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View Full Version : Inuke NU4-6000 opinions needed



sndscientist
06-08-2015, 09:11 PM
ok here is my question. i am currently installing a permanent system in a nightclub a decent distance away from my home. i have been bouncing back and forth between amplifiers that i want to install. from various crowns to behringers to QSC's and everywhere in the middle.

my good friend just bought the Nu4-6000 and swears to me it's the best thing since sliced bread. normally i take his word for it but call me old fashioned i have a very limited trust of these new <15 lb amplifiers. the system that they currently have are a pair of HX118s subwoofers and a pair of hx152's on top. the 118's claim a rating of 400w/rms and the 152's claim a rating of 600w/rms. granted they are not the speakers of choice by me, i gotta work with what i'm given.

so my question is are the inukes reliable. do they have a high failure rate? i assume since class D amplifiers are more efficient and require less airflow that it should not need the bi yearly compressor treatment. do the inukes handle abuse as well as say my 90lb peaveys? basically this club has dj's come in, plug in, play and leave. i don't want to get a call to drive 200 miles at 2 am because an amp failed

drzinc
06-08-2015, 09:33 PM
Mine is almost 4 years in service in my mobile rack and it still gets me how cool this amp runs. and to show you that i am not bsing here is my rack.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/30/rrz9.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/0urrz9j)

sndscientist
06-08-2015, 10:36 PM
Have you ever had to clean it out? Also do you run 4 ohm or 8 ohm cabs on it? My buddy does small weddings and trivia shows. He told me he barely gets to the third light. But hes using 8 ohm ev's. Im curious about stability on 4 ohm loads.

drzinc
06-08-2015, 11:03 PM
I have used it to power 4 folded horns 2 per channel without a hiccup. lots of thump. Mine is in a rack that is closed unless I play out so cleaning needs are minimal. If you are using it a dusty environment you will need to clean it more often, any amp that has fans will eventually will need a cleaning.

Evil Steve
06-09-2015, 04:57 AM
I realize I'm not giving an experienced opinion on the iNuke.
Have you considered your use for this amp?
The iNuke seems purpose built for mobile operators who have little money and want big power numbers.
You purpose is a fixed install.
Are you severely limited for rack space?

I will be up front on this...
I don't trust Behringer.
I've been left stranded and scrambling too many times, by Behringer gear, to trust anything they build.
Apparently their reliability has improved. I've been burned too many times to buy into that nonsense.

If you have a fixed install and an amp that needs to run subs, you can pick up a used, good quality 'big iron' amp, built by a reputable manufacturer, for the same money as the iNuke.

Incognito
06-09-2015, 07:06 AM
I have mentioned the short comings of this amp before (mainly structural integrity issues) but since this is for a fixed install I don't think that will be too much of an issue, however as Evil Steve mentioned I too just don't get that warm feeling of long term confidence from Behringer yet. That said, that's not to say that the Inuke wouldn't work for your applications for years to come because I am sure it will but the question comes as to how many years? I still go to fixed installs I did around 20 years ago that get abused on a regular weekly but the QSC EX & QSC MX(a) series are still going strong without any signs of giving up the ghost anytime too soon. All they require is a little dust out, a little Caig pot cleaner for the pots & some Caig D5 contact cleaner for the XLR inputs & speaker binding posts once a year which is standard amplifier maintenance but no cosmetic or audible issues in all that time (the Rane processing & original Mackie boards are also all still going strong without issues).

drzinc
06-09-2015, 08:13 AM
People rile Behringer with good cause, But of all my gear that I have bought from them I have had only one failure (dcx2496) that was quickly replaced by them. Although they have copied a lot of their stuff a few pieces from them have been unique to Behringer. The DXC/EQ Series of processors are not copies of anything their midi dj controllers were some of the first in the industry (BCD-2000) I still own one and it still works.

b.ill
06-09-2015, 10:30 AM
If this is a passive install 200 miles away using Harbinger speakers run by DJs, the Behringer power amp is the least of your worries. Personally I wouldn't take the job.

