Behringer DSP1000 Virtualizer

$69 used purchased in 2006 Have it for 4 months now.
Presets are good, simple to use just spin the dial very slowly to match the number listed on the left hand side. Editing is the only draw back on this unit. It is simple to do but not convient. The download manual was striaght forward to understand. Be aware very difficult to set the mix dry to wet (Dry/Wet). Almost impossible! this where the unit points drops down.

Can I get the sound of my favorite artists maybe not. But the setting on number 4 preset is awesome for acoustic piano, does not matter what sound module a person uses. It beats back Tc electronic M-one on this preset. It stays on this setting for any piano(sound module) routing from my mixer. I don't know if newer model dsp2024p sounds similar, but if it does and corrects the editing problem, it's a winner in my book.

Yep reliability is killing behringer. Good cheap products but can not keep up with the everyday use. My dial was the first item I needed to be totally cleaned out. Erratic numbers been displayed. Striaght from the store over the weekend I had to repair/clean it. Only two integrated cirtcuits internally very simple design large 19" rack defintily not needed. Never had to call behringer 4 months still going strong. You will need a backup effect if performing live.

Never had to call behringer tech support. 4 months still going strong. I personnel have a number behringer products. From used to new. Generally can stand up to normal work shedules not busy ones.

If it goes down I will purchase the newer model (dsp2024) for $99.00 brand new.

Midi studio non professional, I have been in the computer midi business for 14 years including beening a voyetra representative dealer in the carribean (early 1990's).
Style of music playing- jazz , light rock, pop rock , soca, fusion, old school disco

Seems like a bigger hassle then it really is. Just read the instructions or play with it for awhile and you'll get the hand of it. In my opinion Behringer always is lacking in their instruction manuals... but again it really isn't that hard.

Well It can either sound really good... or really bad. Some patches have a nice crisp clearity to them while other sound like noisy mud. After some editing you can usually fix alot of it though.

Biggest sound quality problem is the silence when switching patches. Somewhere between .5 and 2.5 seconds depending on the patch. It just cuts out for a second while loading up the next patch. I dont really worry about it though as I use it for a vocal processor and I rarely ever change patches while playing. I dont recommend it as a guitar effects unit though because of that delay.

going to have to say around 5 for reliability.

The silence when switching patches is annoying.

It might just be me but there is a VERY noticable difference in both sound quality, volume, and sound of the effects when you depress the +/-db buttons in the back. The effects seem to not work tomuch when it's depressed and it doesn't send any signal out but when it adds the gain it puts to little into the effect and tomuch to the output.

Also it seems to be overheating alot these days. I think my unit may be broken, hence those last 2 problems, or maybe I just need to go back to using all balanced XLR cables again?

Not sure... my guess is somethings broken because it didn't have these problems till they used it live and after a few shows is when it got noticed. Ohwell... for 50 bucks you can't complain right? I dont mind running the mics dry for a few weeks till I get a new one.

Haven't actually contacted anyone at behringer yet. I figure since I bought it used for so cheap it doesn't matter that it's broken... I'm just going to buy a more up to date unit when I order my "BEHRINGER ULTRA-CURVE PRO DEQ2496" eq.

If it just didn't have the silence when switching between patches then it would really rock. Fairly good tonal clarity, low noise, and capability to make some good effects. The presets are OK but really not what I needed so it took a little editing to get it going good.
The weak little pitch shifter is funny as hell too... for the most part it's useless but it makes for interesting sound effects.

My suggestion is one of the newer units... assuming they fixed the silence when switching patches issue.

If you take the time to read the manual (10-15 minutes) and have a half hour to spend testing it out, you can master it. I use it in 1200 person theater for our sound system, and it has yet to under perform us in any way. The only difficulty is getting used to the display and slelction process.

This product has an amazing sound quality. I use it with a mackie board and amp, and I almost want to have sex with the system. Out equipment totals to 30,000 dollars (bout in 1994 new) and this DSP does everything we need.

I have never thought of buying a back up for this piece of equipment. Once I knew how to operate it, it never gave me a single problem.

