Behringer-Mackie debate

["loop.pool" <looppool@cruzio.com>]

Ben wrote, quoting the Repeater mod guy:
"He told me (I'm paraphrasing from memory, so may not
be accurate) that the Behringer stuff is made at the same factory in
China as the Mackies (whether labelled 'Made in China' or not), use
better components then Mackie, have lower noise floor than Mackie,
better grounding etc etc.  All for a lower price."


Wow,  I've A-Bed them a couple of times and that is not the truth from 
what 
I've heard with my own ears.
The cheap Behringer mixers are considerably noisier than the Mackie 
1202VLZ 
or the 1402VLZ, both of which
I have used extensively, live.

>From what I heard,  Behringer reverse engineered the Mackies and made 
>them 
look identical,  cutting major cost
on the microphone preamplifiers which are really quiet and transparent in 
the Mackies.

If they are made in the same factory in China (which I don't dispute)  how 
could Behringer charge hundreds of dollars
less for them than the Mackies and stay competitive?  They have had to cut 
costs somewhere and my ears tell me that it
is the mic pre amps where they did.

Any other A-B comparisons out there?

********
I personally was stoked to find the Behringer little mixer that had two 
mic 
pre-s for under $100 but I bought one, played with it for a day and 
returned 
it immediately as being way, way too noisy.

Of course,   you will find equally adamant arguments about Analogue 
recording versus Digital recording and Macs versus PCs...................I 
guess it's what works for you and what makes you happy.   Undboubtedly, 
great music could be made on either one.