BEHRINGER Ultracurve Pro DEQ2496

Let’s suppose that your listening environment is assymetrical or has assymetrical acoustic parameters (like when one wall is reflective and the other wall absorbing, which is often the case in modern interiors full of glass and gypsum boards). Or let’s pretend that, for some reasons, you are forced placing the main speakers assymetrically to your listening position. That’s why the Behringer features the WIDTH module. It enables to virtually simulate any width of stereo base to the point when both channels become separate music sources and the stereo ceases to exist or, vice versa, when both channels become one in mono sound. The WIDTH module also allows rotating the stereo image – thus you can optimize the stereo field for a listener that sits off axis. The WIDTH module also allows you to compensate the imaging for individual audio bands (lows are less directional than highs, for instance, so you may require only certain frequencies to be affected).

There are many other modules, filters and settings – when you are done with all of them it is possible to store the configuration in one out of 64 memory slots.The slot can be renamed according your preference. Thus one can optimize its listening field or equalizing preferences for individual music genres, day or night, one or more listeners, one or another speaker set, open or closed windows, your favourite album, you name it. The BYPASS function is an easy way to compare the before and after sound on-the-fly.

So, even now when you are done and ready to listen there is so much to do with the Behringer. The RTA spectral analyser analyses the audio signal in real time – the user can select the resolution of the RTA as well as the peak hold time and how fast it should react. One can also choose which input or output should be monitored. As you know from (now vintage, time flies) tape decks the moving graphic bars can be almost hypnotic but here they are also very informative as they show the numeric values of peaks and corresponding frequencies. Good for learning, especially at low frequencies – you may be surprised how high the center frequency of your favourite “deep” bass is, for instance.