Behringer HM300 & UM300 Demo & In-Depth Review: Almost Too Cheap to Criticize 

I can attest that as a behringer collector for the past 20 years starting as a broke teenager, that casing is definitely durable. Mine fell countless times off shelves, down stairs and a garage ramp out of a car booth (I used to lend them around for friends to use) yet are still solid.

This channel is criminally underrated. All others are paid infomercials in my opinion.

Those cases FEEL cheap, but they are in fact damn sturdy. Not as sturdy as a Boss pedal, but how often do you run your pedal over with a car? I don't know anyone who killed his behringer pedal by stomping on it. Friend of mine wanted a Boss Hyper Fuzz but like the HM2 they are hard to get and damn expensive. So he went with a Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz. As he plays often small gigs he did not trust that pedal sturdyness and bought a second one as replacement. After some years he changed his (fuzz) tone and the Super Fuzz got dropped from the board. He kept the old backup as backup for his new fuzz pedal and I got this Super Fuzz real damn cheap.

About the built quality: Like anybody who buys a 20$ HM-2 clone is about to switch that thing off ever anyway.

More great content - well done on producing such high quality and useful videos. I just discovered your channel, already upgraded my old dusty Pod to 2.3 firmware for cottage use. I love that you do the frequency response stuff. Makes so much more sense. Keep it up

I bought an original HM-2. I have tried every dist pedal I have gotten my hands on and never kept any. The HM-2 (besides the death metal buzzsaw) has an amazing tone shaping with a touch of "burble" with the dist all the way down. Unique sound from a really unique pedal circuit. the Behringer is way close enough. everyone NEEDS to try one out because they are so cheap. You won't regret it.

Using the UM300 with the gain at 9 o'clock in the FX loop or used as a replacement for a tubescreamer sounds pretty awesome. Plug the guitar into the input of your amp, put the gain on either the crunch or dist channel and the EQ on the amp at 11 or noon, use the EQ on the pedal.

Dude this channel is gonna blow up very soon! killer content. Keep it up buddy

Dude thanks for putting out such in depth, quality content.

Absolute detailed and awesome review, you do took the time!

Dude this is just what I need. Great review. New to guitar bought my first Marshall amp today. Going with the um300 so I can get those slayer riffs. Keeping rocking man

Came for the sounds, stayed for the in depth analysis. 11/10.

+1 on the death riffing.

Ordered my behringer um300 and its gonna arrive this friday.

I thought the HM300 sounded kind of awesome actually.

23:29 Aww yeah, that's some serious Stoner growl there! Big thumbs up!

Great choice of riffs man! I loved hearing 10,000 Years in there

31:00 Immortal? I wasn't expecting that haha :D Your choice of riffs is refreshing really

Thanks,best review of these pedals i have seen so far.take my like and subscription

This is reminding me that in the old days before there were so many easy ways to record or play quietly one of my set-ups was to use my HM-2 set up as an amp, but with an MXR Distortion+ in front of it as the actual distortion pedal and send that via RCA cables direct to a tape deck.

The pedals both actually have pretty decent tones in them but I feel that both of them are better for slower rhythm tones rather than anything fast. The reason being that they both accentuate the pick attack so much you end up with too much atonal white noise rather than guitar tone.

Not meant to be demeaning, sounds pretty good thru my cell phone.

Having owned both a legit Boss HM2 and now a Behringer HM300, I will say it sounds the same. At the price point for the Behringer, even if there is a slight difference, I at least did not have to shell out a bunch of money. The quality is not a big issue unless you are a neanderthal with how you interact with a pedal. I play in a slimey crust punk band and am not known for taking real good care of my gear and mine is holding up fine. Side note, most Boss HM2 pedals do not even sound the same compared to one another. Tolerances when in production were lax and so sound quality varies even from the same production years. Same thing with Russian Big Muffs, which is hilarious when talking to gear snobs who think they are the holy grail. More shit to read: the real secret with the Metal Zone is to nuke the highs and use the mid/freq knobs as your high control instead and the secret to the HM2 is you HAVE to put it into a dirty amp, never a clean, otherwise it is useless, especially for the Swedish tone.

i want to get these pedals now. at the gates songs are a ton of fun to play but i dont really want to spend the money on the boss pedals. awesome video as always.

