I heard a while ago that behringer bought Midas. I argue that behringer will bring the mighty name of Midas down. Listen and see. Behringer is leading the race to $0. They have garbage gear for dirt cheap. Do you really think that behringer is going to retain Midas quality? Don't take this as me antagonizing anyone in this thread. More so, that I simply hate behringer and what they've done to pro audio gear.
According to popular rumor on other Pro Audio forums and a friend that I have that has tight relationships with Midas (he builds high end recording and FOH rigs for touring bands), Behringer buying Midas is not going to change the Midas product. There were (supposidly) terms in the purchase of Midas, that the Midas product line continue as it's own entity, with it's same level of quality (and of course price).
What is "supposed" to happen is that Midas is lending some of it's technology to the Behringer product line....and the first sample of this is the X32 mixer. You see Midas 'designed' preamps and some of the digital technology platform that Midas uses......they didn't just take a bunch of Midas parts and snap together a new Behringer product.
From what I was told, the Midas pre-amps in the Behringer consoles are "midas designed"...but not the same pre-amps in the Midas consoles. Is that a bad thing?...no. I'm sure they're killer pre-amps. But it seems that Behringer is being smart here. They're not stealing from the Midas line (by simply taking it's components and selling for less money). They're not trying to make Midas products with cheaper components (by using Behringer components in their products). They're keeping the products separate, but using some of the 'goodness' of the Midas line, to enhance the Behringer line.
Again, I will say - this is all from what my freind 'hears' and what I have read online from a forum where Uli Behringer posts frequently. So take it with a grain of salt.
But what I have found REALLY interesting is the reaction of Pro sound engineers to the Behringer X32 and THEN their reaction to the (newly announced) X16.
X32 is a full console (motorizedfaders, complex routing capabilities, compatable with Digital snake...excellent features).
When it was first announced, the majority of the "Pro" engineers trashed it on the Forums ("it's Behringer, it's going to be crap, etc.").
But then it's released, and these guys start "hearing" the console, and looking at it's price....and then sales start blowing up. The Pro engineers are (silently) loving it.
THEN...Behringer jumps on the Mackie bandwagon and releases a clone of the DL1604 (so pure iPad mixer...no faders, and very small expandability), and they name it the X16.
(This is the interesting part) The Pro engineers then freak out and say "you can't name it the X16...that makes it sound like a mini version of the X32...which is is clearly not". They are arguing that Behringer is soiling the good name of the X32, by putting a cheap little iPad mixer in that same product line (and naming it the same). All of a sudden, the Pro engineers don't want their beloved X32 to be associated to the little iPad mixer that is about to be released. These are the same guys that trashed the X32 when it was first announced. Funny, right?
Other than just the X16 iPad mixer, Behringer seems to be on the verge of launching a few other products as well (in the Mixer market). So I'm super excited to go to NAAM in January to see what I can get a look at!!
