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Review: Behringer DEQ2496 Equalizer

Category: Preamps

I mostly listen to classical music, but occasionally everything except rock pop and rap.

I am a sucker for spatial sense, and an effortless sound during loud passages. Note the elaborate subwoofer system and many watts of amplifier power.

Intermodulation distortion drives me nuts. Unfortunately this is often from mics used for vocalists, and can't be eliminated on playback.

I have just installed this unit, and it replaces nothing.
When set flat, or with its BYPASS mode engaged, I can detect no change in sonics. Its purpose is room equalization, and its effect will be whatever the benefits of room equalization are.

I did not go shopping for an equalizer: I have three channels of pure analog parametric equalization capability. What I wanted was a RTA, and this is one of few available other than Pro units costing several grand.
It costs only $340, and the associated mic and cable will set you back another $70 or so. It was my intention to bypass this unit once I determined the appropriate settings for the analog equalizers, but I now think that this is probably unnecessary, but it remains an option for digiphobics. This Behringer model uses 24bit 96KHz AD/DA converters, and I think some Floating Point processors for the DSP job. Very impressive. (An older model is being sold off cheap: it has less resolution). The unit has many capabilities beyond the EQ and RTA functions, but it would be worth the money for the RTA alone. You can download the owner's manual from the website. It looks complicated, but once you have the unit and play around with the controls is it all very easy. It is ruggedly built, (as prosound equipment must be) with well laid out controls, and, IMHO, an attractive addition to the equipment rack.

I auditioned the unit in the 2-channel bypass mode of the prepro.

This is a very nice toy, and cheap enough to gain easy spousal approval.

Associated gear
Denon 2900 with Underwood mod
Rotel 1066 PrePro
Ashley electronic crossover
3 CarverPro ZR1600 power amps biamped for front speakers
3 Magneplanar MG1.6
3 multidriver custom subwoofer systems


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eldartford

Showing 5 responses by suits_me

suits_me
121 posts
 
The common scuttlebutt is that this product is for woofers only, to keep it out of the main signal path. Are you using the product full range?

I agree it looks a bit forbidding at first, and I've seen the unofficial help websites, as well as Newform's guidelines.
suits_me
121 posts
 
Just to clarify, I am less interested in full range eq than I am in bass eq as a given, so I am more wary of putting anything like that in an analog system unless its restricted to the low end.

The problem with quoting specs and asking about noise at high signal levels with digital devices is that it misses the likely problems of the unit, if any. As others have pointed out, analog is montonic, digital is diatonic. So digital's sonic artifacts, if any, would happen more at low signal levels than at high. Analog's distortions usually increase as signal levels decrease. Of course, most music is relatively quiet.

I'd like to own one, or an rdes, in my preferred, restricted application. Thanks for the review and follow-up.
suits_me
121 posts
 
No, I don't mean "continuous," despite my typo. I'm following either Bob Carver or Nelson Pass, but can't remember which. Anyway, the point is about distortion behavior, not gain. Analog distortion is highest at highest levels. Digital distortion is highest at lowest levels. The nomenclature may have been peculiar to whichever designer pointed out this difference....
suits_me
121 posts
 
I should mention I have heard excellent sounding digital systems.

This does not mean there are not both theoretical and practical problems with digital, some of which we have touched on. Digital volume controls can be quite bad, for example.

Analog also has drawbacks. You mention surface noise for vinyl; I might mention arm resonance.

But, limiting the discussion to distortion, it rises with rising amplification in analog, but rises with decreasing amplification in digital.

I think it's worth keeping in mind, given the nature of most music.
suits_me
121 posts
 
>A properly-designed digital volume control works like a stepped attenuator

Well, properly designed. It is even hard to find properly designed analog volume controls. I think the remark about drawbacks of digital volume controls holds.

And yes, of course, all other things being equal, I would rather have a component with lower distortion at lower amplification levels if I were listening music. That's because music is quiet most of the time. This is such an obviously true generalization that I wonder why the questioning. The question of signal to noise ratios is technically different from that of distortion products, although it is certainly another valid consideration.

Anyway, I'm thinking of trying some of the new, cheap digital stuff - I own the ex-111, which has no low end response stock, although you would never guess this from the online raves - including maybe the Behringer.

I doubt it is a high end device, but it's cheap and we'll see.
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