Review of the Behringer MX9000

The biggest, best behringer

Why go with an analog console these days? You might wonder with all the really hot digital mixers out there. If you are doing a stand alone multi-track, like an ADAT or tascam multi track recorder, digital mixers make lots of sense. But if you are on a computer sequencer, consider that today, sequencers like Logic, Cubase SX and Sonar have "built in" digital mixers. So do you really need two digital mixers? It's overkill. But lets say you have one of these sequencers and you have a few mics, a few synths with multiple outs, or just plain old guitar, bass and drums. If you go "mixerless" you will endlessly be repatching stuff to get it to audioland. An 8 bus analog mixer gives you the flexibility to patch it all together. Plus there IS something to be said for tweaking a mix with real knobs, instead of mousing around, staring into a cathode ray tube. If you have hardware FX boxes you can add reverb all day and your CPU will not hiccup once.

Behringer MX9000 Eurodesk Mixer
TWEAK's PICK

The MX9000 mixer features an expander port for linking consoles, comprehensive monitoring facilities, and integrated meter bridge

Read the manual. Online Brochure

Behringer writes: Our largest console features 24 fully inline channels, each with an extensive MIC/LINE and a MIX B/TAPE RETURN path. The MIC/LINE path offers balanced mic and line inputs, an INVISIBLE MIC PREAMP, pad, inserts and a 4-band EQ with two semi-parametric mid-frequency bands, 15 dB of boost/attenuation plus low-cut filter. 6 aux sends are available (pre/post switchable in pairs), plus a pan pot, solo and mute functions, full routing options and 100-mm faders. The MIX B/tape return path features a dedicated 2-band shelving EQ, pan and level controls, mute function and access to aux sends 3 to 6.

The MX9000 has been around for years at much higher prices. Until recently, the street price was in the mid-to-hi-teens. Now it's in the low teens. Unlike the Mackie 8 bus mixers which the Behringer emulates, the MX9000 has a built in meter bridge, which is an expensive add on for other boards. It has TWO inputs for gooseneck little lights--I like that. 8 busses. Tremendously useful for mixing a bit of this, a bit of that, and creating a whole new audio track. MIX B tape returns gives it the flexibility of 48 audio channels. There's a flip switch which allow you to put the B channel on the fader. And yes, you can have the fader and the MIX B sounding simultaneously on each of the 24 channels, each with there own level, pan, and EQ. That's enough for all you synths, your multichannel audio interface, FX, tape machines, mics whatever. This is a BIG board. 37" wide, 29.5 " deep. It's heavy too--70 lbs. It's solid steel. Nice layout. The knobs are well spaced where you can actually turn one without touching others. The size, the metal, the lights, the meters and the sound gives you an altogether total mixdown experience. This board has the feel of a console, not a small plastic toy.

How does it sound? It's good. I can imagine better sounding boards, but those put you in either the small 16 channel hi quality bracket, or the $3500 plus bracket. The preamps have switchable phantom power on groups of inputs so you can run both you condensers AND your dynamics at the same time. The eqs are very effective, the bass can get strong and it will sweep mids like a good analog filter. The sends and returns and MIX B have plenty of gain. You can use the MIX B inputs for front and center instruments, these are unbalanced inputs, but not weak ones. The mic/line inputs are balanced, so are the master outs. But it is no problem using unbalanced line level gear on these--it works just fine.

It works wonderfully with my 8x8 delta 1010. The 8 busses feed right into the delta so any track at the mixer, by pressing a bus button, is automatically routed to the delta where the track can be recorded as audio. As your studio expands you can put different processors on each bus. Get it? A bus optimized for recording vocals with compressors and vocal processors, another for guitar, chained to stomp boxes, one for synths, another for dry stuff you will effect later. You also can do analog bounces of your sequencer tracks and not mess with file selectors, cpu overloads, etc. Easy to do. Just route the audio interface out 1-2 to the MX, send it down bus 3-4, add some FX if you want, and record it back in to the audio interface. connected by Alesis Studio 32 to my MX9000 and the sends and busses of the Alesis are merged with the sends and busses of the Behringer. This gives me 80 channels at mixdown NOT counting the combined 10 stereo returns. I have all my older gear connected to the Studio 32--lots hissy synths, old tape decks, grooveboxes, cd players. Assigning any of these to bus 3-4 on the Alesis pipes it right through to bus 3-4 on the MX9000, and right through to the delta 1010 input 3-4

The best thing about the MX9000 how much you get for the price. If you have lots of gear to connect, record bands, or just want a discrete audio channel for all your tracks from your midi and audio sequencer, this board rocks. I give it the coveted Tweak's Pick Award.

All the best,

Rich the Tweak

Tips

How to setup a Surround Mix on the MX9000

One thing I have done was a set up to monitor surround mixes on the MX9000. Though it is not advertised as a surround mixer, it was easy to do with all the i/o you get.

I just connected two prefader sends to the rear speakers, another prefader send out to the mono front channel and kept the front left and right on two post fader channels that go to the control room outs. The subwoofer's bass management and all the routing is handled by software to a separate audio interface output, but you can patch that into the board on any channel (postfader) too and go out a direct out.

All the surround panners and effects are also in software. So don't believe that because you don't have big digital board that you can't do surround. (The guys that do actually have 2 surround systems, yep, one in their mixer and another in their software).

[ Choose a Mixer ] [ How to set up a Mixer ] [ Picking the Right Monitors ] [ Making the Perfect Mix ] [ Using Pan Controls ] [ Using EQ ] [ Mixing in Software vs Hardware ] [ Guide to Control Surfaces ] [ Mastering at Home ] [ 16 vs 24 bit Demystified ] [ Basics of Surround sound ] [ Catalog: Studio Monitors ] [ Catalog: Mixers ] [ Using Waves Plugins ] [ Mixer Calibration ] [ Review: Mackie 1402 VLZ Pro ] [ Review: Mackie HR 824 ] [ Review: Behringer MX9000 ] [ Setting Up Surround on an 8 Bus Mixer ] [ Configuring a Recording Rig-Page 3 ]