Behringer Pro 800

[Bill H.]

My Prophet 600 was "misappropriated" a few years ago (turned up missing along with other keyboards from an upstairs storage area). I would not be interested in a 1:1 copy (there were reasons it was upstairs), but with GliGli and front panel enhancements I would definitely buy one if they were available today. How I feel in five months we'll see, but I'll probably still be excited if they finally start shipping next spring. 

[Doerfler]

5 hours ago, Stokely said:

not sure what power connector it has 
 

this should clear things up

[Stokely]

Appreciate it, quite lazy on my part to not look myself    Unfortunate but expected at lower price points (wall warts).  

And definitely interesting to see that single output.  Ironically as I have current issues with mono vs stereo gigs at times (mainly with piano), at least you'd know this would sound consistent   

 

[ElmerJFudd]

Anderton’s 

 

if Behringer ever gets the 16 voice off the assembly line I’m guessing $1199-1499.  

[marino]

It sounds good to my ears. I see the Pro 800 as a direct competitor to the Take 5 in the low-price analog poly segment. They sound different, but not that much... they came from the same family.

 

I'll attempt a comparison. Pro 800 advantages:

- More polyphony

- Less than half the price

- You can stack waveforms

 

Take 5 advantages:

- Keyboard (good-quality one with aftertouch)

- One more LFO

- Continuously variable waveforms that can be modulated

- More modulations and features

- Built-in dual digital effects

- INTERNAL POWER SUPPLY

 

Then there's the sound itself, but that's a matter of individual taste. Personally, I like both.

Did I forget anything? And, are the added features on the T5 worth the price difference?

[marino]

I also would like to know:

- Is the LFO on the Pro 800 global, per voice or selectable?

- On the Pro 800, can you stack two instances of your patch and detune them? 4-voice polyphony could be an acceptable sacrifice in some circumstances, in exchange for a bigger sound.

[CyberGene]

Take-5 also offers stereo spread although it's slightly twisted and only available through mod matrix and there's no choice over the voice allocation scheme. The Pro-800 is mono only. I don't own a Take-5 but I've been actively researching it for the last few days since I'm interested in it.

 

What bothers me about the Take-5 is what many people complain about: inability to see the saved values of controls when you load a patch, despite it having two screens and the main one is a big OLED screen, so that functionality could have been easily implemented. Maybe a firmware can fix this. Well, when you match the saved value for a knob, there will bi a dot shown on the 3-digit 7-segment display but that's still too awkward (you have to twist the knob slowly and observe whether the dot appears and you don't know in which direction you have to turn). People also complain about various bugs that are still not fixed and quality issues.

 

What I like about the Pro-800 is it has a very good MIDI CC support for all its controls which means I can use my Hydrasynth as a controller and assign various Hydra sources (aftertouch, ribbon, LFO-s, envelopes, etc.) to MIDI CC. Thus it can be almost the same as a Take 5 and even more. For half the price. I'm an almost certain buyer of the Pro-800 as it seems.

[Bill H.]

Listening to the raw saw section through phones, it seems to have a nice high end sizzle - a bit of a problem with the original P-600. 

[Aperkeys]

It sounds actually terrific. If they'll make a keyboard version of it, I'll buy it in no-time.

[Stokely]

I'm the exact opposite, if they made a tabletop version of the Take 5 I'd buy *that* one   

Ideally, both to please everyone!   "Where's the 7 octave version?!?"

[ChazKeys]

https://www.andertons.co.uk/behringer-pro-800-semi-modular-synth

£369 is a fantastic price. Will reliability be an issue? They have packed a lot of stuff into that wee box. I suppose having an external PSU will reduce the heat inside. Having presets is going to be so useful. I love analogue but trying to match/recreate my patches when I return to old tracks is so hard, even when I've used the Logic Notepad feature to take photos of the patch.

 

The manual is here

https://mediadl.musictribe.com/media/PLM/data/docs/P0E9I/QSG_BE_0718-ABF_PRO-800_WW.pdf

[CyberGene]

Yeah, I saw that yesterday and I am really tempted to get one for that price. Analog 8-voice poly for that price is just ridiculous. On the other hand, I started feeling that this entire renewed synth mania is just not worth it. Yeah, we can finally buy some dream stuff from the past for cheap but once you get past the initial excitement, is it really worth it? For me, not really sure. I am somehow spoiled by great virtual synths such as those from U-He and am not really convinced the real analog gives me anything more. Yeah, there are some differences in isolated laboratory comparisons but who cares, I don't make solo synth music... 