We have bought abou 3,000 dollars of equipment from Behringer, including their Ultracurve Pro, and we have yet to have a problem. At one point we attempted to order an equalizer from them, and they cordially told us that out ultracurve already did that. They are an amazing company.

We use the Virtualizer for almost everything. From concerts, to plays, to musicals, and it is very useful for making our sound that extra bit cleaner. I HIGHLY recommend this to both professional and amateur sound techincians. It can easily store up to 100 preset effects. It is also easily adjustable for eitehr home or studio use, with an accompanying optional computer program.

If you are a keyboardist this unit is a breeze...if you are a guitarist or vocalist (like me) there is Hell-to-pay. Once you understand how awesome the editing is you'll absolutely love it! Best thing to do is jump in with both feet and learn to swim as you go. I tried to read the manual and do everything step-by-step and it was a waste of time and precious brain cells (don't have many left). Just go for it, you'll figure out how/what/why by closing your eyes and listening as you edit. Once you master it you'll realize that you wouldn't want it any other way!

I am using this through the send/return of my mixboard so I try everything through it and I must say that everything I recorded sounded VERY amateurish until I plugged this incredible machine into my mixes. Live guitar is jaw-dropping...vocals so insane you'll want one permanently installed in your larynx (although it is expensive!) This is THE BEST MONEY I HAVE EVER SPENT (period!) Thank you eternally Behringer! I am forever in your debt...$120 (I would have been pleased at three times that!)

See my review of the Modulizer for explaination

See my review of the Modulizer

My only problem with this unit is that I could use about 5 of them (that's including the one for my larynx) and for some reason I have an aversion to purchasing the same exact unit several times over (ok, I'm cheap! There, I said it!)

The unit is very easy to use. Editing parameters are a breeze thanks to the effects & parameter table on the top of the unit. I have it hooked up to my keyboard, and I mainly use it for live worship (church) applications and I needed something exactly like this, especially something easy to change parameters between songs to suit my needs. The manual was written nicely. The one and only fault of this unit is you can save your own programs but you cannot recall them.

The effects are AWESOME!! Reverbs are all great and realistic. Delays are superb. Chorus & Flanger Effects are breathtaking. I sometimes use flanger for organs and pads. And the tremolo is great for organs, and electric pianos. Pristine sound quality!!!

I've had it since November 2000-almost 7 months now and the thing is still 100% reliable! Solid construction!! I wish I had a case for it anyway.

Never dealt with them.

Although I bought it for only $110, this thing is worth a million bucks! Again, I play contemporary worship songs in my church (I also play in my youth worship band) and it definetely suits my needs. I think it would suit almost anyone's needs! I use it with the church's Roland RS-5. Even though this Roland has effects on it already (actually 10 more than the Virtualizer), Behringer still is better when it comes to effects. If it were stolen or lost, I'd buy it in a heartbeat (when i'd save up for it; hey, I'm only 16). This processor allows me to set the mood for worship by using the brilliant reverbs and flangers, and brings "punch" to my organs by using the tremolo. Finally, an affordable effects processor (under $150!!) that doesn't have to sound like one.

This unit is easy to use the factory presets and sounds excellent but editing is a...well...haven't figured it out yet! The manual is very well written considering it's a translation from German especially (Great job Behringer!) but editing the patches does test your skills

Here is where everything counts! Once I set it up properly I was so impressed with it I would have expected to pay no less than 3 times this amount minimum! I do wish that I could "stack" the effects but at this price I can buy several units and run them together. They also have very affordable mixers (i.e. the 1804) that incorporates this unit internally for more flexibility. At this price in one word...it's a Miracle!

Built to last. I have done some things accidentally to this unit that would normally have meant certain death and the unit protected itself internally from my unwitting abuse and I have experienced absolutely no side effects. It's solid to say the least.

I have had several dealings with Behringer and their equipment (all of which is outstanding!) and although they are BURIED in orders they respond as best they can. An excellent company that I FULLY support and recommend to anyone looking for HIGH QUALITY, DEPENDABILITY, and incredibly, even unbelievably low prices. Have not had to deal with them for any malfunctions what-so-ever on any of their equipment. I even purchased a different unit that was "CRUSHED" in transport and the unit STILL operated perfectly. I was so impressed that I kept it.

