Behringer RD-9 vs. Roland TR-909 

I am a bit late here. For those of you thinking the RD-9 kick sounds less impressive you need to watch some other comparison videos. The kick tuning is way out on this video, and others. There are videos about now that are far more analytical and show its is literally no different. I get mine today!

I think the slew rate of the older op-amps in the 909 is probably one of the main sources of difference in sound. It might be instructive to try a touch of low-pass filter on the RD 9 with a bit of resonance too. I don't have one so I can't play with it, but a slower slew rate would act kinda-sorta like a lowpass filter.

Gosh I wish I could still get my hands on a TR-909. The sound character is something else.

5:43 being able to ratchet the hi hats is a great new feature

To start with Schoolly D's 'PSK what does it mean' is just awesome!

amazing video!

thanks for this detailed information.

Haven't you got the RD9 compressor engaged throughout the whole demo??

RD9 sounds like a great homage to the original. Ordered mine and can’t wait to rip those sounds to shreds. If you’re looking for the original, use samples.

Got mine for a few weeks now and after years of using samples from the OG's, I'm glad I bought it. It's a great drum machine and it does sound like the samples I used in the past. Even if it didn't sound like a 909, it would still be an awesome machine.

I wish the graphics had more orange and a better, less blue-colored grey on the front panel, so that it matched the original 909 and 707. Otherwise, I'm very happy with my new RD9. I may make a custom face-plate for it,

Thanks for the review, now I know exactly what to buy tr909

I got my self a tr-8s last Christmas which include the 909 samples but I will still buy the rd9 just for the looks.

I just love 909 kick, hat, and clap is my favorite on this thing, can’t wait to get one 🥵

Wow, great video...now i know for sure that I want a real 909 😊

You’re using the main out of the 909. Use the direct outs and many of the differences with the RD-9 disappear

Great video, really enjoyed it! I don't think you did the RD-9 justice on the kick though. I've been listening on studio monitors and a subwoofer and there is a definite jump in levels where the TR 909 is much louder, especially on the kick (which is not dialed in). Also, looks like you're in "enhanced mode", the RD-9 kick is punchier in enhanced mode but the character of the low end changes. My RD-9 sounds closer to your TR 909 in the "non enhanced" mode. I ran the kick through a UAD API vision strip with preamp gain and an eq boost at 3k, it came very close to the TR-909 in your video. The body of the kick was there, but the Roland has more noise on top and the Tune knob seems to have more range than the RD-9's. The other sounds are basically the same, except for the Toms which I actually prefer on the RD-9. You can't forget the fact that the behringer is $349 while the TR 909 is a $4k collector item. The Behringer just makes sense in 2022.

0:10 lovin that Schoolly D🥁💪🏿 #PHILLY

Prodigy -ish beats noticed! Good discussion here throughout.

Sounds much closer when it’s in classic mode not enhanced mode………I have a 909 and Rd9 obviously the 909 has a bit more body but they did a hell of a job also playing with the accent gives the rd9 more balls. I actually don’t like enhanced mode except for the hats.

if I took a heat gun or managed to corrode some of the circuits would I get some sikk vintage 909 moments

Why didn’t you match the kick , or wouldn’t it get in the ball park ?

The RD9 sounds much better for me.

You can get a perfect match with the RE-909 ;)

The OG just slays the rd9. Not a surprise I suppose!

It seams strange to me that the kick/bass drum sounds so lacking in intensity and quality relative to the original. As a connoisseur of the electronic genre of hard techno over many years, I’ve always understood the value of the kick of the 909 to be revolutionary and if the RD9 misses the beat here, I don’t see much value. If one were strictly focused on their music and, like me, wants that raw, hard kick drum, I might suggest something else (possibly software) to generate that bass. However, my experience with RD9 is limited and I imagine RU-vid videos offer an unfair representation. I hope I’m incorrect, but right now, I’m thinking ‘no go’ on the RD9.

the 909 kick punches to the face , the rd-9 seems quite weak for some reason ?

I just got my RD-9 the Monday after Christmas without pre ordering. I think it sounds good for what it is. Yes it might sound a little different from the original, but it still does the job. Every comparison video out there only shows the single output on it being played. I actually connected all the outputs to my 32x8 mixer and it slaps. I loaded original 909 samples into my Akai MPC and mixed them also in my mixer and it sounded basically the same. You wouldn't know the difference in the mix. As soon as they are available again, I'm planning to order 2 more and leave them in the box just because I could.

