Behringer T1953

Behringer T1953 Tube Ultragain 2 channel preamp for home audio recording.

Gold plated XLR and Balanced inputs and outputs.

AC power, +48 volt phamtom with ramping feature to eliminate pop at activation.

2 12AX7 tube
180 phase switch
variable high pass filter

First off, let me state my background so that you can better evaluate my rating. I'm a musician with 20 years experience with a home studio. I've been recording for about 4 years now and have equipment your average home studio has... Digi002 rack, $300 microphones, etc... I'd like to think that I have a good year for clean/transparent equipment and strive for great tone and quality on a poor man's budget.

I originally bought the Berhinger T1953 tube preamp out of just curiosity. It was dirty cheap and I figured to use it for adding some warmth to bass tracks. I have never used high-end preamps so I don't really have something to compare this unit exept for the Digi002 pres and other low end pres.

Here is what I do not like about this unit. The knobs are really cheap and does not have a solid feel to them. The meters are not very accurate, so you have to use them as merely a ball park for where your level really is. Basically, follow your ears and not the meter and you will be ok. The marketers at Beringer thought it was a neat idea to put little windows so that you can see the tubes, but because normally you can't see the glow out of 12AX7 tubes, they placed a small light bulb behind each tube. I didn't really like the look it gave, so I took a blue Sharpie and painted the bulbs dark blue... looks much more natural now with soft blue glow. The original tubes are junk... sell them on ebay :) I replaced them with better tubes. Everyone has their preference in tubes so you can experiment with your favorites. For more warmth, always go with something old... RCA, etc... Even an old tube from ebay will have more warmth than anything you can buy new today. Another bad design is how hard it is to remove the tubes. Each tube has a rubber bushing that holds the tubes in place... don't really know why, but to remove the tubes you have to bend the metal frame that holds the bushing. Somewhat of a pain, but you should not have to replace the tubes for many years.

Now for what I like about this unit. All of the connections are gold plated balanced lines for good connection. The 48V phantom power has ramped power so that you don't get pops when you turn it on. Variable high pass filter is also another cool feature to eleminate some low end from certain applications. It also has pretty good ceramic tube sockets. Solid power supply which is miles away from the pre-amp stage. The sound is very transparent and of good quality for a unit this cheap. I thought that it was just as good or better than the preamps in the Digi002. To get the most out of the tube warmth, you have to load the mic gain, but I think this would be true for any system. Also, dialing in more warmth doesn't add gain to your signal which is a nice feature so that you don't have to constantly adjust gain if you decide you want more or less warmth. Very cool!! Bottom line is that I am going to keep this unit. I may even go get another one if they are still on sale :) It exceeded my expectations and I think that I will use quite often for my home recordings. With my modifications, I would pay $400 this unit. Probably more if the knobs and meter were not so cheap.

I know that I have read several bad reviews on Behringer products in general. I do have a couple of other Behringer products that I have never had any issues with for over 5 years now. Don't know if the bad reviews are from newer products from them, but I don't have anything to complain from their older products lines. I guess I will find out with this unit... lets see how long it lasts :)