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soulshock7
New member
I was wondering what is the difference between the Behringer Eurodesk MX 9000 and the mackie 24 or 32 VLRro series. They seem to have the same spec but the behringer is cheaper.
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Tim20
New member
The Mackies are made in the USA and the 24 and 32 8 bus are pretty much identical.
The Eurodesk 9000 is made in China. I own it and love it. It is dead quiet. I don't have any crosstalk problems on between the channels and the preamps seem to be quite usuable, although most people, myself included, will depend on a better external preamp. The EQ is quite "musical", meaning it doesn't suck.
I would say the faders are just a little lose so you have to be carefull because they can slip away from you with a slight touch.
Several complaints have surrounded the power supply which would crap out real easily if it was allowed to get hot. They have a fix and I would imagine it has been incorporated into the newer ones coming off the line.
The mackies don't come without their problems too. Many people (check thier forums) complain of failing faders or intermittent ones. I have heard more complaints about the preamps being "thin", but then again a lot of people depend on external preamps.
In the analog mixer arena there are only 3 players in the 24/8 arena: Behringer, Mackie, and the Soundcraft Ghost.
The Ghost is probably hands down the best out there, but is also about 5K for a 24 channel with meters.
I think if you have a chance to try the Mackie and Behringer you will ask why should I spend almost double for the Mackie. If you get the Behringer sometimes customer support is a hassle, but others rave about them. Personally I think they are working to improve it, although I have never hade to use it for any Behringer equipment I own.
Also, if you decide for the Eurodesk, buy it from Americanmusicalsupply.com and they will give you a 2 year warranty on it, and their price is the same as anyones. I have spent a lot of money with them and they are good.
The Eurodesk 9000 is made in China. I own it and love it. It is dead quiet. I don't have any crosstalk problems on between the channels and the preamps seem to be quite usuable, although most people, myself included, will depend on a better external preamp. The EQ is quite "musical", meaning it doesn't suck.
I would say the faders are just a little lose so you have to be carefull because they can slip away from you with a slight touch.
Several complaints have surrounded the power supply which would crap out real easily if it was allowed to get hot. They have a fix and I would imagine it has been incorporated into the newer ones coming off the line.
The mackies don't come without their problems too. Many people (check thier forums) complain of failing faders or intermittent ones. I have heard more complaints about the preamps being "thin", but then again a lot of people depend on external preamps.
In the analog mixer arena there are only 3 players in the 24/8 arena: Behringer, Mackie, and the Soundcraft Ghost.
The Ghost is probably hands down the best out there, but is also about 5K for a 24 channel with meters.
I think if you have a chance to try the Mackie and Behringer you will ask why should I spend almost double for the Mackie. If you get the Behringer sometimes customer support is a hassle, but others rave about them. Personally I think they are working to improve it, although I have never hade to use it for any Behringer equipment I own.
Also, if you decide for the Eurodesk, buy it from Americanmusicalsupply.com and they will give you a 2 year warranty on it, and their price is the same as anyones. I have spent a lot of money with them and they are good.
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theblue1
New member
Behringer is certainly affordable. I can't say that my own experience with their gear was entirely happy. (I've owned 3 pieces of gear, one of which [a Composer compressor) crapped out about the 2 year mark and the others [5 band - Parametric EQ's] so harsh sounding they never saw much use.) But that was the mid-90s (and their gear was not so cheap yet) and they've apparently improved, even as the gear has gotten cheaper -- jawdroppingly cheap in some cases.
Myself, I've always been very happy with Mackie gear for the money (I've had a 1202, a 1604, and an SR24-4). Seems to me the preamps are pretty colorless. I suppose to some that sounds thin. But that's how some folks like their boards, preferring to pick outboard preamps when they need a specific sound. (Tubes for warming, FET's for definition, yadda yadda.) To my way of thinking, using a board with heavily colored preamps (that might sound great on an isolated track) flirts with the possibility of O.D.'ing on that heavily colored sound as the similarly colored tracks stack up...
Myself, I've always been very happy with Mackie gear for the money (I've had a 1202, a 1604, and an SR24-4). Seems to me the preamps are pretty colorless. I suppose to some that sounds thin. But that's how some folks like their boards, preferring to pick outboard preamps when they need a specific sound. (Tubes for warming, FET's for definition, yadda yadda.) To my way of thinking, using a board with heavily colored preamps (that might sound great on an isolated track) flirts with the possibility of O.D.'ing on that heavily colored sound as the similarly colored tracks stack up...
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Tristan
Guest
I work in a large music shop, and Behringer products are by far the most returned with unrepairable faults. The parts they use are cheap and wear out quickly.
Also their tech support is non-existant and they're a proper pain in the ass unless you happen to live in Germany.
Mackie mixers are proper good for the money. Their tech support is real good in every country and in most places they'll replace your unit for a new one should you have any major problems.
Don't get me wrong, Mackies are not without fault, but they're a lot better qualty than Behringers, hence the price difference.
At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.. If a Behringer will do you then that's cool, but be prepared as you'll probably have to buy a new one after a couple of years!
Also their tech support is non-existant and they're a proper pain in the ass unless you happen to live in Germany.
Mackie mixers are proper good for the money. Their tech support is real good in every country and in most places they'll replace your unit for a new one should you have any major problems.
Don't get me wrong, Mackies are not without fault, but they're a lot better qualty than Behringers, hence the price difference.
