This is the perfect mic preamp for someone who has a small home studio (due to it's flexibility). It will also slot very comfortably into project and larger studios...if you open your ears you will realise you don't need to open your wallet very wide at all.

Sound
Lets be serious here, in blind listening this is indistinguishable from gear at 10X the price, it has (when set up correctly) a very clean and classy sound. Compared to how much the equivalent quality would have cost you 15 years ago, buying this is a no brainer. If you are using the VX2496 there is no reason you won't be able to produce professional results.

Features
This has to be one of the best collections of features in a mic pre-amp. It has everything you need from 48V Phantom Power, Variable LP filtering, expansion, Tube emulation (quite nice, but you really should record your sources dry and add this later), Compression, EQ and DeEssing! Wow...and for ~$100 USD, pick me up off the floor. All these sections operate very very nicely. It also has digital out and balanced XLR connectors.

Quality
Behringer stuff always surprises me. It is tough, takes a bashing and is reliable. I haven't had the VX2496 very long, but I have various other things from them, I don't expect this will break.

Value
Seriously, how could the value be anything less, look at the feature list and listen to the sound.… read more

Manufacturer Support
Not used.

The Wow Factor
It has a lot of knobs and LEDs (good nerd appeal), but it is a bit sober...nice professional appearance, a rack with a stack of 8 or so would be quite sexy.

Musical Background:
Recording Engineer

Musical Style:
Soundtrack read less