Behringer MX3282A - good enough for gigs?

The problem with the Behringer boards is that there are only 2 pre-fader aux sends, the rest are post fader. If you plan on only 2 monitor mixes this will be OK but most bands end up with more than 2. You don't want to send a monitor mix post fader.

Having just gone through this search there are only 2 boards in the < $1000 range with 4 pre-fader aux sends and 16 mic-pres: Allen & Heather MixWiz or the Carvin 1644. I found a smoking deal on a used Carvin and couldn't be happier.

ORIGINAL: daverich

Hows the quality? - I know its behringer but I'm not going to be recording with it - merely live sound - is it good enough? does it sound quiet clean?

finally - the talkback - I'm assuming you can route it to any sub-mix yeah?

Yes, it routes through the Auxes.

It's a little noisy as you start pumping out the gain. Its on the signal as well. I sure wouldn't want to hook up a guitar straight into the board, I'd use a D.I. box.

ORIGINAL: dmassey

It's a great board for the money, but it's definitely a disposable board. We used a pair of them for a house gig (one main, one monitor) and one of them dropped a couple of channels after the first three months; Behringer shipped a replacement, rather than repair it. Can't ****, though, as I had a similar failure with a Souncraft and an Allen/Heath. They all break, it's how quick the company responds to problems that matters. The Behrniger products that truly suck are the crossovers and the FX units. Yuck! The Ultra-Drive units are cool, but had 4 out of 6 fail within the first 6 months.
I believe the 3282 may be going away, but you can't get a straight answer out of anyone in the pro sound business anymore.

Hmm that's interesting.

I did notice they do a similar board with built it fx with a few less channels but it's also cheaper. It might be worth looking into also.

Thanks for all your input folks.

Kind regards

Dave Rich

I've relied on the 3282A in the studio for 8 years and it still works well. The amp is a bit noisy for my tastes so I keep the trims dialed out and use the pres on the Layla 3G primarily. The talkback is next to useless, at least for me. I bought a headset Shure and run it through a channel to communicate to the room. EQ is solid, the 2+2+2/2 aux sends is great, and the routing to 8 subs works marvelous for taking tracks into the computer. Maybe not the top drawer of all boards, but the routing abilities are awesome and the price is very reasonable.

The company I work for carries Behringer as well as most pro sound lines. We don't sell a lot of consoles, but I get my hands on enough to make comparisons when asked. Unlike my fellow pro-sound guys I am not a gear snob. Although Behringer is a difficult company to deal with as a dealer, they have had a major impact on the market, just as Mackie did a decade ago; it's often said that they out-Mackied Mackie.
Most mixers in the under-$1500 market are what we refer to as disposable. The products typically do not last as long as the mid- and high-priced units do, but so what? With technology changing so quickly I don't see a problem.
All manufacturers have some "dogs" in their product line (in terms of reliability), but the sonic performance is always subject to the perception of the user. I always suggest the Behringer Composer Pro, The Feedback Suppressor Pro, EQ's, multi-band limiters, mixers, even the power amps for customers who are on a budget and not brand-oriented.
The failure rate on some other items has been less than we can live with, and we won't stock those particular items. Nothing against Behringer, we have had similar issues with Crown, DBX, DOD, JBL (never mention the name EVO to my boss), etc (and that doesn't include the lights that we carry.. boy, what a crapshoot there!) and that's part of what we have to do as a business.
Most of my post here are based on my hands-on experience as a musician; I have no interest in promoting my place of employment on this forum.

Incidentally, I am using the very mixer that started this thread in my studio, as well as several other pieces of Behringer gear.