Behringer BCD 2000 B-Control DeeJay review

[dengel]

Behringer BCD 2000 Review (Using 1.0.0.6 drivers):

Well, I went ahead and was the first in Houston to get a hold of the Behringer BCD 2000 Midi Controller. I'm writing this to give my initial impressions of the unit, and give a plug for making things yourself.

The product build quality is actually quite good, and built on the same platform as the BCR and BCF items. It is vastly superior in layout, look, and feel to many other controllers out there, even ones much more expensive. It is roomier than the Hercules, without being unwieldy.

The problems come in on the details of operation. The BCD is a USB sound card and midi interface in one (similar to the Hercules). I suppose for economics sake, they used USB 1.1, and included DX and ASIO drivers. This first iteration of drivers is, in a word, terrible. The ASIO drivers periodically drop audio or stop the functioning of the app (not a latency issue nor a processor issue - 2.8ghz and 1gb ram p4 dell laptop is the test platform, with XPsp2). Sometimes the drivers fail completly, requiring one to switch over to the DX driver to get sound. On a fast machine, that might even be acceptable - except the DX drivers cannot use the second stereo channel, so you can't monitor anymore. Only rebooting seems to get the ASIO back.

Occasionally the midi functions of the device just stop sending, and you cannot get the functionality back - even by power cycling the unit. I even got a BSOD once, with the dreaded "IRQ not Less Or Equal" error in the bcd2000.sys driver. I have a pretty clean and plain jane system; this level of unreliability just kills the fun of the unit.

Secondly, the interface was built TOO much with the included B-DJ software in mind. Either physically or at the driver level, many switches on the unit perform as toggles, even if you wish them to be a single momentary press. This makes mapping certain traktor commands almost pointless, as the buttons require a dual press to function. Most of the buttons with LED's function this way - for instance, the Cue and play buttons. This is absolutely ridiculous, as the designers should have allowed the software to handle these functions, not the hardware. With the BDJ software, the buttons work fine, but no DJ playing live would use it. Why they didn't emulate Traktor instead, and create a sub-$200 Unit that would have been loved by pros and bedroomers alike, I can't say.

The Audio quality isn't great, but it doesn't suck either. The Headphone amp is actually quite clear and powerful, and the headphone section's PFL mix and master/phones cue split are welcome features. Not reviewed is its ability to route 2 additional analog sources through the back of the unit, although for grins I may try that out later with an Ipod just for kicks.

In conclusion, I have to say that people like Drin, Rogic, and Yves who have made their own are doing the right thing. Building your own takes time and effort, but in the end you have a product that you made yourself that works the way YOU decide and that you can honestly say is unique.

Every mass-market item is in effect a compromise. Behringer decided to make a controller that could be great, but is instead only servicable. Perhaps with a driver improvement and a firmware update (and a more full-featured control panel app) this would be an ideal cheap backup controller or a great bedroom controller or Travel controller (it is VERY compact, and could fit well in a big laptop bag). But as is, it's bug riddled and unreliable, and for that reason I think it is going back and the money spent on parts for my custom controller!

Rating:  :'( for unrealized potential and poor drivers,  ??? for BDJ-oriented instead of Traktor-oriented functionality, and  a 8) for cost and build quality.

Don.

[stryd_one]

Rated >:( :o ??? ::) :-X :-\ :'( :P >:( >:( >:( For USB 1.1. Instant bin fodder.

Get a refund dude!

The problems come in on the details of operation. The BCD is a USB sound card and midi interface in one (similar to the Hercules). I suppose for economics sake, they used USB 1.1, and included DX and ASIO drivers. This first iteration of drivers is, in a word, terrible. The ASIO drivers periodically drop audio or stop the functioning of the app (not a latency issue nor a processor issue - 2.8ghz and 1gb ram p4 dell laptop is the test platform, with XPsp2). Sometimes the drivers fail completly, requiring one to switch over to the DX driver to get sound. On a fast machine, that might even be acceptable - except the DX drivers cannot use the second stereo channel, so you can't monitor anymore. Only rebooting seems to get the ASIO back.

Occasionally the midi functions of the device just stop sending, and you cannot get the functionality back - even by power cycling the unit. I even got a BSOD once, with the dreaded "IRQ not Less Or Equal" error in the bcd2000.sys driver. I have a pretty clean and plain jane system; this level of unreliability just kills the fun of the unit.

All that crap is going to be because of USB 1.1. The speed and spec of the machine are not as relevant as it's configuration (ACPI disabled during pre-installation, IRQ steering off, etc) when it comes to this. Are you sure you're not sharing the bus of the controller with some other USB 1.1 device? I'm sure even Behringer are not that stupid.. When everyone was using USB1, the manufacturers could blame it on user error, but not these days...

Edit: I'm sure the next driver version will fix some of this too - but never all of it.

[dengel]

Are you sure you're not sharing the bus of the controller with some other USB 1.1 device?

Nope - the device specs show that it is a USB 1 device. Stupid of them, to be sure. I was hoping it might be fast enough, but it really isn't.

It's a shame really, because the form factor isn't too bad, and they packed alot into a small space. On a positive note, being able to finally use a MIDI controller on my software allowed me to make a few changes to some plans, so I guess that was a positive thing.

Incidentally, I sent a note to Behringer RE this problem - no response.

[dengel]

Refund obtained, just waiting for the money to get back on the card so I can order 2 douts and 1 more din for my order from Smash...

[stryd_one]

Now that's a wise purchase ;)

[Nu-Audio-Science]

I've never had problems using USB 1 for audio, Thats 2 or 4 channels (1 Stereo 2 Stereo)

Must be a pretty bad attempt at a driver from Behringer which in reality is a total f**k up on there behalf

They actually delayed and delayed this product and told suppliers it was so that the finished article would be perfect

Sounds far far from perfect to me :(

[dengel]

Yeah, NAS, I suspect it is a driver issue too. I had no problem with older USB 1 external sound cards from SB. I guess that their software expertise is just not up to snuff yet.

In any case, It is gone now, and in its place I bought my first ever multimeter, another DIN, and A DOUT board from Tim. Once I know if the "Lights Out" game has rubbery buttons, then I will be buying 2 of them as well so that I can get buttons cheap enough to not break the bank.