Re: mackie? vs. soundcraft...

[dtapia@unoco.edu (Douglas Tapia)]

>This summer, I convinced Chapman Stick artist Steve Hahn
>(http://www.deepchocolate.com) that he needed a new mixer to replace his
>antique Tascam.  We tried out a borrowed Mackie (very good, but not as 
>much
>bang for your buck as...), my Carvin (a really good value, but I'm gonna 
>be
>replacing it with...) and finally a Behringer 2642.  With the Behringer it
>was like the clouds parted and the light came shining down.  Initially I
>was skeptical because they're made in China, but after six months of
>reliable use in the studio and on the road Steve's a believer (and I'm off
>the hook)--plus, we opened it up and the boards, traces, wave soldering,
>point soldering, wiring harnesses, etc. are gorgeous.  Not a cold joint or
>dodgy-looking component to be found.
>
>I looked into a few others: Spirit and Peavey, to be precise.  Yuk.
>Flimsy, scratchy sounding faders.

Yeah, they've always made crap, and they always will.

>How's it sound?  Transparent.  He's using it with an ADAT-XT, and mixdowns
>to DAT made via the 2642 sound pristine.  The quality of the discrete
>preamps is supa-fine, the EQ section is sweet and subtle, and the power
>supply is rugged and isolated from the board (and thus your rack should 
>you
>choose to rackmount it.  Most all of the 1/4" connections are balanced 
>(and
>all of the XLR conns are, of course), so you can do some long distance
>runaround and not worry about the electric motor in the fog machine makin'
>line noise.
>
>The local deal on it was 550 bones (USD).

This sounds like a great deal, and I've never had a problem with
Behringer's product.  I DO have a problem with their politics.  For
Behringer, R&D seems to stand for Reverse-engineer and Deviate (just enough
so they can't get sued for stealing their desings)

The units are prototyped in Germany, and the production cycle is fine
tuned.  Then, Behringer engineers detool in Germany and tool up at plants
in Asia where they can pay SKILLED solders (as your experience would
support) and assembly workers a few cents an hour.

Before I get on my Kathy Lee soap box, if this is the American way of doing
business, count me out.  Their products hit great price points. (Their
version of the Ramsa 31 band EQ is great, (beautiful soft interface) and is
dirt cheap, but I'd rather save myself the bad karma).  Just thought that
you ought to know.

Doug