[LAU] Pro Audio? OT rant.

[Patrick Shirkey]

On Tue, December 25, 2012 1:55 am, Thomas Vecchione wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 24, 2012 at 4:10 AM, Patrick Shirkey
> <pshirkey at boosthardware.com
>> wrote:
>
>>
>> Behringer components are getting better every year. The Music Group also
>> own Midas which is top of the line gear and preferred by several people
>> I
>> know. Behringer products get a bad rap round here but our tests have
>> shown
>> they have near perfect quality components across the range of hardware
>> they produce. At the price point they are the best value audio products
>> on
>> the planet. Plus they ship Audacity with their included merchandise
>> which
>> makes it the most distributed audio editor on the planet.
>>
>>
> Many live engineers I work with are more hesitant about using Midas now,
> not more willing to accept Behringer.  Music Group bought both Midas and
> Klark Technik, both of which were very respected names in the live audio
> industry before being purchased, being associated with the Music Group may
> have saved these companies from not operating, but it has damaged their
> reputation amongst professionals, more than it has helped Behringers.
>
> Behringer may have increased the quality of their manufacturing, they have
> convinced some people of this.  But they still try to take every shortcut
> they generally can, and still have a history, whether Uli recognizes it or
> not, that includes blatant ripoffs of other designs and questionable
> ethical activity, along with poor quality and reliability.  Yes some of
> their products do sound respectable, almost all of them were at least
> 'inspired' by existing products that were already out.  There are very few
> that I can use or recommend to be used because of this, and always my rule
> is that if you are going to use Behringer you have to have at least 2 for
> when it fails.  And really I just don't recommend them, I only use them
> when I absolutely have to.
>

Most people don't have the luxury of choosing their tools for every job.
Behringer mass produce their products using the cheapest methods possible
out of China which also includes the dubious practice of copying others in
their industry (cough: Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Google...) and high
turnover that has resulted in their market domination for the low price
end of the market.

Our tests on this side of the pond have given us confidence in Behringer
products. Not only are they cheap but they also represent very good value
for money and we can't fault the signal/noise ratio on the units we have
tested.

The Music Group is a strange company in the audio hardware manufacturing
industry. They do hardly any marketing because they recognise that if you
Make things cheap and good enough to get the job done and people will buy
them. That simple directive has enabled them to become the biggest audio
hardware manufacturer on the planet. Almost the complete opposite of any
other successful audio hardware company. In a way they are actually
enabling the masses to create and produce music rather than keeping it
solely the domain of the wealthy elite who can afford to spend the price
of a European house on a new toy ;-)



--
Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd