New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

J

Jon Malmstrom

Freshman
Oct 9, 2012
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Stockholm, Sweden
Hi all,

It seems clearly that Behringer will release a new speaker lineup today at WNAMM.

See sonic state´s newsflash:

WNAMM13: BEHRINGER Launches iQ Series Networked Loudspeakers, 2,500 Watts of iNuke DSP Power on tap -Sonicstate.com

What are your thoughts? Will they manage to compete with the current JBL SRX/QSC KW/YAMAHA DSR etc and the announced Presonus?

With the new quality approach and engineering from Turbosound/MIDAS and Klark i am as curious as when they released the X32. Will the speakers be a success as the X-series lineup?
How will drivers and processing compete?

After a long time i have decided on pulling the trigger on Yamaha DSR´s for my club rig. Maybe i should wait... or not.. ?
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Jon Malmstrom said:
Hi all,

It seems clearly that Behringer will release a new speaker lineup today at WNAMM.

See sonic state´s newsflash:

WNAMM13: BEHRINGER Launches iQ Series Networked Loudspeakers, 2,500 Watts of iNuke DSP Power on tap -Sonicstate.com

What are your thoughts? Will they manage to compete with the current JBL SRX/QSC KW/YAMAHA DSR etc and the announced Presonus?

With the new quality approach and engineering from Turbosound/MIDAS and Klark i am as curious as when they released the X32. Will the speakers be a success as the X-series lineup?
How will drivers and processing compete?

After a long time i have decided on pulling the trigger on Yamaha DSR´s for my club rig. Maybe i should wait... or not.. ?
Click to expand...
Probably need to wait for some reviews and shoot-outs to see how they compare and whether a "game changer" - but look interesting !
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Nick Davis said:
Probably need to wait for some reviews and shoot-outs to see how they compare and whether a "game changer" - but look interesting !
Click to expand...

The question is… is it a real box that will be mass produced? Or is it a Trade Show custom built phantom box?

Look at the Line Array that was released at NAMM'12 from Behringer.
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Looks like powered speakers with integral DSP and some form of networking with a compact digital mixer are all the rage with Line 6 starting it and now PreSonus and Behringer apparently jumping in.
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Matt Vivlamore said:
The question is… is it a real box that will be mass produced? Or is it a Trade Show custom built phantom box?

Look at the Line Array that was released at NAMM'12 from Behringer.
Click to expand...

Time will tell!
But i am convinced that this will hit the market. The Line array delay... was probably due to the Music Group acquisition of Turbosound. I have a weak memory of reading a comment from Uli that they put the design and production on hold and redesigned the array together with the Turbosound people.

Maybe they will show us some new/updated line arrays later today?
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Interesting.

Cat5 connectivity in each cab.... very slick for X32 users.
Powercon....
Phase correction (ie likely FIR based DSP)...
Decent looks....

It will be interesting to see the price point these come in at vs the Presonus offerings also just announced.
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Jeff, i agree.
Looks like they have set the aim quiet high.
Let us hope the sound quality and of course build quality as well will be in parity to the competitors (QSC KW, JBL SRX, Yammie DSR etc). With the right price tag they might be a game changer.
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Pre-release conjecture and concern, based only on the limited info out there at the moment...

The CAT5 is Ultranet, not the full AES50.
You'd have to send your main L+R signals to two of the Ultranet channels, losing two from the P16 monitoring system.
Not good.
Also, the CAT5 connectors are RJ45 without the Neutrik barrel that the S16s have.
Why, on both counts?

It would have been better to be able to route any of the 16 outs on the X32 or S16s to the speakers and for those speakers to have proper locking connections for the CAT5 hookup.
Wouldn't it?

Mind you, it's likely that that sort of thing is beyond the capabilities of the AES50 system, hence using Ultranet instead.
But with a full 16 channels in use with 5 x P16s, how am I supposed to be able to lose 2 or 3 (aux fed subs) channels for FOH?

Oh yeah, analog connections.
Kind of does away with the the 'fully digital' aspect of the system, which would be a shame.
Still, at this stage, no-one knows how they sound.
They could be awful to average.
Then again, they could change this game as well...

Karl.
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Karl, i agree.
Let us hope that they will listen to us,

If the decided on the pro level of powercon, why not use Ethercon?

I can not come up with an idea why they chose ultranet instead of AES. Maybe to reduce cost in DSP interface engine?
Or do they anticipate that the ultranet interface not will be widely utilized by the means of xiQ instead of P16's?

I can only guess, but since the ultranet is behringer proprietary, the have designed it so the interface also will have space for FoH and monitor channels in addition to the P16 channels. While writing this... i get more and more convinced. There is probably (as stated in a press release) space for speaker DSP remote control from a computer. This means that AES50 is out of the picture as it does not carry the ethernet protocol.
This could mean that Ultranet is ethernet-based and can be connected to a computer... or not?

Analog, well, in order to be used old-school, they probably decided to keep analog inputs. But they could as well have designed a bridge - processor with analog ins and Ultranet out to the speakers.


By the way...
The line array also seems updated. Networking? On board amps?
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Maybe they are able to put more than 16 channels trought the Ultranet? I have never seen Ultranet's specs, so I don't know. Anyway, I think, the D&R team made awesome job. Now we have to wait for Chinese's :).

So as they are putting CAT-5 everywhere, I wouldn't be surprised to see a networked handheld mic.


As to Line array, they put Turbosound drivers. I haven't heard about networkink or amping. It would be really great.
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Jon Malmstrom said:
I can not come up with an idea why they chose ultranet instead of AES.
Click to expand...

Perhaps because the iX16 doesn't have AES (call me disappointed) but does have Ultranet?

The S16 has an Ultranet port, so maybe the idea is that you use two S16s for your X32 device; one S16 has it's Ultranet for P16 IEMs etc, and the other for S16s Ultranet for FOH and mons...?
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Maybe each speaker has its own p16 built-in and can be remote controlled from the x32 and/or ipad/computer?

I think that it's quite possible that the ultranet can handle more than 16 channels of audio...
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Surely the way to hook them up would be to use the ADAT outs on the s16 into the ADAT ins on a P16I input module, an extra rack space but with no additional D/A conversion. then just route the outs on the X32 to the s16 outs and away you go.
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

But the P16i is still Ultranet.
If I have my main FOH going out of bus 15+16 on my desk, how am I supposed to get that to the speakers?
As I said, I'm using all 16 Ultranet channels for the bands monitoring.

On the face of it, it sounds good, but I can't see how the system used to send signals for the monitoring system could be used for FOH.

If you think about it, a system with wedges connected using AES50 could be good.
Set the wedge to a specific bus and you're away. You could have 16 mixes set up without too much difficulty.

I can't see how Ultranet could be used for FOH.

I know there's a hook-up guide, but without a proper manual explaining exactly what is fed and from where, I'm left slightly disappointed before I've even seen the price.

Karl.
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Karl Barnes said:
But the P16i is still Ultranet.
If I have my main FOH going out of bus 15+16 on my desk, how am I supposed to get that to the speakers?
As I said, I'm using all 16 Ultranet channels for the bands monitoring.

On the face of it, it sounds good, but I can't see how the system used to send signals for the monitoring system could be used for FOH.

If you think about it, a system with wedges connected using AES50 could be good.
Set the wedge to a specific bus and you're away. You could have 16 mixes set up without too much difficulty.

I can't see how Ultranet could be used for FOH.

I know there's a hook-up guide, but without a proper manual explaining exactly what is fed and from where, I'm left slightly disappointed before I've even seen the price.

Karl.
Click to expand...

I suspect adding an x32 Core as the system distribution to be a possible solution. Additional $$? Yes, but nobody said all these additional features and capability would be free.
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Karl Barnes said:
But the P16i is still Ultranet.
If I have my main FOH going out of bus 15+16 on my desk, how am I supposed to get that to the speakers?
As I said, I'm using all 16 Ultranet channels for the bands monitoring.

On the face of it, it sounds good, but I can't see how the system used to send signals for the monitoring system could be used for FOH.

If you think about it, a system with wedges connected using AES50 could be good.
Set the wedge to a specific bus and you're away. You could have 16 mixes set up without too much difficulty.

I can't see how Ultranet could be used for FOH.

I know there's a hook-up guide, but without a proper manual explaining exactly what is fed and from where, I'm left slightly disappointed before I've even seen the price.

Karl.
Click to expand...

The p16i would create a SECOND ultranet network for the speakers separate from the ultranet used for the monitor mixers. To send your bus outs to the p16i you would set up the routing so that you are routing the speaker outs to the AES50 outputs for the s16 connected to the p16i (via ADAT) these will then be sent out of the ultranet on the p16i completely separate to the ultranet output on the s16.
 
I am still convinced that the Ultranet protocol is designed to carry more information than the 16 ch monitor audio.

On the Behringer web we can read this:

What is ULTRANET?

In addition to XLR and 1/4" TRS inputs,we’ve equipped each iQ loudspeaker with our proprietary ULTRANET technology,which was first introduced on our best-selling X32 Digital Mixer, P16 Personal Monitoring System and S16 Digital Snake. ULTRANET uses CAT5 cables to transmit multi-channel audio signals and other information between other ULTRANET enabled products.

//

...multi cannel audio and other information... This makes me more convinced that there's more yet undisclosed capability I the Ultranet protocol!
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

Jon Malmstrom said:
I am still convinced that the Ultranet protocol is designed to carry more information than the 16 ch monitor audio.

On the Behringer web we can read this:

What is ULTRANET?

In addition to XLR and 1/4" TRS inputs,we’ve equipped each iQ loudspeaker with our proprietary ULTRANET technology,which was first introduced on our best-selling X32 Digital Mixer, P16 Personal Monitoring System and S16 Digital Snake. ULTRANET uses CAT5 cables to transmit multi-channel audio signals and other information between other ULTRANET enabled products.

//

...multi cannel audio and other information... This makes me more convinced that there's more yet undisclosed capability I the Ultranet protocol!
Click to expand...


Send the signal from, and set the EQ and delay of each loudspeaker directly on X32? That make's sense. I really hope it will be working in that way.
 
Re: New Behringer iQ series networked speaker lineup

It seems Ultranet can stream 16 channels only:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=DYlewXU7XkQ#t=128s

Das heißt, man geht aus dem X32 beispielsweise über ULTRANET raus, geht in den ersten ULTRANET rein, geht über THRU in die nähsten box in des P-16 Monitoring system und kann so 16 kannele digital audio über CAT-5 stream.
Click to expand...

Sorry for any German typo ;)

Grüße
Mateusz Ciesiółka
 
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