The Behringer Gear-in-progress Thread

Behringer themselves said that they have reworked the internal design based on 1) mods that VCS3 modders often perform, and 2) to meet the needs of mass production (I read this primarily as a switch from through-hole to surface-mount).

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I think it is safe to assume no one thought you would :wink:

To be fair though it does look nice, Behringer logo and company aside, of course (as you’d expect from me :wink: )

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I do see the “last updated” date on the EMS site (which still looks vintage 1998) was in 2020. Is the wait really still 10 years or has it speeded up to 3?

Has definitely sped up. Robin has an assistant now and seems to have ramped up production, relatively anyway. I’m on the Synthi waitlist (the gods blessed me with a Spartanite case) and was told 2-3 years.

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Has there been anymore news on this?

Seems to have gone quiet. I think the UBXa was teased before the EMS plus they’ve got other synth in the pipeline such as the Pro 800 so I wouldn’t write it off.

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Behringer just confirmed that they’re underway with the VCS3 on their FB page under “And we’re just warming up”.

I also posted this in the Behringer Gear in Progress thread.

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Always blown away with his test equipment stuff.

There is a reason that nobody is cloning the original circuits outside the DIY realm.

Try pricing the transistors from the TABxx series for one example.

Try finding the AKS case.

It’s simply not possible to mass produce anything from the originals.

That said, I think 98% of the sound is totally achievable with modern components. But it would require more parts and redesigns to make it behave similarly.

Look at the MacBeth, Erica, Big-B, Portabella Labs, etc.

NOBODY is attempting something that they would claim is 1:1. (Except Robin with his multi-year waiting list.)

At some point you have to say a combination of features, ergonomics, “work flow” (if I may) and a “SIMILAR” sound capability, is close enough. I actually do think a digital could mimic it as closely as analog at this point.

Then, with an absolute icon of a synth, even if you DO nail the sound 100%, the people who would actually buy it will still say it’s “WAY OFF”.

This is one of those synths that NOBODY will EVER be happy with unless it uses the adrenal glands of a small child to replicate.

Basically a modern Synthi will NEVER be accepted no matter how close it gets.

Period.

There’s too much lore and fantasy surrounding it, and not enough original components to go around.

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Things got a little scrambled here for some recently announced new products. So to restore some structure to this thread here are links to the start of those discussions, arranged in order of the announcements.

Saturn

Toro

Proton

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Wow :star_struck: the first Behringer Synth I find interesting. Girls & guys, this is definitely Buchla 200 inspired. Very interesting!

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…or Quarks, Leptons, Neutrinos….

The main problem was that the playable range of the Oscs where the tuning is stable, is rather small. Jarre had big issues with it, he reported in a documentary.

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This lack of tuning is often somewhat overstated. A well-maintained VCS3 or Synthi’s playable range wasn’t any better or worse than others of the era. My VCS3 is nearly 50 years old, but once scaled and tuned it is more stable than my new Model-10.

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But you also keep your VCS3 at one place and don’t drag it around the world like Jarre did, under stage conditions (warm, cold, humidity etc).

Here´s part of that Jarre documentary:

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Yeah I’ve seen that. And indeed, that was the failing of many of those original early synths.

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I love that attitude.

It doesn’t have memory, so I need a few of them.

Baller.

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Jarre is cool. My childhood hero.

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And indeed there is :

The UB-1, a Portable Analog Synthesizer with 2 Analog Oscillators, Classic VCF and Arpeggiator.

Details
  • Programmable synthesizer with 2 DCOs and classic 4-pole filter
  • Legendary 3396/3397 analog chip design, found in the Oberheim Matrix 6/1000*
  • 16 touch-sensitive keys for great playability
  • 32 memory presets, expandable via SynthTribe app
  • Arpeggiator with 3 patterns and hold function
  • Individual envelopes for VCF and VCA for creative sound shaping
  • 2 powerful LFOs to control filter and oscillator tuning
  • 6 functions buttons and OLED display for easy and immediate parameter editing
  • USB Micro connector allows powering via smartphone, power bank or computer
  • Comprehensive USB/MIDI implementation (including NRPN/CC control of all parameters and bulk load/save)
  • $49

Tomorrow --another Soul sized synth ??

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Interesting, they’ve not gone with the SEM filter but rather the Matrix 6/1000 CEM3396 ‘synth on a chip’ as it’s been called. I’ve got a few of those in the spares stash. Did they explicitly say the UBXa would have the SEM style filter?

No mention of voice count or polyphony/paraphony either. Could this be a mono?

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