Behringer DEQ2496 Ultracurve Pro DSP Review

[infinitesymphony]

Hi,
basically yes. According to my understanding correct eqalization is the best way to improve sound having other factors constant. In my case the constant is aps klasik 2020 which are quite good active monitors (unfortunatelly these are near field which does not work perfectly for me but it is how it is) . I dont see any possibilities of improving rooms acustics and i saw quite a few opinions stating that proper eq can improve SQ notably.

For TV it's probably a fine starting point in terms of a parametric EQ hardware appliance. If you have a bigger budget you might look at the miniDSP SHD Studio & UMIK-1 combo for around $1,195 USD.

 

[Pioter]

thanks,
That would be both tv/non tv listining. Unfortunatelly minidsp shd is too expensive to me - > more than the speakers itself. minidsp shd is perfect solution, but the price is not acceptable, looking for cheaper alternatives but with no success.

 

[Helicopter]

The cost of admission for standalone / integrated PEQ is higher than it should be. Good thing there is free PEQ software.

 

[infinitesymphony]

thanks,
That would be both tv/non tv listining. Unfortunatelly minidsp shd is too expensive to me - > more than the speakers itself. minidsp shd is perfect solution, but the price is not acceptable, looking for cheaper alternatives but with no success.

The cost of admission for standalone / integrated PEQ is higher than it should be. Good thing there is free PEQ software.

I've said this elsewhere, but if anyone can make a fully digital hardware appliance with 10 bands of parametric EQ per channel that supports a configuration push over USB from a front-end GUI application in Windows/macOS/Linux, they will make a killing. All people want to do is figure out their room or headphone EQ, push it to a box, and never worry about it again. No software to run, no system-level drivers to hook into your OS, no compatibility issues, nothing to update.

 

[MRC01]

Amir's measurements show the DEQ2496 DA converters are nothing special but decent, roughly CD quality. Effectively transparent for most purposes.

 

[Pioter]

I've said this elsewhere, but if anyone can make a fully digital hardware appliance with 10 bands of parametric EQ per channel that supports a configuration push over USB from a front-end GUI application in Windows/macOS/Linux, they will make a killing. All people want to do is figure out their room or headphone EQ, push it to a box, and never worry about it again. No software to run, no system-level drivers to hook into your OS, no compatibility issues, nothing to update.

true, at some point there would be such a device... Dont see the reason why it is so hard to implement. If mid price phones can literally do anything...

but for now i i'll let it go and would go with neutron music player + pc/lg v30. Unless there is some decent rasberry -> dac -> option but sadly i don't have time anymore to spend on.

Amir's measurements show the DEQ2496 DA converters are nothing special but decent, roughly CD quality. Effectively transparent for most purposes.

what is audiable sinad treshold in your opinion? Maybe i spend too much on that stuff and can be happy with with something like DEQ2496 as source and have much better overall effect comparing to 120sinad dac without eq. Optionally dac + Behringer FBQ 6200 HD Ultragraph Pro EQ 31. I dont know really and it becomes frustrating.

​

 

[vox200light]

I was wondering if someone knows if this unit can be used as a mic preamp/phantom power source for loudspeaker measurement? Has anyone tried it? I am currently shopping for loudspeaker measurement gear and this unit comes bundled with the Superlux ECM999 mic and a mic cable on thomanns site with a nice discount:

Behringer DEQ2496 Ultra-Curve Bundle

Bundle offer comprising Behringer DEQ2496 Ultra-Curve Pro Mastering Processor The DEQ2496 is a precise high-resolution 24-Bit/96 kHz EQ/RTA mastering processor and thus the perfect tool for PA and mastering applications. It offers 4 concurrently...

www.thomann.de

It would be nice if I could just buy this bundle and use it for measurements instead of going for separate mic preamp, mic and cable purchases as I could find some other uses for this unit and it was on my wish list for some time.

 

[Dudi]

I was wondering if someone knows if this unit can be used as a mic preamp/phantom power source for loudspeaker measurement? Has anyone tried it? I am currently shopping for loudspeaker measurement gear and this unit comes bundled with the Superlux ECM999 mic and a mic cable on thomanns site with a nice discount:

Behringer DEQ2496 Ultra-Curve Bundle

Bundle offer comprising Behringer DEQ2496 Ultra-Curve Pro Mastering Processor The DEQ2496 is a precise high-resolution 24-Bit/96 kHz EQ/RTA mastering processor and thus the perfect tool for PA and mastering applications. It offers 4 concurrently...

www.thomann.de

It would be nice if I could just buy this bundle and use it for measurements instead of going for separate mic preamp, mic and cable purchases as I could find some other uses for this unit and it was on my wish list for some time.

