i might be absolutely crazy here, I own about 8 synts, Rev2 ,Ub-xa, Grandmother, Juno 106, Ms20, Minifreak and minilogue, Moog minitaur. Ive come to the conclusion that they all sound the same...and you can do exactly the same crap on all of em. Some have a brighter tone that others but its nothing u cant fix with some eq.Hell even Mike dean has a room full of synths and every single jam sounds the exact same. I kinda feel dumb now knowing that i can pretty much make any sound on the rev2..The rest is like extra toys. I use to chase every new synth on the market but now I just cant buy anything no matter how much bells and whistles it has. This is just my personal opinion btu im curious to know if someone else also feels this way.
@@Only_Facts_24 100%. The crossover is so real but I will say that in my experience personally, I’ve noticed a bigger gap on the higher end synths. I got the Gemini, prophet 10 and the 3rd wave and the differences there start to become so huge that I’m making sweeping decisions on songs and avoiding certain synths. Also, a friend has the rev 2 and while it sounds great, it just is missing the final 10% in my personal opinion. The prophet sits in a mix unlike anything else.
In my experience the real difference is whether a synth mixes well or not. My minifreak and my minitaur always sound peeerfect in a mix; they just sit where they're supposed to and lift everything else in the arrangement up. I owned a matrixbrute as well, which was a synthesist's dream, but it always sounded a little obnoxious. I also absolutely loved my digitone, but found that it struggled to play well with others as well.
Take Martin Gore for example. He's a collector of old analoge synths. He has his whole basement full and he stated there was a time when the delivery man brought in a new synth every other day. And then i listen to the music and the analoge blips and chirps and whatnot just sound the same as they did on the previous 5-6 albums. Next example would be Vince Clarke from Erasure. I brought both up not because i don't like their output, quite the opposite but i know both own some of the largest synth collections.
So glad that Behringer are producing these wonderful classics and prices that mere mortals can afford. Wonderful stuff. Thanks Startsky for the quick overview. Hope you enjoy the match.
I have an original SH5. The Behringer seems to behave exactly like mine. I thought my AR on mine was messed up, but apparently it's a feature not a defect since Behringer copied it.
I was also puzzled with Pan. And was surprised by Hold knob at the beginning. Three remarks from me: 1) Watch out for headphone output! At 1/10 it's already too loud for my (250 ohm) headphones. 2) The Hold knob is VCA bias. It's kind of drone knob. 3) I was also asking at forums "why Pan for mono-mono synth?" (like mono voice that in not even stereo). Someone suggested good idea that I am yet to check out. I will route one channel to BBD and route it back to ext in. Or anything else, really. The key is to turn Pan knob into Mix knob. ;] When I bought mine, I was all after that SH-5 filter and I found myself grabbed by the VCOs sound for few hours. Only then I got into that creamy filter. And since filters run parallel, adding fundamental with dedicated bandpass can shatter windows, if sound system provides such power, because this synth surely does. Cordially, Norman
This is their next big clone drop on my wishlist. Availability of everything Behringer in Canada is always sketchy, so it may be quite a while before I actually get my hands on one though.
Been eyeing up a 3 tier rack for this, my Poly-D and a Monopoly. Would look soooooo good together! Love how Behringer have been sticking to certain designs for certain synths. When you make synths affordable enough to have a lot of them, how they all look and fit together matters 😊
Now that's a plan, with a B2600 on the side. !! I think Behringer should stick to this design as the main option , would rather see a POLY D type POLYVOX than a piss ant Model D or POXY D.. lol
@@leftmono1016 round my area of North London it was Cortina mk2s doing the "striped tomato" look - the local custom Capris were usually more original and tastefully done. What annoyed me with the local Cortinas was e.v.e.r.y s.i.n.g.l.e o.n.e had the stripe painted wrong! 😱 Oh to be back in 1979! 😎
On my MS-5 the way around the AR level drop is to patch the gate output back into the external trigger input then select ext as the trigger source for the AR. No major drop in level although the attack is still slower than the ADSR attack. I'm guessing that is just a trait carried over from the original. Hope someone else finds this useful!
