Behringer 676

Behringer 676 yllättää ennen kaikkea erinomaisella hinta–laatusuhteellaan. Kyseessä on etuaste, joka tarjoaa selvästi enemmän kuin hintalappu antaisi olettaa. Äänellisesti se tuo signaaliin helposti lämpöä ja miellyttävää läheisyyttä ilman, että soundi muuttuu tukkoiseksi tai keinotekoiseksi.

Etuaste reagoi hyvin eri lähteisiin ja sopii erityisen hyvin esimerkiksi lauluun ja puheeseen, mutta toimii mainiosti myös instrumenteilla. Soundi pysyy hallittuna, ja tarvittaessa siihen saa mukavaa analogihenkistä luonnetta.

Mukana oleva kompressori on yksi laitteen vahvuuksista. Se on luonteeltaan läpinäkyvä, eikä liikaa väritä signaalia, ellei niin halua. Säätövaraa on runsaasti, joten kompressorin saa toimimaan niin hienovaraisena dynamiikan tasoittajana kuin reippaampana muokkaustyökaluna. Tämä tekee laitteesta monipuolisen sekä äänitykseen että kevyeen miksaukseen.

Kaiken kaikkiaan Behringer 676 on erittäin vahva valinta budjettitietoiseen studioon tai kotikäyttöön. Se tarjoaa lämpimän etuasteen ja monipuolisen kompressorin yhdessä paketissa – ominaisuuksia, joita harvoin löytää tässä hintaluokassa.

I received the 676 well packaged. It's own box is nicely made, and inspires opening it, and pride of ownership.
The 676 itself is smaller than I expected, and has a nice weight to it. It feels very nicely made.
Installation was easy, and the controls are fairly simple to understand.
I'm not really impressed with the VU meter, which seems a bit imprecise, and didn't really correspond with the input readings on my Tascam DP32SD. But I was able to get good levels without distortion fairly quickly, with some tweaking.
One thing to note, is that if you are used to milliseconds on your compressor attack and release buttons, then these controls are reversed on the 676. Clockwise for fast attack and for fast release. Not a problem, just needs some getting used to.
The compressor has no threshold control, but using the level control on the preamp section seems to give a similar result. The tone controls do their job with no fuss.
The sound quality is excellent. This is really what I have been looking for for years. It has excellent clarity, and some nice sweetness.
I have been through many preamps such as by Joe Meek, DBX, Focusrite, ART, and Digitech, but none of them are able to produce the natural clarity I'm hearing with the 676.
I do not feel tempted to upgrade the tubes.. It sounds great, so I'll leave it as it is.
It has no de-esser, but it doesn't seem to be a problem, and in any case, they often seem to affect the clarity. Best to adjust your singing technique, or deal with it in the mix, in this case.
I'm very happy with this purchase. It looks great in the rack too.

I've used the UA LA610mk2 for years and can say that the 676 preamp - EQ sounds almost identical. I can't comment about the compressor since I haven't used the original UA one, but it sounds and behaves like a competent compressor on it's own. Built Quality isn't as tough as UA, but totally acceptable and should last for years if not abused. All in all, very satisfied with this unit.