Product: Behringer DSP1100P
Price Paid: 80 (Sterling) used
Submitted
07/07/2000
at
10:48am
by
Anonymous
Ease of Use
:
10
Works as described from power on! Although I bought it secondhand as a parametric equaliser to target some problem room modes, it has been very effective when I have used it in its intended live sound role.
Saving patches is very easy but probably unnecessary unless you use the more advanced features like the single-shot or fixed filter modes.
The Manual is certainly up to Behringer's usual precise but dry standard.
The free software is quite decent. Although advertised as a Beta version it worked (unlike the Ultramizer software I reviewed last year), and is useful for some applications like my room modes problem... The gain and phase meters are a little misleading due to the effect a series of filters has on the quality of a sound but they look very nice.
Sound Quality
:
9
Used with SM58, 8 channel mixer, 2 X 400Watt and pair of high power 2x12" speakers and smaller vocal pa.
No noise problems but strongly advise staying well below clipping levels. Running at -10dB adds very little noise but avoids overdriving the DAC.
The DSP1100P will tackle vocal mic feedback in any reasonable situation and allows vocals or speech to be compressed for clarity without howling feedback in the gaps. The ideal application is one channel per microphone (use mixer's channel insert or main output on a smaller vocal pa.
Take care if used on a mixed signal, i.e. a monitor mix with vocals and other instruments. The high sensitivity setting needed to kill vocal mic feedback means that sustained notes like lead guitar, bass, etc. will be identified and cut! This isn't a fault of the unit.
TIP With 10 filters on each channel you can spare one to use in fixed mode as a high pass filter, i.e. to take out the sub-100Hz from vocals. With a small vocal pa this can improve the headroom without losing as much timbre as with a "bass" control.
It's not perfect but it's certainly good and a bargain at the price!
Reliability
:
10
I own three Behringer units including this recent acquisition. I have never had any problems with the others and don't expect to.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Overall Rating
:
10
Ideal product for a live band. With a limited technical knowledge it removes vocal feedback in all but impossible situations.
My main use is to suck out music from the narrow bands that correspond to my worst room nodes. In a small music room cum home studio there's only so much bass trapping you can do and this unit helps, even though it is tackling a time domain problem (reverb) with a frequency domain solution.
I would love to have had this for the last band I was in. Some venue acoustics make feedback a continual annoyance for the audience and band. At the price I paid the DSP1100P is a very helpful gadget to hold onto and I will certainly take it when doing live sound work.
