Behringer reinvents the Aviom – The New Behringer P16 Personal Monitor System

There is a striking resemblance isn’t there?  Very similar to what Behringer has done in the past with their pedals, mixers and amplifiers that has resulted in numerous lawsuits.  I’m not saying that there will be a lawsuit over this, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised.

Let’s compare the two interfaces.  They have very similar buttons on the bottom that are used to select the channels and they even have two lights on them probably one for selection and one to indicate if the channel is muted or not.  In some videos I have seen, the button lights potentially may blink with signal being sent to them but I don’t see any solid documentation of that anywhere.

Behringer’s setup buttons are the first thing on the top left while Aviom’s are closer to the actual buttons.  Behringer does have the option to link buttons together in the case of things like stereo inputs that are patched into two mono inputs and two P-16 buttons. Although, both units feature groups which to me seems like it will do the same thing as linking them on Behringer’s model.  Maybe it has a different function that we don’t yet know about.

I am intrigued by the fact that Behringer has included not only a mid EQ control but also a sweepable frequency control to go with it.  Amateur musicians may not understand exactly how that works but I think you can figure it out once you play with it.  That flex room in the middle of the tonal range of the mix is pretty key in my opinion.  It is an option that has been lacking on the Avioms for years and I think it’s a great addition to personal monitor mix set up.

Next up, the Behringer P-16 features a Limiter control that the Aviom A-16 does not.  Whether this is useful or not depends on what it actually does and what it actually controls.  If it is simply a hard limiter, then it is basically worthless because it will basically do the same thing as if you were to just turn the volume down.  But, I would assume it works more like a compressor and the “limiter” control is effectively a compressor threshold which is tied to a preset internal ratio, attack, and release setting.  This could potentially be helpful or a hinderance depending on how it works.  The only way I could be sure of something like that is if I tried it myself.

The second row of controls for the most part mirrors the Aviom controls with solo, mute, pan and channel volume controls.

Now, for the most important part that everyone is probably wondering about: price point.  The Behringer P-16 has yet to be released to the American market yet so there are no definite prices but there were list prices announced at NAMM that I’ll use here.

Aviom AN-16/i Input module List price: $1285

Behringer P-16i Input module List price: $199

Aviom A-16D A-Net Distribution Hub List Price: $505

Behringer Powerplay 16 Distribution Hub P16-D List Price: $149

Aviom A-16II List Price: $675

Behringer P-16 List Price $249

So, if you have a worship band, what are the two price comparisons here.  Let’s figure it out.  First, before you read this, I decided to use the list prices for both since the official street prices of the Behringer series has not be released for the US.  If I do a list price comparison, that will at least be a fair comparison.

If you want a whole Aviom system with 8 monitor mixes, you are looking at spending $7,190 LIST.  With the Behringer setup, you are looking at spending $2390 LIST.

Okay, so what does this mean for the end user.  Well, especially for church media, it will be very interesting to see how many churches decide to make the jump to the Behringer Powerplay system because of price point.  Avioms can be pricey for some churches and I’ve talked to alot of churches who would love it, but simply can’t afford it.  If this system works well, then maybe that is their ticket into personal monitor mixing.

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