[Stokely]

For me, you said the magic words:  "return to old tracks"....that is where software is leagues more convenient.  Don't even have to save changes to your patches if you don't want to, the DAW has all the tweaks and changes with no sysex or program changes (assuming you have patches!).   And as you said the quality is in the ballpark I reckon for good plugins especially with multiple tracks happening (where often less is more and big fat tracks need to be thinned out a bit.)

This thing is impressive though considering its mono and dry even in the demos.   With a lush reverb this is going to only sound better and it's already very good.

 

[Theo Verelst]

I'm not sure what Uri's actual motivation is with this one, also: how is the polymod section "copied", do you need to license some Z80 Rom Sequential?

 

The modernized sound does not seem to live up to original, wonder if this can tuned... (and if so: how? And at which expense)

 

T

[ChazKeys]

1 hour ago, Stokely said:

For me, you said the magic words:  "return to old tracks"....that is where software is leagues more convenient.  Don't even have to save changes to your patches if you don't want to, the DAW has all the tweaks and changes with no sysex or program changes (assuming you have patches!).   And as you said the quality is in the ballpark I reckon for good plugins especially with multiple tracks happening (where often less is more and big fat tracks need to be thinned out a bit.)

This thing is impressive though considering its mono and dry even in the demos.   With a lush reverb this is going to only sound better and it's already very good.

 

Yes some synths can be too fat! At least with Presets it gets a bit easier. Audio over USB would make it even better. 

 

As for the sound I was never a P600 or Pro 1 fan. IIRC it seemed too aggressive and bright compared to the P5. But at this price I would revisit the P600. I did have the Behringer Pro 1 but despite many great reviews it didn't sound right to me.  There seemed to some phase cancellation when both Osc waves were turned on - the volume dropped. Filter was tricky too. The P800 has the combined VCF/VCA chip and software generated EGs so a different animal. 

 

 I have been much more impressed with Model D and Neutron - both great sounding synths.

 

 

 

[AnotherScott]

I recently bought a Roland JX-08 for when I'd like to have some "analog-synthier" sound and operation on a gig where I don't want to bring a third board, which  to me, is the perfect niche for this Behringer. Which kind of means I no longer have a particular use for it... but I'm not sure I can resist!

[RABid]

The $399 price is really tempting and ten years ago I would have jumped on this. Now that I have the Jupiter X with its Prophet filter, plus U-he and Arturia software, it would be another addition to a collection of hardware that I am already trying to downsize.

[Stokely]

I thought that might be a mistaken price when I saw $399.  That is pretty nuts.

I have the Lead A1 in my new (used) Nord stage 3 and I'm very impressed by it, so this isn't quite as tempting as when my Modx was the center of my live rig.   It wouldn't be hard to pre-wire this into my pedal board already connected to the key largo though and with the wall wart pre-wired to the power strip there.  One midi cable (or usb if I end up using Setlist Maker for program changes) and good to go.   I don't really think this is going to be a huge value add to what I have though.   

 

[CyberGene]

Reading the last posts it seems Behringer might have sold tons of these 1-2 years ago but in an oversaturated market with so many great synths now, and with people already owning something similar, it may not sell so well. We will see. I personally don’t think it will give me anything on top of my Take 5, besides the 3 more voices. But the Take 5 can make circles around it with its mod matrix, flexibility and FX. 

[Bill H.]

When clicking on the Sweetwater Pro 800 link, I got a blue "you're in the queue" screen. I'd say there's a bit of interest in this box.

 

I'm trying to think about how much I'd use it after the novelty wears off, and the answer is probably not much. Even at this insane price, I'm thinking more about waiting for one of the Behringer analog knock-offs with keys - which I actually would use for those few times I still play out. 

[ElmerJFudd]

35 minutes ago, Bill H. said:

When clicking on the Sweetwater Pro 800 link, I got a blue "you're in the queue" screen. I'd say there's a bit of interest in this box.

 

I'm trying to think about how much I'd use it after the novelty wears off, and the answer is probably not much. Even at this insane price, I'm thinking more about waiting for one of the Behringer analog knock-offs with keys - which I actually would use for those few times I still play out. 

Like the Pro 16.  But that certainly couldn’t be $399! 

[marino]

The new price looks insane for a good-sounding 8-voice analog poly. Hard to resist!

That said, I still would like to clarify a few details, old and new:

 

- Is the LFO on the Pro 800 global, per voice or selectable?

- Can you stack two instances of your patch and detune them? 4-voice polyphony could be an acceptable sacrifice in some circumstances, in exchange for a bigger sound.

- I guess there's one filter per voice, I'd like a confirmation.

- Are all parameters accessible from the panel, or have you to use a computer or controller to reach the less common functions?

