Behringer DSP 2024P Virtualizer Pro

I find this unit very easy to use, even without the manual. The menu system is a little limited due to the 4 character display, but if you know what you're looking for it's very straightforward. Any piece of gear with this many features does require the user to have an idea of what they are looking for, however. It is not as simple as a single stompbox...

For a small-mid sized rig the noise is tolerable. A stack of 'em could be a problem. I gig with one in the chain on a wireless horn rig, mostly now as a problem-solver. True efx I'm keeping on the floor. That said, it never gives any problems with ground loop (can't say that about my presonus and ART DIs).

I did use it for a cpl years as the primary efx processor and achieved some rich tones that stomp boxes just don't have the flexibility to achieve. However, the delay in preset switching was a real limitation. Even so, it sounded very good in this app.

Surprisingly robust for the brand. It's in a 4u case that is constantly moved. 2-5 events/month. It's been dropped, it's been outdoors in the HEAT and COLD and has worked ok down to~ 105 volts.

Has locked up on me twice. Both times I suspect it was overdriven (hottest part of the song, we're playing hard, etc...). However, that could mean excessive signal OR poor power voltage onstage. Power cycle fixed.

I hear they are hit or miss. I hope I never have to deal with them.

Excellent tool. Cleaner sound than some of the yamaha EFX I've worked with. Quicker to tune if you know the menu. Great features for the price, very reliable. I'll prolly buy a 2nd soon for use as a parametric EQ.... it's cheaper than a real eq for that cost.

If you plug your guitar into this thing, you'll immediately have more options for sound than you've ever dreamed of - and these are not just cheap, crappy sounds, these are all over the place. The issue here is, that depending on what you want this is not a plug-in and go kind of unit - you have to edit the effects to get what you want - and this unit will let you do that - and remember your changes. I use this unit with an FCB1010 foot controller (a challenge to grasp, but doable) and use it all the time for effects. If you're wanting to edit patches, remember that the volume from patch to patch is not always equal, you have to adjust your gain so that you don't have one patch that is too quiet and another that screams. You can do this, but it takes time and patience at first, until you determine what patches you want to refine. The DSP 2024P and sound awesome - it's all up to you and your choices.

Over one hundred settings are available, not just adjustments, but actual different sounds. Plan on spending a week just figuring out what you want the most, then adjust them to the volume and intensity levels that you want. I use this in a rack with a foot controller and use about 20 presets - any more than that and I'd never remember what they were. Now here's a gripe, and I think a pretty valid one - UNLIKE A PEDAL ON A PEDAL BOARD THAT SWITCHES AS SOON AS YOU STOMP IT, THE DSP 2024P HAS A 1 SECOND DELAY, SO IF YOU'RE RAMPING UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL, KNOW THAT YOU HAVE TO PLAN FOR A DELAY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF YOUR NEXT EFFECT. This has been a much discussed failing of this effects unit and the company has not offered an explanation other than "this is what happens" and so what is the question? In my experience, this is an annoying trait of this unit, but considering all of the other great things I get out of it, I can overlook it.
I use this unit with a condenser mic or a guitar line in, switched with an FCB1010, through an ART preamp into a sound board. The only thing I lack in this set up is a volume pedal (which exists on the FCB1010 but will not work with the DSP 20204P. I've heard the volume and expression pedals on the FCB1010 will work with the VAmp effects system, but I've never tried it).

I didn't say this before, but I have two of these units, matched for different traveling rigs. If one of them died I'd immediately buy another. There's just no doing without a unit that has this much operating ability, broad scope, and editing quality for the money. I use my DSP 2024P live all of the time. I have one in my rack and one for my suitcase. Can I depend on it - hell, it's only a circuit board and a few input/outputs.

I've been in touch with Behringer a few times for technical issues and they've always gotten back to me. Just remember; because you're asking a question about their hardware, they assume that you understand it and will answer you with reasonable solutions. If you don't understand the gear, they won't hold your hand while you try to "get it". They expect you to figure it out.

I've been playing a long time as a pro and have lots of equipment. I'm grateful to Behringer for making gear that sounds great, lasts and has the sounds and effects in a price range that encourages me try it out, use it and appreciate their efforts. I have EQ's, Sound Exciters, Effects, Foot controllers and a bunch of other Behringer gear that has lasted for quite a while (including stomp boxes). Considering the money I've spent, I can't complain about anything that Behringer makes, and I appreciate their tenacity in a difficult business that harbors its full share of snobs, detractors, and opinionators.

Not very simple and quick to use, but if you're looking for something flexible and customizable with a lot of parameters to change, here you have at least 8 different parameters for each effect (the last 2 are always the bass and high equalization). For this reason you will always need with you the list with the names and position of the parameters associated to each effect (even if the first four letters of the parameter name appear on the display when you start moving a knob). The manual is clear, but not so detailed in the description of each effect/parameter, but you'll agree with me that it's not easy to describe a particular sound, so probably it's better to experiment with it. A lot of preset available (100 + 100)

Quite good, I use it only for voice (mainly reverb), and I find its sound too much "digital" and cold if compared to a Lexicon LXP1 (another unit that I own, but that it's only a reverb/delay, not a multieffect). However for the price it costs, it's a good buy. Apart the reverbs, also the quality of the distortions and equalizations seem to me good.

it seems to me solid and reliable, if you transport it with care you won't have problems

Never used before

I play rock with a band for 10 years about, I suggest it if you want to use it live in little places/concerts. Take into consideartion that it has 2 main defects:

1) you have available only 11 predefined combinations of effects, you can't have more (e.g.: you cannot combine a compressor and a reverb, or a distortion and a delay, but you can combine a delay and a reverb). I suggest to download and read tha manual before buying it if you are interested in a particular combination of 2 effects

2) you can change via midi and a footswitch the effect used during a song, but it will take about 1 second of silence/mute before the new effect take place. This can be a problem if a song requires a quick change of effect

For the price it costs it's a good buy, I suggest it if you want to experiment with different effects and you don't need a specific one or a high quality sound. If you only need a compressor and a reverb, I suggest to buy 2 specific units.

Nothing's as easy to use a floor full of pedals, so if you keep that in perspective, this one is reasonably easy. Once you master one multi-effect you pretty much know the game with the others, patches, banks, presets, algorithms that kind of stuff.

The manual is pretty good. Behringer gear always gives you a lot to read. Could be better, but there's a lot worse. One guy below suggested laminating the Effects list. Not a bad idea, since you'll be referring to that a lot.

When I first plugged mine in it hummed like a M-F (that doesn't stand for Musician's Friend). I did some checking and the outlet had an open ground. Plugged it into a proper outlet, and hum was gone. I'm a little worried about that; it suggests that there's something shorting out inside the DSP2024.... but I'll fix that later. For now the hum is gone, and unless you use one of the way-out effects, like Video Game, it's as silent as all Behringer products.

Setup: depends, but for the most part,

'74 strat --> yamaha preamp--> DSP2024 --> 3-tube Silvertone amp. The manual for the DSP says to use it with a pre-amp, and you really have to take their word for it. It sucks without it. Not sure why. But once you take care of that, and really juice the input into the DSP it rewards you with heavenly sound.

Effects
Like I said, if you've been around the block, you know that when you buy a multi-effect you'll get about 10 cool effects along with ones that make your guitar sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks (my Boss BR532 actually includes that effect... I have to believe that the engineers were smoking weed when they put that in there). This means that right next to a kick-axe effect like "Soft Tube" on the behringer, there's "Robot." Now, I don't know about you, but I didn't pay a few thou for my vintage strat only so I could hear it sound like a robot. Where does this leave you? I look at it this way: you don't toss your guitar just because you don't use the frets towards the body/pickup. You only use the frets/notes you want. Same goes with multi-effect boxes. Now here's an interesting thing that almost makes me want to eat my words: on the DSP2024, there's a preset called "Synth Heaven." Yeah, I know. That's what I was thinking, but one day I accidentally was playing through that setting (I thought it was one of the more reasonable or useful presets), and I swear, that is one cool tone. It's not a heavy "synth" (whatever that is anyway) sound. It's more like a very subtle Flange. Layer that with a touch of Phaser (though you gotta use another box for that), and you've got really close to SRV, and I'm usually not one who goes coveting the tones of others.

Since this thing has a zillion effects settings (which can be edited to suit your persuasion, and since MANY of them are really, really useful, I'll rank it high on this scale.

I know people like to rip on behringer. But I've never had any probs with their gear.

I don't gig, so I don't have to worry about the possibility that beer will get spilled on it. More like I'll dump my cereal bowl on it.

I've asked them some questions, they usually get back to you in about 3 days. Average

I just screw around on the guitar, so I would say that the closest that i come to would be bluegrass or jazz (and that's probably pushing it).

