Behringer B906 - Detailed Mic Review and Tests

[@raindogred]

i got a bunch of mics...i'm always looking for a bargain..this escaped me when it came out. I really only want to see what it sounds like on my voice, i do lot of harmonies, and i just think that cut, neutral, boost switch could be interesting to play with. sometimes in a recording it doesn't have to be the best most expensive mics, that make a recorded song come to life. i sometimes mess with kick drum mics when singing baritone..is all fun. this was a great review...liked and subbed...exactly what i needed to hear.

wow, the comparison with the sm7b is amazing, (the first time I heard this mic on your voice I was thinking how similar it was to an sm7b, and how nice will be to compare them, then you did it!!!) thanks!!

[@askdrtk]

Glad you enjoyed the comparison!

[@jr0706]

The B906 is fuller and in a situation where you have one guitar (such as a trio), it’s probably a good choice.

[@askdrtk]

Great point! The B906 does thicken up solo guitar. I like the B906 on both clean and deeper overdriven tone and I find it similar in some ways to the sE V7X. I give a slight edge on the B906 for recording some saturation / distortion and the edge to the V7X for a smooth deep clean sound. Overall I have been pretty impressed with the B906 and I'm glad to have it in my mic locker.

[@ukulele_kz]

Hi. And what about comparison of 57 vs 906 but with presence boost? Do they sounds much closer to each other in this case?

[@askdrtk]

HI and Great Question! I have measured the effect presence boost switch on the B906 to add about 2dB of gain between 3 and 10kHz on a log basis with a sharp roll off above and below. It results in a very similar tone in the 3 to 7.5kHz range, but above 7.5KHz sounds over boosted compared to the SM57. Overall, the sound is good with the presence boost, when I say over boosted I only mean if we are trying to match it to the 57. The B906 preforms well with all settings. Hope this helps out!

[@ukulele_kz]

Thanks a lot for your reply. It really helps me to make decision!

[@askdrtk]

Glad to help out!

[@y.engi5]

What a great review ! Thanks for including bass 👌

[@askdrtk]

Much appreciated! MIcs with guitar amps and cabinets get most of the attention, but for me microphone / bass amp combinations allow for a lot more creativity vs using di. Nothing like hearing your bass come alive through a great amp! Ask Steve Harris and Geddy Lee, bass is another "lead" guitar...👍

[@y.engi5]

@@askdrtk Totally agree

[@sirnigelcogs]

I don't think there's anything offensive about that microphone. The handling noise isn't great but it usually isn't on cheaper mics. For that matter there are a lot of more expensive dynamics it's not great on too. I also like the versatility of the switch on the back.

[@askdrtk]

I agree - I personally enjoy the warm tone the B906 produces and the tone switch works very well as intended. After using so many different mics, their is definitely not a correlation between price and handling noise as well as many other performance measures. I try not to let price get in the way when looking at any gear, I treat them all the same regardless of who made them or what they cost. Results are often really good where you don't expect them to be... Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I hope you found my look at the B906 interesting and helpful!

[@jjdubuyou1976]

Were the guitar tests done with the Behrenger in flat mode or presence boost?

[@askdrtk]

Flat mode for the guitar tests. I probably should have included both, but I thought the video was getting a bit long…

[@jjdubuyou1976]

@@askdrtk Thanks for replying! I've been micing my cab with the Behringer on flat, but I'ma hit that presence boost.

[@mikearcaro7663]

Great in depth video. Im pleasantly surprised by the sound of the behringer.. But def very helpful vid

[@askdrtk]

Thanks and I'm glad my review helped out! The B906 does offer good value. I just finished a review of the BA-85A (going live today) and the amp cabinet comparison to the 57 really surprised me. Going in I was more interested in the vocal comparisons for the BA-85A, but after doing the amp recordings vs the 57, I have newer seen a mic with dynamic and frequency response profiles so close to the 57 (I'm still kind of shocked). Behringer sometimes has a way of surprising you when you don't expect it... Thanks again for checking out my review.

[@png-startwitharightunderst1210]

is it just me, or b906 sounds very similar to the sm7b ?

[@askdrtk]

I find it depends on which headphones or monitors I'm listening on. Listening on some of my more neutral headphones (DT880, m40x, HD600, and my new SRH840A's), the B906 has a slight boost in presence vs the SM7B, but to my ears the SM7B has better clarity - cleaner sound, however this is only how I hear them... That said, to my ears, both have a darker overall tone vs brighter dynamics like the SM57 and condensers like the AT2020. Thanks for sharing your take on the comparison and hope the review helped out!

[@bennettshapiro7711]

So, you kept saying that there was no processing applied. But when you hooked it up to the Art Voice Channel, we could all see the compressor working. Isn’t compression a process? Anyway, thanks for demoing the mic. I bet it would sound great on a Leslie cabinet.

[@askdrtk]

Thanks for the question! I have two outputs connected from the ART Voice Channel through my patchbay to my interface . One is directly from the preamp using the "mic preamp out" jack (before all processing), and one at the "end" of the channel strip using the main output (includes all processing on the strip). This way I can record / route both unprocessed and processed audio from the strip at the same time. I do this with all of my channel strips as is allows greater flexibility in adding additional outboard gear either with or without processing built into the channel strips themselves. I usually mention this in the video but I forgot to in this one - sorry about that... (I actually did a how to guide for those interested in this setup kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnfdZnpvrpxkj9U). I had a Leslie cabinet years ago but had to sell it when I moved - still kicking myself for that! It would be great to hear from the community about what mics everyone is using with those great tone cabinets... Thanks again for asking about the unprocessed audio and for checking out my review.

[@ElTurfStuff]

B906 seems to hit all the marks vocally at least. Surprising how it compares to SM 7B. I would even say it’s clearer. 😮

[@askdrtk]

Thanks for sharing your take on the B906. It has proven to be a reliable option in the mic collection and a good choice when I'm looking for a darker tone. Value is tough to beat.

[@ddelacruz]

great info!

[@askdrtk]

Thanks - I’m glad to help out!

[@KenTeel]

Do some singing.