Behringer C-2 Review – Stereo Power on a Budget

Design:
Features:
Performance:
Value:

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Behringer always manages to offer up some very tempting budget studio gear and, when it comes to recording equipment, the C-2 set represents a great example. Here you are getting not one but two solid condenser mics for under $100. At this price, they can’t be any good… can they? Let’s take a closer look.

Design

As we’ve mentioned, with the C-2 you are getting two microphones, sold this way to encourage quality stereo studio recording. There’s nothing special about the standard design and – when they are in mounts and covered with wind screens – you won’t see much of them anyway.

However, they feature an attractive slim but surprisingly rugged diecast metal chassis with a sleek champagne finish. Considering how affordable this pair is, Behringer uses good components and materials for this build, leading to mics that feel very durable.

Features

For being compact devices, Behringer’s C-2 packs a pretty serious set of hardware. To start things off, you get a low-mass small diaphragm (0.63” diameter) that covers a pretty wide frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz and can take a max SPL of 140dB. In addition, Behringer has included their low frequency roll-off switch that also includes a built-in -10dB attenuation feature.

The FET circuitry ensures fairly low noise during use – combined with the other features, this makes these mics feel very capable right out of the box. On top of all this, the C-2 comes with some decent accessories. Behringer ships them with a basic but padded hardshell case, a set of two mounts, and two wind shields. With gold-plated XLR connectors, just ensure you have a set of XLR cables to hand – and an audio interfaces with phantom power capabilities – and you are good to go.

Performance

For a budget pair, these condenser mics offer a very strong performance and, as you may expect, you get plenty of bang for your buck. Due to the flexibility of having two mics working in unison, the possible applications of the C-2 could include stereo recording in studios, instrument recording and even some live recording.

They will record vocals although they are better utilized for recording instruments. The max SPL rating is high enough that you can record a variety of loud acoustic instruments – from drums to guitars – with relative ease, while the sound quality is commendable. They offer great clarity with just the right amount of brightness, and provide an overall lifelike recording.

Conclusion

There are better affordable condenser mics for vocal recordings, but if recording instruments is your aim – and you are doing it on a budget – then you will be hard pushed to find a set of condenser mics as good as Behringer’s C-2. Compared to what they have to offer in return, this pair is a steal at under $100.

For more info about the Behringer C-2, click here.
For more Condenser Microphone Under $100 you might like, click here.