Behringer MDX1400 Autocom Pro

It takes a bit of listening while fiddling with all the knobs to get a grips on it's workings, but after that it's a dream to use! Front layout is well designed for easy use and, although not the most important part but a nice bonus: it looks very impressive with all the lighted switches :-)

Great! I use this Behringer in my home studio. Due to work in radio, I've become used (addicted!?) to heavy processed audio. If you make good use of the high pass filter and the enhancer, you can create a fat/loud sound that doesn't "pump" as most compressors do. Even with high compression the sound maintains it's transparency: a loud bass doesn?t influence bright vocals as most compressors.
The gate works like a downward expander, making it's workings much smoother than a straight forward gate that just switches audio on and off.

Bought mine second hand. No problems so far.

No experiences here

Great and very complete piece of gear, especialy for this price! Very complete, operates very "musicaly" and transparent, sound nice! Very good value for the money. Recommendable buy!!!

After spending a few hours with it and re-reading the manual I finally learned what all compression and limiting, etc. actually are used for. It took me a week to actually notice the difference but it wasn't too hard. A lot of buttons and knobs but nothing you couldn't figure out.

I use this for bass with a Jazz bass, a 5 string, and an active 4 string. I have it in the rack space under my SWR Workingman's 4004 and I'm kind of worried about the heat dissapation but it sounds fine as of now. It is noisy when placed adjacent to other electrical devices but it's quiet by itself or through an effects loop. My basses sound great through it and it does do what it's supposed to.

After finally figuring out how to work it, I haven't had a problem with it. It was relatively cheap and it seems built very well.

At first I couldn't tell the difference between when the unit was in use and when it wasn't. I fiddled around with some knobs and stuff and now it sounds cool. I use all the time when I play.

Very easy to use. I have two of em. One for my keyboard & guitar/bass rig. Its between mixer & amps. One for home stereo. Uses latter mainly for television & vcr movies to eliminate the overly up & down volume found in many action & sci-fi movies. Lol. Haveing both 1/4 & RCA ins & outs makes diverse use easy. Comp/limiters auto mode works like a dream. Enhancer gets used lightly for my musical instrument rig. Has a Behringer dualFex Pro also for home stereo so leaves its autocompro's enhancer in off position. Backlit buttons and led meters are nice too.

No noise, no squashing of tone.

Very reliable. Well built. No backup needed. Internal power supply instead of wall wart is nice too.

Never dealt with the company excpt via browsing their website & getting some of their gear.

Ease of use. Excellent auto modes. Can run each side seperate for regular stereo so you can tweak each side if wanted. Or run in couple mode so channal ones settings automatically are also chanals twos for most things.

Like all other comps. Look at it...set the knobs. Strait forward design.

Very nice. I am using vox with this. Both male and female sound very nice. Nothing extra added except comp/lim/gating.

No problems yet.

No experiences.

Really easy to use. It does what it says it will do.

It doesn't have anything special on the gate, but you would buy a MDX2200 for more knobs.

Very straight forward, build quality seems better on the dBX 266XL but Behringer has well lit display especially for mixing in dark clubs

Used in live sound primarily but have friends who have used it in recording, has balanced in and outs which make it easy to place into any system. Sounds very good especially for the price

Haven't had a failure with this piece. Have a lot of Behringer gear and all the rack stuff has been holding up great.

Behringer has taken over US distribution from Samson (YEA!!!!) so now you can actually get a human on the phone if you have a problem. I had a broken power switch on an early unit and Samson took forever. Now the new people seem to be a lot more on the ball.

Nothing can touch it for the money. I also found a very knowledgeable dealer who had the best prices!

Seems to have decent sound but I haven't heard anything to compare it to. The manual is pretty good except that in a few places you can tell the company is Germany!

Again as above. It seems fairly transparant. I would have liked to be able to get a full on/off gate instead of gate/expander.

I also had the problem with blowing the fuses on this one. Furthermore for people who aren't really technically knowledgable you might be tempted to plug a dynamic microphone directly into the back of this unit since it has an XLR plug. This seemed like a reasonable thing to do at the time but I suspect this may have been responsible for blowing the fuse on this unit. When I talked to a customer service representative he said I should have known it was not rated for this... I read the damn manual and it didn't say that...

Samson no longer deal with Behringer which took me awhile to find out the correct phone number. I had to call long-distance (206-224-3179) and ended up talking with a very defensive rep. who hung up on me before I could ask all the questions I had. This was about the worst customer service I have ever had, and I in no way provoked the guy.

