Behringer DSP1400P Ultramizer Pro

I have the 1424, which I believe is essentially the same except 24 bit. This unit is a 6 in 1 stereo processor inclusing a quick and dirty 2 band compressor limiter, an exciter, stereo enhancer, bass enhancer, and a gate called "denoiser"
Of these the first 3 I mentioned are the most usefull, the bass feature can be safely turned down to zero and never touched again. . .

Although intended as a mastering unit, I have found it more usefull on the front side of things. I have it in between the pre and the board for vocals, drums and some guitar parts. You get a nice limited singnal with a little sparkle on the top end. especially good for snare drum

It has quite low self noise. i was impressed by that.

it is solid state. . unless you get a lemon you won't have any trouble.

n/a

Considering the price this is a very handy little box. I could see a studio on a budget getting a few of these and using them as cheap channel strips for each drum mike.
As a mastering device it is also usefull for mixing down a quick demo. especially for louder generas. . rock, dance etc. .
For your final mastering you might want to stay with your computer. . as it is easier to fine tune the settings on a good mastering plug in.

this unit is very sensitive has to be fine tuned very carefully.more is less on settings.dont over do it.you have to use your brain.overall good unit.editing is a little tough but can be done.use your ears.behringer
manuals are a little hard to understand read carefully.if you are a quick start nut you will have problems go slowly and listen to what you are hearing.ovrerall rating for ease of use 7
jim r duncan downhome sound studios ina il usa

using just before final mix out to master mix.no noise problems.some effects are a little dry.have problem setting max out level.using eurodesk mx8000 mixer good nearfield monitors good pwr amp.effect work well

had prblems until i learned this unit.this is not a no brainer.would use for gigs

had hard time getting parts.parts for new stuff are hard to come by.
anything that has only been out a year or less.come on guys parts should be availible any time.repair my own stuff

country and gospel and blues music.own virtulizer euro board auto com.
would replace if stolen.pretty good stuff overall.price is more than fair.help mix a lot.
have level settings problems.

I have the DSP1424P and it is really easy to use - set up is childs play, and the instruction manual is excellent - I must add that we use the Behringer Ultramizer as our main processor at our radio station - but have a SAMSON SCOM after the Behringer because it does tend to 'drift' audio wise.

The Behringer works well if you are looking for an average day-to-day processot for a home user, in the industry if you used a Behringer (in radio or music) people would just snigger at you!

The audio that comes out of it does seem to drift - it cannot handle heavy compression, it does struggle - thats why is worth having another compressor (such as the SAMSON S-COM) after the Behringer to iron-out any sudden peaks.

It tries it's best - but only use a little compression or your audio is up-and-down like a yoyo. Obviously in radio compression is the key to loudness, so the Behringer does a little work and the SAMSON S-COM is there as a buck up if the Behringer lets through any bad noises/peaks.

But the audio never sounds as good one day as it did the other!

Can't fault it - hasen't gone wrong yet - touch wood!

Haven't had to contact them yet - and hopefully not for the foreseable future!

Overall a fair 6 out of 10 - It does try it's best!

I use DSP1424P for some time now and I think they made all the controls the best possible way. Everythink is very easy to use, if you want to edit any parameter, just push its button and turn the jog wheel :-) I even have not used the MIDI control interface yet.
But if you want to get good, narural sound out of it, never use the factory presets! You have to create your own. I suggest to use zero value for "denoiser sensitivity" all the time, it cuts too much treble even with little values. I think you should use only threshold setting, at about -80dB.

The sound quality of DSP1424P is quite exccellent. I can not write anything critical here. I use it for dance events with various setups and power levels, but there is nothing to complain. Of course, first have to experiment some time before it will sound good... default parameters for my setup are: ultramizer speed= 40-80, density= 30, gain= 3-8dB, stereo width= 30, exciter and superbass process=30, exciter tune 12k, super bass tune= 135Hz (This lets you fade between low, deep bass and fast kick-bass). When experimenting, don't set the settings too high, remember the phrase from manual: less is more :-)

I got no problems with this unit yet.

