The All-New Behringer Keyboards 'n' Stuff Thread

[Hugh Robjohns]

I imagine all of it, given that he has built his own factory with supporting 'city' for the employees over there.

https://www.synthanatomy.com/2018/03/music-tribe-city-get-an-insight-factory-behringer.html

[Arpangel]

I imagine all of it, given that he has built his own factory with supporting 'city' for the employees over there.

https://www.synthanatomy.com/2018/03/music-tribe-city-get-an-insight-factory-behringer.html

Very interesting, I’m just a bit uneasy with this whole concept, and it’s affected the way I approach buying gear now.

[DGL.]

Can anyone tell me what proportion of Behringer's manufacturing is done in China?

All of Behringer's manufacturing as is most everything else MT sells, there might be still some European manufacturing for Lab.Gruppen and they still have the Tannoy factory in Coatbridge that makes the high end Tannoy lifestyle products.

R+D on the other hand is done all over Europe ( Quay Park in Manchester (with the Kidderminster MKT building now used for repairs/CARE/training), Willich in Germany (original Behringer HQ) and Italy), Japan, China and I would have thought also at their HQ in Manilla (well that's where it was).

[Hugh Robjohns]

Very interesting, I’m just a bit uneasy with this whole concept, and it’s affected the way I approach buying gear now.

You'll be hard pressed to find any audio equipment that doesn't have at least some parts made in China these days. There are some UK manufacturers that make their own PCBs and metalwork etc in the UK, and likewise for European and American companies, but usually these tend to be the most premium high-end products where the higher production costs can be more easily absorbed. And even then, some sub-assemblies may well still be manufactured in China.

But most companies now build in China, and as the build quality has improved, more and more product production has been moved there. Mics, mixing consoles, speaker drivers, outboard processors... you name it...

And this doesn't just apply to audio gear -- almost every aspect of our lives relies heavily on Chinese manufacturing.

It's not a clever position to be in strategically, but the continual myopic consumer drive for 'cheaper' has played it that way...

[nathanscribe]

And even then, some sub-assemblies may well still be manufactured in China.

Not to forget the components themselves. Parts are made in various places but I suspect China now turns out a lot of it.

[Arpangel]

It's not a clever position to be in strategically, but the continual myopic consumer drive for 'cheaper' has played it that way...

It’s a sensitive and very serious issue, consumers (ugh) just want cheap, morals about workers and human rights don’t come into it, the Chinese have capitalised on greed, haven’t they done well! They copied our system and did it better! That rings a bell.
And now, we’re starting to get a bit uneasy about it, oh dear, but how about paying a bit more for "stuff" paying a fair price, and maybe god forbid, having less choice, but better, higher quality products produced by people who aren’t horrendously exploited.
Cheap labour forces wages down, across the board, demand for cheap products push manufactures to the limit, cutting corners and employing labour in countries that have appalling human rights records, it’s our own fault, and by doing this we are fuelling a fire that will have dire consequences for the future.

[DGL.]

New clone from MT's semiconductor subsidary Coolaudio, the V3397. Its supposedly an improved version of the CEM CM3396 "synth-on-a-chip".

Wow - imagine a complete “Analog Synth On-a-Chip”.
Our sister company Coolaudio who designs highly sophisticated semiconductors, has just released a complete voice (2 multi-waveform Oscillators, a VCF plus 4 VCAs) on a single chip. The chip is an improved version of the Curtis CM3396 and will allow us to create high-performance analog poly synths in a very compact manner. Stay tuned...

Very interesting

[DGL.]

Concerning the BBD-320 there is a post on GS here https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpos ... tcount=400 with a shot of the internals.

A lot of empty space with 4 PCB's, one for the power indicator and switch, one with what appears to have the main BBD circuitry and level meter, one for the front panel controls and lastly one for the I/O, PSU and mains inlet (the PSU is not a separate module from what I can see).

[resistorman]

Concerning the BBD-320 there is a post on GS here https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpos ... tcount=400 with a shot of the internals.

A lot of empty space with 4 PCB's, one for the power indicator and switch, one with what appears to have the main BBD circuitry and level meter, one for the front panel controls and lastly one for the I/O, PSU and mains inlet (the PSU is not a separate module from what I can see).

That’s about what I thought it would like in there. It would make a nice pedal!

