Behringer T1953 Tube Ultragain Processor User Reviews at zZounds

"Behringer scores major brownie points..." submitted October 30, 2007

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Sound: Lets qualify this by first stating that I can only fill my tank twice for the money I spent on one of these - I bought four. That being said, the internal boards are so simple, there is literally no much of a chance to "screw anything up", but in agreement with the prvious poster - let's definitely not Behringer bash - especially in this case. I have a lot of gear, including the Ampex 300 preamps from RCA studios where Sinatra recorded New York, New York. Case in point, those were originally front end preamps on Ampex 300 tape machines - the machines were in sad shape mechanically, but these amps, removed from the tape machines are great for studio preamps - and the sound of the Behringers (important: replace tubes with Ei Elite 12AX7EG - Telefunken clones) are as good - even better in some applications (with the Ei Elite 12AX7EG tubes). The downside to the units is replaceable - the stock tubes make a great unit noisy out of the box - an $80 upgrade makes this a world class preamp. I run every sub (8) on my Mackie ONYX 4880 through these on the sub inserts - all the time - people are always asking "how I get that sound" - thanks Behringer. Feature: Simple and usable feature set - sweepable (parametric) eq for high pass filter - 48v phantom (if used that way) level and "warmth" (gain) knobs - a no brainer, never even opened the manual. Ease of Use: It's a preamp - if that is hard to use - perhaps a career in pet supplies would be more suitable... Quality: Made like an old preamp - metal. Knobs feel a little light (by old standards), but quality nonetheless. Value: I see people spend more money on beer in a weekend - personally, I'll take tubes any day. Manufacturer Support: no reason in over two years of everyday use. The Wow Factor: Tubes, lights - analog meters - smmmooooth... Overall: These units have become a staple - I keep another set of four in storage, along with tubes - "just in case"

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"Behringer T1953 review" submitted October 30, 2006

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Musical Background: Songwriter Producer

Music Style: Acoustic Rock

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Sound: Acts more like a DI with tube influences. I like the sound better than the Presonus tubePRE, much quieter. The coloring is transparent, the signal is strong. You will notice how dynamics will improve. Feature: Rack mountable, nice look, fake tube lights are cool. BTW Presonus has a red LED behind it's tube. Heard people complain about the meters. Mine are working fine. Ease of Use: Look, read the manual. Line levels should be good going in, especially when miking amps. A little adjustment on the gain in the preamp, and some warth, and you are set. I do a bass straight in, sounds sweet by the time it reaches the board. My condensor mic sounds good with this unit. Quality: For this price the construction of the chassis is good. The knobs are light and click in tiny increments. Very basic stuff here with a vintage retro look. Value: Return on investment is excellent. Manufacturer Support: Never needed it The Wow Factor: chicks dig the lights Overall: Some very good material was made on equipment alot more inferior to this. Let's not Behringer Bash. I reccomend this for someone who wants a more polished sound during tracking. That makes mixing alot more pleasurable.

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"Hard to go wrong at this price" submitted February 1, 2006

By a customer from worldnet.att.net

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Musical Background: Active Musician / Project Studio Engineer

Music Style: Rock / Blues / Electronic

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: Very clean sounding, used with a good condenser mic can yield a great rock vocal sound using the tube warmth control tastefully. Also makes a swell DI box, feed your bass guitar through it or run the output of a POD type device through a channel with the tubes engaged and be pleased. Feature: This unit has everything that an inexpensive mic pre needs. Two channels, phantom power, some very nice VU meters, and a low cut filter that is adjustable (THANK YOU) Quality: Eh. the chassis is solid aluminum & sturdy, but the knobs feel cheap and one of the lights behind the tubes quit working on the 2nd day I owned it. I don't really care though, it sounds great. Value: This, in my opinion, is probably the best mic pre you can get for less than 200 dollars. The Presonus units are nice, but this one has the little "edge" that I was looking for on vocal tracks. Manufacturer Support: Behringer is a tough nut to crack if you need warranty repairs. Be prepared for a long, drawn out process and they will not pay for the shipping ( although they tell you that they will. ) Recommend throwing the unit away if it breaks under warranty and buying a new one rather than pay shipping for someone to attempt to fix it properly. This is from experience on a Behringer mixing console that I owned but developed a few problems. It was eventually fixed however. The Wow Factor: It certainly is a cool-looking piece of kit with the jumbo knobs, "glowing" tubes and VU meters. Oooo la la. Overall: Solid & very nice sounding unit. I would definately replace it if needed, I may pick up a second unit anyway for installation in a live rig.

