Just got my Behringer RD-78.
Liking it so far. Nice size, sounds decent, easy to use. Didnt really need it but wanted it and price was good. Didn’t realise they were out yet until saw email yesterday.
G
2 Likes
There’s been some discussion in the „Behringer Gear in progress“ thread, but makes sense to have a dedicated thread.
Congrats on getting one, have fun!
Maybe you could answer my question:
1 Like
Prediction for firmware upgrade ( 'cuz we know Behringer will do this ) :
Editing of the fills, probably just one set, wouldn’t it be nice if done per pattern. ( I think this is correct about current operation, it’s early correct me if i am wrong. )
i’d buy one for $78
3 Likes
it’s definitely mid-afternoon 
I predict succumbing to this in 18months, when the price is <2/3rds the current one
exactly my point
3 Likes
Before deciding to purchase the RD-78 it is definitely worth considering and comparing to the TT-78 from Cyclone ( thread ). The TT-78 isn’t tremendously more expensive, and offers a similar operation and sound, though different. It has a 64 step sequencer. It gives me the impression though of being mechanically of lower quality, though looks this way can be deceiving.
Another thing to add to a firmware upgrade of the RD-78, if it ian’t hard wired in.
The ability to select which and how voices are affected by the “Balance” control.
Bring on the circuit benders !
2 Likes
Interesting video on differences to the original CR-78. The big thing is the lack of the ability to combine patterns.
There is a few more smaller things discussed here too. This is all on the side of not copying closely enough as opposed to being too cliose to the original.
A lot of people will just be doing there own patterns, or running off MIDI, in which case the pattern differences matters very little.
As always with vintage analog gear you get onto the question of what exactly the original sounded like.
2 Likes
I bought the rd8 and rd6, both have very little sonic tweaking .and tr8 . I eventually packed them up and stuck with sample packs ( straight samples and processed packs ) for convenience…. Even with something like digitakt I can do basic audio filtering / fx and processing without the need for a mixer and extensive fx outboard.
I’ll use a 78 sound pack and save a bit of cash.
3 Likes
Can somebody explain to me why the Samples from Mars pack doesn’t have some instruments that are labeled on the RD-78 (like guiro or claps, for example)? Did Behringer add some of these?
The clap was added by behringer
2 Likes
I’m sufficiently nostalgia bound that I’d have bought one if they’d put it in a more attractive cr78 box. As it stands it’s an ugly box, little in common with cr78 other than the sounds. and you might as well use samples because the sounds aren’t modifiable.
3 Likes
With right angle jacks or mods, the current rd78 might look nice in a wooden CR style box, like the original. Someone will do it.
I‘m still curious what makes people buy an RD 78. Sound wise, you‘ll get the same sounds with a sample pack but lots of added sound shaping and sequencing options if you throw it into a Digitakt or other sampler. Samples from Mars also has versions that were pitched for a broader range plus saturated versions - on top of the original sounds. In terms of optics and form factor, it doesn’t have much in common with the original. So are people excited about the pre programmed samba rhythms and fills?
1 Like
I’m curious about this too. I’ve seen a few people say it has a certain “mojo” that samples don’t capture but I’m convinced that’s placebo. If you sample all the sequences, or all the parts of them individually and build your own, you’ve theoretically preserved whatever mysterious timing and sound-generating idiosyncrasies it has. The original at least looks neat as a display piece, so I can understand buying it for that reason. I’m a sucker for that vintage technology aesthetic.
1 Like
if the tt-78 didnt exist/wasnt just restocked around the time this dropped, i’d probably be buying the rd-78. only because i’m a cr-78 stan and the idea of a dedicated cr-78 box has been an attractive enough idea that i considered getting a third roland p-6 just for that purpose. its silly and largely unnecessary but i get the motivation.
3 Likes
I only own the original but it’s the same deal, you only get those sounds. Same justification for any analog drum machine though. When analog circuits get an analog trigger, there’s minor variations each time and a sense of percussiveness upon retriggering that is different than machine gun sample stutter. You can get around that on samples by being careful and programming etc but some just like the feel better…. I have samples from mars but the variations and interactions come out differently on the real thing. Not better, just different. And yes niche. I also use the preset rhythms all the time, they’re good enough for some real highlights of music history!
2 Likes
Imagine saying the word “locomotive” while you’re standing still in one place, if you say it 10 times you might say it identically, or with such a small variation that to most people it would be imperceivable.
Now imagine that you’re jogging on the street, or on a treadmill and think about saying the word “locomotive” 10 times, while jogging. It will sound a bit different every time, and different unto that if you go from jogging to running.
This is the most basic explanation of what’s happening in an analog drum circuit as to why it does not sound exactly the same every time, because you aren’t hearing the pattern by itself, or the sound by itself, you’re hearing the charge and discharge of electrical components generating sounds out of electrical pulses and based on those pulse shapes as well as the duration in time and amplitude in volts along with other very minute factors, variation is introduced.
various trigger pulse shapes:
It changes with tempo, it even changes at the same tempo, so while you might sample the pattern of a rhythm machine while it’s running, or while it’s static, those 2 variations are not representative of the machine’s character as a whole.
This (below) is some representation of the behavior of an 808 bass drum and loosely how the tone shaper circuit is impacted by variations in duration of pulse and amplitude:
And the 808 comes (technology-wise) a fair bit after the cr78 and is unique on it’s own, but just illustrates that the behavior of how the sound is fundamentally actualized varies based on the amount and waveshape of the electric current fed into it. This is not even to really dig into how and if the sounds impact each other in the final mixer output stage.
Of course, you can use samples, and most people probably won’t care or know the difference, but to get even close to an accurate portrayal of the character of an analog rhythm machine would require such a quantity of multisampling and an intelligent algorithm assigning cross-sections of variations into tempo brackets that I think for at least some people a device like this makes sense, especially if (like avantronica so wisely stated) the price were 2/3rds of the current one.
I understand that it runs counterintuitive to think that there would be enough micro-variation for it to matter, but imagine making small changes to your face and it was constantly changing, it would not be the same as looking at your face in the mirror, it would be a whole different thing, and a sample is your face in the mirror but the rhythm machine is something a little less stable and it gives it a certain unique character, I think that’s the unquantifiable thing that people are after once you get past the people who want something based on hype or whatever.
Sometimes people don’t even know how to describe what they’re hearing, they just know that they’re hearing it and that applies to a lot of different things even outside of analog drum machines.
7 Likes
Thanks, so it’s really all about those slight variations that an analog drum machine produces.
Makes sense, but I don’t think I need that. Sample chains with some variations are enough for me if nothing else changes in the sound. If it had other parameters to manipulate the sound where settings start to interact, that would be a different story of course.
It’s cool there’s a(nother) machine for those who can really spot the difference! It’s a bit sad that Roland didn’t release a sexy boutique for the CR 78.
3 Likes
There’s absolutely nothing that says anyone really needs it or that it’s more legit, it’s the same as I don’t know, sample rates or fm’ing an analog mono synth, whatever, it’s just a subtlety or an acquired taste.
I’m not putting the information out there to say it’s better for this, I’m just saying there’s a reason it’s different than sampling the same machine, if you wanted to reproduce the machine as opposed to the sound of a hit of the machine, nothing more.
3 Likes