I own a couple other multi-effects, and have some home-brew pedals. The behringer beats my Boss, Korg, Art, and (almost) yamaha multis. As far as beating stand-alone pedals, the behringer can beat most of them, especially its 'verbs and delay based effects. It's "Tube Preamp" setting is perhaps the best (and quietest) setting I've encountered on ANY multi-effect. I own a tube and an SS amp. The Tube Preamp setting makes any amp sound Tubish, and makes my little vintage amp sound like my brother's real-deal Fender. Worth the price just for that and a couple other effects.

Anything I wish it had?
Yeah, easy. As others have noted, Behringer needs to get with the 21st century and upgrade the display. It's a pain to have to look up in the manual to see what "U13" stands for, especially when it's something fairly basic like "Room Reverb" Second, Behringer really, really needs to include more documentation on the various effects and presets. Korg, e.g., includes a detailed breakdown of the initial settings for all the effects. That gives you a lot to work with if you want to duplicate (or just figure out) one of the effects. If you try to figure out how they got "Soft Metalizzer" for example, you can't.


What do I love about it?
As simplified as this sounds, behringer gear just sounds good. Whether the v-amps, or the DSPs, they just sound good. I owned a Virtualizer 1000 (the 1st generation of this one) and it was great. If you're into serious distortion or metal, I would question if this is the DSP for you. But if you're into clean, Eric Johnson style tones, some of the effects are really worth it. Like I said, I tossed a bunch of more pricey gear (like a boss gt-6) because they just didn't sound as good, or make my guitar sound as good.

What do I hate about it?
The front panel. Come on, tell me why they made the writing under the main knobs so tiny and in WHITE??? White on chrome might as well be invisible. Actually, it is.

if this is your first FX unit, it might difficult to understand the acronyms displayed on the display, other than that its quite straight forward. I give it a 7 beacuse of the long delay while switching patches via the jog wheel, and having to push the edit button to change parameter rows.

the sound quality is, well decent. Its great quality for the price, but dont expect it to come anywhere close to some more expensive units. Its bang for your buck, the reverbs, chorus, flanger, and delays sound OK, the compressor is lacking and the distortions are laughable. I'm giving it a 6 in sound quality, but keep in mind some of the effects sound pretty good while others sound terrible.

it looks pretty sturdy but the knobs are cheap plastic. They will break very easily, everything else seems ok. 6 for the garbage knobs.

havent used them

This unit is decent. its a one trick pony though, and thats why it gets a 4. this is because you cannot stack ANY effects. you can only use 8 or so pre-combined effects. these are combinations of phasers, flangers, chorus, and reverb. I am a guitar player and i mainly want compression, denoiser, reverb and chorus. There is not way to know this until you get the unit home so dont make the same mistake i did. Now if i could combine the effects that i wanted to, this thing would make me very happy.

The combination of endless rotary encoders and a four-character LED display works quite well for editing, though the manual has to be occasionally consulted for more obscure effect parameters and system settings. The effect quality really depends on which one you're using - some work well, some are passable, some are rubbish.

I used the Virtualizer for general project studio duties and it perfored with varying success. I liked the delays best: you get up to 5.4 seconds, which is enough for most applications, you can specify the exact time in milliseconds, something I really miss on the budget bracket units nowadays - there is no tap tempo, on the other hand - and the feedback can be both low- and high-pass filtered. With both stereo delay channels sharing the dry/wet setting, there is also no dual mono delay like there is on the Alesis Midiverb 4 - a rather unfortunate oversight.

The on-board compressor is actually useful (unlike the Ultramizer, which is the multi-band variation), certainly much better than I expected and about on par with the ones found in the later Yamaha SPX's, and it proved a functional stand-in when one of my Composers developed a problem. Since it doesn't feature in Combinations, however, it probably won't get used much by most people, so that's only a minor plus.

The reverbs turned out to be a bit of a sore spot for the Virtualizer. Most of the algorithms aren't even close to simulating actual spaces - well, maybe if they were named "Tin Container" 1 through 12 - and only the Early Reflections algorithm is in true stereo, which I also found slightly disappointing. Still, most reverb types are nicely configurable and as long as you don't use the unit on vocals or complete mixes, you should be fine. I used it mostly on drums and got decent results - get in touch to hear it in action - but I do feel the engineers at Behringer should've spent more time with the reverb algorithms. At a glance, the rest of the effects sounded passable, except for the distortions, which are hopeless, along with most of the other guitar-oriented effects, and the psycho-acoustic effects, where you often can't tell what they're supposed to be doing to the input sound beside ruining it.

The Virtualizer appears to be built quite well and looks like it could hold up on stage but since it locked up on me once for no apparent reason, I'd only ever want to have it in the aux loop - there is no hard-wired bypass when the unit is turned off.

At current prices, the Virtualizer is still an excellent deal: for less than 100??? and with decent A/D and D/A converters, it pays for itself as a delay unit alone. I also appreciated its internal power supply and added XLR inputs and outputs, two things which the Midiverb 4, which used to be Virtualizer's main competitor, doesn't have despite costing twice as much. Still, at the end of the day, I prefer the Alesis unit for some reason. As far as character is concerned, its shimmering, sparkly, animate reverbs give even the V-Verb, Virtualizer's slightly more studio-oriented successor, a run for its money, and its independent parallel effect combinations are a truly brilliant feature. With TC and Lexicon units also slowly coming down in price, there is less and less going for the Virtualizer, particularly in the US, where you can apparently pick up the V-Verb for the exact same price (the steal of the century as far as I'm concerned, and it's only 2007). My Virtualizer served me well for several years and it gets a 6/10 for that, but I doubt I'll ever own another one.

This review is after 3 years of heavy use.......

It's easy to use, beginner or pro. First day out of the box I just spun dials on the presets without paying any attention and was getting great sounds. About 15 minutes later I had slowed down and had them mastered.

This is one of the easiest interfaces around. One reviewer claims to have been producing music for 12 years or whatever and says it's difficult to use which is really sad. I'd hate to see that guy go up against an Eventide in a professional situation, he'd get laughed out of the room and never find work again.

The sound quality is great. It doesn't have a harmonizer but most the effects are at least a 6-7 in quality, most are straight up 10's.

The delay and echo sounds full blown analog instead of robotic and like a loop which is a trait of a lot of other processors.

The chorus's are outstanding, some people claim they're poor but they must have elephant turds in their ears. You can even get a wicked chorus sound out of the pitch shifter.

The EQ's are also outstanding. Both the parametric and shelving. Between my amps EQ and it's EQ's I can nail any amp tone that exists. The speaker cabs and amp sims aren't my taste though.

The sound gates work really well but not so well on my effects loop.

The compression is outstanding, the decay of notes doesn't break up. It keeps them solid until they've completely faded and adds a nice roundness generally associated with tubes.

This thing has a LOT of effects. Some won't get used much if ever but they're there and the unit takes the place of a lot of different pieces of gear. It's major short coming is you can't stack 10 effects which REALLY sucks. I'd give it a higher rating on sound quality but not being able to stack compression with EQ and modulation and reverb is a huge short coming.

3 years and never a problem.
It does heat up quite a bit for a processor though, this is a first for me. I own easily half a dozen processors, none of them produce heat like this, not even close.
Overall it is solid though. The knobs would require a pretty nasty snag to snap one off and the housing is heavy gauge steel, especially the face plate.

They're hit and miss.
They have a great exchange program but hardly any music stores participate and they often won't own up to it unless you bought the item from them, they're supposed to though so muscle them around.

I had to chase them around to get my rebate. I sent it with delivery confirmation and the idiots claimed it must have been lost in the mail but I proved otherwise.

They did however replace my nephews amp with a new one so like I said, hit and miss.

The display sucks. It makes people think the unit is crap because it doesn't have a fancy word clock like an eventide or some of the Zooms, Boss's and Digitechs.

I thought by now they'd of replaced this unit with a better model. Stackable effects, say at least 6 or 7 at once, some more buttons and a much more in depth digital read out but they haven't. Would be great if they would though but keep the chrome and black scheme. I love the way it looks and it matches my amp which is chrome and black as well.

It's definitely not a toy though. It just has a simple interface and the display looks like it came from the 80's but a lot of companies are doing this with their affordable gear because they're packing so much into it otherwise they they have to cut corners somewhere.
That's what scares people off them and has them claiming it's nothing but a toy for beginners but they're also guys that own 5 thousand dollar Eventides. If it could stack a lot of effects and had a fancy readout, they'd praise it guaranteed because the sound quality is great. With some effects downright superb.

I like to call it, a professional toy.

At 100 bucks it's worth buying 2-3 of them to stack on top of one another for the true multi effects experience. The algorithms in the back of the manual imply that you can stack effects like distortion, delay and flange but if you can I haven't figured out how in 3 years and I know this unit inside out.
Hopefully we'll see a more advanced version soon but with the same affordable price tag.

