Behringer Bi-Phase/Dual Phase

DimensionsTomorrow · 2023-02-12T13:04:06.811Z

I was able to put it through its paces the last couple of days. So far I’m digging it. It sounds really great on synth strings and I’m liking it a lot on guitar.

With some overdrive and tape echo it does some killer 70s guitar sounds. With the speed and depth pretty low and the feedback high, you can get these really great hollow, throaty sounds that sound amazing overdriven. Sort of reminiscent of the cocked wah sound, but more unique. I could see that becoming sort of a go to sound for me.

It’s definitely not for the faint of heart and a 12-stage phaser is really not for everyone. It takes quite a while to figure out how the two sides of the phaser interact, but you can dial in some really interesting stuff I haven’t heard from other phasers. I’m sure there are loads of cool sounds I haven’t found yet.

I still haven’t tried it on drums yet. Hopefully this week. I also want to do some more synth experiments.

I’ve never tried an original Bi-Phase, so I can’t comment on how close it is to that.

MattLxx · 2023-02-12T13:25:32.630Z

Forget the Berhringer and track yourself down one of these if you ever see one on Ebay/Reverb. One of my favourite pedals.

Made by Mike Both, who built the Pi-Phase, a perfect BiPhase clone which in its Mk2 variant actually got reskinned and sold by Mutron in the 2010s as the BiPhase. It’s got the same quality of sound but with extra knobs to tip it into insanity. And with the ability to custom adjust phase depths through a built in sequencer. Properly bonkers.

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Imagine the marriage of a phase shifter and analog sequencer, and you’ll be imagining something like the infinitphase. However, the infinitphase gets a little twisted and goes far beyond any existing phaser or sequenced device to offer:

extended LFO rate variable from .1Hz to 10Hz

triangle / sawtooth / square / pulse / blended LFO shapes OR step-phased tones OR a blend of both for phased / filter sounds that are out of this world

slew-rate limiting for step-phase control section producing classic sample-and-hold effects or meandering phase tones

positive AND negative resonance adjustable via a single control

a blend of wet and dry signals for subtle phase or outrageous vibrato

AC-powered, internally-regulated +/-15VDC power supply providing a huge amount of headroom for any signal source (guitars / synths / drum machines / etc)

The dimensions of the infinitphase Mk II are: 20.5cm W x 15.cm D x 6cm H (to top of knobs): 8" W x 5.9" D x2.4" H

The infinitphase’s audio section is based on a Mutron Biphase channel (extended to a maximum of 8 phase stages) and, along with the simple yet flexible control section, allows users to emulate traditional phase tones or explore never-before-heard filtering / phase / vibrato / S&H effects.

A brief overview of the ‘standard’ infinitphase Mk II’s controls (more detailed information can be found in the user manual):

rate - controls the rate at which the LFO cycles

symmetry - controls the rise/fall or mark:space ratio of the LFO

shape - pans between triangle and square LFO waveshape

depth - adjusts the LFO depth

range - determines how many phase depth controls are cycled through by the LFO

smooth - adjustable sle-rate limiting of the changes between phase depth control settings

cvmix - determine whether the phasing is controlled by the LFO, the phase depth controls, or a blend of both

blend - controls the blend of clean / effected audio

resonance - selects whether the phased signal is mixed in-phase or out-of-phase with the clean signal

phase depth controls - 9 controls that are stepped through by the internal LFO, and which determine the phase depth when selected

DimensionsTomorrow · 2023-02-12T22:22:29.158Z

That’s way too much phaser for me. Truthfully, even the Bi-Phase is approaching my limits. I’ll most likely just stick to a couple of settings on it. That mix knob looks like a nice addition though.

Switchmode · 2023-02-12T22:48:50.218Z

Another option if you’re looking for a cheap (Behringer) phaser is the VP-1. It’s an exact clone of a vintage Small Stone, and much much better than EHX’s modern versions which IMO sound nothing like the original. And I say that being a long time owner of a 1981 v3 Small Stone and a former owner of a Small Stone Nano.

A/B-ing my v3 Small Stone against the VP1 and there’s literally no difference in sound, except the VP-1 can’t sweep as slowly. But that’s easily fixed with a change in cap value. I rehoused mine with a stomp switch to flick between two pots for different sweep values and another stomp to replace the Color (feedback) switch. Also added an LPB1 circuit to dial in a phasing signal with no volume drop.

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DimensionsTomorrow · 2023-02-12T23:02:44.754Z

That’s definitely more my speed. I have a thing for phasers, wahs, and envelope pedals. I have sort of bagged my limit for phasers though. I have three Japanese phasers from the 1970s and a really nice Maestro clone. Now that I have this Bi-Phase clone, I’m done I think. Lol.