I have contacted tech support about differences between 1400 and 1424 and they replied within few days, I think that is acceptable.

This unit is very good and definitely worth the money I paid for it. Now I can make the music sound exactly the way I always wanted it to sound. If it would be stolen, I think I would buy another one... Only if those delivery times from Germany were shorter :'( It took more than a month to get here to Slovakia. Damn Germans :-( But they made a great job when they made this device. I also own DJX700 mixer and I have only problem with it, broken channel faders. They already replaced all of them, and they are broken again :-(
Just never use the factory presets, make your own. And remember, less is really more.

This Unit was purchased by my son who bought it chiefly for the compression function. Because of the absence of rotary controls it had minimal use for over 12 months. I recently turned to it to assist with the mastering of a 1970's vintage demo tape that the owners wanted remastered to CD. The tape was not itself a master so it had several generations of hiss and a couple of minor dropouts although the basic recording quality was good. I found it relatively easy to edit the different features after one read of the manual and with the parameter sheet close by for reference. It helps to have an understanding of what the various effects do. The manual is pretty good all round. It does seem evident though that the lack of the traditional knobs does put many people off using the device.The presets are pretty entertaining and a little dramatic in some cases but not really intended to be useful in real world situations without editing

The sound quality overall is excellent. This presupposes that you have achieved the degree of enhancement you are seeking for the job in hand. It seems clear that the unit is primarily designed for mastering applications although other uses are suggested in the manual and I see no reason why it cannot be used for individual tracks. The trap, as other reviewers have said is to use too much of what it has available and 'over-icing the cake.'
I ran the casseete tape material through it and onto the computer hard drive using Wave Lab as the mastering software. It cleaned up a great deal of the tape hiss without apparent sacrifice of the (limited) high frequencies present on the tape. It also tightened up the bass and helped coax a good deal of the instrumentation out of the sonic soup that we put up with when cassettes were the primary distribution medium for demos. I have now taken to playng a lot of my old vinyl through it and it is also useful if re-recording this material to CD. Different effects will appeal to different users, such is the versatility of the device. I have encounteered no extraneous noise even though it is connected through a patch bay for flexibility of use.

As my use is confined to the studio there is no reason to believe that it would not be reliable. I have read reviews indicating problems with Behringer gear but these seem to be encountered with gear that is new, ie., faulty manufacture. 18 months on there is no sign of any deterioration.

Behringer now has its national office close by and the dealers are moving a lot of their stuff so I would hope that the support is there.
I had one query by e-mail which was answered promptly and courteously so would hope that this extends to warranty and repair backup.

The price of this unit has dropped dramatically. (Now $209 AUD when it was $499 when first available. At that price, it is hard to see a good reason for not owning one. If you are recording to computer, a lot of similar effects are available as plug-ins but these are no easier to edit and can be trickier to do A/B comparisons. I notice that a lot of people tend to look down their noses at Behringer ostensibly because the gear is 'downmarket' and clearly affordable by the hobby studio enthusiast. I dont think the low price should deter anyone who has a specific use for a device such as this despite the rather unhip name.

If you have a fairly good concept of how audio and dynamics work, then this product is relatively straightforward in manipulating and applying the various settings. With a variety of parameters for each setting, though, it can be somewhat tricky to get just the right sound, but on the flip-side this is a bonus point for the Ultramizer in that you aren't stuck with one crappy parameter, you can adjust various aspects until it comes out just right.

I've used the Ultramizer in a variety of settings, but finally parked it right in my listening room, in line just before the power amp. Its been there for nearly a year and a half now, and I wouldn't do with out. I put it in place of my DBX II Compressor/Expander, and with good effect. It generates very little to no noise if you're using a good set of balanced cables (I'm using geneva). My favourite thing about this processor is that I can adjust it to make bad recordings sound good and don't have to reset it to listen to quality recordings. If you don't overkill on any of the settings its a nearly transparent unit.
Overkill being the key word here. The factory presets are absolutely useless, as each one uses whatever parameter it is showing off to rediculous excess. The rule of thumb, as quoted directly from the manual, is to "remember, less is more." Given just the right touches of various settings, you can greatly improve the spaciousness and clarity of your music. Remember: play around! Eventually, you will get it just right.

