ for both FOH and BOH systems why I say this well for one the microphone ranges have huge ranges from 10hz to 2K if your trying to get the best sound and control feed back wont get it from a 15 band all sound engineers would go with a 31 band because with a 15 band your limited what you can do
I have a Behringer FBQ 1502. I got it for free, so I can't complain.
However, I would stay away from Behringer's GEQ units. The sliders are flimsy, and the FBQ lights are really just for looks, not informative.
I would go with a DBX unit, or Ashly if you can afford it.
However, I would stay away from Behringer's GEQ units. The sliders are flimsy, and the FBQ lights are really just for looks, not informative.
I would go with a DBX unit, or Ashly if you can afford it.
The microphone in an iPhone or ipad cannot change the frequency they sensing, no matter how inexpensive. In addition, these tiny mics are amazingly good in general.
Take a look at the RTA apps - some are very well done.
Take a look at the RTA apps - some are very well done.
If you want hardware, this is one nice unit.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Sweetwater sells them
Behringer Ultracurve Pro DEQ2496 | Sweetwater.com
Behringer actually has a 3 year warranty.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Sweetwater sells them
Behringer Ultracurve Pro DEQ2496 | Sweetwater.com
Behringer actually has a 3 year warranty.
Yep.
Bought a used DEQ2496 a couple months ago.
Great little box for the money.
31 bands of graphic and 10 bands of full parametic on each channel.
I've used the auto EQ function to store starting points for my speakers. Saves a lot of time during setup.
Bought a used DEQ2496 a couple months ago.
Great little box for the money.
31 bands of graphic and 10 bands of full parametic on each channel.
I've used the auto EQ function to store starting points for my speakers. Saves a lot of time during setup.
RE: "Behringer actually has a 3 year warranty."
Even a 10 year warranty is useless if you can't get through a gig without wondering if the device is going to crap out mid-show.
This is actually one of B-ger's better-performing items, BUT I still wouldn't want to use one on a gig without having a backup EQ ready to patch in if/when this one puked (under warranty or otherwise).
Even a 10 year warranty is useless if you can't get through a gig without wondering if the device is going to crap out mid-show.
This is actually one of B-ger's better-performing items, BUT I still wouldn't want to use one on a gig without having a backup EQ ready to patch in if/when this one puked (under warranty or otherwise).
I have Behringer signal processing gear. No problems
This old internet lore is getting old. They've been around decades.
Sweetwater only sells products that meets their quaility standards.
The only thing is their web site says 2 year warranty. That's what I was pointing out.
Plenty of options from many companies, but the next price point for something approaching the DEQ2496 is going to be several thousand dollars. And for that price you can get some excellent Wave plugins, including a system to run them on.
Newly announced Behringer with Klark Techneks technology is hot stuff!
This old internet lore is getting old. They've been around decades.
Sweetwater only sells products that meets their quaility standards.
The only thing is their web site says 2 year warranty. That's what I was pointing out.
Plenty of options from many companies, but the next price point for something approaching the DEQ2496 is going to be several thousand dollars. And for that price you can get some excellent Wave plugins, including a system to run them on.
Newly announced Behringer with Klark Techneks technology is hot stuff!
