a digital LFO—yes
a digital Envelope—nope
they should refine the Crave Envelope aswell, it’s way to insensitive between a click and a short, hearable output.
it’s ok but it could be much finer
that’s basically why the Neutron is such an inspiring and unique synthesizer.
the envelopes definitely shape the body of the sound and it’s damn responsive.
I guess iam selling the crave to fund a third Neutron, for Bass only. 
i’m not sure what you’re explaining - but the Pro-1 has a Digital Envelope and an Analog LFO - so it seems to be the opposite of what you’ve highlighted if i am reading your point correctly
edit : this is not a Neutron topic - but its LFO is digital, i’d imagine that its envelopes were too, i.e. digital control of analog circuits like the analog Elektrons
edit 2 : the envelopes are indeed listed as analog for the Neutron !!
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I was referring to the Neutron and the Crave.
as I thought you were looking for opinions on those synths aswell
at least the decay/release portion has to be at a higher resolution and not so predictable as of yet
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i’m craving a crave as it happens - but i love the Pro-1 most of all synths for regular tone - it’s glorious, the Neutron is a lot more interesting, i do like it’s filter bass preservation and despite the same VCO it’s just not got the purity of the PRO-1 - i can listen to it droning and find it beautiful, it has a magical filter - i fancy the crave for the sequencer ratcheting and patching into seq and moog filter and simplicity !
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the crave is great for that and useful as programmable filter box etc but it could be a much tighter synth when refining the envelope control section and at least separate the sequencer from the internal routing. most annoyingly the automatic envelope triggering/quantizing on the sequencer steps.
I wish they would allow the PWM control to drive thru different waveshapes once the saw wave is selected, actually it does only work in square wave mode.
somebody know about some mods to the oscillator? like separate outputs of all waveforms?
Hrmmmm, wonder if they can put a similar effort into making their Cat envelopes snappier?
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Update. The issue is with all Neutrons when connected by a Pro-1 - a potential firmware fix will hopefully be looked into
Now its on sale $49 off (link on Deals thread) and thanks to your post I’m even more tempted to pick it up - mostly for bass duty but what you say about drone sounds good too.
Did Behringer ever publish a MIDI implementation chart? All I can find on the website is a Quick Start Guide. I’d like to know what the MIDI CCs are for this thing.
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It’s old school analog , no midi ccs
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The MIDI side is pretty much just only the basics iirc, Notes and Modwheel, all the controls are hands on only. For me this is no issue, i understand folk like external control options but i crave the purity of the directness even more. That’s even more significant to me as the quality of the sound i like is in the rawness, so over-modulating or controlling it would take me away from the core sound and directness - a lot of artists i grew up on used prophets/pro-ones in a stripped back way so the core sound and filter is something i have a personal affinity with. It’s a time machine synth sound for me which still resonates (no pun intended) - that’s why i can let it drone and arp/loop, it just has a very pleasing sound - having no hidden options and distractions becomes a strength for me in this scenario and its sound stands up to all scrutiny with just a tiny bit of reverb etc
my favourite character synth would be the MS20 because its filters go far more extreme, but there’s just something about the sequential flavour that i like (strangely i seem to have less in the way of this bond with the moog sound)
fwiw, when i was berating myself about the prospect of another mono i’d gravitate to this demo as i think the broad sound palette displayed covers a lot of territory that i like (albeit a little too fx-wet), so it gave me confidence that it was going to hit the spot
its limitations by modern standards are advantages to me because it keeps the sound undermodulated - sorry that’s perhaps no comfort wrt the missing CC control, but having everything be wysiwyg is part of what makes it appeal to me, a lot of the sound is found in between the steps you’d get with ‘crude’ digital control
i’m sure other demos give a different vibe, but i heard what i needed here
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Thanks, I appreciate the detailed post. I take it there is no MIDI velocity response?
MIDI CC is not that big a deal for me, but I was a bit concerned about lack of MIDI implementation chart - even if the chart just shows a bunch of X’s I would have liked to see the chart, just to set expectations.
I’m thinking maybe it could be paired - for some applications - with a Roland TR-06 as the Roland has multiple trigger outs, and I see some CV gate inputs on the Pro-1.
I like all the sounds I’ve heard so far in the demo vid you posted.
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no velocity - as per Prophet 5 / pro-one - the neutron allows you to assign a spare CV out from MIDI velocity, but still no direct connection to the sound engine
it’s a fairly basic architecture (pro-1), but again, that’s honestly what i like about it, it stops you getting caught up in options - there’s no lfo key reset and the sequencer is clocked to the lfo/cv rate - but this takes the interaction with the synth in certain directions
it’s highly regarded as a clone and it’s testament to the og chips and sequential design, but it’s a pre midi design
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Fair enough. I have only recently started to get a handle on manipulating the synth envelope instead of relying on MIDI velocity to introduce variations in loudness/dynamics.
I am attracted to the relative simplicity of the synth architecture and the sound.
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If you needed cc control you might consider the AS 1, the sort of spiritual descendent of the Pro One. It’s a different synth in many ways but the can still cover a lot of the same ground as the Pro One.
I’ve got an OG Pro One but I’m intending on getting the B Pro at some point, just so I can place the OG in semi retirement! I’d heard a few concerns regarding the envelopes being sluggish but that may have been sorted now with a firmware update? I’m not sure.
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personally i never felt they were sluggish, but there were concerns there wasn’t enough resolution detail in the shortest time range, so i believe this area was fleshed out a bit more - so there’s more nuanced digital control of the analog vca in the blip region
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My bad. I’d skimmed a few posts where folks were discussing the envelopes and not read the posts properly! So the B One is now back on my want list!
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the only thing holding me back from those behringer goodies is the lack of program saving. i know the originals didnt have it… but still. i’ve got a rd-8 and td-3 on the way and although im thrilled, im annoyed im going to ultimately have to do some legwork to get a workflow going since they dont save patterns/respond to midi for triggering patterns.
No, this was definitely a valid concern for some previously and a firmware update did address the issue. They sound great to me, but everyone has their own opinions.
You can still hear some subtle differences between the Behringer and an OG Pro-One but it’s probably similar in that you’d here minor variations between two originals based on manufacture date and how they’ve aged. That’s just the nature of it.
This video does a comparison of an original Pro-One with updated firmware on the B:
Comparison of older firmware and original Pro-One:
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Thanks for posting that vid. Behringer seem to be upping their game in terms of firmware; I updated my RD 8 last night to the latest firmware version and joy of joy…Sync seems to be sorted! (RD 8 receiving midi clock and transport from DN and sending clock sync to my OG Pro One to clock the sequencer)… no hiccups so far!
They’ve changed a few things, most of which I’ve not experimented with yet, but one of my pet peeves has been addressed. When in mute mode the individual instrument select buttons only light up red when you mute that instrument. Unmuted is unlit. Like most other implementations of mute control! No more solid red/flashing red!
I read that a member of another forum was onboard and the updates were down to his input. Bravo!