Behringer FX2000 3D FX Processor

1. Introduction

A few years ago I used to rock a Roland MV-8800 production studio. It used to have only 3 effects slots (1x reverb, 2x delay/chorus, 3x multi-fx). When I needed more effects or wanted to do some crazy processing using the multi-fx processor I had to resort to re-sampling. To avoid it I had to find a stand-alone multi-fx processor which would allow me to have more effects without the need to re-sample. As usual I had a hundred in my pocket waiting to get a bang for my buck (or pound :) and this is how I met the Behringer FX 2000 processor.

2. Build Quality

Really sturdy metallic chassis (some of the edges are "razor" sharp so watch out, don't cut your fingers). Plastic knobs feel a bit cheap and wiggly at first but you get used to it and after 2 years I can't complain. Connectors are all of decent quality and fit nicely.

3. Features

You get 100 presets and you can alter them in unimaginable ways and store in another bank of 100 user presets. There are 8 master effects groups (Reverb, Delay, Modulation, Dynamics, Psycho Acoustics, Filter/EQ, Distortion/Amp and Special FX) within these groups you get certain sub-types and even effect combos such as REV+DLY etc. Each effect has 8 tweak-able params (knobs EDIT A through EDIT F + EQ LO, EQ HI). FX bypass push button and compare are nice to quickly skim though and preview the effects. Some effects require MIDI input to set tempo and such. MIDI in/out connectors allow you to recall a preset or to dump them to a PC using the MIDI SysEx. I really enjoyed the ability to recall stored presets using MIDI messages. All you have to do is to record a valid preset change event somewhere at the beginning of your track and the unit will react promptly.

4. Verdict

Lets start with the price. I dare you to find more a affordable multi-fx processor with such a wide selection of effects. Moving on to sound quality. It's acceptable, don't expect too much from reverb as presets sound quite average. The unit is simple in setup and easy to work with, produces nice sound and gives plenty of presets to chose from. For the price, definitely get it, you can't go wrong.

I picked this up on a whim after seeing it going so cheaply and needing a new all-in-one solution for my small home. I was not disappointed.
The build quality is really good for the price. Solid metal, and buttons are OK and should last fine. I found the menus a bit weird at first, but that's something a bit of manual reading easily fixes. The sound is not excellent though. It's good, no problems there. The reverbs are a bit uninspiring and you'd be better served getting a dedicated reverb unit if you have issue with this. But there's tons of features and it does these all pretty damned well for the price. So, buying it for an all-in-one thing is exactly what I wanted. There's some nice little features like being able to trigger the start point of effects, cycles and so on via MIDI.
I mostly use this for noodling on guitar and experimenting before trying to record something (because again, there's better reverb out there), but I predominantly use it for synths, and in that regard it has been serving me VERY well indeed. It's great at tweaking the sound to sit it in the mix fine.

With this unit you have many usable effects at your disposal. The interface is intuitive and easy to handle. The full explanation of the unit with description of all the presets and effects are unfortunately in 2 separate download files being the 'user manual' and the 'Quick start guide'.(should be 1 file) Most of the presets need to be parameter adjusted before you can use them in practice; Attention some presets are VERY LOUD, As a preventive mode lower the volume to a bare minimum each time you turn the presets knob to avoid to blow your speakers when you select (by accident) one of these noisy presets. Also be aware that you can most of the time only select one effect (except the combined presets and stereo effects) but indeed for this price you cannot have everything. The sound quality is OK but adding the unit to you chain (pre-amp, mixing panel, amp etc) will significantly increase the background noise level. All by all good quality and features for a very reasonable price

I've owned the FX2000 for a few years now and I have been pleased with it. The effects are fairly standard - nothing truly remarkable, but plenty of useful everyday effects.

The delay and chorus presets are very good, as well as a surprisingly decent Leslie speaker emulation. Reverbs are solid. There are a number of novelty effects like a vocoder, vinyl record simulator, vocal canceller (presumably for kareoke). They are awful and frankly I'd rather there had been some more reverb programs instead. Although you cannot freely combine effects, there is a handful of combination programs such as 'chorus & delay', 'delay & reverb' that do the job OK.

There is very little signal noise, so I am impressed in that regard - especially considering the low price. The build quality is pretty good, the only problem I have had is that occasionally segments of the LED display flicker and dim. The knobs and buttons have held up well in my studio.

I would definitely recommend this to anybody looking for lots of decent effects. For the price, you can't go wrong.