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Switchmode · 2023-02-12T23:14:28.381Z

Nice! I think the Phase Tone is a 4 stage OTA phaser like the Small Stone. IMO that’s the sweetest circuit style for maximum chewy, swooshy goodness - most other phasers are like the MXRs which use JFET filtering instead of OTA filtering.

DimensionsTomorrow · 2023-02-12T23:23:58.749Z

That Maestro circuit (designed by Oberheim I should add) is also fantastic. I believe it was used by Ernie Isley. I fell in love with that sound on Paul’s Boutique as a kid, and spent years looking around for it as the Internet is filled with conflicting info about what Ernie used. Anyway, it sounds nice.

DimensionsTomorrow · 2023-02-19T03:41:24.325Z

After more experimenting, I think I like it more on guitars than synths as I prefer it going into overdrive or fuzz, which I don’t use much of on my synths. Also, I think it’s sort of waste to use this as set-it-and-forget-it kind of a pedal, you really want to be tweaking it as you go to find the sweet spots. I decided to put the Maestro clone on my synth board, since the slow setting is pretty much perfect for modulating synths, and I’ll use the Bi-Phase for my more psychedelic guitar experiments.

Probably obvious, but I’d say this is overkill for anyone wanting just a basic phaser. There are lots of sweet spots on it though, so it’s not hard to find interesting sounds. If you are going to use it on synths, I would suggest having it up on your desk or somewhere you can tweak as you go, same for Fender Rhodes use.

The synth board as it stands now:

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shigginpit · 2023-02-19T05:52:40.988Z

I was curious about the size because of how big the original was (huge), but the behringer is not small. This thing is literally the size of a digitakt, maybe a little bigger (slightly), at least if the dimensions I saw listed are correct.

That guy in the first video is giggin tho. And the original in the second video sounds really gas inspiring, it’s a good thing I know how infrequently I would use a phase pedal otherwise I’d be googling the dual-takt / bi-tron thingy a little harder right now.

Thats a nice synth pedal station you’ve got there, not overkill, just the right kind of things for fun. I read that vermona reverb is really great, I ended up with a walrus fathom which I haven’t used much but it also sounds awesome with synth as well as guitar things.

DimensionsTomorrow · 2023-02-19T13:42:29.013Z

shigginpit:

I read that vermona reverb is really great

Thanks, yeah, the Vermona Retroverb is pretty great. It sounds killer on guitar as well, and the drive circuit is absolutely fantastic.

The Bi-Phase is not small, that’s for sure. It’s built really solidly though, same as Behringer’s other Mu-tron clone (Octave Divider). Perhaps not essential pedals, but cool nonetheless.

shigginpit · 2023-02-19T13:47:50.556Z

there’s an episode of the jhs show (not that I have watched more than 2 of them but this was one) where he basically says everyone is a hater and you won’t know the difference between a behringer pedal and the real thing, then proceeds to tell you which pedals are dead on circuits, and then does an A / B with the behringer against the pedal it’s cloning.

some people with expensive vintage pedals had very hurt feelings after that I think.

ddiamond84 · 2023-03-19T23:35:33.913Z

Wondering when the behringer dual phase ones will be available or if I should just get a used biphase one from Craigslist…

Bunker · 2023-03-20T22:32:57.585Z

There’s recently been a batch released, Andertons in the UK had them in so it shouldn’t be long before they’re re stocked

Thomann are showing 4-5 weeks until they’re back in stock

DimensionsTomorrow · 2023-05-10T13:24:58.380Z

I saw a thing on a Japanese music store website that said these are no longer in production, has anyone heard that anywhere else? Did they have to stop because of the lawsuit?

shigginpit · 2023-05-10T13:27:21.945Z

haven’t heard a peep about any being released since this thread actually.

DimensionsTomorrow · 2023-05-10T13:29:44.447Z

This says that they are no longer in production and that availability is limited to what’s in inventory.

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I noticed this as well:

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shigginpit · 2023-05-10T13:36:36.185Z

I think they must have gotten successfully tanked. That’s the only conclusion to draw because this pedal is too well planned to just abandon after all the hype that was surrounding it.

I can’t imagine they can repurpose this chassis into anything either, it’s so large and specific.

Kegeratorz · 2023-05-10T13:57:30.010Z

Wasn’t this pedal fairly new?

shigginpit · 2023-05-10T14:00:53.337Z

New new. Renamed twice.

Or named, then renamed rather.

DimensionsTomorrow · 2023-05-10T14:02:35.307Z

Yeah, but they supposedly had a legal action from Mu-tron, and then said they were changing the name, although I got one with the Bi-phase name back in February. All very confusing.