I found it a bit awkward to use at first limited to three main dials for the effects parameters means to access the last two parameters and the EQ's you have to press the edit button, compared to an analogue unit or even just a dedicated digital effects box like a reverb unit where most of the controls have there own dials it can be irritating. There can also be some awkward clicking with certain effects like the pitch shifter and some of the other unusual ones when the dials are turned so you can't go too crazy on them. Another thing is the display is so small that its sometimes hard to know what it indicates, you will need the help of the diagrams in the back of the manual to help which will be extra annoying live.
All of these points plus the delay between effects point towards it being better suited for studio work rather than live but if your just using your own presets in a traditional effects loop it won't be a problem. I'm giving it a good rating because I work in a studio and it packs in all the settings you need.
The manual seems alright. I don't really need it its pretty easy to work the Virtualizer out the parameter name of each dial (threshold, speed, depth etc..) appears on the little digital display when their turned if you don't know what these mean then study the manual.

I'm into Warp records (Aphex twin, Chris Clarke, Squarepusher, LFO) and Hip Hop and generally dark electronic music and this is a really good way of getting your hands on nearly every effect there is in a hardware form and is good for a harsh digitally styled sound. The Virtualizer has some pretty convincing distortions they have a good sound to them, still nothing compared to the real thing of course! And I found some of the modulation effects good like the resonator it sounded mad on a fat break beat. I'm not to sure about the compression it was doing the job but not as good as my proper compressor, and the other dynamic effects were similar...a bit weak. As some people have said a few effects sound noisy at first but after some high frequency damping and level tweaking it sounds better. I wasn't greatly impressed with the reverbs (and they were some of the noisy ones) still better than software but a bit to distant and subtle for my taste even my Alesis Nanoverb has nicer reverb much more dense and clear I don't use much reverb anyway.
Also the 8 bit effect doesn't seem to do anything apart from add a nasty hum in the background so don't expect any MPC60 style beats! Maybe my ones defective?
I'm giving it a 7 because the effects are so usable and theres so many of them 71!! Its very versatile I may even get another one even the pitch shifter is adequate and can be pushed to create some very unusual sounds!

Some of the buttons and dials seem a bit flimsy, the power button actually slid inside the front panel when I pressed it in but its ok now. I would gig with it but one major bash on the front and you could loose all the flimsy plastic buttons!
Just because of the problem with the power button I'm giving it below average.

I haven't needed them.

I've been a musician for 12 years and making dance/hip-hop/electronic music for 8, as I said i like digital sounding dark music and this is great for really over the top effects I would get another one if it was stolen! I really like the modulation, distortion/amp, delay, the filters aren't amazing. I don't like the psycho acoustics yet but will find a use.

My Stuff:
dbx 266xl
Alesis Nanoverb
JSH Mini-Echotec MX-99
Micro Korg synth
Akai s3200 sampler
Behringer UB2442FX desk
Art Tube MP valve preamp
ADK A51 mic
Alesis Monitor Mk2 monitors
Alesis RA300 amp
PC Pentium 4
M-Audio soundcard
Edirol UM-1 MIDI interface x2



You can get some pretty impressive sounds, it a great creative tool and for the price its amazing!

I red the manual before I got it and it helped alot. With a few hours of experimenting I got it down pretty much. Mine was set for mono in and it threw me for a loop thinking I had a bad cable. Editing patches is a snap. Find a preset, Press edit, Twist knobs till you find your sound, press the store button, Select a user # 1 > 100, Then press store again. Boy isnt that tough.

I was using a couple of Alesis midiverb and Microverb. Theyve worked flawlessly for at least 15 years. But moving from 16 bit to 24 makes all the difference in the world. I tried it in the stereo effects loop on the mixer but mine does have some noise. I now have it between the mixer and power amp, After my compressor/gate unit. The sound quality is good enough and each effect has EQs for trebble and bass, That I may dump the EQ's I have in my rack. Got mine set nearly at zero across the spectrum, so why not dump them and save on some sound quality? Also about this noise problem I see in these reviews.
The problem here is if your input signal is weak and you cant get the signal input LED's to peg at least half way you will have noise in the background. In other words you need Line level Input with a good clean 5DB signal or so coming into it. Many Aux and tape outs have low level signals. Also I noticed on some of the presets the trebble setting are on max which induces noise. Try Zeroing the bass and trebble and see what it does. With presets like the pitch shifter there is some Digital sampleing noise but most Shifters have this. Its the nature of the beast. Also on settings that have Gain adjustments, The presets are also set pretty hot so back them down a bit. All in all this is a great box for $89. You cant even buy one stomp box for a guitar for this much. My onee Alesis was $250.00 used 15 years ago. An amp loop may not be the best place for this. You might do better Putting it in front of the amp and adjusting the mix for the presets so they are about 10-30% wet 90-70% dry.

I'll find out

Cheap enough to buy annother if it quits.

I do recording and live. This box is pretty multipurpose. The delay betreen the settigs is a non issue for a pa rack. The sound man can switch between settings between songs without hearing the scroll through the register which is what it was intended for. I have rack units for my guitar amp and I only tweak the Echo for different rythums or kick chorus or flange on. I have floor boxes for leads and stuff and wouldnt use this unit to take their job. This is an excellent unit for the money and expect to spend alot of creative time using it.

Pretty easy to use, even without manual.

Editing patches is plain simple with 4 assignable sliders with switch that changes assigns.

Manual... welll, there is... I'd think it would be more descriptive about the effects in general, because it remains pretty much enigmatic about sound- though I'd say it's to not disapoint the user...

...because this is HOT! Really transparent, with great reverbs (and it's not combination of early and late reflections, each reverb algorithm sounds really, really different) and fx (phasers, flangers, filter effects, pitch shifting, even vocoder- though monophonic), good- but not the best chorus (Yamaha's better). Distortion and tube emulation... well, this is 100$ thing, at least it has something like that...

I'm using it with simple setup (ProMix 01 as the main mixer, Behringer UB1222FX Pro as sub mixer) as one of main fx units. In balanced setup it doesn't give any amount of noise that would be unacceptable (64dB S/N).

Well, you can't have everything, so the only bugger is that it has just two inputs which can be either configured as stereo signal or 2 mono (like for vocoder- but hell I would be glad to find just another to make carrier input stereo)

Hard to say, didn't broke so far, but the thick case doesn't look very convincing.

N/A

I'm into electronic music and soundtracks, and I like my Virtualizer. It just fits there. Of course, hard to compare it to t.c. electronics, but definitely it's a good replacement for Yamaha or Alesis units (if only this chorus was slightly better)... It's cheap, so if stolen, I'd buy a brand new one...

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it? It was was very easy to call up the presets and get good initial sounds

How about Editing patches? After reading the section in the manual on doing this, it was easy

How is the manual for it (if there is one)? The manual is useful

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with? Line 6 Flex3+ amp, Fender Strat, Schecter 006 Elite, Behringer FCB1010 floor board

Is it noisy? On what settings? I didn't notice too much of an increase of noise. Some is to be expected with the addition of an effect.

Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? Very bad?
I was mainly looking for a pitch shifter, and for the price, was very happy with the sound I could get plus the flexiblity - 4 part harmony including myself. Phaser, Reverb and Delay all sounded good. There is an Auto Wah preset that sounded terrible. Not sure what they were thinking there.

Would you use it on a gig without a backup? Can't use during a gig - See below for reason

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they? I actually had to use customer support and they responded both times via e-mail within two days. Not bad

Overall Rating? I only had one problem with this unit and it is for that reason that I had to return it. I could not use this as an effect for my guitar in a live situation. When changing presets via midi (FCB1010) there is a 1 - 2 second delay which cuts out the signal completely! The manual states that this happens when manually using the jog wheel to select presets, but to have this delay when using midi control to select presets is a bad design IMO and makes it completely useless for live playing, unless you can tolerate 1 - 2 seconds of silence when changing effects or are not planning on changing the effect from start to finish of the song.

I was very disappointed at this because, for the price, it had some nice sounds. I give it a 5 for not making it useable in a live setting.

BUT don't get it if you want to control it using Midi
You HAVE TO uses the Behringer foot controler and nothing else
I have 5 midi racks and 2 foot controls ( ada, digitech, art, line 6 ) None can send the RAM channel 1 that the manual askes for

SO when you change presets using the foot controler all my other gear goes up and down the users banks and presets
BUT all this does is go up and down the factor presets ( totally useless cause you can't edit or save those presets ) AND you have no access to the User presets UNLESS you have the "Behringer foot controler"

BEWARE it put in my studio now I wanted it for my guitar rig tho =(

Sounds good but a small pause between changing presets

it's working right now =)

Bad this is the second version of this product and I'm sure they have got many emails about the midi issue MAKING you BUY the Behringer foot controler is just BAD in my book

pretty BAD unless you
A- have the Behringer foot controler
B- you want to control this thing by hand

Ease of use: 9
No problem getting around without the manual.

Editing patches: 7
It takes a few minutes to figure out how it works, but that's fine.