Excellent reviews & demos!

Nice video bro. Very informative. My favorite Behringer pedal is their BDI21 Bass DI. Its a clone of the industry standard pedal by TECH21. I will rehouse it pretty soon to a metal enclosure, cause its 100% a keeper. Keep the nice videos coming, Cheers ! PS. your Death riffing is pretty solid.

I’ve owned several of this pedals for years. Never had any problem. They still work as new. Tried to switch a couple times to boss. But I always come back to this amazing German company.

Are these pedals still decent platforms for modding pedals? I’ve thought about using a Behringer pedal to learn to start swapping capacitors and getting different sounds from different capacitors.

Actually built quality isn't THAT bad, well i mean it is indeed plastic, but iv'e been using one for quite a long time now and nothing's cracked or broken (yet). I kinda like the way they mostly look the same, and have a variety of vibrant colors, it looks consistent and aesthetic to me. But yeah, i have my opinion and you have your own :) Good video man, cheers

@33:13. Great point. I own the UM300. I would also suggest Behringer's NR300 Noise gate (Noise Reducer) along with their UO300 Ultra Octaver pedal. Metal is my genre of music. Thank you for the upload ! 🎸 🤘

With the settings you use on the UM300, if you plug that into the clean channel of an amp with the gain cranked, or if you use something like an ART tube preamp as a "DI" and throw a TPA-1 and IR on it, it sounds pretty good.

You should do the Johnson metalzone copy, the eq is different in a way I'm too dumb to explain, sounds like an extra high and low shelf making it tighter.

Hey Ryan, how does the M-Zone model on the AX8 compare to the "real" thing? Do the setting translate well?

regardless of the price point you still made these sound good, did you use the effects loop of your amp? I have an orange pedal baby and I really like how all my pedals sound now. Put in a few cap impulse responses , choose the right impulse mics and it sounds good.

ALL THE GAIN!!! METAL!!! Wait, wrong channel.

I need tips about buying studio monitors to use with axe fx 3 or plugins for guitars, untreated room at the moment but i will do it eventually. Yamaha HS8 VS Adams VS Kali ? I think a video abour monitors would help many people ^^ Great channel, thank for all the help you provide us

I've been using the SF300,for a while and I must admit it sounds awesome..

Also, I have absolutely gigged with my UM300. Had it for years. The black plastic on the actuator came off, and my TO800 no longer has a working battery so I have to use a power supply, but the damn things won't quit.

I own a bunch of behringer pedals, endless hours of fun! I have lots of other pedals by other, more loved companies but these are just fun, and you can use them for recording purposes all day! Great video, I wish people would get off their high horses and just buy them, I did!

I have several plastic pedals (an old Ibanez Sound Tank, Arion phaser, and a Behringer Super Fuzz). Been gigging with them for years. They don’t break.

Hi! Do you want what pedal of behringer/boss the best for copy Iron Maiden tone? Thank you.

I have Behringer X2222 USB MIXING DECK had it for years, and it still is great, so I'm buying the ultra metal pedal, i youse my hand to youse the pedal. Found your video very interesting, so thank you. Just starting to learn guitar, so this pedal is for me. Thank you for a great video, I will subscribe.

Excellent video. I always wondered about the clones being more of a one chainsaw trick pony. I always appreciate the wave curves and a very literate host. I think, like Amazon basics pedals, some of the Behringer have their place and I would use "the right one" on my board even if I re-house them. After watching the video I'm not sold on their hm2 clone...to your credit. There is something about an HM2 and yes... not when it's just chainsaw dimed out. It is unique. I agree the Ultra Metal version has more of the dirt that I like. I thought they captured the Metal Zone's character and utility in the Behringer version. I got my Boss Modded Metal Zone from eBay for $100 so it's not like used the boss Metal Zone are ridiculously priced. Looks like I'm waiting on boss hm2 waza reissue coming in 2021...lol. Cheers from a... doomed metal city... Detroit. B

you played death later in the vid, which pedal should I get in order to get that death tone?

I got a HM300 and also the Super Fuzz clone. Love this video. Debating getting the other, but I just don't know yet. Do you think the UM300 is worth the money?

