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Behringer DEQ2496 Ultracurve Pro DSP Review

Bullwinkle J Moose

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The most recent use for the DEQ2496 was as a portable parametric EQ on an APTX Low latency bluetooth wireless mic to my camcorder

(Jackery Power Stations Rock! - They are a great help making my XLR mics portable and wireless)

I bought the DEQ2496 within weeks of its first release many many years ago and mine has never failed

Lucky or what?
 
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Jayce996

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Hello there,
I'm posting here as most of the DCX users seems to have a look at this thread :) So excuse me if it is a little bit out of scope.

I've one weird behavior which i'm not able to correct.
I've setup my DCX2496 for 3 speakers driven in 2 ways so in LHLHLH mode (A:left, B:center, C:right)
A goes to 1 & 2, B to 3 & 4, C to 5 & 6

when i tred to mute each channels one by one i discovered something strange only happening on my Right & Left Speakers, I got my High sound only available with channel 1 is unmuted but on both speakers, and when I mute channel 1, all High are muted...even channel 5.
which is not normal as all my channels should be independents.
here is the link of the config i've extracted from my DCX if someone is able to investigate what happens.
 

artburda

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I think my DEQ2496 has a really bad jitter issue. When I did some digitial-to-digital recordings, PC Toslink --> Sony PCM-D100 Toslink input, the null test with @pkane DeltaWave showed a bit perfect match between the digital recording and the original file. However when I put the DEQ2496 without EQ settings inbetween, PC Toslink --> DEQ2496 Toslink input --> DEQ2496 Toslink output --> Sony PCM-D100, I only got a match at 16 bits of 49% and Timing error (rms jitter) of 151.7ns. More details in the attached TXT-File. Null tests with analog recordings, PC Toslink --> DEQ2496 Toslink Input --> DEQ2496 analog output --> Motu M4 analog input, didn't work at all, I always got the following message:

Stopped! A regression of the requested order requires at least 2 samples. Only 0 samples have been provided.

Comparing the analog recording to the original file showed that the samples started to shift (too early), I calculated 0.5 samples shift per second. Both files were in 44.1kHz. I also did some ABX with foobar. I couldn't tell the original from the analog recording, no way. For the listening tests: M4 --> L30 --> HD 6XX.
 

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artburda

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I wouldn't call that jitter, more like a clocking issue.

According to the almost 20-year-old manual, the unit apparently ships with digital I/O set up for AES3 format. You can switch to S/PDIF on page 2 of the I/O menu, so I would suggest you do that first.
I already did that.
 

SharpEars

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I have two DEQ2496 units. What good modern devices can I replace them with, that have similar functionality? I only need balanced inputs and S/PDIF outputs, and of course the functionality in the DEQ2496.
 

MRC01

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With the ADAU1451 and perhaps other similar chips, one would think there would be more products like the DEQ2496 out there. The chip does all the digital math, the manufacturer only has to provide the power supply, user interface and case. But as far as I can tell, the DEQ2496 has no real competition. That makes no sense to me because it's so useful. Maybe everyone is doing digital EQ in software on their PCs or phones.
 

jsm

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Did I miss something in the thread or we still have no idea of the quality of the digit in/out usage (room correction usage)? I'm curious of mine, standing now between a Gustard X16 (AES in) and a Yellowtec Puc 2 (pc usb in/ AES out). I was asking myself to keep it or to use the Brut FIR into Daphile (pc usb directly to X16)
 

MRC01

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Here are some measurements I made through my DEQ2496. I played frequency sweeps and recorded them digitally on a Tascam SSR1, which bypasses the Tascam's A/D and D/A converters.

First, a sweep recorded directly to the Tascam. The distortion levels match 16-bit digital; that is, no added distortion.
dis-ssr1-dig.png


Next, a sweep recorded to the Tascam after passing through the DEQ2496 with the parametric EQ enabled but set to flat. Looks the same.
dis-ssr1-dig-d2496-flat.png


Next, same as above but with the DEQ2496 parametric EQ active on the profile I use for my in-room speakers. You can see the shape of the EQ in the digital sweep, as expected. Nothing crazy.
dis-ssr1-dig-d2496-eq-mag36.png


Overall, the DEQ2496's parametric EQ function looks clean and does not add any distortion that I can measure with my recorder. Maybe @amirm could detect added distortion with his AP analyzer, as it is much more sensitive and precise, but I see nothing obvious or audible here.

PS: I also measured the Toneboosters EQ that is part of USB Audio Player Pro and got the same results. It's clean.

PPS: The last graph uses an EQ with an overall cut of -4 dB, which is why the distortion level is overall about 4 dB higher.
 
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JeffS7444

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Did I miss something in the thread or we still have no idea of the quality of the digit in/out usage (room correction usage)? I'm curious of mine, standing now between a Gustard X16 (AES in) and a Yellowtec Puc 2 (pc usb in/ AES out). I was asking myself to keep it or to use the Brut FIR into Daphile (pc usb directly to X16)
The late Arny Kreuger felt it's use of pink noise + auto-eq had become passé, but I guess there's no reason that a person couldn't use DEQ2496 + Room EQ Wizard PEQ filter settings instead of relying on the built-in routine, (save that the latter is super-easy). I admit I'm also a sucker for it's real time analyzer display.
 

Stephen

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Here are some measurements I made through my DEQ2496. I played frequency sweeps and recorded them digitally on a Tascam SSR1, which bypasses the Tascam's A/D and D/A converters.

First, a sweep recorded directly to the Tascam. The distortion levels match 16-bit digital; that is, no added distortion.
View attachment 157317

Next, a sweep recorded to the Tascam after passing through the DEQ2496 with the parametric EQ enabled but set to flat. Looks the same.
View attachment 157320

Next, same as above but with the DEQ2496 parametric EQ active on the profile I use for my in-room speakers. You can see the shape of the EQ in the digital sweep, as expected. Nothing crazy.
View attachment 157321

Overall, the DEQ2496's parametric EQ function looks clean and does not add any distortion that I can measure with my recorder. Maybe @amirm could detect added distortion with his AP analyzer, as it is much more sensitive and precise, but I see nothing obvious or audible here.

PS: I also measured the Toneboosters EQ that is part of USB Audio Player Pro and got the same results. It's clean.
Thank you so much! I've been wondering for so long...
 
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MRC01

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I like that RTA frequency display too, mainly when I hear a super low bass note and wonder, was that 25 Hz, or 40 Hz? Or hear cymbals or brushes that sound veiled (bad), or realistic (good), and wonder how that correlates to HF extension.
 

Pioter

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Hi,
I am considering using this dac as the final one (plugged to TV). Is that reasonable choice? I see that it is considered as not really trasnparent and there is some distortion, audible?
 

infinitesymphony

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Hi,
I am considering using this dac as the final one (plugged to TV). Is that reasonable choice? I see that it is considered as not really trasnparent and there is some distortion, audible?
Why choose the DEQ2496 over a different DAC for this purpose? The EQ?
 

Pioter

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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.
 
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