Looking for an inexpensive equalizer

Well some people have been experimenting with Behringer EQs on the forum, but they are notorious for poor build quality. You should check out Ebay for a nice vintage piece from Soundcraftsmen, Rotel or Yamaha and have someone upgrade the connectors and wiring. You'd be hard pressed to spend over $100.

A graphic equalizer is just a row of sliders that graphically represent your changes. With a parametric equalizer you can change the range of frequencies that is affected as well as how much the center frequency is amplified or attenuated.

I'm using the Behringer DEQ2496 digital equalizer right now, which is $300. It has parametric and graphic eq and has digital and analogs ins and outs. There's a thread about it right now on the front page of this forum.I don't doubt that Behringer has a bad reputation for build quality. I haven't come across any problems with the DEQ2496, though.

There's a cheaper Behringer digital equalizer for about $180. I don't remember the model number, but it's easy to find on the net. It looks nice enought to me, but I've not tried it, and reliable sources indicate it's inferior to the DEQ2496.

Generally, digital EQ is going to get you better sound and more flexibility by a long shot. When you are manipulating the sound like that with an analog equalizer you are really manipulating the analog signal in ways that have a lot of potential to degrade sound quality. You are at the mercy of the designer to exercise good judgment. With digital EQ, it's just number crunching between the input and the output. The quality of the signal is not degraded. Digital EQ is also much more flexible. It's also been said by others (I'm not that knowledgeable) to be superior to even the most expensive analog EQ, at any price. Also, with my Behringer digital equalizer, I can save my settings for different headphones, dozens of settings. I also see graphically on the display a very accurate depiction of the frequency response changes I have introduced. And that's just scratching the surface of what I can do with it.

That said, before I used the Behringer, I used an old 10-band Yamaha analog graphic equalizer, which I was pretty pleased with. It's lasted me something around 15 years without a problem, it's extremely quiet, very simple, and very easy to use. I imagine they sell these on e-bay. It was a nice piece of gear, but time marches on... compared to the Behringer, it's nothing but a cute and sonically inferior toy.

I think good digital stuff is relatively new. Most big studios aren't going to switch from their $$$$$ gear any time soon, so it's taking a little while to catch on, most likely.

Steve999 did mention the cheaper Behringer. I've seen decent reviews of it online, just find the model (not too hard to do, check zzounds or musiciansfriend) and check it out. Almost half price.

not bad build quality--the quality is actually okay... not great, but not dreadful. there are plenty of high-end manufacturers that have far worse built pieces. but they ARE notorious for BAD performance. VERY bad performance.

but apparently their EQ's are fine. gerG especially likes them. in fact, according to him, the EQ is REALLY good. and i trust his opinion.

You can get this for about $180 - $200:

Review of Behringer DEQ8024

The reviewer obviously knows a lot more about it than I do, and it makes a very interesting read. Apparently it was selling for $600 - $900 dollars three years ago. Unlike the DEQ2496, it doesn't come with digital ins and outs, although you can pay extra for a digitial I/O add-on.

It looks pretty cool, though I opted for the DEQ2496 for $120 more, with digital ins and outs and a dizzying array of options.

no way. heh he. seriously... no behringer thingy sells for that high. there was a big price drop a couple years ago... maybe like 30% off all their stuff permanently, but i assure you, anyone that's sane will not pay that much for behringer stuff, if only for their REALLY bad reputation.

Direct quote from the January 2001 review to which I hyperlinked:

Behringer 8024 review again

"Oh yes, I forgot, the U.S.A. list price is $917 including a measurement microphone and the digital input/output option. I have seen the unit advertised on the internet in the same configuration for less than 2/3rd of the price, so don't pay the list price. Go to your nearest Pro-Audio shop and buy one. NOW! Don't bother reading the rest of the review, it's boring.... ;-)"

No doubt, it was a little cheaper without the microphone and digital I/O back then. Otherwise, no offense, but I'll trust the reviewer on this one. I don't see any reason not to.

Of course, as I said, the Behringer 8024 by itself (w/o the microphone and the digital input/output option) runs $180 - $200 nowadays.

You can get a free equaliser by plugging your ears with corks.. you then adjust the corks until you get the sound you like....

Pinkie.

http://www.superpawn.com/product.asp...45145&&c=1&c=1

Ashly makes very quality components. This is the smallest they make and it usually goes for around $330 US. Its only 15 band and its not parametric but it will last you until your kids get annoyed with their kids music.

Now it may be too much build quality not enough bells for what you're doing but I thought that I would post it. You know when you use a piece of gear that you like so much that you feel it is your duty to mention it when ever possible? Yeah thats what this post was.

Milo

that's the list price, which is meaningless in respect to this type of gear. you know, GC has the list price for some oktava mics at $600... then they sell at $50 "on sale." again, no sane person would even pay 1/2 that list price for that EQ, even back then.

but anyway, yeah, for some reason behringer digital eq's have been well-received. so, probably can't go wrong with one.

I own a Behringer FBQ6200 graphic EQ and I love it.  It has all the features you could need to tune a PA or monitor system to a room, and it's VERY intuitive to use.  Prior to that, I owned a Behringer DEQ8024 which was practically impossible to use due to the lack of useful information in the Behringer manual.  I had to call Behringer US tech support to find out how to get the 8024 to do anything.  One of their support people sent me a cheat sheet that one of the tech support guys had put together for his own use and it gave a kind of how-to description on the use of the 8024.  It helped, but not enough make me want to keep the unit.  I sold it and got the FBQ6200, and I'm really glad I did.  There is one really handy feature of the DEQ8024 that makes it worth having is the pink noise generator/RTA.  At this time (Dec. 2010), the 8024 is out of production and can be purchased on eBay for a reasonable cost.  Pink noise generator/RTAs are almost impossible to find at any price and the Behringer DEQ8024 has a nice one built in and it's easy to use.

Behringer uses a lot of high end internals ie. wolfson, butterworth etc. Don't let the prices fool you. Very nice equipment and prices to boot. Although i find the DBX driverack superior.

Edited by Guidostrunk - 12/7/10 at 7:48am