Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

This thread is way off topic.
It started out as as thread for us asking Behringer about their products.
And now, we talk about everything else but Behringer.
No wonder I don't see Uli responding anymore. And I can't blame him.

Uli, i was at Namm, and nobody can tell me why FCA1616 and ADA8200 are not on the market yet.
Can you shed some honest knowledge about these 2 items. Please.

Thanks

dan le
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Dear Dan,

thank you for your question and please allow me to answer.

The FCA FireWire/USB Interface delivery has indeed been delayed for more than a year. Both FCA units use a highly complex FW/USB chip from a company called Archwave (a BridgeCo spinoff that designed the AirPlay technology) which also provides the firmware and the drivers. While the hardware has been ready for a long time, the delays are solely related to firmware and driver issues which are out of our hand. Unfortunately with every new release, much time goes into testing those units with all kinds of different computers and configurations.

We are working feverishly with Archwave to get those issues resolved and hope to finally ship in Q1 this year. On the positive side, we have used the opportunity to upgrade the mic preamps to a Midas design at no additional cost for the customer.

The ADA8200 has a different issue.

Over the past years, customers complained about synchronization issues with the predecessor ADA8000 in conjunction with Motu interfaces.
We have since launched a thorough analysis and discovered that the problems are related to the ADAT Alesis/Wavefront semiconductors that are used in the unit. All our efforts to get those problems resolved with Wavefront have unfortunately been unsuccessful and hence we recently decided to design our own semiconductors. The first prototypes should be available in April and we are confident that we will be able to ship the ADA8200 right after.

We apologize for the delays, but unfortunately there are unforeseeable issues that are out of our hand. However, we have learned from our past mistakes and won't release any product unless we are absolute sure it is properly tested and meets all specifications and expectations.

Warm regards

Uli
 
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Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Uli Behringer said:
Dear Dan,

thank you for your question and please allow me to answer.

The FCA FireWire/USB Interface delivery has indeed been delayed for more than a year. Both FCA units use a highly complex FW/USB chip from a company called Archwave (a BridgeCo spinoff that designed the AirPlay technology) which also provides the firmware and the drivers. While the hardware has been ready for a long time, the delays are solely related to firmware and driver issues which are unfortunately out of our hand. Unfortunately with every new release, much time goes into testing those units with all kinds of different computers and configurations.

We are working feverishly with Archwave to get those issues resolved and hope to finally ship in Q1 this year. On the positive side, we have used the opportunity to upgrade the mic preamps to a Midas design at no additional cost for the customer.

The ADA8200 has a different issue.

Over the past years, customers complained about synchronization issues with the predecessor ADA8000 in conjunction with Motu interfaces.
We have since launched a thorough analysis and discovered that the problems are related to the ADAT Alesis/Wavefront Chips that are used in the unit. All our efforts to get those problems resolved with Wavefront have unfortunately been unsuccessful and hence we recently decided to design our own semiconductors. The first prototypes should be available in April and we are confident that we will be able to ship the ADA8200 right after.

We apologize for the delays, but unfortunately there are unforeseeable issues that are out of our hand. However, we have learned from our past mistakes and won't release any product unless we are absolute sure it is properly tested and meets all specifications and expectations.

Warm regards

Uli
Click to expand...

Uli
Thank you for your activity on this site its the only reason why i have considered buying your products recently. (It looks like i will be buying several soon)

Now to my question there have been a lot of rumors on when the new products in your X series will be available and im hoping you can give us a best guesstimate of when we can start pre-ordering these products.
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Dear Ben,

thank you for your kind comment.

All X32 products are fully developed and we are in the final stage of safety and EMC testing. Provided we don't encounter any unexpected issues, we plan shipping in Q2.
The firmware for all X32 models is already available and since the remote control apps are common, operating the X32 product family will be real easy.

Warm regards

Uli
 
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Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Dear Brent,

I hope I understand your question correctly.

The iNuke power amplifiers have become some of our best selling products.

Upon request from professional touring sound companies, we just launched a very powerful 12,000 Watt version which basically contains two NU6000 amps in a 2U case.

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/NU12000DSP.aspx

A few customers have raised concerns about the fan noise level in quiet environments. However since these amps are designed for PA applications, cooling and reliablity have clear priority.
Nevertheless we are currently testing some low-noise fans and are positive to be able to improve this aspect.

Warm regards

Uli
 
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Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Hello from Florida!

I'm wondering if your X32 line of mixers will someday allow full midi automation of parameters. Hopefully it would only require a firmware update to accomplish this.

The reason I'm hoping for this is my studio mixer (Yamaha 02R) is getting old and I envision having to replace it soon. But midi automation of eq, effects, volumes and pans is a prerequisite for me.
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Steve Cruz said:
Hello from Florida!

I'm wondering if your X32 line of mixers will someday allow full midi automation of parameters. Hopefully it would only require a firmware update to accomplish this.

The reason I'm hoping for this is my studio mixer (Yamaha 02R) is getting old and I envision having to replace it soon. But midi automation of eq, effects, volumes and pans is a prerequisite for me.
Click to expand...