But FWIW I've had a Behringer Nu6000 for almost three years now - in constant weekly use. There have been times it's been on sub duty @4ohms. Great little amp. Used to carry a spare just in case it blew up on me. I gave up that practice after the first few months.

light-o-matic
06-09-2015, 12:44 PM
My experience with Behringer gear is.. most of it.. falls apart within a short time and isn't that great.
Their DJ mixers are crud.

Some exceptions..
The old EP series amps were not bad.
The original Composer compressor was good.. I had one. It did ultimately flake on me but lasted a while.

The DCX processor was well known for randomly flaking out, the internet used to be full of messages bitching about them dying. But I think they've worked it out. My main complaint using one of those is that the audio cuts out when you adjust the delay, or adjust some other settings. Other processors don't do that. So you can't really adjust it while a performance is going on, which pretty much sucks. But for $250 I guess it is what it is.. so that is a useful piece.

The iNuke from what I have heard.. the power output is actually pretty close to what's promised.. short term.. and apparently they do work. Sound quality and build quality is cheap. So yea, lots of power on the cheap.. if that's your need then they are possibly ok for you. But for not much more you can get the Crown Drivecore XLS2000 .. one in stereo mode for tops, one in bridged mono on the subs.. and they have a much better rep. That's probably what I would do in your shoes. But I don't mind paying an extra 100 bucks. If budget is your primary concern to the point that $75-100 difference matters, then that shouts Behringer.



The Peavey IPR or Crown

conanski
06-09-2015, 02:38 PM
The DCX processor was well known for randomly flaking out Yes early models developed a frying bacon problem that was traced to the ribbon cables, but the internet never forgets so despite the fact this is 10yr old history and you now see more failures of DBX Driveracks than DCXs it doesn't seem to matter.


My main complaint using one of those is that the audio cuts out when you adjust the delay, or adjust some other settings. The mute only occurs when crossing the zero threshold in either direction..for some reason, so once you have a filter engaged adjustments are silent. Yes this is a bit odd and I'm not sure why this happens.. maybe its to prevent some objectional noise or thump from getting through in which case I'll gladly take the momentary mute.


The iNuke from what I have heard.. the power output is actually pretty close to what's promised.. short term.. and apparently they do work. Sound quality and build quality is cheap. I have no personal experience with this series but what I keep hearing is they are the bomb on subs but don't sound very hi-fi on tops.

Here's a bench test.. http://forum.speakerplans.com/behringer-inuke-nu6000-vs-kam-kxd7200-bench-tested_topic69202.html

Unknown DJ
06-09-2015, 05:05 PM
Behringer just bought Tannoy, Lab Gruppen, Lake, TC Electronic, TC Helicon and TC Applied Technologies. I own a Inuke 6000DSP . Get the 2 channel with the DSP and run the system in mono.

Evil Steve
06-09-2015, 06:00 PM
Behringer just bought Tannoy, Lab Gruppen, Lake, TC Electronic, TC Helicon and TC Applied Technologies. I own a Inuke 6000DSP . Get the 2 channel with the DSP and run the system in mono.

That could be good news or bad news for Behringer, the companies Behringer ate, and the professional sound community.
So far, I haven't heard about evil befalling the companies Behringer swallowed last time. Then again, I never paid much attention to those companies in the first place.

Behringer could institute some huge manufacturing savings at the companies mentioned. The creative minds at those companies could add huge value to the actual Behringer 'brand' of equipment.
On the other hand, those brands could be ruined by being associated with an organization still trying to gain credibility.
Like deals before it, things could work well or it could turn into a disaster.
Hopefully things will be well.
One day, I'd love to be able to afford an amp that carries the quality of a LabGruppen, for the price of a Behringer. Same with a Lake processor.
When it happens, I'll be very happy.
Until then, I'll wait for the good things to happen.

drzinc
06-09-2015, 08:38 PM
Evil Steve it is starting to trickle down some of the Behringer speakers (http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/B1500HP.aspx) have Turbo Sound drivers now.

light-o-matic
06-10-2015, 10:42 AM
Yes early models developed a frying bacon problem that was traced to the ribbon cables, but the internet never forgets so despite the fact this is 10yr old history and you now see more failures of DBX Driveracks than DCXs it doesn't seem to matter.

