Behringer Model D

[Hugh Robjohns]

It's great to be passionate and enthusiastic about one's interests and beliefs... but listening and being open to the views of others is a good life-skill too!

[DGL.]

Latest updates on the D.
Supposedly thy are reaching the 10,000 units mark and need to make at least another 15K more to get on top of things.

As for the neutron, 60? units have passed production testing and they are on target to ship the first units from their factory by the end of april.

Also they want your ideas on what eurorack modules they should make, these will be priced between $49-$100, computer mockups of system 100m modules have been shown.

They will be at superbooth and are inviting people to attend, plus they will have some of their engineers there as well and some new products to show off, inc. the VC340 (which they somehow managed to get back from fiddlestickz, which he REALLY wanted to keep and claims it is the best clone he's ever heard), PRO1, and Neutron.

And lastly from Uli,
'We are just warming up'

[The Elf]

I'm crossing my fingers that the production models of the VC340 will add the missing octave of keyboard from the proto, but it certainly sounds the business from what I've heard so far.

I'm also salivating about the UBXa, but we're likely a long way from seeing that.

Hats of to Uli for getting our attention - now he's tested the waters with the Model D I hope he is better prepared for the deluge of demand for these gems!

[Sam Spoons]

Well, guitar player that I am I've just succumbed to SAS and bought a Model D. Now to work out WTF I'm gonna do with it.

Back in a former life (it seems) I was manager of a guitar/gear department in a well known piano and electronic organ retailer. Down in my aptly named 'gear cellar' I had a Hammond C3/Leslie set up with a MiniMoog on top. Couldn't really play it (apart from a couple of little demo pieces) but it was fun pretending to be Rick Wakeman, but in a suit and tie

[Martin Walker]

Perhaps you need to replace the suit and tie with a cape Sam, to get yourself properly into the mood?

Martin

[MarkOne]

....fun pretending to be Rick Wakeman, but in a suit and tie

[Drew Stephenson]

Where did you get that picture of Sam?

[Sam Spoons]

The rather straight laced management would definitely have frowned on a cape......

[Sam Spoons]

I have just bought an Arturia KeyStep, it is a beautifully made bit of kit with midi I/O, USB midi I/O, and CV/Gate/Trigger outputs. It has a 64 step polyphonic sequencer, an arpeggiator and two very nice ribbon controllers in lieu of pitch and mod wheels. But (and for me it' a big but) it has mini keys.... I thought I would be able to get on with them but after half an hour's fiddling I'm not convinced I am.

So, any suggestions for a midi controller keyboard with 37 or 44 full sized keys, not too many extra controls (superfluous for the Model D). I could probably just about live with 32 (which the KeyStep has) and 49 is definitely too big (I have a Roland Juno-D with 61 keys so the space saving of a 49 is not worth bothering with).

It must have DIN midi out and midi over USB (I guess I can live without the CV/Trigger outputs if I must). I'd prefer pitch wheels or the lovely ribbons of the Keystation over the joystick on the Juno-D but I love the action of the Roland.

As you know I'm most definitely not a keyboard player, all my very limited skills were learned selling home organs back in the '70s

[Wonks]

As you know I'm most definitely not a keyboard player, all my very limited skills were learned selling home organs back in the '70s

Sam back in the '70s...

[Sam Spoons]

Bugger, I thought I'd buried that one

[Sam Spoons]

Well the KeyStep has gone back, I decided I hated the minikeys with a vengeance so any suggestions for a midi controller (Din and USB) with 37 full sized keys and mod/pitch wheels (or ribbons)?

[Wonks]

I looked recently (in conjunction with something on another thread) and there are very few such beasts that actually have a hardware MIDI output, as most seem to have just USB or have mini-keys. And you often get more keys and extra features than you want.

I'd suggest looking down the selection here. Unfortunately you can't filter on full-sized keys, but at least all these have MIDI ports and pitchbend/modulation controls.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/master_keyboards_up_to_49_keys.html?feature-11791=true&feature-11796%5B0%5D=1x%20Out&feature-11796%5B1%5D=1x%20In%2C%201x%20Out&feature-11796%5B2%5D=2x%20Out&feature-11796%5B3%5D=1x%20In%2C%201x%20Out%2C%201x%20Thru&feature-11799=true&filter=true&oa=pra&price-first=0

[BillB]

Quite a nice potential mini controller keyboard is the Akai Miniak
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/akai-miniak

They tend to show up for £140-170, which means you may be paying for stuff (sounds) you don't need. But my recollection was that the keys (velocity, no aftertouch) and wheels were nice, plus there is an arpeggiator which I think is assignable to MIDI. No USB, but you could add that with a MIDI-USB interface.

Just a thought.

[Sam Spoons]

Thanks guys, useful suggestions.

I did consider a Miniac a while ago, that might be a good option (the synth engine could be pressed into service I'm sure), and the Miditech i2 at Thomann could also be a option. Both have stuff I don't really need and the lack of USB (more for programming than midi I/O TBH) is the only thing that stops the Miniak being a no-brainer.

Going to look at more modern modelling synths, 37 keys is the sweet spot above which I would take the Roland Juno-D. I could find a use for some keyboard sounds too (though as a guitar player I'll only use a keyboard for the odd simple part like bagpipe drones or similar).

[dwebb]

Just noticed a new 1.1.0 firmware update. Release notes here:

http://downloads.music-group.com/softwa ... v1.1.0.pdf

I don't have Gordon Reid's review to hand but I think he mentioned a retriggering issue when playing fast lines which they possibly have addressed in item 4 below:

1. New Synth Tool app for easier configuration of the MODEL D via the USB input.
2. Added new Mac OS support.
3. Improved the Poly Chain function to make it easier to setup and use.
4. Improved re-trigger reliability when playing with legato notes.

[Eddy Deegan]

Nice, thanks for the heads-up!

[keithwn]

Help!

It appears my Behringer Model D is stuck in DFU mode after pc restarting automatically during a firmware update.
Tool finds it but says it's in DFU mode and I should update firmwar but updater fails to update.
Synth making random noises!!
Any suggestions?

Much appreciated - in panic!!
Keith

[The Elf]

Try updating using SynthTool from iPad - I've found that works more reliably than from PC.

[Altsouza]

Hi,
I just bought a Model D. I have a Rick Wakeman's Catherine Aragon midi file, and the Model D can't play Moog track. I tried with Logic for ipad and Studio one for Windows. Same problem, it plays the first notes and after, no sound.
The Model D play sound through the Daws when playing my controller, and when I manually enter notes on the Daws it also plays back normally.
Any help is very welcome
Thanks
Antonio

[resistorman]

The MIDI file may be corrupt or have some erroneous controller data.