Behringer X32 - Audio Media

screen, but there’s an iPad app if you want touchtastic.
While we’re on the subject, the current app supports
inputs and outputs comprehensively but there’s no channel
processing (dynamics or EQ) support in this version.
Go… Record
In terms of recording, the X32 can make stereo recordings
direct to a USB flash drive (careful here: test your drive
before doing this as it’s not fool proof; also a display
of duration and time remaining would be nice), and
it comes with a plug-in card supporting USB 2 and
Firewire. This enables all 32 channels to be recorded
directly to your computer. And the card appears as an
input source alongside the other desk inputs. You get 32
total, so you can record 16 tracks, and play 16 or play 32
if you’ve recorded the band and want to playback for a
virtual soundcheck.
Though I didn’t get to play with one, Behringer is
offering a very affordable P16 personal monitor mix
system: sixteen channels of mix-down ethernet, each
P16 has a through so the system is cascadable, and the
P16s offer three band EQ with a swept mid and an
onboard adjustable limiter. This, of course, frees more
outputs on the desk: let the band worry about mixing their
own monitor levels, and you get those outputs back to do
cool things with.
And I think what we see here is at the heart of a system
like the X32: it’s not just a desk.
Out Loud
So to the two thousand pound question, “what does it
sound like?”
There’s been enough Internet controversy to make
any wise reader listen for themselves before shelling out
the hard earned. Surely here’s the ‘powered by Midas’
crunch? But for the record, considering single channels,
a Neumann through the X32 or Neumann into a standalone
8-channel mic pre (available at all good outlets at
around £3,000), I felt it was honours close enough to even.
What about straight into the mic input of a Nagra
LB? As you might expect, the direct Nagra recording
has the edge. My Audio Developments 147 mixer sounds
better too. In both cases the difference is clear but not
massive. On the other hand, my older 16-channel digital
mixer doesn›t do half as much as the X32, costs more, and
doesn’t sound as good.
And by the way the Audio Developments has six
channels and four outputs: do you want to mix your
band on it?
Which brings me to my point: you can play this game
with any mixer you want, but what you can’t do is avoid
the question of whether the global package offered by the
X32 meets the total requirements of your gig.
Working with a small band, three vocals, two guitars,
keys, bass and cajon, the sound of the desk was good
enough to let the U87s breathe their magic and you could
clearly hear it.
Maybe the total mix doesn’t offer the ultimate in
transparency – I felt it was a bit congested in places – but
then, this isn’t an XL8.
The onboard effects are pretty good. I took my TC
Electronic M5000 (there’s one on eBay as I write for £700
if you are quick, or if you just want some perspective) and
we ended up using a vocal patch from that, but if I hadn›t
taken it, the on-board reverb would have done just fine.
The EQ has some foibles but, again, does the job.
There are eight onboard effects slots, which are divided
between four for busses and four for inserts, but as
the division isn’t absolute, just consider you have eight
effects boxes.
Conclusion
So am I a signed up Behringer fan? (which would have
been ironic given my long-standing unwillingness to
purchase from the big B in the past? )
Well, there are lots of things I would like to be different.
I think a live desk needs a gain trim pot accessible on
every channel (the X32 has a fader but no encoder on
every channel), and some people feel the same way about
pan. I’d like to see another 5dB or, better, 10dB of gain in
the mic amps. Direct outs on the channels. And surely
you want enough DSP for a graphic on every buss output?
I would like to ‘link’ stereo channels across layers to
conserve fader space, and I found the menu system a
little hard to find my way round – I sympathise with the
reviewer who couldn’t find the ‘channel label’ function.
Well… a little bit.
Some theatre guys are bitching that a hundred scenes
aren’t enough, and others that the MIDI implementation
isn’t comprehensive enough.
For those lovers of high bit rates, look elsewhere…
the desk runs at 44 or 48kHz. There’s no digital in (other
than AES 50), and no obvious way to clock the desk
externally. The faders and buttons are ok, but I think there
is a plastickiness to their feel.
However, the answer to all these questions is: ‘look at
the price – now what are you complaining about?’
Conclusion
I think the X32 is an astounding proposition. As I joked
with the editor, ‘Not so much a console as a declaration
of war’. The AES 50 functionality alone is worth the cost
of entry, and maybe – perish the thought – the reason
Behringer didn’t price it a bit higher is to leave room for
an X48 or X64.
And what of an X16? I don’t see any evidence yet of
major software bugs or dramatic reliability issues. While I
had the desk, a software update rolled out, and upgrading
was simple and stress free. Time will tell of course about
long-term reliability, but as it stands, the X32 is – as the
marketing claims – quite simply a game changer... ∫
Information
Feature Set
• 32 channels
• 16-bus, 40-bits
• Programmable Midas pre-amps
• Motorised faders
• 32-channel audio interface
• iPad remote control
Manufacturer
Behringer
www.behringer.com
audiomedia.com | November 2012 49