Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Hmm I found this lack of specs intersting.. so I did a bit of research. I
did find the manual for th unti here:

<http://www.instrumentpro.com/Merchant2/specSheets/behringer/BEHRINGERBX600Manual.pdf>

But amazingly, they don't have a single frequesncy response listing!
Though they do list the impeadence of the jacks and use lots of words
like "musical" and "punchy", I couldn't find any hard facts on the amp
itself (i.e. Total Harmonic Distortion at rated power, Noise floor etc.)

So I dug a little further and found a manula for simular product from
peavy here:

<http://www.peavey.com/support/searchmanuals/list/microbass95.cfm>

And lo and behold! They *do* include the specs:

------------------ CLIP ----------------------
POWER AMP SECTION
Rated Power & Load:
20 W RMS into 4 ohms with DDT\ufffd compression
Power @ Clipping: (typically)
(1 kHz, 120 V AC line)
24 W RMS into 4 ohms @ 1% THD
26 W RMS into 4 ohms @ 5% THD
Frequency Response:
+0, -2 dB, 80 Hz to 10 kHz, @ 20 W RMS into
4 ohms
Total Harmonic Distortion:
Less than 0.2%, 100 mW to 20 W RMS, 60 Hz to
10 kHz, 4 ohms, typically below 0.1%
DDT\ufffd Dynamic Range:
Greater than 20 dB
DDT\ufffd Maximum THD:
Below 0.1% THD for 6 dB overload
Below 1% THD for 14 dB overload
Hum & Noise:
Greater than 78 dB below rated power
PREAMP SECTION
The following specs are measured @ 1 kHz with the Low and
High EQ @ 10, Mid EQ @ 0. Nominal levels are with gain @ 5.
Minimum levels are with gain @ 10.
Preamp Input:
Impedance: High-Z, 220 k ohms
Nominal Input Level: -22 dBV, 80 mV RMS
Minimum Input Level: -40 dBV, 10 mV RMS
Maximum Input Level: 0 dBV, 1 V RMS
Headphone Output:
Load Impedance: 4 ohms or greater
Nominal Power Output: 100 mV into 4 ohms
(Stereo jack, monaural signal disconnects internal
speaker when phone plug is inserted)
System Hum & Noise @ Nominal Input Level:
(20 Hz to 20 kHz unweighted)
78 dB below rated power
Equalization:
Low, Mid, & High passive type with special filtering
and brightness
------------------ /CLIP ---------------------

This tells me all I need to know about the amp. It's obvious that it
won't priduce much of anything beyond 10khz. Also, while searching for
info on this model of behringer, I found a few reviews such as this:

<http://www.guitar-review.com/review-display/6545.html>


------------CLIP ---------------
Behringer BX600
Manufacturer: Behringer
Model: BX600

Purchase: Purchased in Feb. '03 from American Musical Supply.com fro
$115.00 plus shipping. Purchased because of perceived value based of
feature/price ratio.

Likes: Many features including 3-band Eq, passsive & active inputs, tape
in, line out as well as headphone jacks. Very portable (not too heavy).

Dislikes: Upon delivery of the amp, the packaging was so badly damaged
that I took photographs of it before opening the box as a precaution in
case there was any damage to the actual unit. There was no visible damage
but I was surprised to find no power cord and no English language owner's
manual in the box. I contacted AMS and they sent out a power cord and
manual. After about 4 months of gentle use as a practice amp, it
developed a loud buzzing noise whenever certain notes were played. This
happens even at low volume. Since it was past the 45-day period, American
Musical Supply would not accept a return. After sending several
unanswered emails to support@..., I found the telephone number
for your US office. When I contacted Behringer customer service
department, I was given a return authorization number. I told the Service
Administrator that assisted me that I was unhappy with Behringer's policy
requiring the customer to pay the shipping costs to their authorized
repair center. The customer service rep. indicated that I would have to
ship the amp to a service center in NYC at my own expense to have it
repaired. It cost over $20 to have the amp shipped to the repair center.
I contacted American Musical Supply's customer service department but
they would not do anything to help me with this issue. When I spoke to
their customer service manager, she said, "That's the risk you take when
ordering products on the Internet." After receiving the unit back from
the repair center, I tested the unit and the problem has NOT been
resolved. The unit continues to buzz very loudly whenever certain notes
are played on the bass guitar. This unit is obviously defective.