Behringer really dropped the ball on the BD and toms, I'm sad to say. It sounds like they're based on a simple sine wave, whereas the 909 had a lot more tonal complexity that really sold the illusion of air being shifted. The mono output of the RD-9 is annoying, too. The original 909 was being sold to pro musicians who would likely have access to sub-mixers, but the semi-pro users the RD-9 is aimed at are less likely to have enough spare channels for the individual drum outs - particularly in a live rig. I miss my old 909, but I'll have to take a rain check on the Behringer - that bass drum just doesn't pass muster.

Do you think the RD8 MK2 got closer to the OG than this RD9?

Sounds are thicker on the original ..but that rd 9 Slaps pretty hard also..might have to go purchase…

If you've got the OG version (Roland Tr-909) lucky for you guy's but if your trying to gauge a 1 to 1 comparison ..of course there's gonna be a slight difference, no 2 vintage synth's (analog) ,vintage drum machines (analog) sound exactly the same! However, like it or not the RD-9 has got that 909 vibe, (it's great for some folks) especially if you've been using samples, or don't really wanna take your OG on the road etc.. ! For some they just cannot afford today's 909 asking prices! (I wasn't sure at first but try it,you'll be surprise! ) Btw Big up Alamo :) 🎹

PSK what does it mean?

Nice comparison. It definitely doesn’t capture the 909 as well as I’d hoped. Something about the “laser” type envelope on the kick and snare. It’s like the Behringer has a weaker kick, and too beefy snare. It’s still cool, and I’d use one, but this is a great example of these things not holding up side by side

They sound close enough really a lot of the difference is nothing EQ couldn't help closing the gap a bit more, original beefier and less top, both good I can just listen to them on their own and like the sound all the more for not sounding like a real drum kit.

i have a 90 since almost 20 years... i also have a modded nava wich is amazing... i just got the rd-9 and let me tell you it sound like a 909 period.... the thing is you anyway rout the outs thru a US mackie or something that adds color... i use some pedals and a 16 channel us build mackie... it sounds like a 909 for like 300 bucks. seal the deal if u ask me... nobody is using a 909 stereo out and yes you add some body here and there but most important its the same kind of fun and the sync is quite good... a no brainer for that money

People always seem to forget that they probably NEVER heard a new TR909 straight out of the box. Do they know how that sounds? It's the same with the TB303's. The aging factor is a BAD thing . People often totally dissapointed because the unavoidable component upgrades didn't 'sound the same', and then they sold the unit, bought a new (!) clone, and they themselves couldn't hear the difference anymore after a day of playing. I wonder why that is ? -> The brain fools you more then the sound of the machines.

Wow mini bill gate !

Ik zou graag eens al die mensen die altijd maar Behringer zitten af te breken hun muziek horen .

didnt think the difference between the two would be as big as it is.. behringer sounds nothing like it really

This is the first comparison video I've seen between a vintage analog machine and a modern clone where I could actually hear an obvious difference in overall sound. People always compare the roland boutique synths to the origionals and I can almost never tell the difference. The JX-08 V.S. the JX8P for example. I can't hear any difference at all as hard as I try, at least when listening through RU-vid. But I can safely say when comparing this clone to the origional 909 I can ACTUALLY hear how the analog machine has real magic that is very obviouse. Thanks for doing the comparison. I'd like to here the Roland Boutique version of this too.

Just picked up a drumbrute impact and the snare is really really nice! It's similar in sound to the og 909.

you can hear they are nothing like each other the Behringer can't even do the Pot crackle..

I'll always regret not picking up an 808 or 909 when the house/techno producer who lived downstairs from me got Rebirth and Reason and decided hardware was obsolete. I could have picked up either for $600 USD. Which was still a chunk of money at the time. But I already had an Alesis HR16b, why would I want a 2nd drum machine? (And he had already sold his Jupiter) PS I'm sorry you lost all credibility when you said Roland did a great job with ACB. When the Boutique line came out I mistakenly thought they were analog. So was excited to hear them. I got to check them out soon after the release and I could easily hear that they were digital emulation, even with my battered old ears.

Old nippon gakki rules!!

Why so low volume on rd9 kick

wow the real 909 sounds so much better

I was so stupid trading a TR909 for a moog Prodigy some time 15 years ago :/

They sound so different.

