DJ Riddims
02-05-2012, 01:56 PM
Behringer DDM4000 Review – After 2 Years of Almost Daily Use
Looks and Display
At first glance it looks complicated yet it makes you think about the many things that the mixer is capable of doing. The blinding lights that were greatly hated on the early models have been removed so the mixer is easier to look at in lowlight situations. The channel and master LED level bars are fairly accurate and quick to respond to volume changes. Keep in mind there are only 2 colors on the bar, orange and red, this means that there is no neutral green or third color making it hard for one to maintain a 0dB signal. This is not that big of a deal, just don’t let your level meter go into the red. All of the buttons are plastic and after having the mixer for two years the oils and skin cells from my finger I guess have been absorbed by the buttons I hit most, such as the PFL button, leaving a smudge on the button causing the LED to look a bit dimmer, and simple cleaning solution will fix that problem. Also the LED on a PFL button has gone very dim which is interesting because I have rarely touched that particularly PFL button. The mixer is overall in a logical layout except for the headphone jack which is place nearly in the middle of the right hand side of the mixer, though you get used to it after a while.
Feel
For a mixer that packs many features it sure is light, maybe a little too light causing one to be skeptical of its build quality. I have dropped it a few times, about one foot falls, and it has survived. As I stated before all of the buttons are hard plastic, this creates a problem. The plastic buttons grind against the metal faceplate and create dust that you can see forming on the side of the mixer. The buttons I have hit the most, PFL buttons, have lost some sensitivity requiring a forceful push to activate or deactivate the button. The channel faders are light but they do not feel smooth. It feels as if there is some sand in the fader track. The crossfader is smoother and is capable of performing your basic scratches. The eq knobs are a little stiff but will smooth out with use. Basically all of the knobs and buttons are same and don't feel smooth causing the mixer to feel less user-friendly.
Sound Quality
The sound is a bit cold and bland in my opinion which causes me to sometimes leave a light reverb effect on throughout my set.
Effects
The DDM comes with a decent amount of effects such as flanger, echo, bitcrusher and several others which you can use on any or all channels as well as the mic. You can control the specific parameters of each effect to achieve the desired sound which makes the effects sound good after proper adjustment. You can also specify if you want the effects to only affect the hi, mid, or low of the music. The mixer automatically matches effects with time parameters with its built-in BPM counter but this can easily be overridden. Controlling the effects can be slightly difficult being that the controls are small and have multi-purposes. If you’re selecting a channel to set your effects to and decided to hit the “effects on” button it will not engage which still throws me off even after two years of use.
Sampler
The sampler section has two banks that lets one record up to 32 seconds on each bank. I don’t use it much being that I have a dedicated sampler, but from the little I have experimented with it it’s possible to create some cool effects and delays. There is a noticeable fuzz sound in the recordings.
Mic
The mic input truly sucks. There is no volume control only a trim control. This means one cannot regulate the amount of db coming into the channel causing one to easily get crazy amounts of feedback even if you have the trim knob below 25 percent. Because of this a have to use a 2 channel studio mixer which takes up one of my mixer channels so I can use a microphone.
Inputs and Outputs
This mixer has almost all the inputs and outputs anyone would need except it is missing an usb output.
Problems
-mic input to much gain
-on some occasions the effects stop working properly and change the sound quality when you engage it (think of a filter). This can be fixed by repowering the unit.
Overall
The DDM has many features so I can’t go over everything. It is great if you want a mixer that does it all for a low price. One should expect that the mixer will not work as well as the more expensive mixers it’s trying to simulate. I am happy that I bought the mixer because it gave me the opportunity to experiment with many features that more expensive models have. If you are going to use a microphone avoid this mixer at all costs. The mixer is decent but needs to be at more streamlined in terms of its effects controls and have better knobs and buttons to.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Looks and Display
At first glance it looks complicated yet it makes you think about the many things that the mixer is capable of doing. The blinding lights that were greatly hated on the early models have been removed so the mixer is easier to look at in lowlight situations. The channel and master LED level bars are fairly accurate and quick to respond to volume changes. Keep in mind there are only 2 colors on the bar, orange and red, this means that there is no neutral green or third color making it hard for one to maintain a 0dB signal. This is not that big of a deal, just don’t let your level meter go into the red. All of the buttons are plastic and after having the mixer for two years the oils and skin cells from my finger I guess have been absorbed by the buttons I hit most, such as the PFL button, leaving a smudge on the button causing the LED to look a bit dimmer, and simple cleaning solution will fix that problem. Also the LED on a PFL button has gone very dim which is interesting because I have rarely touched that particularly PFL button. The mixer is overall in a logical layout except for the headphone jack which is place nearly in the middle of the right hand side of the mixer, though you get used to it after a while.
Feel
For a mixer that packs many features it sure is light, maybe a little too light causing one to be skeptical of its build quality. I have dropped it a few times, about one foot falls, and it has survived. As I stated before all of the buttons are hard plastic, this creates a problem. The plastic buttons grind against the metal faceplate and create dust that you can see forming on the side of the mixer. The buttons I have hit the most, PFL buttons, have lost some sensitivity requiring a forceful push to activate or deactivate the button. The channel faders are light but they do not feel smooth. It feels as if there is some sand in the fader track. The crossfader is smoother and is capable of performing your basic scratches. The eq knobs are a little stiff but will smooth out with use. Basically all of the knobs and buttons are same and don't feel smooth causing the mixer to feel less user-friendly.
Sound Quality
The sound is a bit cold and bland in my opinion which causes me to sometimes leave a light reverb effect on throughout my set.
Effects
The DDM comes with a decent amount of effects such as flanger, echo, bitcrusher and several others which you can use on any or all channels as well as the mic. You can control the specific parameters of each effect to achieve the desired sound which makes the effects sound good after proper adjustment. You can also specify if you want the effects to only affect the hi, mid, or low of the music. The mixer automatically matches effects with time parameters with its built-in BPM counter but this can easily be overridden. Controlling the effects can be slightly difficult being that the controls are small and have multi-purposes. If you’re selecting a channel to set your effects to and decided to hit the “effects on” button it will not engage which still throws me off even after two years of use.
Sampler
The sampler section has two banks that lets one record up to 32 seconds on each bank. I don’t use it much being that I have a dedicated sampler, but from the little I have experimented with it it’s possible to create some cool effects and delays. There is a noticeable fuzz sound in the recordings.
Mic
The mic input truly sucks. There is no volume control only a trim control. This means one cannot regulate the amount of db coming into the channel causing one to easily get crazy amounts of feedback even if you have the trim knob below 25 percent. Because of this a have to use a 2 channel studio mixer which takes up one of my mixer channels so I can use a microphone.
Inputs and Outputs
This mixer has almost all the inputs and outputs anyone would need except it is missing an usb output.
Problems
-mic input to much gain
-on some occasions the effects stop working properly and change the sound quality when you engage it (think of a filter). This can be fixed by repowering the unit.
Overall
The DDM has many features so I can’t go over everything. It is great if you want a mixer that does it all for a low price. One should expect that the mixer will not work as well as the more expensive mixers it’s trying to simulate. I am happy that I bought the mixer because it gave me the opportunity to experiment with many features that more expensive models have. If you are going to use a microphone avoid this mixer at all costs. The mixer is decent but needs to be at more streamlined in terms of its effects controls and have better knobs and buttons to.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.