Mine arrived yesterday and its really great! Fantastic range of sounds - the option of having the different sounds (VCO, VCO, Ring Mod) routed through each filter - or direct to VCA realy gives it a unique sound to me. -One thing that I would like to change through is having the option to have one or both of the LFO's to be free running - You cant currently get that slow filter modulation on shorter notes :(
Tip from hardwarejammers found on the modwiggler forum: instead of sequencing via the gate input, use the external trigger input and set the ADSR trig to EXT, that way the LFOs are free running. The gate input can be used to retrigger them.
@@vwolmusic there's also a video on here of Mathew Jonson demonstrating an SH-5 where he uses the technique all the way through, but doesn't explain how it works until the end. In some ways it's better than being able to switch the LFOs between free running or retriggered, because the gate input can be used to create more predictable rhythmic effects. E.g. even with just a Korg SQ-1 you can use the gate output on one of the channels to trigger the LFOs once every bar while running a sequence on the other channel. Opens up a lot of possibilities, and I guess might actually have been intentional from Roland.
@@StaunchOfficial you must be an influencer then because its not available in any Australian stores yet I've called and they all said the same, waiting for stock.
@@fiddlestickzmuzik All I did was order it through the store dj website when Behringer announced it was shipping. Maybe the first batch to arrive in Aus were all pre orders so none made it into stores, i'm not sure. I've noticed it no longer says 'pre order' on the website now, it's changed to 'back order'. Might be worth a shot if you're happy to wait a bit?
I used to own an original Roland SH-5 from 1992 to 2005. A real solid machine. Bought it for only $75 CAD and sold it for $1,200 CAD. Nice to see this Behringer version.
@@caryheuchert I had mine when the Korg Poly 800 came out, traded it with closed purses. I wanted that poly so bad… the older i get the more the fool i feel. 🤣
@@SjoerdDekker Without going into detail (cry cry) you're not the only one who's let of of great gear and lived to regret it. I know how it feels. FWIW Be glad for that you kept!
Nice overview, thnx Starsky - hope you'll do an in-depth this-is-the-weird-stuff-it-can-do vid later . It's got that rubbery Roland character but with so much more attitude than the boring Junos etc. I'll pass over that Neptune thingy but MS5 is an instabuy for me when it finally reaches NZ. I love the look of it too - hope they do more fliptoppery. This is going right next to my Monopoly. I want a room full of fliptops and pretend I'm on the USS Enterprise (sad, I know...)
It's interesting how many comments are about great it looks, and I don't disagree, but it does suggest that the synth, while having a lovely character, doesn't do much other synths don't. Seems like one for the collector's if you don't already have an analog mono
The “gate” symbol in the VCA is a third fixed AR envelope generator, not a gate signal. Its a hang over from earlier SH synths. Hold is just a VCA gain control. Panning is on the original and is not very useful😢. I did some of the initial work on the MS-5 until covid arrived…good to see it released.
Only just getting to this one, sounds really nice man! Have you got any further into or found out about the output volume thing? It seemed a bit all over the place. You could slaughter a live performance switching around between the options haha! Bit disappointing about the QC as well. I thought they were past that these days. Some mega sounds though and would be great to hear it side by side with an original!
It seems the volume change is like the original, as are the envelopes. It can do some thunderous bass tones using the second filter resonance etc. it’s a cool thing to explore. I’m still planning on getting my hands on the original.
There are still very few videos on this synth! Thanks for this one. If you revisit and happen to have a roland sh-01a, I'd love to see how the two play together.
I owned an original back in the 1980s when big 70s monosynths were deeply unfashionable - and cheap. The original has a sort of integrated road case with the angled removable lid & lots of Tolex - alas you don't get that with the Behringer.