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"Replace the tubes, Luke." submitted August 8, 2005

By a customer from email.com

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Musical Background: Active Musician

Music Style: Blues, Rock, Metal

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Sound: Out of the box, the sound is decent. You definitely notice the harmonics but they aren't as crisp as they can be. I invested $20 in some NOS tubes and WOW! Tiz a HUGE difference and really makes this thing wake up. Rating 8 with stock (behringer?!?) tubes, 9.5 with some old NOS tubes.. Feature: I use the high pass filter a lot to kill off the subliminal lows coming from my podxt. Works reasonably well and really cleans up the mix. Quality: The knobs are all plastic so banging this thing around would definitely damage it. Also, the stock tubes are garbage (they even horrible when I tried them out in my guitar amp as well). A tube upgrade is required to make this thing sound good. Otherwise seems like it will last pretty good in a studio environment which is what it is made for. One of the funky lights behind the tubes has burned out already but I guess I don't really care about that anyway. May take the other one out too rather than replace. Value: I found it well worth its price, even with the NOS tube upgrade not much else can touch it for the price.. Manufacturer Support: As mentioned above, there were no instructions for how to change the tubes so I fought with it for awhile. The top doesn't "slide" off the back, it has to be pryed off from the side it turns out. Simple maintenance instructions would have helped this situation as tubes especially DO need to be changed occaisionally, even if you don't change the stock ones out initially. Overall: I expect to use it until it dies or until my financial situation is such that a premium tube pre becomes an option. You can never have enough different tube pres. If it were stolen whether I got this one again or a more expensive one would depend on my finances at the time. This is the pre in this price range..

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"Does the job well, and quiet." submitted January 4, 2009

By a customer from grandharbor.net

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Musical Background: hobbyist, student

Music Style: blues; jazz

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Sound: It sounds wonderful. Both my condenser mic and my bass sound great. And it is quiet as a mouse, too. Feature: Very straight forward. I do wish it had an insert, though. Ease of Use: Turn it on and go. I read the manual prior to receiving it and was very informative. Quality: LED on one of the input gain channels stays lit. Value: Worth more to my ear. But I don't have that much of a frame of reference. Manufacturer Support: Haven't called on this unit. Probably won't get it fixed. Too minor. The Wow Factor: It sounds good. Gain and a little warmth with no noise. Overall: I will probably buy another just to modify.

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"Big Bang for the Buck" submitted April 27, 2008

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Sound: Works great, It's blows away my junk Focusrite's. After two years of daily use it's starting to get a little more "noise" in the signal,not so much that I can't mix it out, but at this price it's one of the best values I've ever gotten period. I wish I had four more. Manufacturer Support: Have not needed it

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"A nice unit that produces clean tube sounds for line in applications."

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Music Style: everything under the Sun

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Sound: An OK unit for a little gain with line in applications. The "warmth" feature is not as good as ART products, and is only noticeable at higher volumes. I have only used this with bass guitar enhancements and don't know how well it does with acoustic guitars and microphones. Feature: Features are simple. I wish Behringer would have built in 3 tubes per channel instead of 1. Maybe that would increase the "warmth" feature?? Quality: Although "warmth" feature is not as strong as I'd like it to be, this is unit does produce a very, very clean sound even at high volumes. Value: Worth trying is you are looking for a very clean sound. Although I like the unit, it should have been a bit cheaper. Manufacturer Support: N/A. I've never had to call for support. The Wow Factor: Nice construction. Overall: 8 out of 10. Not bad.

