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View Full Version : Review: Behringer B415DSP 15" Active Speakers



Tektonix
03-29-2012, 02:18 AM
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/B415DSP.aspx


http://www.behringer.com/assets/B415DSP_P0788_Right_XL.png

Some time ago I had purchased a pair of Behringer B415DSP's to use as my backup speakers due to the specifications meeting up to what I needed and them being at a pretty fair price for what they are. I needed something relatively inexpensive with a fair power handling that's plug in and play. Here's what I thought of them....

Quick Specs:
- 600 Watt 2 Way
- 24 Bit Digital Signal Processor
- Filter's + 2 band EQ
- 2 XLR Inputs 1 XLR Output
- 15" Low End Driver 1.75" Horn

First Impressions:

My first thoughts on these was well, its Behringer so I guess im going to be getting what I pay for, Not high hopes at all. Pulling them out of their boxes they where a bit heavier than I had thought, guess that just comes with it being a 15" Active :shrug: It's a plastic casing on it so it felt a little bit cheap as if if I where to drop them even a foot they'd be totalled. I set them up in seconds and put them up on stands in my room and played around with them for a bit and they sounded clear, nice bass response and I was overall quite impressed (Keep in mind this is playing them what would be considered loud in a 15x15 room) and used them to practice on and for house party's at my place.

Gigging With Them:

First Gig: A small gig at a hall came up (About a 80x50 room) with a few hundred people. Space was going to be tight so I could not afford to bring my yorkville rig with me, Guess it was time to put them to the test. During sound check I noticed my first problem with these, When they are at high volume the bass on them significantly drop's and isn't as responsive. I had brought one of the yorkville sub's I have along so that was easily dealt with and for the rest of the night they performed exceeding my expectations pumping out the mid's and high's crystal clear all night long playing Top40 at high volume with no problems what so ever.

From then on I have used them at multiple gig's where space is tight or smaller venue's where no sub is needed and they have performed quite well, never have they crashed on me, made a strange noise, blown or anything of the sort. I also still use them to practice at home on.

Conclusion:

These have exceeded my expectation's by far on what they are capable of and the quality of them. I have had them fall of stands (my fault) and ive just put them back up no problem and went on (at home not during gig's) so they are built pretty solid for what they look to be. Sound quality is pretty damn good, They are no mean's completable with high top end speakers but they get the job done very well. The only problem i have is they are a bit heavy for me to lug around, Guess I just need to hit the gym :lol: I am very pleased with them and would definitely recommend them to someone looking for an inexpensive, decent sounding, solid pair of active's. These are great for beginner's aswell :)

Pros:
- Inexpensive
- Clear Sound Quality
- Easy To Use (Plug In and Play)
- Stackable (Great For Transporting)
- All The Control's and Input/Output's

Cons:
- Heavy Heavy Heavy
- Loss Of Bass Response At High Volume

Build Quality: 8/10
Sound Quality: 8/10
Feature's: 9/10
Price: 10/10
Overall: 8.5/10

Hope This Help's Someone Out C:

- Tektonix

Unknown DJ
03-29-2012, 05:49 AM
Nice review. Were did you buy them from?

Al Poulin
03-29-2012, 07:38 AM
Good review, thanks for sharing. Behringer powered speakers are decent perfromers for the money and have proven more reliable than some of Behringer's other products, but I would prefer to have them as back ups and not as my main speakers. ;)


Grammar police : there are no apostrophes when something is a plural.

thoughts not thought's
boxes not box's
stands not stand's
pros and cons NOT pro's and con's
specs not spec's
impressions not impression's
and your favorite track+artist contain way too many apostrophes as well...

Anyway, you get the idea. sorry, but this is one of my personal pet peeves...:D


Al

Tektonix
03-29-2012, 06:48 PM
@ Unkown DJ: Spectacular Sounds on St. Clair West here in Toronto C:

@ Al Poulin: :lol: Thanks for correcting me, I shall go and fix it now ;) For sure better as back up speakers, Will always use my yorkie's as my main.

ampnation
03-29-2012, 08:11 PM
The problem with the low end being basically unusable begs the question, "Wouldn't the 12" version be lighter and do basically the same job except in those rare cases where you wanted low end but not much volume, all for a slightly lower price?"

Al Poulin
03-29-2012, 08:58 PM
@ Unkown DJ: Spectacular Sounds on St. Clair West here in Toronto C:

@ Al Poulin: :lol: Thanks for correcting me, I shall go and fix it now ;) For sure better as back up speakers, Will always use my yorkie's as my main.


No problem - happy you didn't take offence. :)

The loss of bass response at higher volume from your Behringers is probably just a built-in limiter that activates to protect the woofer from over excursion. Which yorkville tops and subs do you use?

Al

Tektonix
03-29-2012, 11:20 PM
@ ampnation: :shrug: That's very true, I never really had the chance to hear them at full volume so in the store they sounded great, If I knew this was the case I probably would have gone that route.... Good point man

@ Al Poulin: Haha no worries man, if anything ill catch myself doing it now and correct it so thank you :)

And that is very true, I don't suppose it can be disabled can it? And im running 2 LSP801P's and 2 E215's. I need the volume and amount of low end for the type of gig's I do (generally top40 mobile work ie: school dances, sweet 16's aswell as renting out an empty lounge now and then and holding event's, they seem to pump out plenty of sound playing electro house and such)

ampnation
03-29-2012, 11:28 PM
You're probably causing a few problems with cancellations by using the E215's and the Behringers together. That may be why you needed to turn them up so loud. Do you know about comb filtering? If not, google it.

If you're using these to cover a larger room basically as satellites that isn't as bad.

Tektonix
03-29-2012, 11:34 PM
@ ampnation: The behringer's arn't used with the E215's, Just the LSP's. Shall Google the comb filtering though just in case I ever do use them together :tup: Thanks

ampnation
03-29-2012, 11:42 PM
yeah, for your bigger gigs, you guys in Canada have something we don't in California.... Long & McQuade. I understand their rental rates are verrry good. And every time the specific unit is rented out, it's buy price gets lowered. So if you're trying to cover something bigger, instead of cobbling something together, do the right thing and get the right tool for the job on a rental basis.

Austin GoGreen
05-21-2012, 02:57 PM
I have a pair of these i'm looking to sell if anyone is interested. Say $500? Have done a number of mobile gigs including weddings with these. I sold the matching sub last month and upgraded to QSC. Only different I've noticed is that the QSC's are much lighter. The Behringer 415DSP and NEO's are good speakers.

Subzeero
05-22-2012, 09:37 PM
yeah, for your bigger gigs, you guys in Canada have something we don't in California.... Long & McQuade. I understand their rental rates are verrry good. And every time the specific unit is rented out, it's buy price gets lowered. So if you're trying to cover something bigger, instead of cobbling something together, do the right thing and get the right tool for the job on a rental basis.

An LS720P up here was $10 for a one day rental 3 yrs ago, when I rented one.

Al Poulin
05-23-2012, 08:01 AM
If I had a Long and McQuade in my area, I wouldn't have to buy so many freakin' powered speakers and could rent them instead in order to test and compare them!

Al