At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.. If a Behringer will do you then that's cool, but be prepared as you'll probably have to buy a new one after a couple of years!
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Tim20
New member
I have 2 pieces of Behringer gear I have had for almost 4 years without glitch one. I have 5 pieces of Behringer and a laundry list of gear from others such as Roland, Kawai,Korg, Digitech, Alesis, Tascam, Charvel, Ibanez, Epiphone, Rode, Shure, AT and some others I can't remember.
What I have chosen from Behringer has suited me excellently.
Behringer does have tech support here in the USA. I personally have not had to use them, but I have seen more posts saying they were very helpfull, than not. And repairs, if any were needed, were quickly handled. I'm assuming in the US.
I do know that Sweetwater dropped their line because of the returns, but that was several years ago and they won't take them back.
American Musical Supply offers double warranty times on a lot of Behringer gear, so they must be banking that it will last at least 2 years.
They do it cheap by mass production in China just as Studio Projects, Rode (low end mics), and a long list of others.
Tristan you mentioned that Behringer was the most returned, but is it also the highest sales volume? I would like to know the percentage of returns to sales before I believed the statement.
I have yet to own any piece of gear that was perfect in every sense, but none have given me any real headaches.
What I have chosen from Behringer has suited me excellently.
Behringer does have tech support here in the USA. I personally have not had to use them, but I have seen more posts saying they were very helpfull, than not. And repairs, if any were needed, were quickly handled. I'm assuming in the US.
I do know that Sweetwater dropped their line because of the returns, but that was several years ago and they won't take them back.
American Musical Supply offers double warranty times on a lot of Behringer gear, so they must be banking that it will last at least 2 years.
They do it cheap by mass production in China just as Studio Projects, Rode (low end mics), and a long list of others.
Tristan you mentioned that Behringer was the most returned, but is it also the highest sales volume? I would like to know the percentage of returns to sales before I believed the statement.
I have yet to own any piece of gear that was perfect in every sense, but none have given me any real headaches.
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Tristan
Guest
Well, I guess its all personal preference.. My experience with Behringer stuff has been generally bad, that's why I'm not keen on it..
But that's just my opinion, Behringer seems to have done the trick for you, which is great.
But that's just my opinion, Behringer seems to have done the trick for you, which is great.
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Tim20
New member
I totally understand. I am not a big Yamaha fan. To me a lot of their stuff seems noisy and thin. I guess it really does come down to personal preference.
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mungo
Guest
how much of their stuff is made in china now? I love my old german built MX1604.
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Tim20
New member
Mungo I think it is all made in China, butthat doesnt mean it's bad. When compainies put tight quality control on those Chinese companies they make some pretty good stuff.
MusickMan
Secret of the lost Beat
the ghost is waaaay better
it's also the only one in this price range that features true solo in place, midi machine control and mute automation, the eq sounds better than the mackie which is really crunchy (its mid bands are also fully parametric) , it also has more headroom, more auxes, with a power supply mod it sounds even better, that's why it costs more...
the mackie is ok for the price, the problem with the mackie is its lack of headroom...
it's also the only one in this price range that features true solo in place, midi machine control and mute automation, the eq sounds better than the mackie which is really crunchy (its mid bands are also fully parametric) , it also has more headroom, more auxes, with a power supply mod it sounds even better, that's why it costs more...
the mackie is ok for the price, the problem with the mackie is its lack of headroom...
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theblue1
New member
Crunchy EQ? Mackie? I've heard people kvetch 'cause it's not aggressive in the British style. I've heard people call it clinical or sterile... but crunchy? Maybe if you push it trying to get it to do brit-style EQ (if you want that, go for a brit desk, to my way of thinking)... I guess I just don't have a heavy hand on the ol' EQ knobs. EQ is for people who don't know how to mic things, y'know? 
And as far as headroom, I've never had a complaint. The VLZ boards can handle +22 dBu, according to Mackie, and I've never found reason to argue with that spec. (Then again, I haven't run into too many +22 dBu sources in recent years.
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And as far as headroom, I've never had a complaint. The VLZ boards can handle +22 dBu, according to Mackie, and I've never found reason to argue with that spec. (Then again, I haven't run into too many +22 dBu sources in recent years.
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Tim20
New member
The Euro 9000, which has almost identical specs to the Mackie 24/8 has +22 dBu on the channels and groups and +28 on the master out. More than enough high octane for my blood.
The Soundcraft Ghost is certainly the Cadillac, but for almost 4 thousand difference I can certainly afford some nice outboard EQ's and other gear. Hmmm, do you think the wife would understand that reasoning?
My only concern at this point is that the power supply doesn't crap out like other people have had happen. Otherwise, I love this piece of crap, low rate, unsupported, copy cat Behringer.
The Soundcraft Ghost is certainly the Cadillac, but for almost 4 thousand difference I can certainly afford some nice outboard EQ's and other gear. Hmmm, do you think the wife would understand that reasoning?
My only concern at this point is that the power supply doesn't crap out like other people have had happen. Otherwise, I love this piece of crap, low rate, unsupported, copy cat Behringer.
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ManphetamineHD
New member
I own the UB2222FX Pro from Behringer, and I love it, although the built in affects arent as useful as I thought they'd be (but I'm a newb to the whole F/X loops and Insert channels thing), but for the most part, its a great mixer. But still, if you can afford a mackie, go with mackie, they will always back up their equipment with a decent warranty, and it all feels heavier and more substantial than the stuff from behringer.