I use this unit for all styles of music and it works excellent on everything from processing to guitar loop effects to vocals. I have a home studio and I am an avid collector of guitars so it goes through the gauntlet of usage. This unit is my ALL-TIME BIGGEST BANG FOR THE BUCK! If you pass up owning one of these units at this price you're only cheating yourself. BUY IT!!!!

The controlpanel is pure digital and no potentialmeters, the parameters are very wide of range and have enough options to configure your sound. On the website of behringer you'll find a software-deepeditor with midi. This is very useful for saving presets and stuff

I use this unit in my studio, the reason is that this unit is cheap and has a great sound-quality. The processor is 2x24 bits intern and 20 ad/da convertors. I think the quality is very great to create realistic reverbs. The chorus and flanger are also great, the vocal distortion is rubbish i think

this unit is very solid and well,..i never got any problems with it

not tried

I play every kind of music,..and mostly i use the DSP1000 for clean. And sure it out of comparishment to a $5000 unit. All said and done, i do like the nice realistic reverbs

It is not so easy to use, as it looks, factory programs are not at reliable groubs, I all the time must started with edition, select efect and than parameters, what worked, but there is no reason to have chaotic set of programs. Also is complicated to work with numbers wuithout clear represenatiion of parametres, tu edit some numbers instead of real predelay time...

Sound quality is good, but maybe to polished, it is better than my Midi Verb III and better than Zoom 505. Quad is maybe better, if I will not speak about Lexicon 90. Reverbs are good, delays not so, it's to complicaded, Vocoder is very good (unfortunatelly I don't need it) chorus is unnatura like other fxs.
But hum of transformer is so big, top metal plate resonate wit 50 Hz. Mounting of transforemer screved direstly to the richt side is very unprofessionla like reparation in soviet army.

No problems

Dosn't worjk, where I asked about mounting of transformer and how to solve the problem, they never answered

I do altearnative accoustic music with opera voice. Useful for voice, strings and percussions. mayby to polished. Be careful to add to much, final sound is not noisy as with Alesis Verbs, but to chemical.
So sound could by more natural, but for price is reliable and quiwed good. But noise from transformer is too loud, that is uselees to use this machine in tzhis kind of music, because all the time I wanted to look fro hum source at recorded meterial.
One time I used it in gothic industrila, for this kind music is perfect, voice is mysterious, metal percussion also, and in loud music hum of machine didn't disturb you. But finally I return it to thes distributor and desided to use my old Alesis Verb before I will find some second had Lex MP100 or Digitech Quad. Good for to stylized music (gothic, glam, synthesiser), net so good for accoustic (to atrtificia). My machine was not useful for my accoustic music.
I use Alesis Studio 12 R rack, RODE NT1 and C1000S mics, DAT Sony, old ADAT (First serie).

Relativement facile a mettre en service.
Mais des que l'on cherche un peu plus loin aux niveaux des parametres, on est bloque par un stupide afficheur a 2 leds.
Pire, chaque effet possede ses propres variations (32) non explicites sur mode emploi (qu'il soit anglais ou francais). Donc, on varie au petit bonheur la chance ou grace a son oreille (loin d'etre objective)

Utilise comme auxiliaire sur un tascam 688, le son est plutot propre.
Que l'on injecte des guitares, une bar ou des synthes, ca sonne plutot bien.
Les reverbs sont bonnes mais tres difficiles a regler (voir plus haut)
Je me sert beaucoup des couples flanger/reverb et chorus/reverb.
A faible dose le flanger et chorus sont excellents.
Tous les autres effets ne sont utilises qu'a petite dose ou lors d'experimentation. Mais putain, quel dommage c'est afficheur!

RAS

support correct mais pas tres pro

Bon produit a condition de rester dans des conditions d'utilisation toutes faites.
Neanmoins, il garde sa place dans mon home-studio du fait de ses qualites intrinseques (proprete du son et qualite generale)
Cependant j'evoluerai bien vers un tcelectronic m-one

Ok lets see here, nowhere does it say clearly how to run this off midi... do it takes a little figuring out. Running the effects is really easy, just spin the jog wheel... now editing the effects is another matter as you have to know which button means what for every effect, but this is clearly stated on the card thing.