Hey Steve, check out this guy, Gido over at the main X32 forum here. He has a neat program to use the X32 as 6 different controllers at the same time to run in your software possibly.

X32MidiOsc | A development blog
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Hello Uli,

In regards to the iNuke series, I'm curious if there is a NU4 with DSP in the works. I think it would be especially popular for biamped wedges or small systems where less rack space is of special concern. 4 channels of DSP amplifier in 2 spaces is very appealing to me in the iNuke price range.

Thanks for taking the time to read these posts,

Nathan
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Steve Cruz said:
Hello from Florida!

I'm wondering if your X32 line of mixers will someday allow full midi automation of parameters. Hopefully it would only require a firmware update to accomplish this.

The reason I'm hoping for this is my studio mixer (Yamaha 02R) is getting old and I envision having to replace it soon. But midi automation of eq, effects, volumes and pans is a prerequisite for me.
Click to expand...

Dear Steve,

Full MIDI support is quite a relative term when using standard CC commands, considering the disparity between 10,000 parameters on the X32 side, and only ~120 CC commands per MIDI channel.

There are not a lot of technical challenges, but rather challenges identifying what would be satisfying to most customers’ expectations.

We are considering something like this with one of the future firmware updates:
MIDI CH01 > CC1…CC80 to control the channel/bus Faders (0…127)
MIDI Ch02 > CC1…CC80 to control the channel/bus Mutes (0,1)
MIDI Ch03 > CC1…CC80 to control the channel/bus Pan (0…64…127)
MIDI Ch01 > PCH > program change commands to recall scenes 1…100 (is already implemented)

Equalizers have on/off state, 4-6 bands with 4 parameters each, so it’s a total of 17 or 25 parameters per channel. Multiplied by 40 channels and 25 buses we get a total of 1280 EQ parameters. This might be spread over a minimum of 10 different MIDI channels in a pretty obscure pattern … Considering the three channels we used up already, there would only remain 3 MIDI channels for all the rest you are looking to control. So, the classic continuous controller approach is obviously not very useful for this.

Providing anything more than faders, pans, and mutes would only make sense with a comprehensive Sysex implementation. We are currently not convinced it is worth the effort creating a dedicated Sysex map, because OSC is much more powerful and it already exists.

Thanks for your feedback.

Best regards

Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Well i bit the bullet dropped off the order for the X32 and an amp from behringer as i have a show in march and couldn't wait for the rack or producer.

However a product that i hope comes out soon is a wireless device for my headphones of choice from the x32 for soloing.
While using an ipad or laptop it would be great you could solo right to a laptop/ipad but a low cost ($150) wireless unit would work well too. Doesnt have to be great because some drop outs wont affect me listening to finding the right keyboard in a mix.
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Joe Sanborn said:
Dear Steve,

Full MIDI support is quite a relative term when using standard CC commands, considering the disparity between 10,000 parameters on the X32 side, and only ~120 CC commands per MIDI channel.

There are not a lot of technical challenges, but rather challenges identifying what would be satisfying to most customers’ expectations.

We are considering something like this with one of the future firmware updates:
MIDI CH01 > CC1…CC80 to control the channel/bus Faders (0…127)
MIDI Ch02 > CC1…CC80 to control the channel/bus Mutes (0,1)
MIDI Ch03 > CC1…CC80 to control the channel/bus Pan (0…64…127)
MIDI Ch01 > PCH > program change commands to recall scenes 1…100 (is already implemented)

Equalizers have on/off state, 4-6 bands with 4 parameters each, so it’s a total of 17 or 25 parameters per channel. Multiplied by 40 channels and 25 buses we get a total of 1280 EQ parameters. This might be spread over a minimum of 10 different MIDI channels in a pretty obscure pattern … Considering the three channels we used up already, there would only remain 3 MIDI channels for all the rest you are looking to control. So, the classic continuous controller approach is obviously not very useful for this.

Providing anything more than faders, pans, and mutes would only make sense with a comprehensive Sysex implementation. We are currently not convinced it is worth the effort creating a dedicated Sysex map, because OSC is much more powerful and it already exists.

Thanks for your feedback.

Best regards

Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER
Click to expand...

it sounds like your list of MIDI implementation would match my needs but just to make certain... I currently use BCR2000s to remotely control several 01V96s to create Personal Monitor Mixers. What i am SO wanting from the MIDI implementation for the X32 is just the ability to adjust levels AND pans for all 16 Busses configured as stereo pairs and the stereo bus. This way i can remotely control Volume and pan of 9 stereo mixes for each X32. i can live without having access to EQ or frankly, much of anything else.

just a consideration. The 01v96 comes with a standard MIDI map template, but also allows you to create a MIDI CC table to control whatever you choose. Obviously, there are not enough MIDI CC numbers to control every possible parameter, so they simply allow you to choose what CC controls what parameter. Since in your case this would be little more than a MIDI to OSC map, it seems like this might be a way to accomplish this without having to choose which OSC parameters to map and which to not map. Just let each user decide for themselves.