Manual: 7

I thought this unit was just what I've been looking for. It sounds great and it has a pretty good pitch shifter (wich was what I was looking for) so I was very happy when I hooked it up and it sounded great. It has a very nice price tag too :-)
How ever, after a while I was getting very pissed! I just couldn't make it work with my other midi stuff.
I use a Line 6 Flextone II HD wich has a midi out jack to controll external devices. I have the big floor board wich conects to the footcontroller input. So I can't use another midi footcontroller. I don't want too either, I really like the Line 6 floor board, best there is! So, after contacting Behringer and numerous instrument stores here in Sweden I found out the "midi problem" with the Virtualizer. I just can't belive why the hell they did it this way.
Ok, you get 100 factory presets and 100 user presets. But you can't reacall the user presets via midi unless you got a footcontroller that sends "midi control change messages". So "midi program change messages" are not enough for this unit to switch between presets.
It says "With full midi controll" on the front panel!!!!
You can also restore the factory settings on the user presets within seconds if you like. So what the hell is the god damned point of having the 100 factory presets. They could easily solve this midi problem by just changing places with the two banks! The factory presets can be usefull to give you something to start working with, but if they cause this problem, I don't want them.
The only reason for Behringer to do it this way must be to make people by their latest version of the FCB1010. However, I personally think that, if that is the case, they will not sell more FCB1010's, they will just sell less Virtualizers. Wich is bad for both Behringer and the customers.

>How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?

Started work immediately, and blew me away at once.

>How about Editing patches?

Intuitive. No problem. If you need more than a four-character display, then pay more. I got it right in about trwo minutes. Read the manual.

How is the manual for it (if there is one)?

As good as it gets - no manual can get it quite right in terms of what you already know. Some homework required, if you don't know the audio business ('Balanced input? What dat, huh?') but Behringer take the trouble to explain why certain effects, e.g. the Vinylizer, are included: not everyone is aware of the postmodern take on pop music - why anyone would WANT their stuff to sound bad/dated!

Do you know the firmware revision number? Has your unit been upgraded?

No

I've had it for 36 hours...

>What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?
Home studio. Mainly singers, or live instruments (violin, flute). I don't do popular music. Bought it just for reverb only... but wow...

>Is it noisy? On what settings?

Only where 'noise' is reqired because it's fashionable. Nil noise where you don't want it,.

>Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?

This is a subjective area, but to me, they are great. Far better than I expected for the price.

>What amp are you using it with?
Headphones and stereo playback hi-fi amp.

> Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they?
Pierre Schaeffer isn't on MTV, so 'pass'. I don't do 'take-away' music. But some of the Behringer's effects sound like the pop-culch crap my sons watch/listen to, so if you're into throw-away music for the iPod nongs, this thing will do that, no problems.

>Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? Very bad?

See above re 'subjective'. The 'Major 7' thing is amazing - allows one vocalist to sound like a 1940s close-harmony quintet - and you can shift the parameters during performance, if you're slick... woooooo.

Thurey sixz hoiurs in the studio.

I don't do live music, but my budget is too small to buy a new unit every month. My Behringer gear (two mixers) have never failed me in five years, I expect the same from this God-box.

Pass. No contact required.

>What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
Electro-acoustic, musique concrete. I'll be pushing this to its limits and feeding some wierd stuff into it. Good match because it has flexibility but is also transparent in operation,l

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
Since 1965. DAT recorder. Revox B 77 Open Reel recorder. Neumann and Rode mics. Sorry, no guitars, drums, or amplifiers.

>If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
Same thing.

>what do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
It does everything I expected and more. I love the vocalizing possibilities. HAve been working with microsound, and want to explore the human voice's capacity for glitch.

>Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
Others were just way damn too expensive. Art Music composers do not have rock music incomes.

>Anything you wish it had?
Headphone socket, but then, you need a mixer to drive it anyway, so...

>Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?
Will enhance all my projects by adding extra dimensions to my own conceptions.

>Anything else you'd like to share?
Culturaly speaking, the unit is a kind of sardonic comment on the empty and imitative nature of current popular music - 'Like, who do you want to sound like, dude? Okay, like, push this, like, button. Cool! You sound, like, just like them!'

How 'bout sounding like yourself?

The Behringer has enough knobs to sound strange and different and, like, be, like, creative. Dude.

I give this a 7 for a few reasons:
1) The knobs are great and intuitive. No nonsense there.
2) This is sound related, so I'll mention the quality below. But as to that, it can be a bit difficult to configure useable sounds.
3) I don't like the display--I don't like having to configure parameters with a manual in hand to find out whether or not I'm tweaking reverb room size, saturation, or delay time.

Reverb and delay sound good. Chorus is okay. Pitch modulation is horrendous. The overall sound is too digital--there's no dithering at all (please look up dithering on google as it applies to digital recording).

I would certainly find this a dependable item

Customer service responses are very quick and friendly. Great support.

I play guitar, mostly rock and metal. I can't say this would be a good item, but if you're just looking for reverb and delay, and a decent chorus, here's your thing. There's some really interesting effects that may be useful, maybe vocoder, but I haven't messed with it much.
I've been playing for 14 years, I think. I don't think I would buy this item again if I lost it

Just a note to people who say it's noisy - check the +4/-10 level switch on the back. If it's noisy, you may need to change it to -10.

The manual is a little vague - assumes you have previous experience with effects units, compressors, etc. Once you're used to Behringer manuals, it's okay, but I can see it must be very frustrating to new users.
Don't try and read the manual without the thing infront of you wired up!
Getting to grips with the 4 to 7 parameters for each effect is a bit of a bind, and initially you have to keep refering to the manual or supplied information sheet, but you soon pick up the common ones.
Combined with previous knowledge and the params sheet, it's very easy to use. 9/10 for the sketchy descriptions and omissions from the book.

Using this in live and recording situations, there has never been any issue with noise. It's usually connected between an Aux Send and a regular mixer channel. We do tend to use +4dBu level (studio) rather than the 'home recording' level, and only use balanced connections. As with most kit, using unbalanced will probably be painful if you don't manage things properly and keep an eye on levels, using lower levels increases the noise ratio anyway (It's a physics thing, rather than a product thing).
The effects quality is everything I'd expect from Behringer. The important effects all sound very good - the silly ones aren't so good, but for the most part you don't need those to sound perfect!
The unit is grounded, so it may be an idea to check that all of your kit is grounded, or that you have a ground lift box in there if you have issues with hum. Don't lift the power ground on the FX unit - the power supply filter will pull the case up to half of mains voltage. Also, don't drive it too hard. Digital clipping sounds awful.

Other than headphones, Behringer seem to have the reliability thing pretty well sorted out. It runs cool, its chassis is the usual Behringer stuff - nice heavy grade front plate for mounting, sturdy base plate and metal case. The audio connectors are all bolted to the case to reduce the risk of damaging the solder joints to the mainboard.
Although a backup is on the shopping list, it's not a priority. Never had a Behringer unit fail.
Regularly gig with no dedicated backup, if we were desperate for a reverb, there's one in the mixer anyway.
If it weren't mounted up properly, it might not fair too well gigging, as the front controls are somewhat vulnerable. Look after it, and it'll last you a very long time.

Not had to call Behringer about this unit so far.
With other issues I've had with their stuff they were extremely quick and helpful if it was a known problem (took 3 days to get a replacement EPROM shipped airmail from Germany, for free).
If you happen to discover a new bug in their software, beware. They really don't like being told there's something wrong, and will send you copy/paste solutions to a variety of different problems. Sending a step-by-step 'how to make it go wrong' email usually makes them acknowledge the problem. (Fixing it doesn't appear to be a priority unless lots of people complain, I think)

Overall, good value for money so long as you know what you are doing. Done 40 or so events now, using Behringer mics (as well as Sure's and a few others), mixer (fx2222pro), feedback destroyers, crossovers, companders, patches and processors into Carlsbro amps and speakers. Sounds good every time.
It's gone on the gigging insurance - if it gets damaged or stolen, we'll definately buy another.
Would like a tap feature for delays and reverb, and that LED display could be swapped for a higer resolution LCD to make selecting things a little easier. Perhaps ability to save various samples (Like "Time at the bar!")...
Love the fact people are amazed at the overall quality of sound, then really amazed when they see all the Behringer kit hooked up!
Tip: Laminate the 'Algorithms And Parameters' sheet so it doesn't end up stuck to the desk at a venue in a pool of spilled beer.

Very easy to use. I slapped it i my amps loop, began spining knobs and pressing buttons and was actually getting great sounds by behaivig like a monkey.

The second day I actually spent 5 minutes looking at the controls and figured out it was really damn easy to use. You may need to reference the manual for the specifics of which parameters you are editing and what they do but it's still rather simple.

The manual is good but lacking in some areas and over explanatory in others. Behringers manuals seem a bit confusing at first or at times but are pretty informative and cover most the bases well.