Ah, the sound quality is pristine... dosnt kill the tone... I havent yet used all the effects... but the reverbs sound exelent, the pitch shifters dont make your signal go crazy. I didn't particularly like the chorus though... and the distortion does not have a control for the ammount of distortion... like a gain knob would be nice... lol

This thing is solid... I can't see anything going wrong with it. I'v had it for about 2 months now... just racked it the other day... took the non racked abuse fine.

Havent had to deal with them yet, and thats a good thing :)

I think this will work for just about anything, for the price that you will pay (about $150 US) I don't think you can beat it. Its an exelent unit for the price.. sure it wont stack up against a $1000 reverb box. But its a high quality bit of gear. For the discriminating musician on a budget I would recommend it.

once you get used to it and read the manual, it gets easier to use and
with 100 presets, you wont have to keep on editing the same patches over and over anyhow
set up your effects before you have to play or practice its not easy enough to do on stage in a hurry

i find that it amplifies a hum from my amp's pre-amp, but not noticeable in any playing situation
the effects are pretty good quality and interesting
i use this in my guitar rack with a dedicated digital delay and only use it for chorus on about 3 songs, but have recently taken to using its reverbs just for a change from my spring reverb
it is a pretty good sounding unit and the only thing i would add are a phaser and a good noise filter(but noise filters should be added to every unit anyhow, not just this one)

effects should enhance your sound slightly and not become your sound!
if it ever broke down while i was playing, i would simply change to patch cords and bypass the unit completely, no big deal!

n/a

i use this in my fender amp's effect loop, and play rock music
i use it just for a few effects(chorus,flanger and a kick-ass leslie cabinet simulator)and like the sound so far
for the money i paid, i can't complain even if i have to upgrade to a better unit in a few years, i will always find a use for this
it would be great for multi-track recording, i will have to try it this way

It's easy to get the basic effects going good, but like it was said before, anything beyond that is a bit harder. But I like the jog wheel, it makes it way easier to use.

I think this unit sounds really good. The reverbs are pretty smooth, the pitch shifter is cool, but I havent had a chance to use the vocoder yet.

Well, I havent had it for a very long time, but it seems sturdy enough. And so far, the effects are all pretty consistant.

The behringer site (www.behringer.de) was super helpful. They have all the manuals, presets, and a bunch of other information. They also have a remote program for the unit that lets you control it from the computer (but I couldnt get it working with my cruddy computer...oh well).

Overall I find it to be well worth the money I paid for it. It's a definate step up from what I was using before.
If I lost it today, I would buy a new one.
I wish the pitch shifter went up and down 2 octaves instead of one, like the digitech. But it's all good.

Very easy to use for the various effects (assuming of course you have the cheat card handy!). Have not yet started 'programming' it, so can't comment on that.

I did get a bit confused when trying to use the L + R channels individually though -- but then, I really should look at the manual I guess.

Purchased mainly for vocal processing and have found it to be rather nice. Compared it to the Lexicon and could not hear a justifiable reason for spending 120GBP more I'm afraid. Just using the Vocal effect with a judiscious amount of reverb is really rather sweet when using through the Aux loop of Behringer eurorack desk into a standard stereo amp. The gated reverb certainly gives a nice approximation of the quoted Phil Collins tune, just need to be able to add a little delay as well!

Have also used it on my Gibson LP->Marshall VS80R (via effects loop) amp and got some nice sounds out of it (*much* better quality than my Zoom 505 effects pedal, but obvious not as many possibilities). The vocal distortion is fairly ammusing if you use it on guitar. As for noise, well, I cranked up my amp and it was negligable, so I'd have to say again that it is *much* better than a Zoom 505.

I *will* gig with it once I've 'programmed' it and bought a MIDI foot controller, but am thinking of getting something else for guitar processing.

n/a

Stuff like Texas, Corrs for the vocals really. If it went missing today, I'd buy it again, if it went missing in a couple of years, well, you know...