The mute only occurs when crossing the zero threshold in either direction..for some reason, so once you have a filter engaged adjustments are silent. Yes this is a bit odd and I'm not sure why this happens.. maybe its to prevent some objectional noise or thump from getting through in which case I'll gladly take the momentary mute.

I have no personal experience with this series but what I keep hearing is they are the bomb on subs but don't sound very hi-fi on tops.

Here's a bench test.. http://forum.speakerplans.com/behringer-inuke-nu6000-vs-kam-kxd7200-bench-tested_topic69202.html

You don't right out and say it but I think you are taking exception to my criticism of the Behringer and feel they need defending??? Why?
You're not really saying anything I'm not saying.. the DCX does interrupt the audio when you adjust certain settings.. the one I remember clearly is you cannot adjust the delay at all without interrupting the audio. I'm not ok with that, and none of the other processors I have used do that.. so I use other processors that don't do that.. eg Ashly, DBX, Sabine, Peavey, even the BBE IIRC does not have that problem. So yea, there is nothing wrong with saying that the Behringer is inferior in this regard, because it is. I think I was pretty fair in saying that it has some problems but that if you can live with those problems it's a good value for the price. I also did say that they had worked out the early reliability problems.

As far as the inuke.. I said that the word is that they have lots of power but not so great on fidelity, which is what you say and what the link you posted says. So why defend them in response to what I am saying, when you are saying the same thing?? What I have heard is a bit different.. that yes they do well on subs but other amps do better. Someone on these forums posted their comparison of the inuke vs the IPR and Crown XLS and said that the IPR and Crown both sounded better and that the IPR sounded better on subs. And I would doubt that either one sounds better than the Powerlights I have.. so, to say that the inuke is "the bomb" maybe should be "the bomb compared to anything else you can get for $350".. If you are willing to spend $750 then the Behringer isn't the bomb anymore.

In short yes, Behringer is the company that gives a lot of what a lot of people are looking for, at a low low price. Power, features, number of inputs/outputs.. etc. That is their value proposition and they are good at it. Other aspects, they aren't so great, they don't try to be so great at those things. They don't feel they need defending for that, so why do you?

I'm also curious about your assertion that "you now see more failures of DBX Driveracks than DCXs"??? I have not been aware of any unusually high failure rate in the Driverack, can you provide some information? Again, it seems you are defensive of Behringer, when really they have EARNED their rep and they are ok with that, so why aren't you?

It is as if I were to say "I trust QSC, they make consistently great stuff.. I'd rather use QSC than Behringer. Behringer makes a lot of crap, this thing failed on me, that thing didn't sound so good".. and then someone argues with that saying "well, there was this one QSC amp that had a problem.. and Behringer has this iNuke6000 it is only $350 and is THE BOMB.. so Behringer is really great, don't talk bad about Behringer, just because they had a bunch of shitty products.. don't talk about that when you're comparing brands"... See how that makes no sense?? As opposed to just being truthful and saying, YES indeed QSC makes consistently much better quality products than Behringer, but Behringer has lower prices, and some of their stuff sucks, and they have a deservedly bad rep.. but their stuff is good enough for me, and this one amp model seems to be a great deal, so that's my choice.

Unknown DJ
06-10-2015, 02:18 PM
You don't right out and say it but I think you are taking exception to my criticism of the Behringer and feel they need defending??? Why?
You're not really saying anything I'm not saying.. the DCX does interrupt the audio when you adjust certain settings.. the one I remember clearly is you cannot adjust the delay at all without interrupting the audio.



How would you adjust delay without interrupting the audio? You are literately delaying the sound.

light-o-matic
06-10-2015, 07:06 PM
How would you adjust delay without interrupting the audio? You are literately delaying the sound.
Good question, well yea of course if you have got let's say 50 milliseconds of audio in buffer and you want to switch it to 49 milliseconds, you are gonna have SOME kind of effect on the output, you have to do something with that 1 millisecond.. one thing you can do is just throw it away, it's 1 millisecond so nobody is likely to hear it. Or you can do some time stretching.. by which I mean resample the 50 milliseconds you have, so it plays back in 49.