Really great video. Thank you :)

I had both and sold them only to think I'll probably rebuy them later. The HM300 seems to like a treble booster in front of it for a slightly higher gain 70's heavy sound and I really enjoyed cranking the mids on the UM300 with the freq at about 10-11 o'clock sound because it sounded very grindy (treble was around 1 o'clock and bass was at 3 o'clock).

i have my to800 for almost three years now, and it’s very sturdy

Yo Ryan, want to demo a Mesa V1 Bottle Rocket? I can send it up your way this week. Keep up the awesome work man. Sick riff selection as always (Death riffs always bring a smile!)

They are great for the always on scenario. I have so Behringer stuff in my chain. :)

Dude! You just played Death, then went into Immortal, while wearing an Iron Maiden shirt! I smashed Like and Subscribe so fast that it could crack the ice on the lakes of Blashyrkh! Edit: Pedals ordered! I'll be checking out more of your channel now.

Great demo.....though never liked the hm pedal because of it’s fuzz like nature and could never get a decent guitar solo tone on its own, but throwing an sd1 before it actually made it sound decent, where as the metal zone, when used correctly is actually a great pedal, I have 3 modded ones and they are amazing and crunchy and crisp, not fizzy or fuzzy ....I m curious to see what the treble booster would do to the hm pedal

Thank you.. this is really helpful

Also, loving the Gojira riff at around 25 minutes

I Subscribed because this is the way these things should be done it all makes real good sense…thank you for the video

I don't think anyone used them in the effects loop do they??

Thanks a lot, I got myself an um300 and I liked, bad ass for that price

do these pedals work with basses aswell (i play bass and need a pedal)

I've had mine for 15 years now.

Hello what would the best setting be fore blackmetal thanks

own both now.

i have the tuner pedal... its lasted a few months so far with no issues

What’s the difference between Behringer’s UM300, HM300, XD300, and HD300?

Which one of these is better for rock , anyone know ?

Awesome 👊

That'd be cool to see a vid on some of the other behringer stuff too 😀 particularly reverb, delay and time based effects. They Actually have a multi fx pedal that seems to be pretty cool. I believe its in the 50 dollar ballpark but alot of bang for buck if they (the fx)actually sound decent. Have a good one!

Speaking of Behringer, have you seen The Wing?? My goodness its a sexy piece of gear. Looks to be the new replacement for the legendary X32.

Maybe I'm just stupid, but I can't hear much of a difference between these and a fuzz style pedal. Can somebody tell me the difference and what to listen for?

Another cool one would be to see your take on the Boss FZ-2 vs. Behringer SF-300. I have had an FZ-2 since about 2006 when I first started because a friend didn't like how it sounded at all, but I loved it! Now a days the FZ-2 can be crazy expensive, people have even been buying the SF-300 so much that people resell them for up to 3 times the cost of one new due to their rarity even. Yeah an in production Behringer pedal being upcharged I'm not joking. At any rate to my understanding it was used one Electric Wizard's Dopethrone album and is a huge stoner doom pedal. 3 modes all really usable in my opinion, each have their own strengths / weaknesses though.

Is that a Ragdoll riff I heard in there?

straight in front of the 'amp'?

For the HM-2/HM300 I think the point was to capture the sound of early Heavy Metal bands like Black Sabbath (hence the fuzz sounding aesthetic). so I definitely agree with your point.

i NEED to know what is that riff at 0:56 PLEASE🙇‍♀️

@29:25 Is the best sound made from these pedals in the video... in my honest opinion. Nice and tight.

Into the effects return sounds better than through the loop. Going through still uses the amps preamp tubes

It would be cool if you made a full AJFA song cover with the UM300. Treble and Bass past noon, gain pretty much maxed out, and the mid sweep between 3-5 pretty much totally scooped, makes a great budget thrash metal sound. Greetings mate cheers lml

27:49 10,000 years damn

I usually would take a Behringer over a Boss simply because the cost is worth is vs. the sound difference. My one big exception is the TR-2 Tremolo vs the UT300.

Although I haven't gigged in years, I still find myself being a bit of a brand snob. BUT........ when I ran the UM300 between my fancy-pants Les Paul and my fancy-pants Vox AC30, it sounded pretty OK. Mostly. I actually spent more money on strings and beer this weekend than I did this pedal. Good review, too. Thanks.

