Behringer TD-3 [303 clone]

I apologize. I misread it. You are right. They are awesome at getting there.

My post wasnā€™t about perceived differences between an original & a clone. Although i can hear some differences at certain settings between all 4 in the loopop video.

If a different synth can nail that instantly recognisable 303 sound then fine. But if the sound deviates from the inherent characteristics of that 303 sound i can tell & i donā€™t think of it as Acid.

Even if someoneā€™s using a modded 303 & the sounds strays too far from the original tones, it ceases to be Acid to me.

Pedantic i am, but thatā€™s just the way i feel about Aciiiiieeed!!!

Ok. I get what your saying. But you canā€™t knock Behringer for doing what Roland should have done along time ago. Itā€™s good that itā€™s not exact though. Itā€™s smd too. Was the TB through hole or smd or both? TD has modern tech guts too. Maybe the drawback of trying to create something to represent a cult classic is too hard to mass produce with the components these days at a low cost rate.

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Iā€™m not knocking Behringer at all for this. Itā€™s a dream come true in fact. Iā€™ve been holding off on getting a 303 clone for years & now iā€™m going to buy several TD-3s, even though in that loopop comparison i didnā€™t think it was the best sounding unit. So iā€™m not a purist on that specific detail.

And comparison like that usually create indecision in me. Not this time though, at those prices. But when i listen to the Behringer examples in their video iā€™m happy with how it sounds in isolation.

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Just loving that behringer video! so tacky and full of desingual vibesā€¦ love it!

I think that as a 303 clone the TD-3 misses the mark, just as the RD-8 misses the mark as an 808 clone, for a clone (soundwise) in the literal sense it should be a 1:1 sound, if things like envelope response, knob ranges and so on are not exact then it isnā€™t by definition a clone. Of course we can judge by how close it or any other 303 style synth can get, but IMHO a true clone should be 100% accurate.

Maybe this is why they call them ā€œtributesā€ to avoid being called out on discrepancy, and for other reasons.

Now this isnā€™t to say that you canā€™t make acid sounds with it, clearly you can, in the same way that you can with many other synths providing they have the required structure and that the user knows what they are doing.

Iā€™m not an acid or 303 purist, and if I did not have a problem with Behringer as a company I might have bought a couple of them.

The boutique TB-03 is Rolands re-issue of the TB-303, and it gets closer (IMHO) to my 303s than the Behringer does, but it is more expensive, and it is not analog, but only a purist cares about such things.
The TB-03 has full midi cc control of every parameter, and a wider note range than the TB-303, it also has some slight differences in sound so in that sense it isnā€™t a true clone either.

If you want a clone buy a well built RE-303, if you want just an acid synth, well there are tons of options out there, including the TD-3 now.

Edit: And for the umpteenth time for people who (still!?) donā€™t get it, no one has a problem with cloned gear, it is a long tradition in electronic music gear, no one has a problem with cheap gear. Those arenā€™t the reasons why people donā€™t like Behringer and wonā€™t buy their gear.

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Thank you. You expressed what I wanted to say much better than I could have done. Totally agree with your comment.

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I think the Distortion can dial in any ā€œvintageā€ tone in terms of rubbish components or 35 year old conditions.

the computer controlled aspects are definitely one part as in 1981 the cpu and ram was so slow that this behavior adds a bit to the overall sound, imagine the envelope gets triggered a bit more whacky or the filter doesnā€™t close exactly in time with the trigs.

Behringer is introducing a top notch 303 with the most functionality ever at the lowest price imaginable and i canā€™t understand why people are still grumpy at this point of time in history in general. :innocent:

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Yep, tons of options indeed. And they have differences, slight variations in sounds and features and thatā€™s good. We can choose according to our taste :slight_smile:

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It seems like a very close replica. The Re303 is close to perfect but the cheap plastic box from Behringer is arguably closer in spirit.

The layout and graphic design looks fine too (I thought the MS-101, Crave and Neutron look a bit rushed).

Iā€™ll probably buy one because itā€™s small, cheap, sounds great and for the sequencer.

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I think ā€mk2ā€ is a proper term for RD-8 and TD-3. They have useful additions while sounding very close to the originals.

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I donā€™t know why but Iā€™ve really been craving the Crave since it was announced. Iā€™ve got itā€™s essential bits covered elsewhere (3340ā€™s etc) but Iā€™m a sucker for standalone synths with built in sequencers. Which means the TD 3 will prob end up getting bought too.

this pretty much sums up my thoughts :slight_smile:

iā€™m not a purist and a well crafted acid sound in a track that uses a clone/vst doesnt turn me off, but i was actually quite surprised at the ā€œemotionalā€ response the TB-303 sound gave me in the comparisonsā€¦ sure the TD-3 has an acid/303 sound but its not THE sound

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So there is nowhere in the US to pre-order?

From behringers site:
Easy-to-use 16-step sequencer with 7 tracks, each with 250 user patterns.

This must be the first time the 303 sequenser is described as easy to use!

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https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BehrTD3SR--behringer-td3-silver

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Laughing at a few of you in this thread consoling yourselves by coming to some ā€œconclusionā€ that this is not a ā€œtrueā€ 303 sound. :joy: Nice little support group that you see crop up in every Behringer clone thread. This is a circuit clone of the original, pretty sure most differences can be chalked up to age or differences in filter/oscillator tuning by whatever tech worked on them. These behringer clones are also not even out yet, we donā€™t know how pre-production the unit that loopop has is or not.

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I actually HATE sub oscillators in general, is that weird? To me, they just muddy the sound. The A4/AK implementation is really nice, because they addded the 5th function so you can actually play chords with it. Should be standard nowadays!

The sub on the Microbrute is really awesome and usable, subs can be great!

Not a fan of the company but this is pretty interesting

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