In the two years I've had my unit, not a single thing has gone wrong. I've moved it around a lot, and it doesn't even have a scratch.
I couldn't stand to take it out of the bank, either. It adds so much energy to the music, things sound almost dead without it by comparison.

I haven't dealt directly with the manufacturer, but if reliability can count toward customer support I scores tops. The manual was available for download so I practically knew exactly how to use it as soon as I had it out of the box. The documentation is excellent.

I listen to a wide variety of music, and it ALL sounds good running through the Ultramizer Pro. That is, if you're barely using it. Like I said before, don't blast the settings to death; use them sparingly. All of its strengths, when combined a little here and there, make for a strong unit.
The one thing I wish I could do with the Ultramizer Pro is run a noise gate at and over very specific frequencies, basically a rolloff. I've tried and in vain to use it to eliminate digital artifacts in some of the poorer recordings I've listened to, but it is difficult to do this without limiting the entire spectrum.
Still, in every other aspect this is a very respectable processor for its price.

The Ultramizer is a little tricky to get used too. It is very easy to make your sound worse rather then better. There is so much packed into this unit! So it takes awhile to learn it all. The windows based software that can control the unit through midi with a computer makes the unit alot easier to handle over the front panel but the front panel can be mastered with a little time. The wheel on the front panel does help to adjust parameters very fast but be careful because some of the buttons have dual funtions if you press more then one at a time. It is possible to mute all your highs or lows or both and have no sound at all!. The manual which goes into alot of detail about the physics of sound does help but could be difficult for a novice. Give yourself some time to learn about this one, it will be worth it.

I use the ultramizer in my recording setup right before the hard drive recorder to get the maximum signal without clipping and to boost bass. It also can clean up noise with its noise gate. I stay away from a couple of the features on the unit because I have found they do more harm then good. The high frequency exciter which is basically to boost treble does work but it will increase noise alot, so I always leave this on "0". The bass exciter works excellently though. There is also a spatial expander which is suppose to produce a wider stereo effect which I haven't found much use for. I would advise to leave that on "0" also. The ultramizer section which works like a compressor/expander is great and since it works in the digitial domain rather then analog there is alot more precise control. The limiter section also works well and sometimes I run it before my Mackie power-amp to get maximum level without overdriving amp.

My first one bit the dust after a few months but my second one has been working good knock on wood!

I emailed Behringer about updated software and they emailed right back. When I had trouble with my first one Mars music exchanged it for a new one so I don't know how Behringer would have handled the repair of it.

I like the unit and would probably buy another one if stolen or broke. Some of the features aren't so great but the ones that work really work well. You would have to buy several seperate processors to get everything they have packed into this thing, which does make it a little harder to use but you get alot for your money.

The presets are pretty good if you put it right before your amps. The interface was simple if you know $.02 about rack gear. They were easy to edit too. The first funtion I would learn for people that are considering this is the max volume function. That will put all the other presets on a level playing field. I didn't even need the manual.

24 bits. Not shabby at all. All the parameters have the most 1-3 important features that define them. Like the exciter has density and crossover point. There is no noise and significantly increases the quality of the mix. It can take a muddy mix and make it sound defined and sharper.

I wouldn't go without one after having this one. I don't trust the way computers are built these days, so I have an extra ready to go. Never had any problems with it not working. I wish it had an external power supply, but that is just my preference.

**To my understanding, Behringer is closing them out, possibly to introduce a better version. The one I have is pretty rad, and I wouldn't replace it.
It is the best tool that I have seen at the end of the chain to clean up the mix. It is one of the better combinations of rack effects that I have ever seen. It even has more control than a BBE or any other end of the chain effects that would cost you alot of money otherwise.

