I've had two Bento2's for about 3-4 years at this point. I've never personally owned anything that can be considered a high end 500 series chassis the likes of an API or Neve, so I can't compare it to those. All I can compare this to is my Radial Workhorse Cube and I do not hear any noticeable difference in quality between the two... and Radial is a very well respected solution for 500 series chassis. I have swapped my 500 series units between Fredenstein and Radial just to make sure all of my gear is up to par quality wise, and I don't feel any difference whatsoever.

These are quiet. My 500 series units are clearly not power starved. And I've had them for several years now, so they are clearly reliable.

These do not disappoint. I don't personally feel any need to try other expensive brands because this does what I need for a great price. I personally don't see how you can do better. I'll find out for sure when I grab a Cranborne 500ADAT later this year.

Overall, I have some fairly higher end gear at this point. I've used these with Kush Clariphonics, Kush Electra, Maag EQ2, Tonelux EQ5P, and Little Labs VOG. I route the Bento2 to my Ferrofish Pulse16. I notice zero dip in quality. It facilitates all my gear without a hitch... and if there was any sound degradation, I promise you I would have noticed and swapped them out for a Radial unit. THEY'RE A GREAT BUY!!!!!

Sometimes you need eight or ten 500-series modules, for other times, there's BENTO 2. It's a funny model name, makes me think "bento-oh too".

Regardless of naming and such, the B-2 provides a great way to have one or two 500 modules right next to another piece of gear. I have a couple of Bento 2 racks, each loaded with a single Midas 4-band parametric EQ. This makes it very easy to mount next to a mic preamp.

Very solidly built, quiet inbuilt power supply, there's nothing to NOT like. Buy it if you need it.

GOOD ,MUSIC TO YOU!

I intially grabbed this chassis for ease of use with mobile recording. I'm tracking solo viola/violin this evening. When I went to swap out my BAE eqs with my API 512c's they did not fit! The transformers on the preamps are about an eighth of an inch too big. BEWARE! Other than that the product is fine but I gave it one star for lack of versatility. Thanks for the extra chore Bento 2!

I have a fet 500 compressor that was problematic in my 6 slot chassis (not Fredenstein). It didn't really seem to work well unless it was sitting in the rack just so. Put a screw holder in or another module next to it and forget it. Not sure if it's the rack or module so took a chance on this chassis because the units don't butt into each other. It was a really tight fit but first try with both screws in and it now works perfectly. No hum, noise and time for another fet 500!

Didn't think I had much to worry about. paired with a BAE 1073 it squeals!! unusable unfortunately

worked fine, but broke once and did RMA on it. upgraded to a Radial Cube 3 slot instead.

This rack is nicely built and seems to work well, but when paired with the Vintech VA573 it produces a loud hum. Compatability issue? Went with a different rack, but this one seems to work for other modules.

Today, I ordered my fourth one! What can I say? This thing is solid, reliable, very well-built and super quiet! And for the price point, this is absolutely a no-brainer. And I am positive this won't be my last.

The bento chassis is a solid piece, smart design ahs the power supply built on it, it also have a screw down feet to use it as a desk unit and if you unscrew them you can use it in a rack. Perfect for people looking to add a couple of good front end preamps. I really recommended.

I've done some thorough testing between my Bento 2 and a Radial Workhorse Cube. I have to say, the Bento is every much the same quality as my Radial chassis. There is no noise or hum with this box at all. I need to expand and order another chassis, and while doing my research I read that cheaper boxes tend to have issues with insufficient power/voltage supplied to the 500 module, noise, and hum. So, in my nervousness I did an hour worth of testing with my existing Bento with different configurations (just to double check if I had any noise issues I hadn't yet realized since now I am aware of the potential issues) and I am seriously not hearing a lick of noise from the unit. And I really really pushed it. My modules perform the same in the Bento as they do in my Radial.

Needless to say, I am purchasing a second unit as we speak.

Maybe one day I'll be able to afford one of the more expensive chassis to see how my modules perform in the likes of a Neve or an API, but for now... with the Bento being just as good as my Radial, I'm more than happy with the Bento. Well done Fredenstein.

Loving the handy rack mounted chassis fir my CAPI's!!! Really top tier design and manufacturing. Great job fellas. Can't wait to expand!

I purchased my first 500 series processor (an Elysia mpressor 500) and needed a chasis. This one was the right price and is super simple and does exactly what I expected it to.

I love this unit. It's well built and easy to use. I'm very impressed with how improved my recordings are now that I have two Neve Modules--the 517 and 551.

Here's something to consider before buying this unit. Any 500 series module that you add must be inserted horizontally. Both of the Neve modules that I have are laid out vertically. Probably most of these modules are laid out that way. The 517 isn't too difficult to use laid on its side but the 551--since it's an EQ with a bunch of buttons and knobs--is a bit tricky to operate horizontally. I should have realized this before I made the purchase. Still, this is an excellent product--especially if you have only 1 RU available.

First off I would like to give tribute to Stuart's Staff. They helped me get the right product (this one) for my needs and saved me some money doing it. Easy hook-up, and works very well.

I purchased this 2 slot chassis to house my api 527 compressor and my 550b eq. I wanted a high quality but simple rack mountable chassis that allowed the 2 slots to be fed into one another. With the simple flick of a switch on the rear you can feed slot 1 into slot 2 which I do often to create an api channel strip. I highly recommend this chassis if you only need to slots.

This Fredenstein chassis is the absolute best bang for you buck. It is easy to use and the built in linking on the bus through the switches in the back is ingenious. Great product. I"ve already used it with a Neve 511 to record some killer vox.