Tweakers' Asylum: REVIEW: Behringer Ultra-Curve Pro 8024 Other by Pat Wen

Model:	Ultra-Curve Pro 8024
Category:	Other
Suggested Retail Price:	~$500
Description:	Digital 24-Bit Dual-DSP Mainframe: 31-Band Graphic EQ / Real-Time Analyzer / Parametric EQ / Feedback Destroyer / Delay / Level Meter / Limiter / Gate
Manufacturer URL:	Behringer
Model Picture:	View

Review by Pat Wen on January 04, 2002 at 12:25:19
IP Address: 203.198.24.5

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for the Ultra-Curve Pro 8024

Behringer Ultracurve -- Part I (Physical descriptions and tweaks planned)
(Cross posted between Audio Asylum and Yahoo¡¦s DoctorJohn_CheapTubeAudio group)
This is the first part of a series of reviews for the Ultracurve, I will post update reviews as I go along tweaking the Ultracurve. Any comment on the tweaks at any stage is always welcome.
Photos (including some inside the chassis) of the Behringer Ultramatch and Ultracurve are posted under the ¡§Photo¡¨ section in DoctorJohn_CheapTubeAudio group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/doctorjohn_CheapTubeAudio/
Please feel free to browse them. You may need to register as a member first (the process is very simple). By the way, this is a very interesting and lively group, recommended.
First thing first, during the course of writing this review, Thorsten has kindly provided me with some additional info and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Thorsten for all the helps provided.
After reading Thorsten¡¦s excellent review on EnjoyTheMusic (http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0101/behringer8024.htm), my friends and I got together and ordered 5 Berhinger Ultracurve (with digital I/O and testing mic) and 2 Berhinger Ultramatch from www.prosl.com (great price and great guy to deal with). The package travelled half way arcoss the world (Prosl is in Belgium and we are in Hong Kong) and arrived via UPS safely and quickly.
The Ultracurve is made in China but under ISO9000 quality control, so the quality is not bad at all, just one small problem so far (discussed below). Most of the components are surface mounted type, which is what I like especially for digital circuits. Of course, the component quality is not audiophile grade but is more than fair.
The digital I/O board we ordered did not come preinstalled. Although is it very easy to install the I/O board (very clear step-by-step instructions was given), Behringer has expressly stated that installing the I/O board by the customer themselves will void the warranty. So to keep the warranty valid, you need to ask the Berhinger factory to install it for you. As I will tweak the Ultracurve and void the warranty anyway, I went ahead and installed the I/O board myself. This was where the little problem surfaced. The solder joints on the digital XLR sockets are fairly poorly done (this really surprised me as the rest of the Ultracurve is very well made) and looks like the wires will break very easily, so I have to redo all the solder joints on the XLR sockets (6 joints only), but nothing too serious.
My Ultracurve is slightly different from the one Thorsten has reviewed. Thorsten¡¦s one uses CS5394 (http://www.cirrus.com/pubs/5394.pdf?DocumentID=104 ) for A to D conversion, mine uses AK5392 (http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/akm/usa/product/ak5392/ek5392.pdf ) instead. So the performance using the analog inputs may be different as their spec are different. On the other hand, Thorsten commended that AKM and Cirrus Logic (aka Crystal) are basically the same company, so the difference could well be very small.
70% inside the chassis of the Ultracurve is empty, so there is plenty of space for additional power supplies and caps (if necessary).
The following is a list of parts used in the Ultracurve which may be replaced with better parts:
[Original Ultracurve]
Caps:
10uF/50V x 15
10uF/25V x 17 (including the 2 on the digital I/O board)
2200uF/35V x 2
2200uF/16V x 1
Regulators:
KA317 (adj) x 1
7805A (+5V) x 1
ML7815A (+15V) x 1
ML7915A (-15V) x 1
78L05 (+5V) x 2
Opamps:
JRC4580L x 8 (one is surface mounted right beside the connector for digital I/O board)
Diodes x 12
Case:
Steel case with aluminum faceplate. The ¡§mounting ears¡¨ for the 19inch rack can be removed (the one in the photos has the ears removed already).
[Upgrades]
Caps:
Thorsten suggested Sanyo OSCON caps (15 x 10uF/25V, 10 x 47uF/16V, 5 x 330uF/6.3V). He used the 330uF units around the ADC and DAC chip (check the datasheets for the chips) and the 47uF units fit mostly in coupling positions.
Some Panasonics FA series caps (3 x 3300uF/35V) as the replacement for the power supply smoothing caps.
Regulators:
LM1085/LT1085 x 1 (for 317, LM is cheaper, both are direct drop in replacements)
LM1085-5 x 3 (for 7805A and 78L05, beware of the different pinout)
LM2940-15 x 1 (for ML7815A)
LM2990-15 x 1(for ML7915A)
Opamps:
LM6172 x 7 (for 7 x SIP JRC4580, I will leave the surface mounted one for now, it is located right beside the connector connecting the digital I/O broad, so it is hidden underneath the digital I/O board in the photos.)
Diodes:
Schottky diodes (1A/100V) x 12
Power supply:
The Ultracurve uses one EI transformer for power supply. It gives 2 x 17V and 1 x 10V outputs. An additional EI transformer may be added to provide a separate 10V output.
Digital I/O board:
There are two empty spaces for optical In/Out transmitter/receiver on the left hand side of the digital I/O board; I am not sure whether we can add optical In/Out by simply adding the missing transmitter/receiver.
Case:
One can taped the inside of the case with copper tape for better shielding and damp the casing with Dynamat. I am still not sure whether I will do this or not.
Now I will start ordering the upgrade parts and post update reviews once I have some progress.
To be continued ¡K (may take a while)

Product Weakness: n/a
Product Strengths: n/a

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	n/a
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	n/a
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	n/a
Speakers:	n/a
Cables/Interconnects:	n/a
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	n/a
Room Size (LxWxH):	n/a x n/a x n/a
Room Comments/Treatments:	n/a
Time Period/Length of Audition:	n/a
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	n/a
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	n/a