Anyone heard the behringer active monitors?

The Behringer are cheap rip-offs from a famous studio monitor brand (I think it was Mackie) but they don't sound nearly as good as the real thing. I heard the big ones side by side with some other studio monitors and they actually sounded pretty good upon first listening. But there was something seriously wrong in the midrange, very coloured, and the treble was unrefined and bit harsh. I think there are better alternatives in this price range. For active monitors, you could look into the Event or M-Audio offerings. Personally I would also stay away from KRK and Tannoy in this price range.

Edit: You might be able to find a pro audio store nearby. Bring your own CDs because these stores usually have a bunch of studio monitors set up for audition.

The Genelec, Adam, Dynaudio and Mackie are all excellent monitors. It probably depends on what you're looking for and what your exact budget is. The Dynaudios have a darker voicing, the Genelecs can be a bit harsh in the highs and the cheaper models only go down to 60-70Hz, the Adams don't have the most punchy bass and the Mackies lack a bit of overall smoothness in the upper midrange and lower treble. I've never heard the Emu or Yamaha ones but the Yamahas are quite commonplace in studios. However, I've hardly read anything favourable about the Yamahas when compared to other serious monitors.

What's your budget and what kind of sound are you looking for? What kind of music do you listen to?

My personal favourites in that price range are the Mackie HR 624 and the Adam P11A for less bass-emphasised music. For less money the Event TR-5 and M-Audio BX5 sounded pretty decent although the latter one didn't really have a lot of bass.

I'd add Alesis to the list of monitors to check into. Don't know your pricerange.

example: http://www.zzounds.com/item--ALEM1ACTIVE620

This is a touch call because the only thing I didn't quite like with the Mackie was classical music and another headfier who accompanied me had similar thoughts. I found the HR624 to lack air and a bit of smoothness in the treble region which made string ensembles sound a little heady and disjointed. For example when I listened to Dvorak's 9th symphony I missed the strings' harmonic silkiness which Dvorak so masterfully employs. It wasn't harshness or sibilance or any problem of this kind but just a slight lack of refinement compared to other upper tier monitors like the Adam P11A for example.

However, the HR624's soundstage and imaging capabilties are excellent, and the bass and overall impact of these speakers is phenomenal for their size and price. Using the Mackies I was literally blown by Kleiber's Beethoven 5th. The HR624 also has a warm touch which sounds very pleasant with jazz and pop/rock.

For classical music alone (and some jazz) I would probably choose the Adam P11A but these are even more expensive (~1200 Euros for the pair). These were my second favourite monitors mainly because of the strong but delicate treble (very nice ribbon tweeters) and clean midrange. You can also slightly adjust the treble and midrange using some switches in the back. However, I thought the bass was somewhat lacking in both depth and impact. In a German pro audio magazine, the P11A came out on top in a test of more than 20 studio monitors incluiding more expensive ones. If you understand German I can send you the article, which I have on pdf.

What's your exact budget in Euros? And would also consider buying used from ebay?

I don't think it has a volume dial. You can alter the gain but not via a knob but it's more for a constant setting. Check the 360 degree pic here and take a look at the back of the monitor: http://www.thomann.de/adam_p11_a_schwarz_prodinfo.html

With Ebay I meant Ebay Germany mainly. However, the P11A rarely turn up there and aren't much cheaper than if you buy new. For buying new, I would suggest www.thomann.de They have pretty good prices and ship most everywhere within Europe. Currently, they have one pair of new but refurbished P11A, with full warranty and a small lacquer scratch at one edge, for 1100 Euros.

Actually I think that this quite a lot of money for speakers, but for one I think that studio gear is better value in this price range and secondly, you get the amp for free basically, and it's an amp optimised for the speakers (for studio equipment it's often bi-wired, not sure if the P11A is as well) and you won't have to buy and worry about speaker cables.

I own them (B2031A).

It does have a volume dial, on the back, ranging from -6 to +6dB gain; obviously, that's not a lot of control.

Room acoustic adjustments are effective, powerful, and don't introduce much phase variance.

I use them as my stereo listening speakers in addition to mixing on them.

Are they the most accurate monitors around? Well, no. They've got a rather resonant tweeter that loves to kick out 3500Hz. They're very flat in the midbass and midrange, though, and with an eq of -3dB to 3500, you can get a relatively flat presentation.

To mix on them, though, you need to be familiar with them - it's not about how flat they are, it's about how well you know their acoustic characteristics. They can reproduce frequencies from 50Hz to 20000Hz competantly, with falloff at either end (those are the -5 points); I've measured mine and they're not completely flat, but they're about +/-2dB give or take a dB here and there from 80Hz to 17000.

Am I impressed with them? Yes, I am - they cost very little for what you get, and Behringer actually got it right with them (or ripped off the right guys, as it were).

Don't put anything else Behringer in your recording signal path, though, if you like your tone noise-free.

im really happy with my mackie hr624. they have always been my reference in listening to headphones. I dont hear the harshness that was noted above, in fact they have always represented one of the best mixes of accuracy and detail and smoothness in the upper ranges that i have heard. i do not listen to much classical, but with most other types of music, everything just sounds right. bass is full of detail. if you pair it with a good source and some nice cables, they sound great to these ears.

but i havent had the chance to compare them to better or more expensive monitors. so take my opinions for what they are

I didn't have any problem with the mackies on classical, either. In fact, it had some (artificial?) warmth that lent itself to a hall ambience. My choice for classical amongst those I heard, in fact (did not hear genelecs, dynes or adams.)

Don't forget the high end Events.

I would count the TR8 and BX8 OUT but I know some people like the BX8, though it would never be on my personal list because IMO the midrange has coloration that reveals itself on acoustic recordings, such as classical.

About studio monitors...

Behringer is a copy of Genelec, not Mackie.

If you listen to in far-field or "mid-field" and not close-field, consider getting a pair of monitors that :

A) have good optimized wave guides (e.g. Genelec, Klein+Hummel, JBL) and not something slapped-on without a brain (Behringer, Mackier, many cheap brands). This is to optimize directivity and to control it (not too high a directivity index, but high enough so that first reflections are minimized)

B) have proper high-frequency roll-off filters (so you can adjust high-frequency amount based on your room's response)

C) have enough power in the amps to drive the speakers without clipping, distorting or making the elemest sound strained

I've heard the Behringer's, but haven't compared straight head-to-head with good known ones (Genelec, Klen+Hummel, Dynaudio, etc).

I think they are very decent for the money, but I wouldn't buy them, just because they're almost 1:1 copy of another loudspeaker.

If you buy monitors for monitoring and not just home use, consider also the replacability of the parts (particularly elements) and their availability. Good pro studio monitor makers still service and offer parts to their loudspeakers that have been out of production for over a decade.

Grab-the-money-run-companies offer no parts, no service and you buy a new pair is something breaks.

Just my two cents worth.

regards,
Halcyon

PS I'm biased towards Genelec, Klein+Hummel, Dynaudio and JBL (the newer models designed with Harman intl. blind listening test system).