The sound quality is AMAZING.
I use this processor in my Crate heads effects chain and place it before my Digitec RP-80.

My tube emulation is unfucking believable now. I mostly play metal, blues/jazz...basically metal rhythms and fancy leads.
I can now put my amps gain on FIVE. It's the only gain I'm using. For what this unit did to my tube emulation and amp modeling, I would have bought it if it didn't even do anything else.

It seems to have an expanding effect even with the processor switched out. My bass is MASSIVE now and I no longer dime it. It joined my gain by being reduced to 5 too.

I was always able to clone ANYBODIES tone, but since most the greats use tube I always had a bit of a rougher sound because the level of gain I needed to match their sustain and note depth. NOT ANYMORE!!!

This unit is superb. An unbelievable amount of effects including a sonic maximizer, de-esser, tube and cabinet simulators.....basically it takes the place of a DOZEN units.

You might as well buy 10 of these rather than an eventide, no joke. They are that useful AND impressive.

Solid State guys, here's your answer for toning down your gain to smooth over your sound while maintaining optimum sustain, clarity and tonal density.
To top it off it even looks really nice too. All metal chasis with a polished steel face and black knobs and printing.

I've only had it about a week.
It is built like a tank though and THANK BEHRINGER no wall wart power supply. Just a nice heavy duty 3 prong removable cable. That's right, it's actually grounded.

I've dealt with Behringer USA several times and they are great. Very quick to respond and very informing.

Hopefully I never need servicing.

I thought the V Amp was the best piece of gear a musician could own. After this unit perfected my main rig, I'm no longer certain about that.

I can not stress enough how with no effects even in use, this unit maximizes your sound. I LOVE being able to set my gain at 5 and have a dead on Vai sound. I had it before but it just was never as smooth due to needing so much gain. Now when I emulate one of the greats tube tone, I have the smoothness they all do.

It's got every feature you could ever want. There's nothing I wish it had, it has everything!

If it dies I'll send it in under warranty, if it gets stolen I'll be really pissed and have to buy another one some how.

There's not much point in getting any other processor on the market. It's about the cheapest one around but best of all it does the most. Rather than buy a noise reduction unit, a sonic maximizer, a de-esser or whatever, buy one of these and get it all. It even has a voice canceling effect......

Very easy to use. You need to know what you're doing though, cause the manual won't learn you what certain things mean.

Very good quality. If you know how to use it with a mixing desk (via aux send & return), it's easy to avoid the noise (increase the "send" level and decrease the "return" level, and - magic - the noise is gone). But you should do this: for the reverb on the DSP2024 the mix should be on 100% so you use the dry sound from the sound source directly, and only the wet sound from the DSP2024. So you can also use the stereo dry sound (useful if you don't have stereo aux sends).

Solid rack. 1-unit 19" nothing else to say about it.

Never needed them. Behringer makes solid hardware, no doubt.

Good EFX module for an incredible price.

fairly easy. good thing too because the manual sucks. unit deserves a 9 for ease of use, but, gets a 5 due to the poor operator manual.

for the price, this is easily a ten any way you look at it. the chorus is o.k. and the reverb is o.k. they sound similar to the digitech chorus and reverb to me. but, it is loaded with tons of great effects other rack processors do not give you such as the nice fuzz and the panner. it smokes the panner in my t.c. electronics g major if you can believe it! the delay is good, but,pretty much standard run of the mill. there is no " dynamic" delay like my g major. however, the echo really kicks butt after a little tweaking. there is a sh** load of other cool stuff but, they are to numerous to mention here.

no problems yet. one thing to note is the strange wiring set up in the back. there is the 2 right and left "inputs" on one side and the other right and left "outputs" on the other. pretty easy huh?.....wrong! when plugging in the stereo inputs on the back, one channel will go to the left pair of inputs and the other to the right pair of inputs. same with the left and right "outputs". took me a long time to figure out how come it sounded like shit. but, once I figured it out, all is well. sounds great!

an easy ten for the price and it is now a "must have" piece of equipment in my rack not only because of my favorite the panner and the echo, but, because there are tons of great effects my g major nor my lexicon have. also, I have been playing for 32 years now and have a half dozen guitars and I am using a line 6 pod pro into a mesa boogie 50/50 power amp into 2 4x12 cabs in stereo. I mention this to establish some small measure of credability because I feel compelled to hammer the last guy who posted a review about the virtualizer and said it was noisy. there is no noise and sure, maybe some of the effects are not world class but they are not bad and there are several that are outstanding. which is more than I can say for some units I have owned that cost more. this is a great unit and I was pleasantly surprised when I heard it. I would buy it again in a minute.

really easy

the noise is horrible. I use it in a chain of effects pedals, which youre techincally not supposed to do, but when i hook it up how its SUPPOSED to be used the noise is ever WORSE ! the noise is pretty bad. You can only hear it when its behind distortion though. The effects kick ass, and theres lots, but the noise makes it unusable for anything really serious, unless you want to make sure you play things constantly while its on. I will have to get by the noise by either using it clean, or make sure when i record i dont let it sit there blank while distortion is on. Should be too hard, but its a pain in the ass. buy this unit if u want cheap good effects but dont mind a headache trying to figure out how to deal with the noise.

dunno. had it 2 days.

dunno

i would give it a 1 cuz of the horrible noise, but the effects are relly cool and good quality and there is lots of em, so i give it a 2.

and anyone who thinks its something im doing, its not. I have a degree in Engineering physics. its the device. its fucking noisy.

Pretty simple to use, although half of the effects are just numbers, and without the sheet explaining what the FX are, you could be lost. Not quite as easy as the Lexicon processor I have used, but there is about a $500 difference in price.

Sound Quality depends on what you use it for, as a guitar FX processor, its pretty good, the Tri-Fuzz distortion is extremly customisable, and of course, with any distortion or most FX on a guitar, the noise is not a problem.

As for use in Pro Audio, the noise on the unit, even when bypassed is annoying. FX are extremly useful and I have not run across any that don't do what thier supposed to.

Like all of the Behringer equipment I have used, its built like a tank, knobs are nice and solid. Never had a problem with the two I use.

No idea on pro audio. Friend had a guitar amp (Blue Devil 112) that had the transformer go out, sent in in in early august under warranty, its now near X-mas and still haven't seen it yet.

Information on thier website is outstanding.

Great unit, except for the noise. I work with a lot of Behringer equipment, and of all of it, the noise on this processor is the only problem I have had.

Here is all the behringer equipment I use:

1@ MX9000 24/48 Channel Mixing Console
2@ DFX2024P FX Processors
1@ T1952 Tube Composer
1@ DEQ2496 Digital EQ
2@ MX4600 4 Chan Compressor/Limiter/Expander/Gate
3@ MX4400 4 Chan Compressor/Limiter
1@ GEQ3102

Happy with all of it

I've been playing guitar for 36 years. Unfortunately I am not as experienced at all this new state-of-the-art, technical, digital, MIDI, stuff. I love the sounds I can get out of the DSP2024P . . . when I can finally figure out how to get them. It's probably very easy to use compared to some of the other contraptions available. But for an old timer who's just used to plugging in a wah pedal and fuzz tone stomp box, this doesn't fall into the "easy" catagory. I've also had the Behringer FCB1010 foot controller for about two months but so far I'll be damned if I can figure out how to get it to "control" anything. We use the Behringer 16 channel mixer in our band also. I love Behringer products, I just wish I knew more about this shit. Their manuals are obviously written for techie gear-heads who eat, sleep, and breathe this crap. I just like to kick back and jam without trying to concentrate on which knobs I have to adjust or which buttons I have to push. Simple is better.

I'm running it through a Fender M-80 Chorus head with a 412 celestian cab. So far I've only played hummbuckers thru it because I like hummbuckers. But I'm sure single coil's would sound as good as single coils can too.

I'm using it to gig and do not have a back-up. It's a question of budget more than confidence in the equipment. No complaints yet.

N/A

We cover everything from AC/DC to ZZ Top, 70's, 80's, 90's and new hard rock and metal. I can get every sound I need out of this thing. I know both the DSP2024P and the FCB1010 have capabilities far beyond anything I can do with them at this point. I'd probably replace it. For the money, it's very sturdy, clean sounding, and professional. I've used a lot of the "toys" and gimmicks that are in the same price range. Those are mostly gone and nearly forgotten. I'm well satisfied with all the Behringer equipment I've bought.

The manual basically misses the point on how easy this unit is to use: Pick a user patch; whirl the big knob to pick the effect, whirl the little knobs to tweak the effect. Move a knob a little and it announces it's function. That easy. I've owned a Digitech S100 and the Behringer is twice as easy to use.

I gave it a 9 because the manual, while good at how to hook it up, what effects can be used for, does not explain much about how to use the unit. It would get a 10 if the manual was better.

