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.
:-X :-\ 
>:( >:( >:( For USB 1.1. Instant bin fodder.