If this got implemented in firmware, i would be so happy i might actually put on a parade in your honor. Not trying to bribe you or anything. But it would be a REALLY nice parade...
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Dear Nathan,

thank you for your question.

You might be aware that we have just released a 4-channel version of the iNuke Series which is the NU4-6000 featuring 4x1500 Watts.

Behringer: iNUKE NU4-6000

We are currently studying the market demand for a 4-channel DSP version in order to evaluate if such a model would justify the R&D investment. It would be great to get some feedback here.

Warm regards

Uli
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Hi,

What happened to the Eurosound line? It looked like quite a foray into consumer land, is it on hold now?

On a slightly off-topic area, is there a new direction being followed at brand level, industrial design-wise? There was some room for improvement on ergonomics/readability, but devices taking design clues from the X32 (think P16-M, for instance) might suggest more refined designs for coming products.

Cheers,
M.
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Miguel San said:
Hi,

What happened to the Eurosound line? It looked like quite a foray into consumer land, is it on hold now?

On a slightly off-topic area, is there a new direction being followed at brand level, industrial design-wise? There was some room for improvement on ergonomics/readability, but devices taking design clues from the X32 (think P16-M, for instance) might suggest more refined designs for coming products.

Cheers,
M.
Click to expand...

Hi Miguel,

Thanks for asking about Eurosound. This is a very cool initiative of the MUSIC Group as we have set out to deliver the "concert sound" experience to home audio. Our iNuke BOOM Junior and BOOMPOW 200 products have been a huge hit at Costco.com and the reviews have been stellar also. We are always working on new products and new technologies but for the moment our emphasis is on our digital mixers and related PRO products.

As for industrial design, we are definitely moving in the direction of more refined and aesthetic designs. Some of the changes are subtle though as our industry still seems to prefer the "robust" look, especially in the Live segment. Our new iQ series speakers are a good example of refined ID with lots of attention paid to the "details" of the product such as handles, badges and finishes while at the same time maintaining the essence of a road-worthy active speaker.

Best regards,

Costa
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Uli Behringer said:
It would be great to get some feedback here.

Uli
Click to expand...

A DSP version is what I was looking for when the NU4 model was first announced. I have about 8 times as much interest in the DSP version than the non-DSP. The reality is that the prices for these amps are so low that it doesn't make much sense to buy a model without DSP; the small extra cost is not going to break the bank but it does open a lot more functionality.

And on the fan noise issue, I absolutely want a low noise version. The 6000 that I picked up to evaluate is, I think, about as loud as an old Crown MA idling which I consider unacceptable in this day and age. How about just adjusting the thermal curve so the fan is off until it reaches a higher temp? For some of my uses I don't think the amp would ever need to warm up enough to even need the fan. But for a show where the amp is actually doing some work, by all means, crank the fan. If the curve could be changed in firmware....
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

A quick back track and update on my ADA8000 saga. Behind the scenes, Uli B had put me in touch with the local UK service setup, who have been emailing back and forth with me and arranged to take my kit in and examine it on their dime. I had to go to France for 3 weeks but they said that would be O.K.
Shortly after I returned, I got an email from them asking when they could pick up the ADA8000.

I responded and said "any time I am retired" - I have heard nothing since, despite sending a couple of email reminders, so maybe it is in the follow through that Beheringer are still weak?
Who knows, but a month on I am still waiting.....
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

ivan carling said:
I responded and said "any time I am retired" - I have heard nothing since
Click to expand...

I hope that isn't verbatim, as without a comma in there, it reads completely differently than intended.

A bit like the phrase "I helped my uncle, Jack, off a horse" - without commas it means something a little different :)
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

ivan carling said:
A quick back track and update on my ADA8000 saga. Behind the scenes, Uli B had put me in touch with the local UK service setup, who have been emailing back and forth with me and arranged to take my kit in and examine it on their dime. I had to go to France for 3 weeks but they said that would be O.K.
Shortly after I returned, I got an email from them asking when they could pick up the ADA8000.

I responded and said "any time I am retired" - I have heard nothing since, despite sending a couple of email reminders, so maybe it is in the follow through that Beheringer are still weak?
Who knows, but a month on I am still waiting.....
Click to expand...


Dear Ivan,
Our apologies for any oversight.
I have forwarded your info onto our CARE people.
We will make sure this is taken care of ASAP.

Feel free to contact me directly with a PM if I can assist in anyway.

Best regards,
Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Paul Mirtschin said:
I hope that isn't verbatim, as without a comma in there, it reads completely differently than intended.

A bit like the phrase "I helped my uncle, Jack, off a horse" - without commas it means something a little different :)
Click to expand...

Everybody likes a little ass..... :D
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Joe - I already got email from Florence who explained the unfortunate position - I am now waiting for details on pickup of the beast.

I really do appreciate that you guys are trying, events just seem to be conspiring against you at every step.

I hope the readers on here will appreciate that Music group personnel are doing their utmost to bring this to a good conclusion.

For those of you not in the loop but curious, a crucial someone left the company at just the wrong moment for me!
 
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