Behringer MON800 Stereo Monitor Mixer

Feature:
Features are great. Effectively 4 stereo inputs than can be mixed/switched. And 4 outputs. 3 of which can be switch on and off and have level controls. The other is fixed level. Im giving 8 because there is room for a third volume control on the front which wuld give independent volume control 3 outputs. Although if you wanted to have your main monitors supplemented by a sub the fact that 2 of the outputs are affected by one control may be useful as in my case. :o)

Quality:
Its plastic and on the light side which means you'll have to srap or blue-tack it down to stop the cables pulling it off the desk. Looks ok though even though its plastic. And for the money I think the physical quality of the product and smoothness of the controlls and switches is above what I would expect. So well done Behringer.

Value:
I think this product is excellent value for money. You are getting a lot of features for very little money compared to what you could spend.

Desirability:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Looks good on MY desk... Ironically the Behringer logo looks like a warning triange from a distance.

Sound:
I know a lot have slammed the sound quality on this unit, but this is not my experience. I found this units sound quality to be way above what I was expecting considering the price bracket. All gains wound up and nothing! Excellent! I ran several sources through it and it is excellent, and should be really considering its for "Monitoring". Some people have complained about fizzing and noise and other anomolies with this unit. Being an audio design engineer in a past (and somewhat lingering) life, these artifacts that are being heard may be down to connection with PC's or Laptops with poor audio ground earthing combined with switched mode PSU's. Ive experienced this myself with this unit. I say 'this unit' but the same issues can be heard when connecting PC's Laptops to other monitoring gear. A simple GROUND LOOP ISOLATOR will get rid of this. Use an expensive isolator if you are worried about degradation. But then if you are a really good sound engineer you would know that right? Headphone output is nice and loud with plenty of headroom, although its not quite up to the same standard as my John Lindsey Hood Class A Headphone amp. :o) I wouldnt expect it to be! Im giving this 9 because the power supply is only single rail which means decoupling caps in the signal path. A dual rail supply would have eliminated this but then it would have been twice the price.

Ease of Use:
Yeah dead easy to use. All the controlls make sense, didnt have to read the book to get started. 9 because the balanced ins/outs are on 1/4" jacks. And all my cables are XLR. :o)

Support:
Only just got it so we'll see. But I have a friend who says Behringer give good support - probably depends on your local agent/Behringer office.

Overall:
This unit meets my current needs and some future needs. So there would have to be some big changes for me to get something bigger/better. If it was stolen or I broke it outside the warranty I would get the same again I think. This is going to get medium use under my ownership. I'll be disappointed if I dont get 5 years out of it.

Feature:
I use this thing for producing music. The three monitor outputs are connected to my three studio monitor setups. I have a pair of powered nearfields (small) a pair of powered nearfields (mid size) and also a HIFI yamamha home stereo amplifier with some 10" 3-way cerwin vegas, and a subwoofer. I flip back and forth to check my mixes as I work. Very handy. Also I can hook up a reference track to one of the inputs so i can seemlessly check my production against indeustry standard for quick reference. This is all I needed it for, And i was thinking of building my own passive box to do this, but I stumbled across the MON800 and it was cheaper than building my own, plus with alot of features. (some that ill never use)

Quality:
I gave a 9, even though it is all plastic and weighs less than a pound. I have mine standing on its side, wedged between my LCD screen and a my desk hutch so it wont go anywhere. But for 40 bucks, I dont mind at all putting a little bit of heavy duty velcro on the bottom and sticking it to a surface, or wedging it between some heavy devices, etc.

Value:
for 40 bucks, Ill probably buy another one of these just to have laying around. They are useful for all kinds of handy audio routing, pro and consumer. If youre in the market for a BIG KNOB and dont need a big knob, then have a look at one of these units.

Desirability:
does what it should, for such a low price it makes it all kinds of sexy!

Sound:
I have owned this MON800 for over 2 years now. There is no NOISE AT all. tHE PEOPLE BELOW who are complaining about noise either A) have a defective unit and should have RMA'd it, or B) do not know how to properly connect devices to the unit. This device does not color the sound or add any white noise or anything like that (unlike behringer mixers, who's preamps add whitenoise when turned way up).

Ease of Use:
No need for a manual with this thing, unless youre new at audio devices.

Support:
Never have needed support for behringer products.

Overall:
Iv owned it for about 2 years at least, its got everything I need and some things i dont, but theres nothing missing fron the unit that I wished it had (besides XLR i/o)but that would make it more expensive, and bigger..