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Behringer SX3040 Review

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 3:42 am
by deebix
Hey folks, before we review i'de like to intro myself. I used to be actively engaged in essb about 3 years ago before I hit college. The hobby of perfect audio still stuck with me however, and I've brought it into online chat communities and multiplayer gaming to name a few. I must have heard "you sound like you're on the radio" or "your voice is increadibly sexy" atleast 500 times. So..on we go

My headphones are Sony MDR-900 HD 5hz-35,000hz


Ease of use:

Well for many of us, any type of audio equipment is a piece of cake to operate. The SX3040 is one of those...yet again. 3 knobs for bottom end, and 3 knobs for high end. enough said there heh.
10/10 duh


Sound Quality:

Pop in my mxl 990 into the mic100 tub pre, spoke for about a minute to get my head intune with what i sound like straight out of the mic. With a short pause and moment of gittyness, i activate the sucker at a frequency of give or take 40-50 hz and the high end around 3.5k. Well, to be quite frank, I though I had a brief aural orgasm. EX3200 goodbye. This blew it out of the water by a longshot. Hate to tell ya, but the voodoo mod has now been officially outdated. The clarity, presense, and fullness this provides is absolutely AMAZING. I infact dont even need an equalizer for any purposes what so ever. To make it even better, throw your voice into a spectragraph and spot out the peak bass freq and peak treble freq, estimate where those are on the dials, and you have PERFECT harmonics. As I was doing this, i noticed i was bypassing my compressor. With it activated, it positively sealed the deal.
10/10 Silky, sexy, gorgeous

Buy this baby! end of story

~cheers

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 4:53 am
by Voodoo Guru
Howdy Deebix!
Welcome to the Forum!!

We've been wondering about that unit.
The only reason it hasn't made it here yet is the fact that it doesn't have the Surround Processor which is an integral part of how the EX3200 Manipulates Harmonix after the mods are done to it.
Check out this link:
http://www.wz5q.net/talkvoodoo/viewtopic.php?t=36
Down to the bottom of the page.
It shifts Harmonix in-between Harmonix.
But...
Since you've givin such a rave review, We might just have to get one of those rascals here for some side by side Competition!
Sounds like some more work!!!
Take Care,

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:03 pm
by 559Josh
Does the SX3040 just enhance the Sound quality, or does is also have adjustments in the area of Spacial Enhancement like the EX3200?

If I get the SX3040, should I consider it an Upgrade from my current EX3200, or would it be possible/wiser to use them both in series?

Josh

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:18 am
by Voodoo Guru
Howdy Josh!!!!
Welcome to the Forum!

We haven't had the pleasure of playing with one yet, but after reading the manual this is our answer.
The SX3040 looks to be the next generation of the EX3200.
The only thing the SX3040 lacks is the Surround Processor (Spatial Enhancement) which makes the EX3200 unique for what we use it for.
The Manual for the SX3040 states that the Low Frequencies are 'Phase Shifted' into the Mix, the only bad thing is that this 'Phase Shift' is not adjustable as it is on the modded EX3200 using the Surround Processor Control.

We have tried using more then one EX3200 in our Rack, and the results were not pleasing.
No matter what we did with the adjustments, there was too much muddiness and darkness on the Low frequencies.
We tend to think the same thing will happen if you try to use both the SX3040 and the EX3200 in series.

One other thing that may be of importance for the High RF environment of the Shack.
Behringer has an 'Important Instruction' PDF stating this...

"Important Notes Concerning Installation
The sound quality may diminish within the range of powerful broadcasting stations and high-frequency sources. Increase the distance between the transmitter and the device and use shielded cables for all connections"

It can be read here under there DOWNLOADS section of this page:
http://www.behringer.com/SX3040/index.cfm?lang=eng
They must have had some serious problems with RF to add this to there Website.


Again, we have not had a SX3040 here to experiment with so all our opinions are pure conjecture.
Anyone else got some input??
Take Care,

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:40 am
by 559Josh
Thanks for the welcome...glad to be here. Hope U ALL R having a great Thanksgiving...don't forget to give thanks!

I went to the Guitar Center here in Fresno yesterday to look around...unfortunately the guys there broke my heart!
There was a TON of stuff on MAJOR CLEARANCE...but I have spent $5000 that morning...needless to say...the fact that the stuff was so CHEAP and I was so broke, almost made me cry! :((


NE Ways...while there, I asked pretty much the same question to a guy there...and we ALL know the personality of "I work at a music store, and so I KNOW something about something...".

He said that he won't even touch Behringer...it's krap...he recommended me tossing my EX3200 and scrap the idea of the SX3040...and just using a BBE882i.

Does that sound fair and accurate...or just a guy trying to flaunt his "Knowledge" while pushing his commission?

Just for reference on the Muddiness described above...I also use an EX1200 Bass Processor...a big slice of my bass signal is handled by Subs, and that kinda frees-up some head-room for the remainder of the mix, and I think this MIGHT help avoid some of the distortion caused by the over-compression of a signal...Maybe not...ihdn.

Josh

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:33 am
by Voodoo Guru
Hmmmmmm.....

Listning to you describe your system, We thinks your not using the EX3200 for Transmit Modulation on Amateur Radio.

Thats what we use it for here.
If your using it for what it was REALLY designed for like a Real Audio Systems, then please ignore my previous response to you.
That was thinking your using it in your Pro Audio Rack for your Transmit Microphone.

On that note, then yes you may benefit from using both.
We do use one in the Stereo Sound system mainly for the Spatial Enhancement and richness it gives.
Of course ours are all modified.

Yes most Pro Audio guys look down there noses at Behringer.
It is a Economical way out, but thats why we modify them.
The BBE882 is a fabulous piece of equipment and you would love it if you got it.
But it doesn't work very well in our application.
We've tried several of the earlier models and didn't like the effect.
So far the Modified EX3200 fits our bill quite nicely.

Sorry for the miscommunication!
Real Sorry you missed out on all the Buys!!!!
Take Care and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:23 pm
by YO3IBW
I'm about to acquire the SX3040 to complete my setup with the harmonic compressor. Some of the audio-heads already got one of those in the rack but no one yet made a review of it.
One final request, for those out there that had the opportunity to play with the new Behringer SX3040 box, one question.
Is or not the new version of the EX3200?
:roll:

PS: The BBE882i looks almost identical to the Behringer SU9920. :lol:

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 1:24 pm
by !KANT
OMG!!! This 4 and half year old thread is live again??? :lol:

behringer sx-3040

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 6:51 pm
by skullman
Im curently testing the se-3040 by behringer so not to bad but still plaing around with the knobs stay tuned for re-post