The presets make it very easy to get a good sound. To edit a preset, you hit the parameter you want to edit, rotate the wheel, and push the preset button to set it. Behringer's interface is pretty intuitive like on the DSP-110 Shark. The manual is explanatory. It seems like it goes over the controls 3 times though and could easily confuse someone that doesn't know what they are looking for.

There are about 3 uses that I could think of to use the ultramizer. One is at the end of the rack chain to clean things up. It does an amazing job at this and is usually where it ends up. 2. It can master tapes and cds very easily. This is the most basic unit that someone can use to clean up recordings (along with an EQ). They sound phenomenal after they pass through it. 3. It can be put on a couple channels of vocals to make them more present with the exciter and use the noise reducer similar to a gate. It really makes the vocals pop out in small clubs where the mix can get muddy because of the acoustics. It uses 24 bits of effects. That is plenty to clean up the mix and keep it without distortion.

I have had really good dependability with Behringer products. As long as you don't throw them on the pavement, I would say that they could be depended on. If mine broke, I would rush out to get a replacement. I use it for all 3 applications listed above in different settings, so I couldn't do without this piece of gear.

I have dealt with Behringer before, but not for the Ultramizer. They are easy to register their products and are good about repairs. They don't try to give you the runaround. Pretty good overall.

It is my favorite piece of gear. It is a definite improvement at the end of your chain, for basic mastering of recordings, and to clean up vocals and to make the pop out of the mix. I couldn't function if it was broken. I am afraid that it may break with it's construction, but I am not too terribly hard on my gear. I like the exciter on it because it has a little more "tweak-ability" than a BBE exciter. The denoiser is a good basic denoiser. The stereo spread function is great for a dry mix. It adds lots of depth or spread, which isn't a very common feature. With this piece of gear, I get people that say "that sounds great, but I can't tell you why".

This depends on how familiar you are with Compressors, although saying that, this doesn't work like a normal compressor so it'll still take a while to get to know! Forget the presets they are so exagerated, get htem over-written as soon as possible. The unit is set out well with the Limiter, the Compressor/Leveller, the Stereo Processor, Exciter & Super Bass all set out clearly. It's the actual 'Ultramizer' feature (Compressor/leveller) that is difficult to understand as Beringher have disguised the standard Compressor controls such as Ratio and Threshold and intead controls are based around the 'Density' and 'Process'. You will get used to it though!

When I first got the unit I would have said 10, then after a week when I reaslised how much listening fatigue I was generating I would have said 2, now after having the unit 2 months, I'd say that (considering the low price), I would give it a 8 as if you use all of the settings gently, it will improve your mix - just not to the degree that the Marketing Hype will tell you. When used in an Unbalanced set-up the unit creates a small amount of noise but nothing that will ruin your track. As above, the presets are crap but you you can get some great results yourself and save them over the presets. My advice is start out with everything set at 0. The Ultramizer function, Exciter, everything... Then bring in small amounts and be very gentle. Don't cover anymore than the top 5dB with the Compressor and don't take the Exciter over 75. Don't take the "3D Processor" over 60 as the result just sounds like a cheap, muddy Reverb!! Be gentle and you'll gently improve your sound - it's that simple.

All Beringher Products have the usual German build quality and I wouldn't hesitate to gig with any of their products, without back-up.

Never used Customer Services but did download the Manual off the Internet before the product was delivered, which meant I had a good idea how to use it when it arrived!

I record pop/soul/rnb with a strong vocalist and the Ultrmaizer provides a good basic introduction to Mastering and to maximising the punch and volume of your mix. I have to admit that after only 2 months I do feel ready to upgrade and I think buying 'separate' Mastering tools will prove better (TC Triple 'C' Compressor, Ultrafex Exciter, EQ, etc). However, it depends what you want from the unit. It's not a 'Complete Mastering Solution' but it is a program Enhancer of sorts - it will make your mix a little stronger.