I use this unit mainly with guitar. I have a Parker and use a Boss Gt-6 for effects on the magnetic pickup signal, and will use the Behringer for the acoustic side. It has really good reverbs and delays, and reasonable chorus and phase shifters. It is amazing at this price level! I looked at guitar pedals, and this blew them away price wise...matter of fact I could buy TWO of these things and still come out ahead, but I won't need to.

I've tried plugging a guitar directly into the 'in' and also feeding the unit through a mixer (the way it should be used) and both were fine. No noise.

I own other Behringer products and I expect this one to be as good as the rest.

n/a

I'm using this thing in all sorts of ways. I use it as an effects unit for guitar (which is why I bought it) and after playing with it, use it for keyboard, vocals, mixdowns (home studio)......... EVERYTHING. Very cool device. Very great value. Other effect and music electronic makers should be getting afraid very afraid of Behringer.

It took me a bit of fooling around, but it finally kicked in. Then I was off and running. You've just gotta think like a German for a few mins.

Now who in hell wrote this manual? Jezz, if you don't want a headache don't even get it out. Just go figure the unit out yourself. Besides, Behringer tech support here in America is great (see below)

Just incredible. How in hell does Behringer make a gizmo that sounds like this for $200? IMHO, The most remarkable performance with this creature is the delay. I tried Lexicon MPX, 300's and 500's, which of course sound wonderful. But the Behringer does everything the Lexi's do and a WHOLE lot more. You can set the left/right channel anywhere from .01ms to 10 full secs. Each with sustain/bleedoff and a great gate. Just amazing.

And regarless of what that other reviewer said, you cannot outrun it.

Some of the features are toyish, like the octave bender etc. So use it for what it was meant for, reverb, delay etc.

Did some fool say it was noisy? Give me a break. There's no noise whatsoever with this unit. The processor freaked out one time as I was trying to see how many knobs I could turn at the same time, and that sounded weird. But . My Roland's will freak out also if I jerk them around like that.

Well, I guess just fine. I spoke with one guy who gigs with one, and he said he bought two - and used one for a hot spare. But he's never had to drag it out in the last year after nightly use.

My dog peed on it a few weeks ago before I put it in the rack, so I took out the circuit board and tossed it in the dishwasher. Put it back together and it works fine. I figured for $200 I could try that or go get another one. Don't do this to the case or power supply. I blew out the knobs/rectis with an air hose.

Oh - while I had it apart I noticed some rudimentary construction. Must be made by some Chinese from China or something. But so is my TV and it's been working for 10 years non-stop.

Just fantastic. Go ahead - give them a call if you don't believe me. I called these guys at least 3-4 times trying to figure out this unit. Each time (and I mean EACH time) they seemingly dropped everything and answered all my Q's. I think they're in California, but that's probably because they've never seen Texas.

Those guys know their product line, one of them even emailed me a few .doc's he drew up HIMSELF - which explained this gizmo a lot better than the Germans ever attempted with that manual-thingie they included with the unit.

I've got a little Vamp-2 also, and again I just cannot complain about anything.

It doesn't say "Lexicon" or "Roland", but then again I didn't pay the price either. Nowhere close! I use Roland synths with great success, and let's face it, you can't beat Lexi delays. But I've also got about $1000.00 extra in my back pocket that I saved by purchasing the 2024.

Strange, but I always get ooohs and ahhhs when people hear it, then they go look on the rack and scratch their heads when they see it's a Behringer.

Its such a simple box to get used to when you have figured out the basic controls and how they interact.

I use a Fender fat strat, Martin acoustic and Marshal AVT50.

The sound quality is excellent. I mainlly bought it for the reverb and delay; both of which are sublime, either on their own or patched together. The rest of the stuff is entertaining, infinte reberb with the pitch shifter is worth playing with. Chorus, flanger, phaser etc as ever sound silly. In relation to the 'noise' issue, the unit itself generates very little - I ran it through a ardvark usb soundcard via a laptop to test this. The problem is due to electrical interfence from guitars, amps & leads. Single coil p/ups are pretty crap in this department. Also the proximity of the unit from the above, as well as adjuisting the 'setup functions' will help considerably. The fan from my Marshall alone regularly has the dead complaining. . .

Soon find out

I think I would get another if it was stolen, got broken or eaten by the dog.

It's not terribly difficult to get to grips with this machine. However, some of the things could be more intuitive. If onyl the manual would explain things a little better. But nevertheless is not the worst manual that I've come across with. If you're used to any kind of processor you'll find this easy.

The setup I use is Ibanez RG7 620 - Pod Line 6 - Behringer (in stereo) - small amplified monitors.

The sound is very good. I would dare someone to come forth with a better solution at this price range. In fact I double dare.

It improved my sound enormously. And the fact that it's not a Guitar processor it's actually for the better. This thing comes with some sweet algorithms to enhance your sound and your soundscape. Any sound, guitar's too. All of the effects that are normally thin in multi-fx processors are very good with this thing. Now don't make it into something is not. But I would recommend this piece of equipment to anyone. Yes, even studio users.

I've had it for a very short time, so I really don't know. It has two things goug for it. It's German-built, and looks very solid. It's like all equipment, just treat it nice. I would say that it probably feels more at home in the studio that on stage, but with a nice rack I don't think there should be a problem.

Never dealt with them.

I play mostly progressive rock, and I'm a gearhead that records at home quite a lot, so this thing is a match made in heaven for me.
I've been playing for 15 years.

If it were stolen, I would get another for sure.
Loves:
The sound, the price, the looks, the construction and the features (especially the sound maximizers).
Dislike:
Patch changing times. Its really no good if want quick patch changes in the middle of a song. It's NOT a guitar Fx Processor anyway, but it does take a LOT of time. The display could be better (ie with a better resolution), but I guess is all in the choices you have to make to get this good in this price range. The manual sucks BIG time, it's not completely useless but let's face it... it sucks. Bad form on Behringer because in Manuals, it's not really the material that is made of that counts, it's what's in it, and it cost Behringer to write a bad manual as much as to write a good one. Although it's not rocket science it's not exactly easy as well.

Wishes:
I wish it had a BETTER MANUAL, and also a better display.

Sum it up:
I'll say this, bring me a better effects processor in this price range and I'll stand corrected THEN. Until then, this is it. This is the best you can get.

The noise issue:
If you have a super-studio, or REALLY pro-quality material maybe you could get some noises from it. I've had ZERO noise with this thing. If anything, my overall sound just got quieter. It is not, by any means noisy.

fast and easy to get the fx im loocking for,manual is a piece of crap but this unit is very intuitive user interface ,and about the midi problem ...i have the foot controler of behringer so i can acess all user presets whitout problem

rocktron chameleon + dsp2024 great combination ,delay and mods are good ,reverb is great to me very realistic and dense and the pitch is very good for me (better than digicrap out there)

good

very good to me,fast

i already used others fx modules and i have to say its cheap but very good unit i recomend

There are eight parameters for each of the seventy-one algorithms
six edits and two bands of equalization: spread across four knobs. I
find I spend a lot of time flipping between menus, but at least
editing patches is very intuitive.

The manual is well written and easy to read. I only use it as a
refernece though, as many of the parameters are either listed on the
front panel of the device or can be brought up on the LCD with a tap
of a button.

Many reviews chew the DSP2024P out apparently for being noisey, but I
have yet to come across a noticable noise floor in any of my
recordings due to this device. I chain the DSP2024P between my mixer's
Behringer MX802A: Tape Out and my audio card's [M-Audio Audiophile
24/96 Recording Interface] analog inputs to add psychoaccoustic
effects to my multitrack recordings and modulation to samples I
intend to employ later.

I think this sort of application is where the DSP2024P really shines,
though the filter, reverb, and chorus effects are also excellent.
Much "warmer" and more versatile than any software VST or DX effect
I've heard.

I give it a nine because only God is perfect. Hah!

The knobs are secure, and the chasis is comprised of solid aluminum
plates and plastic body. It looks very sturdy and doesn't ever get too
warm. I would definately use it in a live environment as I intend to
do so.

I haven't ever required to contact Behringer. I've never ran into a
problem with their products... but I give them a ten for providing
versatile products at a low price. That's the best kind of customer
support. :)

Overall, I think this is a wicked product. Compared to my buddy's
Lexicon device [the model I can't recall at this moment], the DSP2024P
sounds just as good if not better. But I guess it s really just a
matter of application.

I record mostly electronic Industrial/EBM junk. The DSP2024P's
psychoaccoustic effects help me achieve the tone that is very "in
demand" and I don't regret it's purchase whatsoever.

Fantasic value.

The unit is fairly easy to use but it has too many parameters to control. I'm not sure that all of them make that much difference.