[nathanscribe]

That’s about what I thought it would like in there. It would make a nice pedal!

I've got the Boss DC-2w which tries to do the Dimension D thing... I'm unable to compare it directly, but as a studio bod rather than a guitarist, I'd rather have a rack that runs on higher rails. 9V boxes clip way too readily with synths.

[The Elf]

I have both the Dimension D rack and the Dimension C pedal. The pedal is good, but it's not up to the rack. They are different creatures, with different aims.

[nathanscribe]

I have both the Dimension D rack and the Dimension C pedal. The pedal is good, but it's not up to the rack. They are different creatures, with different aims.

The DC-2w has a switch for both modes... the C sounds more modulated to me. I'd be interested in a direct A/B between the DC-2w and an original Dimension D. I wonder how close the circuit really is. I'd expect it just to be modulation switching from the C circuit rather than anything more fancy.

[DGL.]

That’s about what I thought it would like in there. It would make a nice pedal!

I've got the Boss DC-2w which tries to do the Dimension D thing... I'm unable to compare it directly, but as a studio bod rather than a guitarist, I'd rather have a rack that runs on higher rails. 9V boxes clip way too readily with synths.

I do believe, however, that the voltage rails on the BBD-320 are probably around the 9V mark as the coolaudio BBD's are a lower voltage version, would need to check that data sheet to confirm though.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Signal clipping is all about the gain structure of the analogue input stage.

The voltage rail for the BBD is irrelevant -- the analogue input stage conditions the signal appropriately for the BBD's operating level.

[DGL.]

On mobile so can't post the link but Behringer on FB have been asking if they would like them to make the most desirable synth ever made.
There is a picture of an ARP 2500 underneath

[BJG145]

Please stop posting unnecessary information in this thread, I'm waiting for news of the 2600. Thank you.

*edit*

Wait...a 2500...? Really...?

Does that make business sense...? I don't know the specs. This is the stuff of dreams.

[The Elf]

I'm weary of all this ground bait that Behringer are throwing in the water. It's cloudy enough here as it is.

Their time would be better spent actually delivering some of this stuff they've been promising for the past couple of years (the CS-80 and OBX spring immediately to mind), or their credibility is going to suffer.

As to a 2500...

[DGL.]

I'm weary of all this ground bait that Behringer are throwing in the water. It's cloudy enough here as it is.

Their time would be better spent actually delivering some of this stuff they've been promising for the past couple of years (the CS-80 and OBX spring immediately to mind), or their credibility is going to suffer.

As to a 2500...

Arguably they all will materialize, COVID will be hampering things but that will (hopefully) be temporary, the Ub-Xa is at the firmware stage so is quite well advanced so they are getting somewhere.

[BJG145]

Arguably they all will materialize.

...yeah, I think they've delivered several decent clones so far so I'm happy to forgive a bit more self-indulgence on social media.

[DGL.]

Arguably they all will materialize.

...yeah, I think they've delivered several decent clones so far so I'm happy to forgive a bit more self-indulgence on social media.

If we go though the list of clones there is so far,

Deepmind 12/6 (based on the Juno 106)
Model D
Cat
Wasp
K2
PRO-1
ODYSSEY
MS-1/101
TD-3
RD-8
Some system 100 modules
Some Moog modules
The Roland SDD-320 chorus clone

Plus as was said before advanced prototypes of the 2600 and Ub-Xa

[The Elf]

Yes, I *do* know about the stuff they have created. It's the stuff they've teased that's becoming wearisome!

[Arpangel]

Another thing, do you think people will become tired of clones? and the market will collapse after all of the worthwhile ones have been made. Or tastes and fashions may change, and a new wave of stuff will again sweep all this aside, like the DX7 did in the 80’s.

[The Elf]

When the inaccessible becomes accessible it will lose its appeal. That's the nature of humans. There will still exist those who will say that only the originals sound like the originals, so they will retain some allure. A Stradivarius remains a Stradivarius, after all.

But the world will move on.

Of course there will come a time when the clones themselves have become objects of desire, but that's for another generation to sort out...

[The Elf]

In the meantime my 97 quid TD-3 has arrived...

[DGL.]

Looks like the 2500 is more advanced than we thought
10 Eurorack modules so switch matrix though, just standard 3.5mm jacks.