Rentasquid
02-13-2006, 07:04 AM
When I introduced myself, last week, I mentioned some of the equipment that I have used from the past, to the present. Pearly said that he would like to see a review of my amplifier, so I decided to make this post.
I havent bought and sold a lot of bass products, so my experience with a range of amps/basses/cabs is limited. This general review is based on my impressions of quality, usefulness and features.
As I started my search for a new amp, I set the following criteria...Something new, or almost new; Something that was reasonably priced; Something that had good usable features; and Something that had a goodly amount of power. The highest filter was price. I know that there are a lot of excellent names out there, that offer excellent products. But I was resigned to the fact that I wouldnt be able to afford them, and I probably didnt need something too high end. I believe in driving a Chevy to work, if a Chevy is good enough to get you there, rather than putting myself in a pinch to drive a Caddy.(If you disagree with me, please give me your input, because I just dont have a lot of experience with upper end equipment and I might be wrong in thinking this way).
So, I basically looked at the price, then looked at the watts, then the features.
What I ended up with was the Behringer BX4500H, which is a new model that replaced the 300 watt model. It is rated at 450 watts RMS into 4 ohm. I purchased it on line for 199.95. It has since gone up in price to around 250.00. I was a little concerned about Behringer quality, but my brother-in-law(who's into electronics) assured me that they were ligitimate.
Opening the package, I was at first struck with the weight of the amp. It seems to weigh as much as my 2x10 cab! But it was put togather well with good quality. Basically, there are two inputs(One passive and one active), a gain control, and 5 band adjustments(50Hz, 140Hz, 500Hz, 1.6kHz and 7.5kHz) In addition to these five bands, there are two buttons that enable the expansion of the bass and treble ranges(called deep and bright). I typically have these two enabled. I like having the extra treble and bass. The last adjustment is the output. The amp has a tuner/send and return loop for effects and/or a tuner. It also has a D.I. XLR out, that is wired post EQ. A line out jack is also there for sending a signal directly to a mixing board without the equalizing. For output, there are two 1/4" jacks and one Speakon connection.
There are two gimmic functions that are offered with this amp. The first is called Ultrabass. It sounds like a chorus/harmonics effect. But it doesnt sound good for notes lower than a low G. Below that, it tends to sound dis-harmonic. I dont use this feature much at all. The second gimmic is the shape function. This I do tend to use. The shape filters the sound, and can be adjusted in the range of 120Hz to 1.2kHz. It just adds a nice touch. But I can get a real nice sound out of it with out using the shape feature as well.
I've had this amp for three months now, and I really have enjoyed using it. It is a major step up from the old Peavy combo that I was using. And, I have found that I didnt really need this much power either. At least yet. I find that I almost never have the output turned up at all. It doesnt have a 1-10 dial(or 1-11 for spinal-tappers), but I would say that it wouldnt leave the 1-2 area...even at our church. It has that much power. I have messed around with it in the 4-5 range, and it does tend to start humming there.
If I could change one thing, it would be to dump the ultrabass funtion and put something in that was more useful, like a compressor or something like that. But, I guess that everyone likes something different.
Hope I didnt leave anything out that was important, and sorry for this being so rambley. Thats just me though.
If I had replace this, today, I would do it again in a second. For the price, it is an excellent buy!
J. Brown
I havent bought and sold a lot of bass products, so my experience with a range of amps/basses/cabs is limited. This general review is based on my impressions of quality, usefulness and features.
As I started my search for a new amp, I set the following criteria...Something new, or almost new; Something that was reasonably priced; Something that had good usable features; and Something that had a goodly amount of power. The highest filter was price. I know that there are a lot of excellent names out there, that offer excellent products. But I was resigned to the fact that I wouldnt be able to afford them, and I probably didnt need something too high end. I believe in driving a Chevy to work, if a Chevy is good enough to get you there, rather than putting myself in a pinch to drive a Caddy.(If you disagree with me, please give me your input, because I just dont have a lot of experience with upper end equipment and I might be wrong in thinking this way).
So, I basically looked at the price, then looked at the watts, then the features.
What I ended up with was the Behringer BX4500H, which is a new model that replaced the 300 watt model. It is rated at 450 watts RMS into 4 ohm. I purchased it on line for 199.95. It has since gone up in price to around 250.00. I was a little concerned about Behringer quality, but my brother-in-law(who's into electronics) assured me that they were ligitimate.
Opening the package, I was at first struck with the weight of the amp. It seems to weigh as much as my 2x10 cab! But it was put togather well with good quality. Basically, there are two inputs(One passive and one active), a gain control, and 5 band adjustments(50Hz, 140Hz, 500Hz, 1.6kHz and 7.5kHz) In addition to these five bands, there are two buttons that enable the expansion of the bass and treble ranges(called deep and bright). I typically have these two enabled. I like having the extra treble and bass. The last adjustment is the output. The amp has a tuner/send and return loop for effects and/or a tuner. It also has a D.I. XLR out, that is wired post EQ. A line out jack is also there for sending a signal directly to a mixing board without the equalizing. For output, there are two 1/4" jacks and one Speakon connection.
There are two gimmic functions that are offered with this amp. The first is called Ultrabass. It sounds like a chorus/harmonics effect. But it doesnt sound good for notes lower than a low G. Below that, it tends to sound dis-harmonic. I dont use this feature much at all. The second gimmic is the shape function. This I do tend to use. The shape filters the sound, and can be adjusted in the range of 120Hz to 1.2kHz. It just adds a nice touch. But I can get a real nice sound out of it with out using the shape feature as well.
I've had this amp for three months now, and I really have enjoyed using it. It is a major step up from the old Peavy combo that I was using. And, I have found that I didnt really need this much power either. At least yet. I find that I almost never have the output turned up at all. It doesnt have a 1-10 dial(or 1-11 for spinal-tappers), but I would say that it wouldnt leave the 1-2 area...even at our church. It has that much power. I have messed around with it in the 4-5 range, and it does tend to start humming there.
If I could change one thing, it would be to dump the ultrabass funtion and put something in that was more useful, like a compressor or something like that. But, I guess that everyone likes something different.
Hope I didnt leave anything out that was important, and sorry for this being so rambley. Thats just me though.
If I had replace this, today, I would do it again in a second. For the price, it is an excellent buy!
J. Brown