The noise level is very low if you use balanced connections and have a strong signal to feed it. If you don't-at least in my setup-I can't say I've ever heard a noiser processor or electronic equipment. I could very well hear the hiss more than 20 feet from my monitors in my unbalanced setup. With a balanced setup, I'd have to stand about 2-3 feet away from the monitors to hear the slight hissing sound. As for the effects quality, I think they are ok. I've heard better of course, but I've also heard worse. Mixing with a console is the way to go on this unit as mixing internally with the processor also adds noise. Though there seems to be many effects on this unit, the sounds are real similar in many cases.

I haven't used the product long enough to know. This is my first time to try a behringer product.

Haven't had a needed to contact them yet

Overall the product is ok. It's definately is noiser that a lexicon or tc electronic product but what do you expect for the price. When factoring the price in, this product is actually a pretty good deal. Perfect for those on a budget who want an effects processor. Be warned about the kind of connections you make, however. Unbalanced ones in my system were simply noisey.

Very easy to edit but the manual don't explain the FX parameters extensively, you have to try to know what certain knobs do to the FXs.

The unit has a serious MIDI problem you can read in the 'Overall Rating' part.

My guitar setup is:
Me->Samick PRS copy->Dimarzio Evolution Pu'ps->Marshall DSL50+ DSP2024P (FX loop)+->4*12 cab.
My mic setup is:
Me-> Shure SM57 -> Audiobuddy preamp -> DSP2024P -> PA or Soundblaster AWE64

Well... the unit is noisy! but when I play my amp loud the noise stays at same level, so in a gig I wouldn't care for the noise.
When I use it for vocals the unit picks every interference in the world (I can even hear some mars transmisions). With my Soundblaster 64 the noise it's almost 20% of the signal!!! Anyway I haven't tried to connect the DSP to something with balanced ins/outs, that should reduce the noise a lot.

Summary: For my amp it's Ok.

NOW, ABOUT THE FX QUALITY:

Amazing!... the FX algorithms are incredible! Reverb, Delay, Chorus, Pitch... all the FXs are excellent (except for the LoFi and the Vinilizer because they need to sound bad :)
I give it a 10 for effects quality!

I have it for a couple of months so I can't say much... but I think it's solid.

The customer support sucks!
I've mailed Behringer once and I received a mail two weeks later with totally unuseful information. I asked something about MIDI and they send me the pitch shifter chapter from the DSP1024 manual!

I really love the effects quality. The problem with the noise in my amp can actually be an amp design problem (the master volume pot sets the volume from the preamp section and that can be a problem at low volumes).

You can use two FX at the same time for each channel but you can't mix every effect, only Chorus+Delay, Chorus+Reverb, Reverb+Delay, Pitch+Delay... etc.

You can't tap the delay.

You can't control the master volume... that sucks.

There is a serious known MIDI problem. You can't change stored users presets if you don't have the Behringer MIDI controller!!!
Yes, you can read another review where it's explained. I'm trying to build some sort of device to send the correct MIDI messages and let me change the user patches using my MIDI footswitch.

Anyway the only thing that bothers me is the MIDI problem.

At first, I was surprised how easy it is to use, I was expecting something far more complicated. I am just a hobbyist and this is my first external effects unit, so I was not sure what to expect. As for manual, I thought that something must be missing there, but it's really about that, that's all you have to know.

I have an Yamaha SY99, Kawai K4r, some microphone, all going to 4-track minidisc Tascam 564 and also to C-Lab Atari Falcon MkII with Cubase Audio Falcon. I can hear some noise, but I am also not using professional cables etc, my room is already full of cables and it would be surprise if that wouldn't show somewhere, but I think that the unit itself is quite noise-free. I have it connected via standard jacks, in manual they mention that the second way (symmetric?) is better. Effects themselves are very good, I can't imagine what more could I expect.

It will by used only in my room, probably, but although Behringers are saving money everywhere but the sound itself, I believe it can fall to the ground and nothing bad will happen.

It's just a little thing, but I like the intro in manual - sounds like Behringer really takes care of us and also enjoys its work and products. So, I became a member of family. :-) On-line registration is nice.

I am just having a good time with my setup, something worth publishing is still going to come. I want to achieve something like Alan Wilder's Recoil projects, or Nine Inch Nails, and I also like long evolving and changing sound landscapes, distortions and other strange stuff - I love to play with sound more than with the music itself. :-) This is my hobby for 6 years, not counting some old hacks with computer trackers etc. Yes, I would buy it again - it has a great price even here in almost eastern ;-) Slovakia. Comparing only to onboard FX of the wonderful SY99, they both sound excellent for me, just DSP2024P is newer and has more features (dynamics, psycho-acoustics). Maybe color of display could be red or blue, current one is a little bit too bright for me.
And because I have also my CD and cassette-players connected to mix, I can listen to any music with this unit and I can tell you that even with some older material, this thing can make it sound much better. So much better, that when you try to bypass the FX after some time, you must say to yourself "man, this is awfully weak sound". :-)

Easy to use but complicated to use the sampler!

This device has excellent quality in effects but I must quote that for it's quality of effects it has quite alot of background distortion which ruins a recording.

I can depend on it alot cause the hall, cathedral effects are good enough to use as reverbs.

Behringer is the first best company that help you in giving advice hand oppinions that I ever came across.

The improvements that should be made:
-Reduce distortion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-DIFFERENT SCREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (too bright, hurts your eyes after 20 min of using!!!)
-Improve sampler, able to store more than 5 samples.
-Less fragile BUTTONS!!!!!!!!!!!

As with everything else in life - especially music - one cannot expect a miracle to pop out of a box while sitting back. That said, this unit is extremely easy to use once you get to know which button/knob does what. Just play around with it using its presets and once your familiar with the different possibilities, you can start tweaking and creating your own presets to suit your music and personal tates. The manual is generaly good, but useless if you decided to use one of the unit's ''compression'' capabilities and didn't know a thing about ratios and thresholds.

Basically, I use this unit in different spots. For pieces requiring slight reverb, say, on the piano, it is patched into the mixer's AUX SENDS/RETURNS. To tighten-up a piece I sometimes use it as a mastering tool of sorts like the Ultramizer, except that in this role, the Virtualizer sounds and performs far better! Furthermore, no, I don't plug an electric guitar into the unit! This unit is for mixdown or for mastering.

Yes, I can depend on it. No, I do not play live with it. This unit was not made to play live with. It is far too slick and elegant.

I've e-mailed the company both in Germany and in Canada on several occasions regarding questions that I had on a particular unit I was planning on purchasing and got an answer back only once - two weeks later!

I record modern Tango and film music, and have been playing for the past 20 years. I enjoy the fact that each preset can be edited to suit one's own style. Some users here say that the reverbs are horrible. Of course, marketing-wise, the original presets were done that way, but that is why the parameters are editable. No one said you HAD to use the Behringer presets! That's the beauty of music, guys! Do I like it? I am getting a second one!

Being a newbie to multi-effects units this one took me a while to understand and edit. After reading the manual and checking out the postings on Harmony-Central it became easier. I was confused about the 71 internal effects algorithims as opposed to the 100 factory presets and 100 user presets. Once I understood that all of the presets were made-up of the specific algorithims I was OK. Behringer lists the 71 algorithims in the manual and then gives you a seperate sheet describing the presets. I wanted this unit for vocals and I run it through the Auxs of my mixer. After understanding the hows and whys, it became easy to use.

I use it for vocals through my mixer direct to a cassette recorder. I have also set it up on the effects loop of my amp and in additon have run it in stereo with a second amp. For vocals it offers all that I want. The Deesser, reverbs, chorus and delays sound great. This unit has so many options that I doubt if I will ever use them all. Very quiet, haven't noticed any noise at all.

Metal rack unit. Seems to be well constructed. I use it in my studio so it won't be going anywhere. Runs very cool, have noticed no hot spots.

I did email the company because of my confusion that I mentioned in the first question. Their technical people tried to be helpful but it was a posting on Harmony-Central that finally set me straight!

We are a jazz/standards group. Been together for over ten years. Just started recording in earnist the past year. I did some research before buying and was looking at the TC Electronic M300, Digitech S200 and the Lexicon MPX200. For the price this unit seemed to have all of the features we wanted at a very good price. We would buy again if lost or stolen. We are now looking into buying a Ultrafex EX3200 to complement the Virtualizer. We have been very happy so far and would recomend this unit to amyone needing vocal effects support.

THE FIRST THING TO KNOW ABOUT THIS UNIT IS THAT IF YOU'RE A GUITARIST, AIMING TO USE IT WITH A MIDI PREAMP AND FOOT CONTROLLER, THERE IS A FATAL FLAW IN ITS MIDI SETUP!!! (see below)

Othewise, it's a great bit of kit. It's easy to use - the knobs make editing very simple, especially for tweaking sounds "on the fly". I really like the way the letters in the display change to give you a hint which parameter you're editing. A very clever use of a limited display. The manual's pretty good, too.

This is the first version of the software and as I say, there's GLARING fault which I really do hope the good folks at Behringer will incorporate into a software revision RIGHT NOW!!!

