Behringer Ddm4000

[disco4hire 1]

Anyone got one of these? They look tremendous value for money, but I've never heard one in action and I'm not a big fan of Behringer kit. The worst mixer I have bought was a Behringer, and I don't want to make that mistake again. Any views from people who have one (or had one) would be welcome.

[mattmcc 0]

Took delivery of one yesterday. Still haven't had a chance to even power it up yet and I'm hoping to use it at a gig this Saturday. So frustrating. All those buttons and I haven't had a play yet. Hopefully, I'll get to try it out later tonight.

 

All the reviews I've read from people who have actually got one have been pretty good and watching some of the clips on youtube of people mixing is what made my mind up. There are loads of bad reviews of it. But if you look closely they're from people who haven't used it and just don't like Behringer.

 

If I get a chance I'll do a quick post on how I get on with it.

[disco4hire 1]

There are loads of bad reviews of it. But if you look closely they're from people who haven't used it and just don't like Behringer.

 

If I get a chance I'll do a quick post on how I get on with it.

 

Please do, it's the quality of sound I'm most interested in, the last Behringer I owned 'worked' OK, but sounded crap.

 

[mattmcc 0]

As promised, here's a review of how my first proper gig with a DDM4000 went.

 

First of all the the set up. The gig is a fun night I do with a friend. Like I say we've always had the chance to try out different music and equipment at it.

 

So for fun he was using his Pioneer DJM800 and I had the DDM4000. Both were running through another mixer (not sure make) just to keep the levels from the 2 different DJ mixers okay. This might have effected the overall sound but remember both mixers were going through it.

 

This then went into 2 Behringer B212A active speakers. Used a lot so I'm familiar with the sound.

 

Sound Quality: We compared the sound quality between the mixers and although there was a slight difference in tone they were both as acceptable as each other. If anything I thought the Behringer was a bit brighter but this could have been down to how I set it up and the fact that I had the Ultramize on.

 

Mixer in General Use: Well, considering I had a whole hour and a half practice with it on the Wednesday before the gig (and even then it was with headphones only) I still found it a very easy mixer to use. When I practised with it I thought there was a bit of a buzz on one of the channels but this turned out to be one of my sound cards. Once I had set the soundcard up properly the buzz disappeared and it certainly wasn't a problem at the gig.

 

It is a bit lighter than the DJM800 but comfortably fits into the same sized flight case (yup, we tried). Some of the knobs don't feel quite as solid as the Pioneer but in use I didn't even notice so it didn't detract from it's use.

 

The crossfader moved as freely on both, maybe a little lighter on the Behringer, but there was definitely a bit more firmness in the movement of the faders of the Pioneer.

 

Something I did think was much better on the DJM800 was how easy it was to change the faders. On the Pioneer, you can unscrew the faders and the crossfader as separate modules from the top of the mixer. The DDM4000 only has this for the crossfader.

 

FX: Now I haven't played with the effects on a DJM800 but the DDM4000 was keeping up with it. The DDM4000 also seems to let you put the effects onto lo mid and hi bandwidths, which the DJM800 can't (from what I've been told).

 

I'm not one of natures readers of manuals but if you want to get the best out of the effects on the DDM4000, you really need to read the manual.

 

Finally, shade your eye when the leds start up. I read they were bright but I still wasn't quite prepared the retina burning effect I got when I switched the mixer on. Fortunately, I figured out where everything was quite quickly and the bright LEDs didn't distract me, which at first I thought they would.

 

I had also, read the odd criticism of the headphone socket placement. However, I just ran the cable down the side and underneath the mixer and the cable stayed out my way all night.

 

So, do I regret buying it? No.

 

If I had 4 or 5 times the money would I buy a pioneer DJM800? Of course I would.

 

But I don't so I bought the DDM4000. Time will tell how reliable it actually is but on it's first night out, and in direct comparison to a Pioneer DJM800 it did very well and I'm very pleased with my new mixer.

 

 

Matt