But what I'm talking about with the DCX isn't one millisecond, it was more like a 1 second silence, maybe a bit less. But enough to be really obvious and bad.

In comparison when you make these adjustments on the other processors I named, sure maybe you are losing some audio but it isn't audible. So I can adjust things whenever I want. But with the DCX, if you realize after the gig starts that you are not happy with the settings, too bad, you are stuck with them.

conanski
06-10-2015, 07:29 PM
You don't right out and say it but I think you are taking exception to my criticism of the Behringer and feel they need defending??? Why?. The only thing I took exception with is that it appeared that you were just repeating some often repeated but now long out of date info concerning DCX failures, otherwise I was actually in agreement with you on everything else and didn't intend to suggest that my use of your quotes meant I disagreed. The list of Behringer products I would own is pretty short and that is because a lot of what they have made simply doesn't stand up.. regardless of sound quality.


As far as the inuke.. I said that the word is that they have lots of power but not so great on fidelity, which is what you say and what the link you posted says. So why defend them in response to what I am saying, when you are saying the same thing?? . Yeah... see I wasn't defending, maybe my use of the phrase "the bomb" was misleading.. I only meant it in terms of being able to produce big noises, in no way was I trying to suggest it has the quality of a QSC PL or similar because I have been at this long enough to know there is more to an amp than just the amount of power it produces.


I'm also curious about your assertion that "you now see more failures of DBX Driveracks than DCXs"??? I have not been aware of any unusually high failure rate in the Driverack, . Well no there isn't but based on data From Uli himself in one of the giant threads over on PSW the fact that the Behringer is even close suggests its not the total piece of junk many like to suggest it is. But that doesn't mean it's a highend processor just a good entry level piece. IMO.

Evil Steve
06-10-2015, 10:05 PM
... based on data From Uli himself in one of the giant threads over on PSW the fact that the Behringer is even close suggests its not the total piece of junk many like to suggest it is. But that doesn't mean it's a highend processor just a good entry level piece. IMO.

I laughed when I saw this.
The owner/father/president of the company is saying his brand is a competitor....
Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical.
I have no doubt that there is a vice-president in Behringer's marketing division who would be happy to share the results of a recent customer satisfaction survey compiled by their service/support division.
No propaganda quite like internal propaganda.

It's not that I don't believe there's a potential improvement, it's just I have a problem with the credibility of the source.
It would be like Sepp Blatter saying the problems at FIFA are almost all solved.

conanski
06-10-2015, 10:42 PM
I laughed when I saw this.
The owner/father/president of the company is saying his brand is a competitor....
Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical. You're not the only one.. most of the posters on the PSW forums would count themselves as skeptics as well but the way the company is standing behind it's new X32 series of mixers and the fact that they are not failing left right and center says the company may be turning a corner. You can also look at the DCX Problems thread on SpeakerPlans which includes a nice comprehensive poll to see some good data on those units. I own exactly 4 pieces of Behringer equipment( 2 soeakers, a hum destroyer and a DCX) and so far I have had zero failures, I have also owned 5 Mackie products(4 speakers and a mixer) and all but one of those went tits up, so guess which of those 2 brands I have more confidence in?

drzinc
06-11-2015, 03:37 AM
Back on topic i just open my eyes to the original poster's question, he is asking about the 4 channel Behringer amp the NU46000 that amp would be fine for the suitation he is using it for...

Evil Steve
06-11-2015, 04:50 AM
Back on topic i just open my eyes to the original poster's question, he is asking about the 4 channel Behringer amp the NU46000 that amp would be fine for the suitation he is using it for...

Yep, sorry for the swerve.
It did, sort of, relate to the original post, and the question I asked near the beginning.
Is rack space or real estate at issue?
Must the entire amplification system for this club reside in two rack spaces?

