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[Bob Leonard]

Dear Bob,

As the VP, Care for MUSIC Group, I wanted to jump in and state the facts regarding the service strategy for the X32.  You are correct in the fact that we have recently purchased and opened internal Service Centers in Las Vegas and Kidderminster, UK that are staffed by some of the best bench technicians in the industry. However, we still have a network of independent, Factory Authorized Service centers across the US, Canada and Europe that are authorized to service BEHRINGER products. 

One of the main benefits of our internal service depot is that our technicians are factory trained.  As such, we are able to be extremely efficient in servicing the products as use the same testing and quality procedures as the factory.  Another benefit to utilizing our internal service depot is that we carry all spare parts onsite which helps expedite the repair process.  If you look at our repair times just 12 months ago when we did not have our internal service depot, the average repair time was approximately 23 days to receive, repair and return a customer unit.  With the implementation of our Las Vegas facility, we are currently repairing and shipping units within three business days from the date it is received. 

To answer your question on the support model for the X32, we have a 30-day policy where we recommend taking the unit back to the retailer where the unit was purchased for a replacement.  After the initial 30-days of ownership, we do prefer that you contact us directly for service and support.  Customers can reach us via email - [email protected], by web - www.behringer.com/support or by phone:

USA/Canada - (1) 702-800-8290
Europe - (44) 1562 732290

Once it is determined that service will be needed, we will recommend the best option based on customer needs.

I hope this clears some of the confusion and please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

Patrick Ferdig
VP, CARE
MUSIC Group

Patrick,
Thank you for the detailed response to my concern. Based on your reply it would seem that Music Group has taken, and will continue to take steps towards eliminating our concerns regarding service and support.
 
I have a question regarding the return of the product to the retailer. Will an exchange be automatic and no questions asked if the unit has failed, or will there be a wait and let's see if we should replace the unit attitude/approach taken towards these requests.
 
Also, there will be many part which might be considered CRU vs FRU. Will parts be available for those customer replacable components? And please excuse me for not knowing, but where are these factory authorized service centers you speak of.
 
Thank you again for your honest and open reply.

[James A. Griffin]

Shootout in the works of Yamaha LS9 / Behringer X32 / Presonus SL 24.4.2.

Here's your chance to compare them all side by side. 

New thread started:   http://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,139516.0.html

[Chris Clark]

Another query on functionality...
If I'm reading right, the mixer itself can only process 36 channels of incoming audio even with an S16 hooked up... Is there any way to send straight audio signals between the X32 and S16 without being "processed" by the board?
For example, Say I wanted to use an external processor/crossover at FoH, then feed those signals to the amps on stage, would it be possible to use some unused inputs on the mixer without routing through faders or anything and send these signals to outputs on the S16 stage box? Would this use up some of my 36 channels or could it be done as a straight send outside of those 36? Or is this not really possible at all?

[Sam Feine]

When I was talking with the Behringer folks, I asked them what the main deference in philosophy between them and midas was (in regards to how they look at digital audio). Their response was that midas liked thinking about their consoles as parts of larger audio networks, that is to say a midas desk was only taking a feed off of the big network available and in that way, the network could be flexibly routed and patched in whatever way was deemed necessary without even using up the consoles mix channels. On the other hand Behringer's way of doing things was decidedly more straight forward, a pool of inputs can be chosen from but there really wasn't a big audio network par say, instead there was a console (maybe two) and a stage box. Based on this philosophy as well as the 'interesting' way they let you only take in input channels in groups of 8 or 4, my guess would be no, you can not route inputs directly to outputs without using up the 36 or so available mix channels.

[Chris Clark]

Their response was that midas liked thinking about their consoles as ...  On the other hand Behringer's way of doing things was decidedly more straight forward...

So not nearly as much "similarity" between the two sides of the company as we were led to believe... I just hope they don't use this same lame excuse to justify not putting lockout options into the console...

[Uli Behringer]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback.

We have just posted the latest firmware 1.06 with a number of minor bug fixes many of which were reported by you.

I am personally overseeing the implementation of fixes to any reported bugs and you can see our German software team are turning them around in a heartbeat.

http://www.behringer.com/EN/products/X32.aspx

Uli

[ChristianBoche]

Another query on functionality...
If I'm reading right, the mixer itself can only process 36 channels of incoming audio even with an S16 hooked up... Is there any way to send straight audio signals between the X32 and S16 without being "processed" by the board?
For example, Say I wanted to use an external processor/crossover at FoH, then feed those signals to the amps on stage, would it be possible to use some unused inputs on the mixer without routing through faders or anything and send these signals to outputs on the S16 stage box? Would this use up some of my 36 channels or could it be done as a straight send outside of those 36? Or is this not really possible at all?