I recommend UMIK-1 USB microphone (about 100USD) with REW free software, cheap and that can measure everything you need, volume control, level meter built into the REW application. DEQ2496 has analogue microphone input and it is possible to switch it to the output, but I don't see reason to work on this way.

If room and speaker equalisation is your target, Behringer has RTA - real time analysis, room or speaker frequency response measurement capability built in, which works very well, but that is good for room amplitude equalisation only, no phase, no waterfall, step response, THD curve measurement capability, if your intention to measure these on your speaker. So I recommend Behringer against room modes with internal RTA, but UMIK-1+REW to measure speaker parameters.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Another question.
DOes anyone know whether DEQ2496 can passthrough Dolby Digital/DTS. I dont need to EQ signal passing through, just that it passes.
I tried enabling bypass on DEQ2496 but it looks like it does not pass
Maybe a setting somewhere?

 

[vox200light]

I recommend UMIK-1 USB microphone (about 100USD) with REW free software, cheap and that can measure everything you need, volume control, level meter built into the REW application. DEQ2496 has analogue microphone input and it is possible to switch it to the output, but I don't see reason to work on this way.

If room and speaker equalisation is your target, Behringer has RTA - real time analysis, room or speaker frequency response measurement capability built in, which works very well, but that is good for room amplitude equalisation only, no phase, no waterfall, step response, THD curve measurement capability, if your intention to measure these on your speaker. So I recommend Behringer against room modes with internal RTA, but UMIK-1+REW to measure speaker parameters.

Well, my main goal was to save some cash if possible so if DEQ 2496 could be used to measure loudspeakers (as a mic preamp) in addition to its main purpose, that would be great. My options are pretty limited - I can pretty much only get what is on thomann's and one other site (the other one doesn't have the DEQ bundle on offer though) because they also stock the other stuff I need.

I've read the DEQ manual but it is quite spartan and I wasn't able to determine with certainty that it is possible to use the mic input for other purposes than its in-built RTA (can the mic input be redirected to output?). Even if the unit doesn't have a volume control (and it seems that it doesn't) which I would get with a separate mic preamp, I was planning to use the measuring software to circumvent that.

My budget is limited atm as I will be buying other stuff as well and ideally I would like to buy everything I need in one order. For this purchase I would be limited to buying either DEQ2496 in this bundle with the mic and cable if my idea works or mic (Behringer ECM8000, Superlux ECM999, t.bone MM-1 or some other cheap mic they have on offer) + some preamp like the Behringer U-Phoria UM2 or UMC22 + cable.
As I've said, DEQ2496 was on my wish list for some time already (for room and possibly headphone EQ) and if I could get one more use out of it, it would be great, if not, I'd skip on buying it for now and get the other option for speaker measurement only.

So, you said it is possible to switch the mic input to the output? Is that certain? Do you own the DEQ2496 - have you tried it? What do you think about my plan? I plan to upgrade my measurement gear later ofc, I'll probably build my own preamp later, probably the one on Elliot's site, but atm I just want something that works right now.
Thanks for your reply and help btw .

 

[SpaceMonkey]

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Just checked my own deq2496 and in I/O section one can't select mic input as a source for output.

 

[vox200light]

Just checked my own deq2496 and in I/O section one can't select mic input as a source for output.

Bummer... Well it seems like my DEQ2496 purchase will need to wait for a while more. Thanks for your help guys.

 

[oneman]

DOes anyone know whether DEQ2496 can passthrough Dolby Digital/DTS

DEQ2496 is AC3/DTS passthrough.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

DEQ2496 is AC3/DTS passthrough.

And how to engage passthrough? I used "bypass" button but it didnt work. Toslink to toslink.

 

[oneman]

And how to engage passthrough? I used "bypass" button but it didnt work. Toslink to toslink.

Dig in MUST be switched to dig out/aux out, dither OFF, noise shaper OFF and select S/PDiF.
Bypass button doesn't matter becouse 'dig in->dig out' is completely independent route.

 

[a2copywriter]

Oh man, I had one of these years ago and loved it. I used mine to store my Sennheiser HD-600 EQ curve -- instant sound improvement with every source and amp!

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Dig in MUST be switched to dig out/aux out, dither OFF, noise shaper OFF and select S/PDiF.
Bypass button doesn't matter becouse 'dig in->dig out' is completely independent route.

Tried yesterday, it didnt work. I am not so concerned anymore as i put a toslink splitter before the deq and bypassed deq for the avr.

 

[xaviescacs]

Is this discontinued? Or are they delivered on demand? It seems to be out of stock everywhere in Europe.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Is this discontinued? Or are they delivered on demand? It seems to be out of stock everywhere in Europe.

I am sure it is still being made, just out of stock.

 

[xaviescacs]

I am sure it is still being made, just out of stock.

Will wait then, perhaps it has something to do with the generalized supply problems. This is a quite unique device, maybe they didn't expect people from outside pro segment buying it.