Behringer Studio XL Monitor Controller

[amirm]

I love the arguing about how to interpret the manual. Much more fun than just trying it for real to see what the device actually does….

Sir, my time is not free. When I review the product, I tear down everything and take a picture of the unit, and post the review. Doing any more testing requires setting up everything again, testing, pulling graphs into photoshop, documenting and then posting the results here. I am happy to do that if there is a valid case being made but here, folks are for some reason praying for miracles and have done no homework to know what they are saying is actuallyl true.

So that I don't have to deal with this anymore, I ran three more tests. They are in the review. They all show same ADC performance:

 

[Sokel]

That's nonsense, because Behringer also has some excellent devices that offer very good value for relatively little money.
It's a pity that they occasionally have outliers in terms of quality, because this ruins their reputation in the long term and leads to comments like yours.

Oh, no problem by me, enjoy them by all means.
If I ever measure one that's decent I'll be happy to post the measurements.

(and believe me, I struggled to find it's best performance points after a LOT of measurements with different ground schemes, different sources, FULL level vs THD+N sweeps, painful adjustment of what must be the absolute cheapest pots in the Multiverse ending up with the best distortion pattern I could get from it)

 

[TNT]

This is a review

This one did not appear in my news reader NetwNewsWire - all other has - new server software?

//

 

[amirm]

This one did not appear in my news reader NetwNewsWire - all other has - new server software?

//

Someone said the RSS feed for review page has stopped working. I need to investigate it. That page doesn't expose the link hardly at all. How did you subscribe to it?

 

[babadono]

Designed by a recent grad? Or maybe an intern?

 

[Lambda]

I love the arguing about how to interpret the manual. Much more fun than just trying it for real to see what the device actually does….

The devices was obviously used wrong as as everyone you would have heard by just listening to it.
it’s not an " oh it it missing clearly" or some thing. its an Obvious harsh clipping.

Measuring it and publishing the results of a device if the device is clearly "not working" right makes no sense.

 

[milosz]

It's probably good enough to feed the on-stage monitors of a garage band, that is the sort of thing Behringer gets used for. Most of the musicians I know that are in hobby bands can't hear the difference anyway, and on stage everything is so loud that this thing could be putting out square waves and no one would notice or care.

It's not intended to be part of a top-tier musician's road kit, or used as part of house sound at a Vegas show etc

 

[beeface]

It's probably good enough to feed the on-stage monitors of a garage band, that is the sort of thing Behringer gets used for. Most of the musicians I know that are in hobby bands can't hear the difference anyway, and on stage everything is so loud that this thing could be putting out square waves and no one would notice or care.

It's not intended to be part of a top-tier musician's road kit, or used as part of house sound at a Vegas show etc

tbf it's marketed to be used in a studio environment, not a live one

 

[milosz]

tbf it's marketed to be used in a studio environment, not a live one

Yes and THIS is marketed as a 2,000 watt receiver.... marketing is hopeful exaggeration at best, outright deception more commonly.

 

[Music1969]

Also XLR inputs are microphone inputs, not line ins.

Amir updated his measurement. Same crap

Avoid this shizz

 

[Lambda]

ALL inputs act the same. There is clipping near max digital input, just as there is on output.

For an ADC on a studio device it's Quite normal and not necessarily bad to "soft clip" before it hard clips.
if i read it right it's measured at -0.16 dBFS?! tarts way to "hot" if true
Waht was the VU meter showing?

are the measurements taken in the "green" 0dB range?

 

[amirm]

For an ADC on a studio device it's Quite normal and not necessarily bad to "soft clip" before it hard clips.

It is not normal. Nor is it an amplifier to need or want "soft clipping." The comparison is right in the review:

You are claiming I should want what this box produces instead of RME Babyface in Red?

Here are two others:

So no, it is not common at all. Nor is it a feature.

 

[Lambda]

So waht is the led Display showing if you "overdrive" the input? are you in the "green" zone?

 

[bachatero]

Why so much fuss? No device should clip within the range it's claimed to support.

 

[Somafunk]

Oh dear….and to think I watched this interview with Uli Behringer the other day, I’ve actually used/played with a couple of the synths/keyboards a number of years ago and thought they were great value for what they offered, but this unit is a fail.

 

[lordhumungous]

Embarrassing pile of shite !

 

[amirm]

So waht is the led Display showing if you "overdrive" the input? are you in the "green" zone?

The input was NOT overridden. Once more, spec is 22 dBu or 9.8 volts. I drove with just 4 volts and it started to saturate well before that.

You sure sound like a PR person for the company inventing excuse after excuse. Try to be on customer's side instead of hoping to create some FUD here.

 

[EJ3]

I think that behaviour is what they call "MIDAS preamps".
They deliberately simulate the supposed distortion of vintage preamps.
(Hopefully, real Midas vintage preamps weren't THAT bad!)

Marketing is seldom synonym with "good idea"

See APT/Holman Pre-Amp from the late 70's tested here (all issues where a simple adjustment, except the treble rise in the phono section which was a missing resister that was discovered after the test and easily fixed):

Apt Holman Preamplifier Review (vintage Audio)​

 

[Lambda]

The input was NOT overridden. Once more, spec is 22 dBu or 9.8 volts. I drove with just 4 volts and it started to saturate well before that.

You sure sound like a PR person for the company inventing excuse after excuse. Try to be on customer's side instead of hoping to create some FUD here.

it sounds like you intentionally not answering the question about what the VU meter on the devices was indicating?!

The manual says :<0.01% @ 1 kHz, unity gain, @4 dBu input
and you are testing it at 14dBu

So the Spec is thd+n of -80dB At 4dBu!
And it loos like its even better then this at -10dB

View attachment 440825

 

[amirm]

The manual says :<0.01% @ 1 kHz, unity gain, @4 dBu input

You don't even know how to read the spec. What on earth would "unity gain" be in analog to digital conversion? That is likely an analog to analog *performance* spec, not a maximum level. Even if that were the spec, it doesn't matter to me. Any professional product with balanced inputs must be able to handle 4 volts input without saturating. 4 dBu is only 1.8 volt. That is below even a consumer spec, let alone professional.

it sounds like you intentionally not answering the question about what the VU meter on the devices was indicating?!

These lights?

What the heck is the scale on those? +8 what? Is Clip digital or analog?