 

Especially if it can do two-voice unison/detune with 4-voice polyphony, it would become very tempting for me!

[sunspot]

4 Benj for an 8 voice analog poly has never been offered before in the post-Covid 2020's, to my knowledge.  I hope the reviews are good.

 

@ChazKeys:  Thanks for sharing your takes - I didn't hear your issue with Pro 1 but agree that Model D and Neutron are keepers.  I never owned an original Pro 1 so I have to defer to folks like Starsky Carr for A/B comparisons.

[ElmerJFudd]

 

 

 

[Bill H.]

6 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

Like the Pro 16.  But that certainly couldn’t be $399! 

Gotta admit... the main reason I don't think I'll pick up the Pro 800 is Behringer's leak of the Pro 16. Maybe they shouldn't have done that. If they are pulling this off for $399, a Pro 16 should be quite reasonable - but not that reasonable. 

[ElmerJFudd]

36 minutes ago, Bill H. said:

Gotta admit... the main reason I don't think I'll pick up the Pro 800 is Behringer's leak of the Pro 16. Maybe they shouldn't have done that. If they are pulling this off for $399, a Pro 16 should be quite reasonable - but not that reasonable. 

Good point!  It sure to be the most affordable 16 voice analogue we’ve seen.  Right now think that’s the Korg Prologue 16 @ $1699.99.  

[David Emm]

For effects, I think this has a Zoom MS-70CDR in its immediate future. The world is bursting with options, but that's become something of a creditable go-to. Its a guitar pedal, but stereo in & out and multi-effects give it credibility as a synth tool. That goes double for a relatively simple analog poly's needs. Not everything demands a high-end Lexicon, as creamy as they are. The Zoom seems like a natural, low-budget match.

 

I'm finding the demos to be as accurate as my memory allows, while realizing that I can probably build a P-surrogate in Alchemy. I remember the hurrahs when a P-600 and Jupiter-6 were MIDI'd together at a NAMM show, so I know the feel. Of course, its a different game now, where you can MIDI your heiney to a starship at will.

[Radagast]

The price is remarkable even compared to other Behringer synths.  For $100-$200 more, one gets the 2600 clone that’s basically monophonic.

[NewImprov]

On 12/9/2022 at 9:44 AM, CyberGene said:

Take-5 also offers stereo spread although it's slightly twisted and only available through mod matrix and there's no choice over the voice allocation scheme. The Pro-800 is mono only. I don't own a Take-5 but I've been actively researching it for the last few days since I'm interested in it.

 

What bothers me about the Take-5 is what many people complain about: inability to see the saved values of controls when you load a patch, despite it having two screens and the main one is a big OLED screen, so that functionality could have been easily implemented. Maybe a firmware can fix this. Well, when you match the saved value for a knob, there will bi a dot shown on the 3-digit 7-segment display but that's still too awkward (you have to twist the knob slowly and observe whether the dot appears and you don't know in which direction you have to turn). People also complain about various bugs that are still not fixed and quality issues.

 

What I like about the Pro-800 is it has a very good MIDI CC support for all its controls which means I can use my Hydrasynth as a controller and assign various Hydra sources (aftertouch, ribbon, LFO-s, envelopes, etc.) to MIDI CC. Thus it can be almost the same as a Take 5 and even more. For half the price. I'm an almost certain buyer of the Pro-800 as it seems.

I've owned a Take 5 since they first came on the market, and your second point has never bothered me. Nor have I had any bugs with the T5 itself (the Sound Tower editor is a defferent story) or quality. I did have an interaction with Sequential when an errant cymbal sheared off a potentiometer shaft, totally my fault for letting a drummer within 5 feet of my rig :-), and Sequential were awesome about helping me get it fixed. The T5 has become my primary live performance synth, replacing a Minimoog and a bunch of Mainstage patches in my setup, and I really dig it.

 

I'm actually thinking about getting the Pro 800 to layer with the T5, and map it's controls to the T5 panel, it'd be like having my own Mini Prophet 10 (Prophet 13?).

[CyberGene]

I actually purchased a Take 5 and have been using it for a while and I can confirm what I had said before, apparently I had done a good research 😀 Fortunately mine has been faultless but I still read about occasional issues. And I’m really on the verge of selling it because of that silly inability to see what the stored value of a knob is. You have to turn it VERY SLOWLY in order to observe for a dot in the three-digit display to appear when you have matched the value. If you blink you’ll miss it. Why they don’t use the OLED display to show stored vs actual values (as on the Novation Peak/Summit) is beyond me. But the Take 5 sounds so nice!