Behringer 2600

[Suspect_Frequency]

I’m of course not knocking expensive gear. I’ve got thousands of dollars tied up in music gear, a lot of it is sitting in boxes tucked away not even making sound.

But for me, I really just liked the interface, wanted to experience it, and of course make the R2D2 patch. The BArp allowed that, but also sounds really good.

If you remove the ‘does it sound exactly like the original’ requirement, and just judge it as a 3 oscillator, semi modular mono synth in the $500-600 range - it’s great sounding and a fun recreation of a historical piece.

I’ve never regretted mine.

Edit - as to the build quality of the BArp, mine feels solid, quality, and I have no worries.

[amaury]

Thanks for that. I’m undecided, as I also am not sure whether a semi-modular would get the love it deserves, so I’m looking at the Odyssey as well, which as I understand gets in the same territory sound-wise, but with less range obviously.

[Suspect_Frequency]

@amaury

not sure whether a semi-modular would get the love it deserves

For me going with the more affordable BArp was for the master plan of putting it (slightly less than) vertically in a 19” angled rack…

… then adding two rows of these underneath…

And having this as my semi-modular/modular system, slowly adding another voice or two, filter or two, utility modules, my own spring reverb, other effects, etc.

Lots to think about for sure, no rush because I’ve seen the price come down before. Maybe not as low as now, and could also keep looking out for used.

[J3RK]

I’m not 100% sure on the physical build, but I do know (virtually) some of the people that worked on it, so I’m absolutely positive the circuitry on the B was handled properly. (especially on the Grey and Blue ones)

Judging by the build of the Model D that I had for a little while, build quality should be just fine. It used standard Alpha 9mm sealed pots, normal PCB practices, common parts, etc. The switches were handled in a novel, but somewhat strange way, but otherwise it was very solid.

I would say that you don’t need to worry about the 2600.

I imagine Korg put a bit more into materials (panel, enclosure, etc.) The connectors may be a step up as well, but otherwise, I’m not sure what else they would have done that the people working on the B wouldn’t have thought of on the circuit side.

[amaury]

Thanks. One thing that could make a difference for me are the sliders/faders length. Are they the same on both?

[J3RK]

That I don’t know. I’ll take a quick peek though, and see if I can find out.

[trackerjack]

Behringer look slightly longer, but I could be wrong.

[amaury]

I found this interesting, also says the faders are as long as original arp
https://bohnes.de/en/barp.html

Great article that tells me the b2600 is worth.

I also just understood the gray and blue aren’t just about color.

[trackerjack]

Unfortunately they don’t seem to hold on to slider caps though. And I could really do without those gaudy LEDs.

But the B always find a way to ham things up it seems. That’s like a law of nature. Are they trolling? I can’t decide.

[Suspect_Frequency]

@trackerjack

those gaudy LEDs

That’s the only reason I bought one. As a bonus, found out it makes cool sounds.

[trackerjack]

Liar.

[Suspect_Frequency]

Makes me feel like I’m piloting a space cruiser. A juicy sounding space cruiser.

[trackerjack]

Trimmer all the way up yeah?
Every day feels like xmas.
Or a trip to Amsterdam.

[amaury]

At least the grey and blue have a single color LEDs as it seems. And I was assuming dimmed down it’s close to not lit?

How about caps?

[avantronica]

@amaury

And I was assuming dimmed down it’s close to not lit?

My recollection is the Marvin allows fully_off > rather_bright … i set it at 40%-ish

[amaury]

Thanks. How do you like yours?

[avantronica]

I adore it, 20 odd posts above are testament to that, always an inspirational playground and it has a vibe …

Behringer 2600

Blue Marvin pros : Sounds/Feels/Looks amazing, vco2/3-sync/spec, select-able envelope rates, relatively small, illuminated (monochromatic) sliders cons : 1/4 outs on front could have been on rear, electronic-switch only clocked by internal clock (as og, unlike korg) , spring 'verb sliders could be weighted better for subtle use (gets verby a bit too much on the initial travel of range) At any price, it’s an insanely good synth (courtesy ARP), at the asking price it’s surely unbeatable … ho…

---

If you click on a user’s avatar in a topic you can find their post history, i shared a handy normalling cheat sheet above

Behringer 2600

Here’s a few notes on the normal connections I scribbled in preview for my purposes - mostly to keep an overview on which clock goes where and the signal path after the filter - should be self explanatory - audio I/o and ‘control’ I/o are coloured for their default use and dependencies from certain attenuators are noted - although I note having written that I hadn’t gotten around to annotating that the noise level is important for sample/hold (i.e. the noise tap is post:fader) gave up on this a…

[Bunker]

That’s correct, the LEDs can be turned off if required.

[Bunker]

@amaury

How about caps?

The sliders don’t have caps. The led is within the shaft of the slider itself. The Marvin and Meanie have different filter capacitors and a spring reverb where as the Christmas Tree used a digital reverb.

[trackerjack]

I tried Sifam slider caps, but not enough grip, they fell right off.