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"Looks cool, but sounds far from warm." submitted July 26, 2003

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Music Style: Rock

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Sound: The sound is OK. It is good if you don't have the money, but I would save up a few hundered dollars more for a better unit. It is a little noisy and the "warmth" is a little muddy. Feature: Has phase reverse, adjustable high pass and a knob that allows you to adjust the amount of signal running through the tube. Quality: I have only had it for a few weeks, but it seems well built. Value: It sounds good, FOR THE PRICE. Having worked with one for a few weeks now on serveral recrdings I think that I would save a little more money and buy a better preamp. The Wow Factor: It looks cool, but don't be fooled by the look. Buy audio gear for how it sounds. This thing has lights behind the tubes to make the tubes look like they are glowing brightly. Behringer probably spent more on designing the look of the preamp and the glowing lights, that fade in when you turn the unit on, than they did on the design of the sound. Overall: I bought this thing a few weeks ago and I am already looking at replacing it. It is hard to know how a piece of gear like this is going to sound in your set up until you buy it. I have a Bellari RP220, a little more money and doesn't look as cool, but sounds a lot better (cleaner mids). This thing has muddy sounds all throughout the 500 to 1000 hertz range. The only way that I would buy this unit again if it were lost or stolen would be if I needed it for a project, didn't have the money to buy anything better and didn't have the time to save up for a better unit. Bottom line, save up for something better.

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"Not so much......." submitted October 31, 2007

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Musical Background: Recording engineer, Audio electronics Designer, Active Musician

Music Style: Most evrything except modern country and German opera.

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Sound: The Behringer T1953-It's OK. Didn't blow my socks off. The tube- hybrid pre's in my Drawmer 1960's sound like butter, but hey!! the Drawmer cost literally, 10 times as much. The jury is still out about the tube warmth thing. Starved plates running at low voltage (24 VDC- I think) don't sound the same as the big boys. Kinda thin and weasely, IMHO. I have yet to try it as a DI for bass or keys, though. Feature: Simplistic but OK. The filters do what they are supposed to. Ease of Use: Dead easy. Like someone else said here- perhaps a change in careers is indicated, if you really need the owner's manual. Speaking of which- The owner's manual is extremely well written, with lots of info, mostly correct, for the novice. Quality: On the first unit I bought, the meters failed in about an hour. The left pair, input(?)are pinned with no input signal applied. The other meters (Tube Warmth)appear to work normally. There is no audio effect from this fault. The pots feel cheezy but... at this price point, what do you expect, sealed Bourns pots? Value: Great value. More for budget limited studios. Manufacturer Support: They replaced the first one no problem, no hassles. installed the second one and booomba!- same fault. Disconnected all audio and tried in a different location, to see if maybe situational RF was causing this and oddly, NOT showing up in three six-foot racks full of many other brands of processing gear. No joy. This would appear to be endemic and is probably a production error rather than a latched meter drive op-amp.I may just fix this myself, as just replacing it doesn't tell me what was wrong. The Wow Factor: Since it cost less than a great meal with great wine, for me and the wife, I figured that I would eventually modify it until I got it performing, better than stock. Unfortunately, Behringer won't release schematics unless you are a service center and I don't want to go there again, so I will have to draw one. It is a pretty box, you gotta admit.Pretty lights. Overall: I probably won't buy another one.That's ok. I had reasonably low expectations when I bought it. I have their active monitors which are very good and the "lawsuit" console, the MX8000, which is killer, better in several respects, than the Mackie 8 buss, IMHO. Unfortunately, I can't locate a meter bridge for the desk anymore. Anybody got one? I think the Mackie meter buss just plugs in,(haha) but it's big dollars.Even though Mackie is no longer built in the US.........

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