My concern about reliability comes from the fact that the original poster mentioned the club was a significant distance away from home. If the amp breaks, I assume it will be up to the OP to fix the problem.

The 4 channel amp means there's twice as much stuff in the box, able to go wrong. Is the OP confident enough to 'let it ride'?

I assumed the OP saw a power figure a number of channels and a price and said something along the line of "this is exactly what this club needs".
I look at the same numbers and wonder whether the club 'needs' all that awesome in such a tiny space. The only advantage I see would come if the club's system rack setup was some sprawling messy disaster of amps and cables strewn everywhere.
If that was the case, making everything compact, using a small, high power amp, might be a good idea... As long as the amp wasn't spending more time in the shop than in the club.

sndscientist
06-11-2015, 11:05 PM
ok after doing some research i decided against any behringer products. i have an EP2000 in a rolling rack paired with a carver pm1400. between the two the EP is no contest with the carver. to be honest as far as sound quality goes the EP is no contest with an old 1997 gemini xp-800. so anyways i decided to go with a crown XLS1500. now honestly i am a fan of the big heavies. like i loved the old "77" cs-800's and even the PV2K's heck even my xls-602 weighs more than 8 xls1500s.

actually i didn't see a power figure, number of channels and a price. i had been digging through amplifiers for about 2 weeks before i posted this question. i would have much rather used a good old class AB 90 lb monster. the transformer gives much better circuit protection from spikes and lags and the lack of digital crap means a smoother sound quality IMO. the problem i'm finding is that unless i want to spend 1500+ on a new monster i'm stuck with the light weight class D digital crap. if it was my club and i had full run and an unlimited budget i'd find 4 PV2k's and go to town.

Evil Steve
06-12-2015, 04:36 AM
You can find 'classic' big iron amps used. It's just a matter of time before you find one you like for a price that works.
Just never seems to be enough time.

Not all the digital amps sound like crap. On the other hand, there's no such thing as a free lunch. You're going to get what you pay for.

light-o-matic
06-12-2015, 05:46 AM
There's classic big iron like Crest CA series or Crown MA.. assuming you have a good enough power source to get the most out of them. Then there are just plain boat anchors.... Heavy does not always mean better.

Unknown DJ
06-12-2015, 05:50 PM
Anyone here who thinks they can tell the difference between amps here is 10K for you. http://tom-morrow-land.com/tests/ampchall/index.htm

Evil Steve
06-12-2015, 07:13 PM
Anyone here who thinks they can tell the difference between amps here is 10K for you. http://tom-morrow-land.com/tests/ampchall/index.htm

Interesting premise.
What does this test have to do with being able to tell the difference between amps?
Looks like, if you take every amp ever made and adjust settings so no single amp can perform better than any other, then they should all sound similar enough that you couldn't tell the difference between any two amps 100% of the time.
If you used this test as a barometer for selection, it shouldn't matter what amp gets chosen for a PA system.
Now I'm going to have to question every choice I've ever made; reconsider every piece of advice I've ever given...
All this time I've been agonizing over amp selection. All that time... Wasted.
CURSE YOU UNKNOWN DJ!!
(secretly, I've been dying to type that phrase since the first time I saw your user name on this forum. Thanks man)

Incognito
06-12-2015, 07:14 PM
Anyone here who thinks they can tell the difference between amps here is 10K for you. http://tom-morrow-land.com/tests/ampchall/index.htm

There are differences & if you think not, put a QSC PLX amp on subs then listen to something like a Crown Macrotech on subs then get back at me.

Evil Steve
06-12-2015, 10:48 PM
There's classic big iron like Crest CA series or Crown MA.. assuming you have a good enough power source to get the most out of them. Then there are just plain boat anchors.... Heavy does not always mean better.

This is true.
I suppose my thinking is that if weight and size weren't a concern, then you could buy a good quality 'big, heavy' amp for the same price as a lesser quality 'compact, light' amp.
Elderly Peavey, BGW, Audiopro, Yamaha, the classic AB amplifiers, can be found for really good prices.
Sure, there are some brands or models that should be avoided. Still, some of the old classics are still going strong, and probably will be twenty years from now. Many of those amps can be found for fantastic prices.