BEHRINGER PLEASE NOTE!!!!

The unit offers a very generous 100 factory presets and 100 user ones. The idea is you tweak the factory presets, then store your own settings in the user locations. The trouble is there is no MIDI input mapping facility and if you have a midi controller or guitar preamp that only sends patch change info (and not MIDI controller info, too) you can only access the factory presets. THIS IS JUST PLAIN STUPID!!!

I'm using a Marshall JMP1 preamp and a RFX Midimate foot board - both pretty much industry standard items, certainly at price-point where the Virtualizer sits - and I can't use them to access the unit's user presets when I change patches on the JMP1. I bought the unit to use with this rig and nowhere in Behringer's website or other info does it tell you that it won't work properly with a setup such as mine!

I e-mailed the guys at Behringer, who are really quick to respond and very helpful. They explained that the only way to access the user presets was to use a preamp or a footswitch that sends MIDI controller 0 information before it sends patch change info.

How many such units do that?
Answer: Hardly any at all!
Who makes such a unit?
Answer: Behringer - but it's only the latest revision of their FCB 1010 pedalboard that does this trick anyway!!! (Is it being a little too cynical to suggest they've designed the unit this way to encourage people to spend an extra #100 on their own foot controller? Maybe, maybe, not - but either way, I don't need a big, heavy, sophisticated unit like the FCB1010, with expression pedals, switch jacks and all that shit! All I want to do is change patches.)

My frustations with MIDI patch access are all the more annoying because this unit sounds GREAT! Certainly much better-sounding than the Quadraverb it was to replace....
The reverbs are dense and realistic, the mod effects are very deep and useable, the Leslie is very realistic and the tremelo sounds like an old tube amp's. The "vintage" effect simulations like tape echo and jet flanger are great, too and one of these days, I'm sure I'll get to use some of the more "mastering-oriented" effects like compression and lo-fi. The amp simulations and distortions are OK, but I'm sure most guitarists will have amps and pedals to do this still anyway, so I won't complain too much!
It's pretty quiet - I can't understand whythe other guys are griping about it being noisy (maybe they don't understand how how to set up their levels properly!)
I'm very much sold on this unit. Were it not for this stupid MIDI problem, I'd probably buy another one, so I could use one just for reverbs and another for all the other stuff. (*That's the only drawback - you can't use too many effects at once, but at this price, who's complaining?)

My only other gripe this that when using the data wheel to change patches, there is a delay of a second or more before the new program kicks in - and sometimes you hear a burst of a noise that sounds like the unit expelling data from the previous patch. This doesn't seem to happen with MIDI patch changes, though so if I resolve the other difficulty, this shouldn't be a problem.

Built like a brick outhouse, with a built-in mains supply, so it should last well enough - all my other Behringer stuff certainly has!

Behringer'ssupport guys are very helpful - they respond quickly and intelligently. There's none of this "paste in a pre-written answer whether it's relevant or not" shit you get with other makers.
As to whether they actually LISTEN to the complaints of guys like me and act on them, remains to be seen. I hope so, as I'm, a big Behringer fan and would hate to lose faith with them

This unit was intended for use in a live guitar rack rig with a JMP1 and a Valvestate 8080 power amp (I'll probably upgrade to a tube amp when I can afford it, though for now the 8080 is fine.) It's used for nu-metal stuff with very low-tuned guitars - reverbs, echoes and med effects for clean, arpeggiated stuff and short delays and sometimes a gate for heavy, distorted riffing.
If it was stolen or lost, I'd look very carefully at what was out there in the price range with a more useable MIDI spec,but at some stage I'm sure I'd buy a one of these, used at the right price to put in my rack, too.

This is a brilliant bit of kit - especially for the money. It sounds great,looks good and with the exceptions I've outlined, works well. If they managed to make it a bit more midi-friendly to systems such as mine, I'd give it straight tens all down the line.

Not bad, but it have very limited display and they don't use it very well. It's realy a sucks to find patches. The unit should have at least the diods for effekt types when i preset browsing mode.

The reverb is crap. But I did not expect anything else. The pitch shift is realy good. And the modulations is OK. And the reason for
bying it. It's controled by midi so it can be used for instrument
playing.

Is new and feels OK. No problem yet.

They respond quick on e-mails but they never can say anything about
delivery.

I mostly do things on my computer. This and a DBX compressor is
my only outboards. Nice to have a effect unit that is doing thins
in realtime instead of that windows crap.

Single effect, multiple parameters! If you can grasp the concept that if you make smaller turns while experimenting with a parameter, the unit is more controllable to adapting to the sound that you are searching for.

NO Noise. I have used this unit with both a series and parallel effects loop, into a modeling amp (V-AMP) and with stompboxes. As long as you switch the unit into the proper dB setting on the back switch, the unit is able to adapt to many scenarios of use.

Rock solid, just like most Behringer semi-pro gear. My only problem is with the plastic knobs. They are cheap and will eventually break. I am considering replacing all of them soon.

Quick response. Always responsive to my inquiries.

Mix this unit with a BBE Sonic Maximizer and you have all the effects loop items that you would need to produce a very solid, non effects overkill, type sound. If you start with good distortion, use the reverb from the Virtualizer and correct the timing with the BBE. Presto...killer professional sound.

Good effects for the price. Better overall sound that with more expensive units. I buy for quality, not the name of the hour.

Couldn't be easier for a rack effects processor. You turn knobs to change parameters and push buttons to change the function.

Ok, I don't what the last guy is talking about. I have heard absolutely no noise at all. I use mine for keyboards (Alesis QS-8 and Korg MS2000R so far), and I guess maybe it just depends on the equipment you put through it, or he has bad luck. Either way, knowing the quality of Behringer's equipment, noise should not be expected. As for the effects, every single thing I've heard has been good, great, or amazing. No mediocrity or anything bad whatsoever. The reverb is amazing. All the modulation effects are the best I've heard. The distortions have great potential, but a lot of that depends on the sound you're putting through it. The filter/eq's are worth the entire 150 dollars considering it's a midi programmable unit and you can't get that in an eq for that low of a price. My only gripe is that it isn't a multieffects processor. It's either one effect at a time, or you can choose between a few different combinations it will allow. HOWEVER, for the price of a good Boss pedal (which I've never been impressed by) you get to choose between a multitude of great sounding effects. You can basically by another one and still be spending less than a lexicon or similar high end multifx processor but have more choices and have just as good sounding if not better effects.

As with everything else they make, it's metal, and solid, and could last through everything.

I don't know. Their manuals are so explanatory and their equipment so reliable that I've never had to contact them, even though I own this effects processor, their midifoot controller, patch bay, new digital mixer, headphone amp, the smaller 8 channel mixer, and composer pro. None of this equipment has ever had a problem.

My band plays it's own style of progressive, electronic rock. If it were stolen or lost, I would cry and then go buy another one (I'm going to buy another one anyway so that I have two). I'm pretty sure that for the price, this is the best effects unit ever made. In the end, I would like to have a four space rack case dedicated to four of these. One for eq/filter, one for enhancer or exciter, and the other two for any other effect I might want (reverb, modulation, distortion...take your pick)

Whoever used a multi-fx before will quickly understand how it works. Editing is very simple, you can edit up to 7 parameters of an effect. The manual is o.k. It could get deeper, though. The unit is supposed to be upgradeable, but since it's pretty new no uptdate has been offered yet.

I had planned to use it as an multi-fx device for my Sierra Crown gearless S-10 3x4 pedal-steel and regular 6-string ('72 Tele custom). My amp is a Fender HotRod deluxe.
There are so many fx in this thing and I haven't the time to describe them all. The best ones are: Tremolo, Reverb, Chorus, Flanger, the EQ's, Resonator. The worst ones: Amp simulator, Exiter, Cabinet simulator. But the worst thing is: It's so noisy that it's completely unuseable (unless you are in Manowar). There are some "lo-fi"-fx in it and I wonder why, because with this amount of noise EVERYTHING sounds lo-fi... If this concept would have worked, it would have been the best thing since bread came sliced. But plugged in I though my girlfriend would fry some steaks for dinner. Well, almost :)

The reverb really is exceptional. Far better than my old Alesis Midiverb.

It also has a 5-second sampler that's a nice gimmick. But you can't store the samples, so... who needs that?

It looks pretty sturdy, I wouldn't hesitat to take it with me on tour without backup. But since it goes back to the retailer tomorrow I'll never find out.

Had no contact with the company.

As I said: If the concept of a device where you almost find everything would have been made perfect by eliminating the noise - great! I talked to another person today that used an older model of this thing and he told me that he experienced the same noise, too. It would have been great with my style of music. (From alt.country to rock). I play for 4 years now it this was my first attempt to use a multi-fx, though I used to own an Alesis Midiverb a couple of years ago for homerecording. I guess I'll never buy anything again just knowing the specifics...