Behringer Feedback Destroyer Pro FBQ2496

We gig 2 weekends a month on average and this is what I use to handle 2 monitor channels. Sometimes, this thing is PUMPING into action to prevent feedback. I've heard plenty of folks talk about not liking the auto mode but I have had success with it in many a live environment. I use a DEQ2496 for a feedback net on my FOH mix as I come out of a Phonic S16 Digital Console via AES/EBU to the DEQ2496 -> SRC2496 via digital optical cable -> DCX2496 via AES/EBU cable keeping an entirely digital signal from the mixing board, through EQ processes, to the crossover/loudspeaker management system then out to the QSC FOH system. The unit has MIDI control. Nothing bad to say and would purchase again.Update 11/29/14 -> Hundreds of gigs later and it is still performing well. Our drummer decided to go with headphones! So now I can use it for 2 monitor mixes out front. (Drummer tended to laser aim his floor wedge at everyone's vocal mic...) I patch up balanced 1/4" TRS to XLR from my digital mixer to FBQ2496, then XLR to floor wedges. The rig just works. So much so that I haven't dabbled with many of the features. Gives me headroom and prevents howling on my monitor mixes, which is just what the Dr. ordered.

I have mixed feelings about this product, but the bottom line is that I feel it is a good value.Some reviews mention build quality. I would say the build quality is very good. The only cheap looking part is the knob (as mentioned in another review) which for some reason is not completely round. Other than that, it looks like a solid, well-built unit.For some reason, Behringer has gone out of its way to make this product confusing, The most confusing thing about it is that out of the box, all of the filters are set to PEQ, which means there are no single shot or automatic filters available at all. This might be the reason why some reviewers (here and elsewhere) have complained that the unit does not stop feedback, because it won't! So, the very first thing you need to do it press and hold PEQ, turn the knob so the display shows P0, and then press PEQ again. Now you can press Learn (or press and hold it) and it will search and destroy feedback as advertised.I also discovered a hidden feature, which is that an automatic filter can be turned into a single shot one. But first, again, Behringer chooses terminology that makes a simple concept hard to grasp. Assuming you have set the number of PEQ filters to zero, you start out with 20 filters (assuming you are in stereo mode) left for the unit to use to deal with feedback. If a filter is set while Learn is pressed, this increases the single shot (S) count. So, let's say that by either pressing and holding Learn, or just clicking it and allowing feedback to occur by normal means, you end up with four slots set. You now press Learn again (so its LED is off) and "run" shows. If feedback occurs and another filter is deployed, it is the same kind of filter that was Learned; the only difference is (a) if it will be remembered if you turn the unit off and then on again, or (b) if you briefly press Reset. Got that? The only difference between single shot and automatic is how they are reset.So, let's say you have four single shot filters, and in "run" mode two more automatic filters get deployed. If you press Learn, turn the knob to six (up from four) and press Learn again, guess what? You now have six single shot filters, because all you had to do is increment the single shot count. This is very useful to know.The other oddity is that at first I thought my unit was DOA. Even after talking to customer support, they suggested I return the unit because I was getting no input signal at all (no motion in the LED input lights) even though when I connected my mixer output directly to my amplifier, everything was fine. Well, ends up that the jacks I was using are shrink wrapped, and that was enough to prevent the jack from making a connection (even though those cables work perfectly well on everything else I have ever used forever). So, an oddity in the jacks of this unit as well.The other unexpected feature of this unit is that it significantly attenuates the signal. By this I mean if you connect a mixer output to the unit and then run the output to an amplifier, the signal is significantly weaker. This isn't too big of a deal (just turn up the amp) but why it has to be isn't exactly clear.Another thing about the unit is the rude way it overloads. Yes, it is digital, but a DSP128 PLus is also digital, and when it overloads it is nowhere near as run it terms of the amount of breakup is causes. Combine this with the automatic learning feature and you get breakup that is murder on the speakers. At a bare minimum, in automatic learning mode, the signal ought to be automatically muted just before it overloads.Other than that, the unit performed for me quite well. I basically hooked it up between my mixer and amplifier and turned everything on except the amplifier. I then played normally and turned up the output of the mixer until the input LEDs of the unit were hot but did not clip, then I turned the amplifier on with the volume all the way down. I initially didn't use automatic learning, and so I pressed Learn once and gradually raised the volume of the amp while snapping my fingers into the mic, which created feedback. The unit, most of the time, deployed a filter before the unit clipped. Once it was done (sometimes it would deploy more than one filter) I raised the volume of the amplifier and repeated the finger snapping process. I repeated this process until the volume was significantly higher than I wanted it to be, then I lowered the volume of the amplifier and pressed Learn, which displayed "run". Now I was set to play!In this mode, automatic filters may get deployed, and you will see the LEDs advance. Now, here is the little trick. If the Filter Lift LED is off, this means the automatic filters will remain in place until you turn the unit off or press reset. But if you press Learn, increase the number of single shot filters, and then press Learn again, you can get the unit to remember these new automatic filters as single shot filters. Again, I have to say that the term "single shot" for a filter that is remembered until you press and hold Reset is just an unfortunate term that breeds confusion. The single shot filters are permanent and the automatic filters are temporary, but they are (a) the same kind of filter, and (b) temporary filters can be remembered by simply increasing the number of permanent filters.Also, when we say the same kind of filter, they (single shot, automatic, PEQ) are ALL the same kind of filter. This is another source of confusion. The unit doesn't do anything a 40 band PEQ couldn't do; it just (a) sets the sliders itself by listening to the frequencies that are causing feedback, and (b) has sliders that slide left and right in that they are not fixed at a certain frequency; you get to set that as well.So, again, there is only one kind of filter, and the setting of the PEQ and single shot count is just about managing them.The unit is reasonably quiet, but in my case it did inject some hiss; to be fair, I am not using balanced inputs.I personally cannot imagine using the unit as a PEQ because the interface is so awkward, unless you somehow had a listing of what the settings ought to be and you were just manually entering them. You have to select the slot, then set a frequency, a bandwidth, and a positive or negative gain. Compare that to just moving a slider (but, again, if the sliders are fixed at frequencies, this unit will give you more flexibility).Initially, in Learn mode, I ended up with four single shot filters. While in "run" mode and while playing (with Filter Lift off) some additional filters would automatically get deployed, which I added to the single shot count as described. In my case, I eventually got up to 16 single shot filters. At this point, I set Filter Lift to one minute so there would always be some automatic filters available, and I've left it there.Panic mode didn't seem to do as much as it should. I still had to plug my ears and listen to my speakers howl far more than it seemed necessary before the unit finally kicked in. While I can understand that while music is playing the FFT algorithm might have a hard time determining what was music and what was feedback, in automatic learning mode, it sure seemed it ought to be able to tell a lot quicker than it did; if you are automatically learning and the input to the unit is peaking to the point of clipping, sure seems the unit ought to know feedback is occurring.After I figured out the confusing terminology, aside from the degree to which my speakers had to squeal before the filter was deployed, I really liked the unit. That would be my primary complaint; there ought to be a way unit to automatically attenuate or something to reduce the amount of time the speakers have to squeal before the filter is deployed, and clipping at overload ought to be more polite and not generate square waves that sound so horrible and are so hard on the speakers, at least while learning. But is sure seems it could monitor input and compress so it would never overload, or at least only overload momentarily; there is no excuse for the unit to be overloading for seconds with the speakers crackling.So, I'm deducting one star not for the confusion factor, but for the overloading and noise issues. Every unit has it quirks and has to be learned. I'm ignoring the UI involved in trying to use it as a PEQ; factor all of that in, and it is pretty much set, calibrate and forget.For the price (less than half list) this unit is a great value.