It certainly helps on the vocals front, so I can't complain really. Not great for guitar as only provides a few effects, but what it does do, it does well enough for home studio use (and live I hope to confirm soon).

Good value if you can't afford a 450GBP TC M-One unit (which I also heard in comparison to this unit, and if I had the cash, would have bought)

Wow the people that made these things pretty much put a whole computer in there. There seems to be millions of things you can do here, I mainly mess around a little bit with the factory preset effects but there is so much more that I really don't have time to dedicate to analyzing all the special functions in the huge manual. It's not to hard to use to get the basic effects but when it comes to all the editing and multiple button pressing I'm totally lost.

This thing sounds beautiful, 99% of the effects sound awesome, better than the pedals dedicated to those certain effects. I have never had a problem with noise, lots of feedback, buzz or hums! Another great thing is for a $200 or so rackmount multi-effects unit you get STEREO effects. I run it on my crazy guitar rig which consists of a Carvin DCM600 600 watt amp powering an Electro-Voice 30" speaker (yeah thats right a 30 inch speaker)to the left and a Peavey 18" on the right. Because of the difference in powering, obviously the EV 30" needs a good deal more power, you can use effects like "Magic Echo" to test out your volume output for each side to make it even.

As for the bads, some of the reverbs are just crazy, like getting a reverb pedal and turning it way past its limits, with these you can't hardly hear what's being played. A few of the effects don't seems to work when turned on, not any of the main effects just a few odd ones that don't allow any sound out (which might have something to do with my guitar setup, who knows) and a few of the effects like the oh so cool "Talking Dead" effect don't keep the regular volume. Before you put this effect on you better turn your amps volume down about 1/3 of the way cause this effect is LOUD!

Never had a problem, just about every pedal or processor I have bought has had a slight short or occasional shut down or something odd like that, this thing seems to be made to last forever.

E-mailed them once to get some basic info on the product before I bought it and they were prompt (less than 24hrs.) to respond with excellent information. The Behringer website is great too, more information on the products than you'd normally need.

I play lots of heavy music, good ol' KoRn and Deftones, Static~X etc. This thing is really cool, even with some crazy distortions, super bassy speaker, and a high powered amp the effects on this thing shine through. I got this thing at the end of my chain of crap, starting at a Samson Wireless receiver to an Art Xtreme Plus pedal to a Dunlop CryBaby Wah throught Arion stage tuner to Art stereo dual 15-band EQ and finally to the Virtualizer. Then as mentioned before it goes to my Carvin 600 watt amp head to a Peavy 18" and an EV 30"(check it out at http://hometown.aol.com/warezdeth/myhomepage/sale.html) I would recommend anyone without a ton of money to spend and looking for a great effects processor.

The unit at first look seems easy to use, but the only way to handle it is to read the manual. The reason is because there are some button combinations that hallow you to change more parameter than the simple buttons. Even the display,in editingmode, does not help you to understand on which parameter you are working on. So without manual there's no way to understand how to set the parameter's sounds of the unit.

I use the DSP1000 with Marshall JMP-1 preamp, Marshall mosfet 9000 series p.a.(2x200W) and a Marshall 1960a speaker. It sounds good, with no noises and hum, even the factory programs can easily satisfy someone without addictional editings on parameters. Delays and echos doesn't give me much satisfaction but I think flanger,chorus and reverbs are pretty good. Using it on live stage, i have some problems on midi changing programs, because passing from one prg to another, in some case the unit have a delay of at least one second where no sounds is played. This mean that changing program with my midi pedal unit i have a relevant and hateful total lack of sound.

I don't have any problem about this.

never dealt with them..and I think I will never need

I play rock style such as Aerosmith and I think this unit can help my stratocaster to have a nice sound. The DSP1000 is a good unit if you don't need to use several efx simultaneously, is not expensive and give some nice tune to my global sound. I think nothing comparable with other multiefx like Lexicon, Korg, Roland or Alexis(even on programming and editing sounds) but, if you have not much money to spend, the DSP1000 it's ok!

Easy, actually too easy, just one or two parameter to edit with little results. The display is really poor. I'd prefer knobs instead of buttons.