Doable yes, but of course this will eat up your overall channel count. Two solutions:

The S-16 can also run in Master mode. This way you could "emulate" a copper core with one S-16 in master mode and one S-16 in slave configuration. Use this aside to your X32 setup and you don't have to offer any X32 channels. All you need is to lay out one CAT5.

Here is, what I do.
Buy a speaker processor with build in ethernet connection and control it with a loptop:-)
I use a Xilica XP4080 hooked up to a wireless router and control it with an old IBM X41 tablet PC
No need for a return core (analog or digital). Sometimes I connected it with a CAT5 Lan cable... WLan is not always stable.
Christian

[Chris Clark]

Oddly enough, I grabbed the pc control software and was playing around tonight... In the routing section you can route as previosuly mentioned, for example Local 1-8 to Input 1-8, Local 9-16 to Input 9-16, AES50 1-8 to Input 17-24, etc... Then there's a separate routing section for the AES50 Outputs, and it looks as though in addition to the above routing to inputs, you can assign Local inputs directly to AES50 outs.. (Example, I was able to select "Local 25-32" under "AES50 A Outputs 1-8")... If someone who has a test version of the board or perhaps might be attending the shootout could test this theory as to whether it actually works or is a bug in the PC software?? It is also possible I'm not understanding how the S16's interact with the AES50 routing, so if this is totally wrong I apologize, I'm just wondering if someone could test the theory.

[Uli Behringer]

When I was talking with the Behringer folks, I asked them what the main deference in philosophy between them and midas was (in regards to how they look at digital audio). Their response was that midas liked thinking about their consoles as parts of larger audio networks, that is to say a midas desk was only taking a feed off of the big network available and in that way, the network could be flexibly routed and patched in whatever way was deemed necessary without even using up the consoles mix channels. On the other hand Behringer's way of doing things was decidedly more straight forward, a pool of inputs can be chosen from but there really wasn't a big audio network par say, instead there was a console (maybe two) and a stage box. Based on this philosophy as well as the 'interesting' way they let you only take in input channels in groups of 8 or 4, my guess would be no, you can not route inputs directly to outputs without using up the 36 or so available mix channels.

Dear Sam,
 
I don't know who you spoke with from our company but since this is an important topic I thought I would try to address it myself by offering some clarifications.
 
I'm not sure it is accurate to say that there is a difference in philosophy between MIDAS and BEHRINGER with respect to how each brand looks at digital audio. In fact, both brands are committed to the support of complete digital product eco-systems that meet the needs of their customers. This includes standards-based networking designed around the the specific needs of live sound; where low latency and clock stability are critically important performance parameters.
 
Where the brands differ is in the type of solutions they offer to their customers. MIDAS is a brand that is respected for decades of stellar sonic performance and rock-solid operational stability in the most demanding applications. MIDAS products are used in extremely high-profile events with sometimes hundreds of channels routed through several consoles. In this environment the unique attributes of 96 kHz sample rate, total redundancy with two independent network rings and up to three power supplies and sophisticated signal routing are mandatory.
 
The X32 uses the very same AES50 network topology as is found on MIDAS Digital consoles. This network is designed from the ground-up to offer the very lowest possible latency and highest stability because it is designed to carry live audio streams; not packet data. On the X32 the network is used not only to connect S16 stage boxes but also to link several consoles together, allowing them to share inputs. In this way one X32 can mix front of house while another mixes monitors for example.
 
The way in which channels are routed is determined by the intended application for the product. In the case of the X32 we opted for a scheme that makes sense for the way that buyers of this console will be using it. The result is a channel assignment method that allows a user to set up and operate the console quickly, efficiently and with enough flexibility to mix mains, monitors, recording and even a broadcast feed from one set of inputs.
 
Warm regards,
 
Uli

[ChristianBoche]

Oddly enough, I grabbed the pc control software and was playing around tonight... In the routing section you can route as previosuly mentioned, for example Local 1-8 to Input 1-8, Local 9-16 to Input 9-16, AES50 1-8 to Input 17-24, etc... Then there's a separate routing section for the AES50 Outputs, and it looks as though in addition to the above routing to inputs, you can assign Local inputs directly to AES50 outs.. (Example, I was able to select "Local 25-32" under "AES50 A Outputs 1-8")... If someone who has a test version of the board or perhaps might be attending the shootout could test this theory as to whether it actually works or is a bug in the PC software?? It is also possible I'm not understanding how the S16's interact with the AES50 routing, so if this is totally wrong I apologize, I'm just wondering if someone could test the theory.

Hi Chris,
yes it works, but (say you run a 4 way stereo pa system) you have to offer:

8 x Inputchannels
8 x Mixbusses
8 x S-16 analog output

if you connect it like in your example. You could alternativly use the P-16outs (or when running a 3way stereo system) the six Aux inputs. This way you won't offer the eight mixbusses. Still quite clumsy in my eyes.

Christian

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