The volume drop is something I have noticed with behringer especially over Midi I own a Deepmind 12 and using a kenton midi interface to control the Behringer JT-4000 I get tiny bits of dropout which I originally put down to touch sensitivity on the DM 12 but when I switched the midi control to another touch sensitive source it was no longer an issue. Hope this helps
Awesome. My next synth purchase. Together with the model 15 when it comes out. No space for it left. But ill just unplug and replace my synths from now whenever i wanna use another one =p
I have a Novation Summit that does all this and a thousand times more. Sold all my other synths since they basically sound all more or less the same especially in the mix after treatment. Can't really understand all this hype. Get yourself a Summit and do it all with one great sounding unit.
Thanks for the run through Starsky, Although I have no interest in another mono synth, especially without presets....but I don’t think I’ve ever been so tempted to own one, just because of how a synth looks😮....it just looks “ proper”......damn you behringer😅
As a owner of the sh-5 i waited u show the BPF with resonance trough oscillators in detail as the seperate BPF was THE absolute strength of this synth. Sadly u didnt...
Sounds good, but not a lot like my SH-5. Maybe they just tweaked the System 100M oscillators and thought time for the pub? Loved the Voodoo Ray riff ... heya uh hah ooooo 🙂
I think this is a good sounding synth, I don't think it sounds as authentic as some of the other Behringer minis such as the Pro1 (bang on) the Model D and Kobol (ditto). Okay, I never had a SH-5, but I did have a full System 100 (the 1975 version), which is very similar. Okay, the SH -5 oscillators have that weird organ thing going on, but they still sound pretty similar to the 100. The filters on the 100 and SH-5 were pretty much identical, except the SH-5 had a bandpass mode in addition to low pass. Nonetheless I still think the originals were overrated, I remember the system 100 filter sounded great when screaming (it has a aggressive, dirty, overdriven sound), but it wasn't so great for making patches, I remember it made the oscillators sound very thin and with no bass. The oscillators were a bit meh too, although the PWM was pretty nice.
Great look. I chased one for years back a long time ago; never acquired one. I think it was the SH-7 I chased. Anyway, as Pres. Biden would say. The envelope follower, useful for those wanting to produce OLD SPICE commercials (the whistle thing). Maybe I'm getting old (in my mind, I mean), but I'm left wondering: Does it make any LOVELY sounds? TO NOTE: starting at 13:15, then the reverb add and, yeah...that sounds really nice! And the SAW sounds great, too.
@StarskyCarr I have a theory on the dings on your unit . It seems Andertons stock was originally destined for the EU as the power adapter was a 2 pin. Andertons opened each box and threw in the 3 pin swappable plate. Luckily mine didnt get dinged as it bounced around. You may have not been so lucky
I don’t mind saying that I wondered where Uli Behringer took the MS-5 name from. I didn’t think it had to do with Roland. If anything, I thought it had to do with Cheetah, as in the MS6 (despite it clearly being an SH-5 emulation). Ever get your hands on one of those modules, Starsky?
I know they're not expensive but would metal pots really cost that much more? Might as make the quality and finish a little better if it doesn't cost that much more to build. I'm most interested in a mega behringer comparison - it's so hard to choose which ones to get without just having too much of the same, or a very similar thing.
There’s not many that are. I think my sub 37, grandmother, prophet 6, OB 6 and all the 60Hp Moog units are all plastic. I think maybe the prophet 10, OBX8 are metal as are the retroaktiv controllers. But only the premium stuff. These are definitely aimed at a price point .
I've got gear with plastic pots getting on 40 years old with no problems. My monosynth never had a flight case when I was gigging it - it just bounced around in the back of the car.
I feel like Behringer is leaving about $100 per unit on the table not allowing their customers to customize colors of the faceplates and knobs etc. It would be so easy for them.
I wish they had only put the mod wheels only text to the keybed. I took the synth section off the keyboard for the MonoPoly and converted to a desktop. Seems such an awesome synth, but the whole unit is too big a cumbersome for my set up.