Sadly, the unit I received was dead upon arrival. It powered up, and appeared to be working fine, but after several hours of forcing my system to squeal, and then another hour doing the same thing but this time with a audio-pro friend, it was determined that the unit very simply wasn't doing it's job as a feedback eliminator. I didn't test the equalizer function.I really like Behringer products, having experienced and being very impressed with 4 sharks, a mixer/amp headunit, two unpowered main speakers and a powered monitor, all of which far exceeded expectations.Amazon of course sent a prepaid return label, and promptly refunded my money, which is great for them as a company, but can't raise my rating of 1 star on this product.I've also had a Behringer C1 mic arrive dead on arrival. Sigh. Thank goodness for Amazon's return policy.

This unit works amazingly fast to squash feedback as soon as it happens, Im not sure what other reviews are saying when they say this is hard to set up? I found it very easy, simply hook it up and plug it in and it starts to work that fast.I am using this to gain more headroom for a weak lead singer in our band and it works wonders, Leave it in the auto mode and forget it, it does the rest ! This is well worth the money and every bit as good as the DBX costing double the price..If you have feedback issues and or want to ring out the room your playing with ease just buy it!

Works okay, but not great. In a small room, there are so many feedback paths that literally all of the filters kick in, and the sound becomes very different due to so many frequencies being cut. That is not necessarily the fault of the unit, but rather the room that I am using. It also takes much longer than advertised to actually determine if a tone is feedback, and then cut it (about 2 to 3 seconds). The PEQ's work fine. The instruction manual that comes with the unit is nearly useless, and requires you to download the full operating manual on-line. I can understand cutting costs, but it would have been nice to have the full manual with the unit, as I did not have access to my computer the first time I turned on the unit in my rack.

I actually bought this in order to use the 40 individual programmable parametric filters, rather than as a feedback eliminator. The UI is simple and intuitive, and the device can be programmed via MIDI. Additionally, it has pro quality balanced I/O and a built-in power supply instead of a cheap wall wart.I use it to equalize audio systems due to the flexibility of the DSP. It seems to work fine and has a hard bypass switch in case you need to check out the effects of the filters you've programmed. It just does its job and that's all I needed. Recommended.