Try out Metallica's MOP / AJFA / black with the UM300! As you said the mids scooped with the sweep around halfway gets kinda Mesa Mark Series sounding. I'm gonna get back the one i sold couple years ago, i love the 80's 'Tallica tone they get! Greetings from mexico man.

I laugh when I think you won’t find these in the Guitar center store as they might hurt sales of more expensive items in the store. I have the TO800 and don’t see needing a real TS any time soon. The flip side is that they might sell more tube amps if people new what they sounded like by adding a $23 TO808.

How hard are people stomping on the Bahringer pedals to be put off about them breaking? It's plastic. Hard plastic. Pretty tough

i believe pedal circuits are not protected by copyright, period. could be wrong, + the case/look IS protected. but i dont know that they even need to change any components.

I dont mind the plastic because that pink pedals tone is so good I wouldn't be turning it off

i've used the UM300 for over 10 years and played many gigs with it, just last week the stomp pedal broke down r.i.p. anyway, thanks for the video i kinda wanna try the HM300 now

I've been using um300 for 10 years

well i've been use top market distortion pedals like Metalzone, Metalmuff, MXR Fullbore and this Ultra Metal... to me the sound and tone of these pedals is ok only people stigmatize on its plastic housing material...

I have the UM300 And I like It. Lots of Gain

God damn, how well does that HM300 chug??? (approx. 1.20 to 1.45 in the video) ... That is the exact type of chugging death/thrash metal tone I aim for with my original HM-2's beside the common all dials maxed Swedish death metal tone, but I can usually only get my HM-2's to chug that well with a Tube Screamer boost (depends on the amp) ... That HM300's chugs sound even better than the UM300!!! The trick is surely to roll back its Mid dial. I will have to get an HM300 now if it chugs that well, just need to do something about that horrible exterior.

You should compare the Behringer SF300 to the Boss FZ-2 if you can find one that isn't expensive haha, I own them both and I would love to see a more in-depth analysis of them

I am not a metal player but the UM300 is a permanent fixture on my board. I use it as the my ultra high gain pedal alongside a DS2 and BD2. I love the tone BUT, I have found when my Katana 50 is at giggable levels (25w or 50w) I have to have a noisegate pedal on if using the UM300. The HM300 sounds like a fuzz pedal to me.

I have a behringer overdrive, sounds great but It's a weak plastic construction, only to use at home, take care when you push it

Most everything sounded good. Just needs a well defined bass in the mix.

Like many other people, I bought a sf300 because I bought i for 50 cnd and that's waaay cheaper than trying to buy a bozz hyper fuzz. I have a bunch of different boutique fuzz pedals that are awesome, even a hyperfuzz clone by lone wolf audio, and they all sound amazing in their own way, but the sf300 still sounds massive and brutal. It's chap sure, but it's a great way for many people to sound like their favourite doom band. I don't play in a band or live so the sf300 is perfect. I would even like to put it in a custom made enclosure, just for fun, but I have no idea to do that and have no soldering skills what so ever lol

I use a few Beringer pedals in my arsenal. My case is alot lighter due to the lightweight of these.

What specifically is the problem with the build quality of these pedals? I see lots of vague claims but no specifics. The plastic cases seem very sturdy. The door handles of my cars have been plastic for years and they get abused daily, but I've never broken one. Has anyone ever seen these pedals fail, and if so what are the main points of failure?

The topology of the most Behringer effects are exacly the same as Boss, Ibanez, etc expensive pedals Sound is the same too. Very good knowledge of the Behringer story. I never smash a Behringer stomp box and i don't know someone who smash it. This does not mean that they are sttable like the metal ones, but you must be very stoned and in the dark stage to break one, thought it may be still plable but with a crack. In any case they are useful, even to try a effect or for back up, or for "missions impossible " Just thing that sometimes you pay 25 dollars agains 1, 2 3 or 4 hundreds dollars to own it!

Behringer even has a copy of the " Tech 21 Sans Amp " which retailed for over $200 in the early 90's, for 20-25 $, that's nutz!

The need to change the name from heavy metal to sludge master deluxe lmao I still love my um300 for some reason

I just ordered a whole pedal board worth of Behringers. 10 pedals for the price of 1 OD pedal from my main rig