Good value except for the customer service.

This 19" 1U good looking device fits perfectly in any middle class music production studio or is even better at live situations. The input/output (switchable) and gain reduction meters are placed free (unlike the older MDX) so the viewing angle is enourmous: perfect in live situations. It can be hard to read the pot scales in dark places, but after a few hours of working with it you can find the pots and it's scales blindly. The switches are backlit (when active) and I find this very useful, even when there's enough light: you can see what functions are enabled/disabled in an eyeblink.

Because the MDX has many led's and backlit switches, it's very easy to use. You can actually hear AND see what you're doing. (the older version didn't have an input/output meter and backlit switches. I've worked with that one and it made me clear that the 1400 has improved enourmously with those extra's).

Behringer manuals are perfect. "Human" language (always in english) and no-nonsense figures make all the functions perfectly clear. Besides the normal functions of the device, Behringer gives some practical tips on how to use the device for maximum performance. When I bought it I was a newbie to compressor/limiters and the manual made me use it like I would have never without it.

One thing I don't like: Output level, sidechain LF filter switch (to cut stage rumble in the processing path) and enhancer level are not included in the ch1 functions which automatically act as master when using the device in stereo mode. This means you have to check both settings on these three functions, or is this normal???

I've once compared this device with the Alesis 3630 compressor/limiter (same price range). Both devices had almost the same features but I found the Behringer better. The Behringer has a gate which acts like an expander. It's much better for vocals because the Alesis would completely cut off the input when below threshold and the behringer starts opening the gate a little when input comes near threshold level: more transparent.

The Alesis took a lot of high frequencies down, while the Behringer kept the spectrum unaffected. I've once splitted a CD signal into an input on my amp and the other via the Behringer (threshold level high so it would not limit) into my Tape monitor input so I could swich between both inputs. The Behringer was almost as clean as the direct signal.

When you want to compress with a high ratio (8:1 and above) It can occur that the Behringer gives a crack into the signal. The "interactive soft knee" function reduces this, but using this device on a $2000 synth will make you doubt... It's fantastic for vocals, great on bass drums and other drums (studio & live), but the extreme high quality studio applications should be run through a more expensive device when you want to keep the clean signal as unaffected as possible.

A great feature for vocals is the encancer. Keeping the high frequencies in shape is very inportant for heavy compression and this feature makes singers "understandable" in any live situation, without adding irritating noise or risking high freq feedback (enhancing only works when reducing)

The heavy 19" unit is strong and can handle a bump and a scratch. Inside the device is a small, vertically placed PCB and a well attached power supply so it suits great in your "on the road" rack or will feel at home in your studio.

It will get warm when in use, but I know people who placed this device between amps in a rack and it has never failed. The pots are a bit weak but will work anytime, anywhere, as well as the switches, which are perfect.

The balanced jack & XLR inputs and outputs, as well as the sidechain ins and outs are good (better than the plastic Alesis connectors).

The meters and backlit switches make this unit to be very reliable in dark places.

I've never had any problems with it and I know many people who haven't had any in years.

Buttt..... I've heard other people say the customer support at Behringer is bad... Let's hope this device will last for a long time (I've had it for 4 months now and I use it almost daily).

Compared to the price... and compared to other devices in the same price range: I love it!!! Besides live applications, such as singers and even presentations, It's extremely useful in any situation. It is a standard device for bass drums in my own studio, and I've used it a lot as a ducking device for bass to avoiding muddy low freqs when kick and bass are triggered simultaneously: this is one of the advantages of the dual mono function: you've got two full featured compressors at your fingertips.

When I bouight the device I thought I could miss it... But after a few weeks I found that this device is useful on almost any situation! I bought it for my own music production studio and it is hard to imagine what it would be like if it was gone. Once I discovered the great features for live situations I took it with me almost twice a week for singers in schoolbands. It survived my schoolbag so it will survive on the road racks as well.

Let's make a list:

Good:
-input/output and gain reduction level meters
-Backlit switches: dark places are no problem!
-Transparent Gate/expander section for avoiding feedback and noise but leaving vocals alive
-Dual mono or stereo, controlled by a switch on the front
-Balanced ins and outs, switchable -20 or +4 dB
-Sidechain filter for avoiding stage rumble to affect signal
-Encancer to keep vocals alive.

Bad:
-Output level, filter and enhancer level not combined in stereo mode
-Cracks when using this device in "hardcore" compression modes.

I'd say it's the best for vocals, its great for drums and other instruments and it's very useful in MIDI music production.

Feel free to contact me about this device.