Quality: The quality of this unit is in my opion, very poor to the the
ongoing issue with the buzzing. Other than that, the physical contruction
of the cabinet seems to be sound.

Summary: Buyer beware! I would not recommend purchasing any equipment
from Behringer or American Musical Supply. The customer service for both
companies is poor. The quality of the Behringer product is very poor.
They do not have a developed service network in the US. Before purchasing
a product on-line, find out where the companies nearest repair center is
located. Stick to manufacturers that have local repair centers to avoid
shipping costs.

------------/CLIP --------------


This was not unique. It seems that quite a few people hate the behringer
unit:

From here: http://www.harmony-central.com/

comes this:

---------------- CLIP -----------------
Features: 1
I purchased the BX600 thru a 'friendly musician' mail order company for a
practice / emergency back up amp. I played the BX600 for 15 seconds at
medium volume and it broke down. I sent it back and ordered another BX600
and the same thing happened! I must admit that the amp sounded good and
performed well for the 15 seconds. But I don't think I can afford enough
of these amps that would be needed to get me thru a gig.

Submitted by joe at 11/22/2003 11:30
---------------- /CLIP ----------------

Of course, then a few click later I found some glowing reviews like this:

http://www.bgra.net/reviews/behringer-bx600-1-rvw.html
--------------------- CLIP -------------------
I am unrelated to Behringer. I own several of their mixers, their Quad
Compressor, and the Ultra-Curve EQ as well. I'm continually surprised by
the strong performance of Behringer products for their price. They're not
just competing, they producing top-rate stuff.

I compared the BX600 to the BX300 and the BX1200 and it won, hands down,
even over every other 12" amp in the store, except the Gallien-Kruger
Micro-Bass at $700+. I've used opto-limiters in professional recording,
and they are the Rolls-Royce of compression. With it, it is impossible to
get this amp to distort. Turn it up full blast and it just gets louder
and louder without a trace of strain or distortion. It is even louder
than the BX1200 which has twice the power! With the EQ set to Flat, this
thing shakes a room with more fundamental frequency than any small amp
I've ever heard. If you don't like it, you can always turn it down. But
if it's not there to begin with, turning up the bass won't get it. This
amp definitely has bass, as opposed to the rusty-bed-spring twang common
to most bass amps.

The shape function really is what puts these amps over the top. This one
little knob will get you ANY tone you want. I play 6 string fretted and 6
string fretless, and the shape control allows me to quickly get the
classic tone I want for each bass. There is $1000 worth of tone in that
control knob alone!

Being the curious type I had to open mine up to see what was inside.
There is no fiberglass or acoustic damping inside the speaker cabinet. I
will probably add some, but that's my quirk. The speaker surprised me
with a very lightweight man-made-material cone as well as a mongo magnet.
It has a stamped-frame basket, but the frame is convoluted to prevent it
from flexing during hard use. The fit and finish from the interior view
shows very high quality workmanship.

The street price is now $139 for this BX600. And what a deal it is. The
only problem is that I'll have to carry this amp to all my gigs so I can
input it's fabulous tone to the main sound systems.
---------------------- CLIP ------------------
Anyway, thats all the research I have time for today (have to go pretend
to work now!) :)

Vern


-- 
Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE    | "If the network is down, then you're
Senior Systems Engineer    | obviously incompetent so why are we
Texas Information Services | paying you? Of course, if the network
http://www.txis.com        | is up, then we obviously don't need
Austin Office 512 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" \ufffdVLG