Behringer UB Series Mixers

While it is pretty common knowledge around this web site that many of us, myself included, are huge fans of Behringer gear, especially the mixing boards, it is also true that just like every other piece of hardware or software, they have their pluses and minuses. My goal here is to provide a good objective look at the newest series of Behringer mixing boards, the UB Series.

The UB Series of boards comes in two flavors, standard and FX-Pro. The FX Pro adds a bus of onboard digital effects to the standard mixer, which we will get more into later. Both lines of the UB Series offer a wide range of configurations to suit almost any musician's needs. The entire line includes the following versions:

• EURORACK UB2442FX-PRO - Ultra Low-Noise Design 24-Input 4-Bus Mic/Line Mixer with Premium IMP Mic Preamplifiers and 24-Bit Multi-FX Processor
• EURORACK UB2222FX-PRO - Ultra Low-Noise Design 22-Input 2/2-Bus Mic/Line Mixer with Premium IMP Mic Preamplifiers and 24-Bit Multi-FX Processor
• EURORACK UB1832FX-PRO - Ultra Low-Noise Design 18-Input 3/2-Bus Mic/Line Mixer with Premium IMP Mic Preamplifiers and 24-Bit Multi-FX Processor
• EURORACK UB1622FX-PRO - Ultra Low-Noise Design 16-Input 2/2-Bus Mic/Line Mixer with Premium IMP Mic Preamplifiers and 24-Bit Multi-FX Processor
• EURORACK UB1204FX-PRO - Ultra Low-Noise Design 12-Input 2/2-Bus Mic/Line Mixer with Premium IMP Mic Preamplifiers and 24-Bit Multi-FX Processor
• EURORACK UB1204-PRO - Ultra Low-Noise Design 12-Input 2/2-Bus Mic/Line Mixer with Premium IMP Mic Preamplifiers
• EURORACK UB1202 - Ultra Low-Noise Design 12-Input 2-Bus Mic/Line Mixer
• EURORACK UB1002 - Ultra Low-Noise Design 10-Input 2-Bus Mic/Line Mixer with Premium Mic Preamplifiers
• EURORACK UB802 - Ultra Low-Noise Design 8-Input 2-Bus Mixer with Premium Mic Preamplifiers
• EURORACK UB502 - Ultra Low-Noise Design 5-Input 2-Bus Mixer

I am basing my review on the 1622FX-Pro model, which is the one I decided to buy for my studio, and is a very middle-of-the-pack board by way of number of channels and busses.

I am still not sure if the UB Series of mixers is meant to run the MX Series out of the market or not, but they are truly the superior mixer. The 4-bus and larger mixers have been outfitted with the newly developed Invisible Mic Preamp (or, IMP) into each mono channel of their boards, this preamp, while not being the best in the business by any means, is a very useful, clean and decent sounding preamp. The smaller boards with only 2 busses, are outfitted with the standard Behringer preamps that the MX Series has used, which I hear many people complain about, but I personally used them for a long time and had no real problem with them at all.

Before I recieved my 1622FX-Pro I had been using a little MX802 for a couple of years. Being primarily a mastering shop, the lack of extra busses wasn't such a huge deal, it only really became an annoyance when I was working on my own stuff. The pres in the 802, while somewhat weak when it came to recording vocals at time, they did a decent job for miking guitar cabs and such. When the 1622FX-pro arrived I immediately went and unplugged my 802, hooked up the new board, plugged in a mic and gave it to my 5 year old daughter who started singing songs and telling jokes into the microphone. The preamp improvement was noticable instantly, and it was dramatic. The routing assignments and options are very logical and easy to use, the faders are smooth and clean and precise as are the pots, not the cheap-feeling movement often associated with more inexpensive mixers.

The FX-Pro models have some built in digital effects that were taken from their Virtualizer effects unit. The sounds themselves are really quite nice. The main drawback is the lack of control over the effect params itself, the only real control over the effects is how much of the signal gets sent through it, which is OK for things like reverb, but for something like compression it really does not do the job very well. it would be nice to have a param or two to be in control of, but considering the prices of these mixers, it's a baragin either way.

As a whole this mixer has improved my overall recording experience when doing tracking, the features, while some having their drawbacks, for the price Behringer sells their gear for I am surprised they can stay in business. You can spend a lot more money for a marginally better mixer, or you can save a ton of money by getting a Behringer and the money you save you can wait and get gear to accomodate for it's couple of pitfalls with some great outboard gear as you run into the limitations of the board. I personally go for the later, as the sum total of what you spend on a Behringer board, maybe an outboard preamp and/or effects unit will still be less than you would spend on a marginally better board, plus have more routing flexiblity with the seperate pieces of gear.