I have been disappointed in the pots (not knobs) of my Behringer RD-8s. I have many. All of them have some wiggley loose potentiometers. Which means they're flexing off the board. Not good. Separately some becomr MUCH easier to turn than others. That's also not good.
But playing live your not at your mixing desc, control of your pink noise waves rolling left to right over the (stereo) stage monitors. Great review, tumbs up. Had my SH 5 in early eighties.
I got a Matriarch a couple of years ago and before that a deepmind 12 honestly ruined my interest in synths. They all feel a bit underwhelming and boring. What I have does absolutely everything I could possibly imagine. A few effect pedals and I’m away…anything else they’d just be an expensive distraction
Great sounding device! But a few things worry me: 1) The pulsewidth doesn't go all the way up to 100% (silence) which can be useful for special effects. 2) The level drop when using AR for amp. 3) When using AR, i would expect the two attack/release faders to set the timing, and you have them at zero, so I think it should be instantly on and off - exactly as you commented on. This seems like a serious defect to me. I'll ask my friend if his original SH-5 does that, but I'm pretty sure the SH-5's AR can be instant. But I love that it doesn't seem to lose amplitude when you turn up the resonance.
I cannot speak to the MS-5 at all but I've seen some rather hefty differences from one SH-5 to another. Have a similar thing with my two 303s actually. I serviced one because it wouldn't sound like the one I thought was "better", but it sounded the same. So I serviced the "better" unit and then it sounded like other. RIP better tone. :D
Behringer and other brands that bring clones of old classics onto the market are now in the process of significantly reducing demand and thus also the resale value of old analogue icons. I am absolutely sure that in the future the prices of most such synths will decrease, with a few exceptions. The willingness to spend horrendous sums of money on such instruments is massively diminished if there is the possibility of purchasing the same sound for a tenth. Only a few high earners and die-hard collectors will continue to buy originals. A small example: in my country two or three years ago, a Solina String Ensemble was only offered once a year at most, and the normal retail price was around €2000. Since Behringer's compact version exists, 4-5 people are suddenly selling an original every month for an average price of €1200!
@@dankeplace I have an SH-1, SH-2, System 100 101, Gilbert (SH-09 clone)... And I have the impression that the SH-5 should sound way fatter that what I hear on the MS5...
@@juno6 I've heard the OG unit, never owned one and it does get furtehr down from the demos I have heard. Aging of the gear would make it sound far different too.
I doubt it will be available in 19". It's the same format as the Poly-D, and Mono/Poly. And neither of those came out in 19". I have the Mono/Poly, and I removed the synth section form the Chassis and Keybed. The fold up section unscrews, and unplugs. You can do the same with the MS5, but you will loose the controls next to the Key bed.The thing is a beast at over 10Kgs, it's about less than half that and and a 3rd of the size, when split.
Had a few minutes only with mine yesterday with headphones and the VCA knob does nothing. Im assuming its really main out rather than true VCA aa headphones has its own level slider
Yeah the little arp. It’s something I made using the P800 for the review/demo. You can hear the full thing here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NphPz_y6C1g.htmlsi=J03fFn5e9WmoNxmc
Ranked as one of the world's best DJs by DJMAG UK, DJ Freddy Fresh has performed in more than 35 countries… according to Google! And a pizza shop in Freiburg 😂
@@StarskyCarrprobably heaps of people wondering which to buy first Poly D , Monopoly or MS5 , the B2600 was in that group of mine as well but obviously doesn't have a keyboard.. Peace m8.
Off the top of my head… the delayed LFO and external triggers in the envelopes plus it has external for the ring mod so is effectively a ring mod ‘pedal’ as well. But they’re pretty similar
Yep , I got MS5 a few weeks ago after selling my SH5 in the 1994, definately HASNT the RASPY bite of the SH5 , definitely has a very similar sound to my K2 (MS20 ) .you are spot on. In heinsight I wish I had not waited and just bought the MonoPoly.
