Behringer 2600 Synthesizer Review

Rishabh Rajan dives deep into the $599 Behringer 2600 and explores what improvements have been made to the original analog synthesizer.

[alexandrasings]

I spent many thousands of dollars on the originals during the 20 or so years when NO company was making any analog synths much less making any reproductions. All the while the whole music world was BEGGING for analog to come back. These old companies finally did get off their asses but decided to charge thousands thereby pricing themselves out of the market for many. Arturia was the first to come up with an affordable synth and people loved it but everyone was still begging for reproductions of the originals and no one would make them. Moog and Dave Smith were still making stuff but they weren't doing a single reproduction. Not one. And their stuff was and is very expensive. FINALLY an arp was made by korg and arp and they did a good job, but they had waited literally decades to take action and give people what they were asking for. Behringer came along shortly after korg did and decided to feed the demand at a great price. Good on them and no I don't feel sorry for any of the companies that are now upset because some other company finally came along and gave people what they wanted. They sat on their asses for actual decades.

[PulseAM]

Hat's off to Behringer, I remember when buying their gear was for most a low budget it's all I can afford affair, now it's I really want that!

[nigelh]

Excellent review and intro/tutorial. Thank you for showing what you need to to do to get Duo to work! Not obvious from reading the quick startup guide. It really deserves a full manual. The original ARP manual is available for download, so is helpful, but may not show every extra feature Behringer has added. Full credit to Behringer though, for recreating this glorious piece of hardware many of us have been craving for.

[pjohns]

It's nice how they let you choose from fully dimmed all the way up to full Xmas.

[thomaskolb]

And now they have announced the Blue Marvin and Gray Meanie versions with real spring reverb, monochrome LED's and better components... what a lovely time to be a synthesist!

[TheOrganist]

this synth is a MONSTER
Thank you, Behringer

[schance]

amazing vid, my man. my B2600 is due in a week or so. can't wait! and thanks for the great education on this beast.

[adrianmccombe]

Great review! Been waiting for a proper review for ages and this is excellent.

[neilloughran]

I'm an ARP fan.. have an Odyssey, ARP2600 and ProSoloist and while this synth sounds ok it isn't really giving me the ARP vibe I know... that's not to say it is bad ... it's not... but I haven't heard a single recognisable 2600 sound in this video or others...

The Behringer 2600 actually has more facilities than the original and Korg reissue but it doesn't give me quite the same vibe.. though some nice sounds toward the end.

[TheAdamMalcolm]

The original did have that lfo that they ‘added’ it was just part of the keyboard section rather than on the synth module itself.

[ShawnyDsMusic]

Thank you for this walk through. Very helpful :) Cant wait for this to be available in the US.

[IanWaugh]

Super review, thanks. I lusted after the original back in the day. This is defo on my buy list!

[maraomania]

The only important bit of info is, when will it be available from reverb?

[arcadely]

Is it possible to patch cable your way around the built-in reverb and use an external reverb unit instead? That would seem like a decent workaround, particularly if you have access to other reverbs you like.

[MorbidManoeuvres]

These multi coloured lights are not going to give me a mood to make music.. there completely over the top design. It’s great Behringer has of course made this some what copy affordable, but I don’t think I could ever enjoy using a machine with such aesthetics even when it might sound close to the real thing.. then again korg will use much more near to authentic chips (bringing us closer to the original sound) plus with it being mini and all black original design, that’s something epic to look forward to.

[Gyrbae]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard 2600 is not eurorack compatible. Is this true? I was going to implement it into my setup but I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble if it's just it's own unit.

[vegettoblue]

Nice review, they should had put a bypass switch on the reverb imo

[islandpalm]

Can the Odyssey serve as controller for the 2600? Can Odyssey keys, sequencer, filters, ring modulator, S&H, effects, etc. control the 2600 oscillators? Can 3 oscillators stack with Odyssey's 2 oscillators to get 5 notes? Any other interesting reasons found to put the 2 instruments together in live performance? I have 2 Behringer Odysseys. Any reason to spend another $600 on this? Questions that make me go hmmmm.

[neonblack]

what do the colours on the LED's mean if anything?

[Fauxleroid]

My VCO1 doesn't not respond to midi pitch (cv is fine). Am I going mad with this or is it faulty?