I use it with keyboards, drum machine, samplers,... the unit is noise free but honestly reverb are not really credible, I never have the impression to be in real space. Delay is shit to edit. (value, feedback) only two parameters. Distortion is not that good, it sounds much more like an extreme EQ. Chorus -not good - no comment. Flanger not easily adjustable- rrgh. The only reason why I keep this unit is only because there is a Vocoder effect which is quite good as it depends totally from the sound you programm with your synth (not with the Virtualizer)

Yes it is reliable
Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
yes but i would not use it on a gig as I mainly use it for vocoder and disto.

never deal with them. I've sell most of my Behringer equipment except the Dualfex and the Mixing board.

I'm not sure you can really use it for professional project,
I'm seriously thinking of buying a dedicated unit for reverbs (lexicon,Roland), another one for digital delay (Korg,Roland)

The unit is pretty easy to get the sound you want. Just set what percent you want when you first turn it on out of the box, and fire away. Cahnging patches is easy, and the manual is well put together and helpful. Some people have problems with behringer stuff, due to their method of editign by pressing combinations of buootns, etc. However, I have always had Behringer stuff and am used to that by now. It is something that requires some adapting,but easy to get used to.

I used to have this in my guiatr rig, it is running in my PA system. It is run through a Mackie 32-8 board, two virtualizers, two feedback destroyers, an ultracurve EQ, and two autocom compressors, along with other misc. EQ's. It works exactly as it should. Some effects have a little noise, but my dbx noise gate takes care of that. The verbs are fabulous, the delays flawless, and the others are good, but mostly useless. The gated reverb is a great drum effect, and preset #6 is a great way to sound like the guy from the Poltergiest movies yelling 'Carol ann, lead us into the light'. Why that would be useful I don't know, but I like to play with it during sound check to drive my engineer crazy.

I never worry about this thing breaking down. We have no backup in our rig, and I feel no need for one. It has never given us any kinds of problems, and I don't know anyone that uses one that has any complaints.

never dealt with them... no problems with any of their gear

For the money, this is a great unit. The reverbs on the Lexicon MPx100 are a little better, but the other effects don't compare. A great value for the money.

Out of the box, the virtualiser has some great sounds, with only some changes needed to suit my application. It is however, quite difficult to edit patches - because there is only a 3-digit LED display - you have to keep your manual handy at all times (so you know what parameter you are editing).
The manual is one of the best I've seen in a long time. All featuers of the unit are well explained - apart from telling you how they developed there reverb algorithms, they expain some basics on digital to analogue conversion (in case you didn't know).

I'm using two of these in my live guitar rig, I've found them to be excelent in terms of sound quality and usability. The big plus with the virtualiser is transperancy - it doesn't kill the great tube tone of my fender prosonic. The tone is exactly the same as it used to be, but now I've got acsess to a bit of reverb, chorus, delay, etc if I need it.
Don't buy one of these if you want to get 30 effects at once, it won't do it. The virtualiser has either 1 effect in stereo or 2 effects in mono (one left one right). Thats why I use two - one for stereo chorus, flange, or leslie; the other for stereo reverb and/or delay.

I've been giging with it for about 5 months now, no problems so far. I'm not expecting any either - it's realy well made.
As with any peice of equipment, get a decent rack case, don't throw it around too much, - it should last for years....

Haven't needed any yet.

I've been playing guitar for about 10 years now, so i've played through a lot of different gear - these virtualisers are easily one of my better purchases. They do everything I need and more, I don't think I'll ever need to get rid of them.
One last thing - before you buy any effects, make sure you are happy with your core guitar sound (ie get a good guitar and a good amp), no amount of effects will make a bad amp+guitar sound good.

Once you read the manual, it's easy... can be a bit tricky at first... 2 buttons pressed together do something etc etc... but it's quite simple once you understand how it works...

Good cheap reverb... and alot of fx for the price... I'd recommend this unit, but I think people really should spend a few more $$$ and get the Lexicon MPX100 which is thousand times better!

reliable!

This is a good effect unit... altough I'm not quite sure I'd use that as a primary reverb... very useable tough! Get the MPX100 instead imho