Unknown DJ
06-13-2015, 12:49 AM
There are differences & if you think not, put a QSC PLX amp on subs then listen to something like a Crown Macrotech on subs then get back at me.

Do you want me to level match them first? You should take the test and make 10K.

Incognito
06-13-2015, 10:24 AM
Do you want me to level match them first? You should take the test and make 10K.

If DJF 1.0 post where still around you would of seen that years ago I did do this test & the subjects being blind tested was 100% of the time able to tell everytime I used the PLX on sub duty vs the Crown Macrotech, QSC EX series & the QSC MXa series. The only time they couldn't tell was when I compared between the Crown Macrotech, the QSC EX series or the QSC MXa series & yes all voltage matched at output through the same speakers & same test track outdoors. PLX exhibits a clean clinical more precise bass with not much roll while all the others allowed for a more rumbling in the lower frequencies. Anyone having heard a Lab Gruppen, Powersoft or QSC PL380 on sub duty can also attest to the difference the right amp on sub duty can make & it's not all about watts. I used to use QSC Ex4000 amps in bridge mode per sub, all fed via a clean circuit from a distro but the bass I got from my QSC PL380 in parallel mode powering all the subs at the same time off of a standard un-dedicated outlet was by far more impressive even though the PL80 couldn't match the watts that was being fed to the subs before.

light-o-matic
06-13-2015, 11:21 AM
I think to some degree that amp challenge thing makes a valid point.. with a few caveats. First, that he was a car audio guy testing primarily car audio amps. Second, that by testing all the amps in a situation where they were not under any stress regarding input power, output power, dynamic range etc.. he made it easier for the amps that would do poorly in real life live sound scenarios. By using 8 ohm home stereo speakers and not testing subwoofers, he minimized the differences in low frequency performance and amp output impedance. He also happened by chance to be in a time period when pretty much all amps were of a very similar Class A/B or Bridged A/B design.. which may have influenced things.

So yea, he did succeed in demonstrating that the audible differences between various models of amplifiers were far far less than claimed, under non-challenging conditions. But as Mr. Incognito points out, running subs, particularly PA subs, quickly shows the difference between different amps... BTW Incognito.. if you remember, I used to use bridged PLX's or RMX's to drive subs and did not find too much difference between them in gig use.. the power supply of the PLX really helped it in situations of sagging voltage and I was quite successful using those. And yea my experience matches yours not just with the PL380 but the PL6 and even the PL4 sounds excellent on subs at any volume level, and it's not just frequency response because I have tried all kinds of EQ... The PL4 rated 1400W @ 4 ohms stereo, the RMX2450 closer to 2400 bridged..

Incognito
06-13-2015, 12:46 PM
For hip hop, soca, dance, electronic, etc. music that had more of a slap you in your chest mid bass (with the occasional frequency dip) response the PLX did well but when it was used for 80's - 90's dancehall that traditionally had more of a rolling bassline in the lower frequencies then you can see where the PLX amp sounds different on sub duty.

I tried messing with EQ with the QSC EX amps as well to try & get them to get that signature sound I was getting out of the PL380 & just couldn't get it to sound as good as the PL380 did, I found this to be true with Lab Gruppen amps as well in that they just have a certain sound to them on sub duty that is just hard to match.

Unknown DJ
06-13-2015, 02:56 PM
In real like SQ in amps does not mater because you got so many other things going on including people talking, poor placement of speakers and poor room acoustics. In Clarks test you have properly set up speakers and a listener in the sweet spot with no distractions. It should be easy to tell if amps sound different.

Incognito
06-13-2015, 05:06 PM
In real like SQ in amps does not mater because you got so many other things going on including people talking, poor placement of speakers and poor room acoustics. In Clarks test you have properly set up speakers and a listener in the sweet spot with no distractions. It should be easy to tell if amps sound different.

Only if you're not interested in providing proper sound or are more interested on how it looks vs how it sounds but if you do your work correct then it makes a difference. (depending on what's being compared).