Not that this is a bad thing, the real 909 just sounds distorted.

I was Leary’s fore of a 808 guy but I think behringer did a better job on the9.cant stop using it the timing is much tighter and atrial than the 8

I`m not purist, RD-9 sounds good.

Real test min 8:22

Damn even through my phone speaker the difference is obvious

The 909 sounds a bit better but considering the price difference id go for the evil behringer

This IS not a real test, the output in TR IS higher and the rd 9 must not be in enhanced mode

I had two 909s’. The kick was different on both…

RD-9 kick on individual out has more bass that on the main out.

People are shitting on a machine that’s a year old vs one that’s decades old. You sound exactly like the haters back then when the tr909 was first released.

Schooly d

There is nothing like the real thing. You don't even have to look to know which is being played.

909 sounds way better, but RD9 is good for it's price

I think anyone that owns a 909 is probably looking at envy at the hi-hats tuning and some modern UI implementation or functionality and that's it. That said, if you have a rev2 909 with correct hi-hat tuning, you dont really need it to be different anyway. The rest is gonna do a job for the price, but i think it's pretty clear now that it's a missed opportunity for Behringer in terms of accuracy, but not for profit. They will sell millions of these and the world will be full of inferior sounding 909's for it. We wont be seeing any working examples of these in 30 years, thats for sure. Bang for the money? DEFO! Worth the price? DEFO! Just use sampled kicks and snares though instead :)

The RD9 to me, vibe wise, is much like their 303 clone. The sounds themselves are reasonably close. They just don’t groove like the original. My 303 clone is cool and all that, but the timing is off. I mean, for the money, they’re great and I’m not here to be down on the Behringer. It’s more of an observation. The feeling that you’re playing something really special is not there. But, you can have a lot of fun with them and good music is good music, and that’s the main thing.

This is not a careful nor useful comparison of the kick. Wildly twisting the knobs in the RD-9's Enhanced Mode is going to make it sound nothing like the 909. However, switching the unit to authentic mode, it's extremely close to be indistinguishable in a blind test. Careful adjustment of the knobs in Enhanced Mode results in some extremely powerful kicks.

Gig it, rock it, light it on fire during the gig...make some art

Do music listeners even give a $hit how legit your drum machine is?😂

I'm happy to see there are now so many comparison videos out showing that I was right all along and this sounds only vaguely like a 909 and is not 'a real 909 for a couple of hundred bucks' as the Behringer fanboys have been yelling from the rooftops. Nope, it's a cheap knockoff, and a poor one at that. TR-09 is way closer than this...it wouldn't be a bad thing for them to be different if this was just an 'inspired by' homage, but when you are blatantly knocking off gear in such a trashy way then it's nice to see them fall flat on their face.

I think I like the sounds of the RD-9 more... although the classic sounds of the TR-909 are great, they've been used so often over the years that they kind of come across as dated. With electronic drum machines, I prefer something that sounds fresh and new.

.... you have the 909 with more volume wtf.

The pattern is so stupid you can barely tell lol😂 but the originals will always win but is it good enough to keep? Got the rd9 on Black Friday,work flow?Way better than 909,the sounds? Meh something is off. The swing is close but no cigar . So return? I can fix with the external outs but there might be better clones but not for $320! 😮I can’t decide

why 40 years ago they made better things is beyond me

They sound the same haha

Man, the difference is like night and day. The Behringer sounds lifeless compared to the full and thicc nature of the OG.

As we can clearly see and hear, the kick drum is absolutely different. Sad... Everything after that is a sad story... How some can actually say they sound the same? The fake one sounds so thin, lacking punch, oh boy...

He's got the levels higher on the original FFS...,

Even know you tried with scratchy pots. The TR-909 sounds a thousand time’s better. Hence the price.💪🏻😎👍🏻

The original sounds like it's being overdriven. I don't think this is a fair comparison.

No comparison would not take an rd9 for free

I've never seen anyone use a 909 like that. It's barely music what came out of that lol

Even TR-909 snare punch harder than RD-9 bass drum @9:24

Dear Behringer, this instrument is unplayable, i much apreciate the "wave designer", but if you dont have space to respect the original distance between the knobs, drop these "nu" feartures for more real estate to the original functions. it's impossible to jam and use the knobs for muting instruments, A la original TR909 every time you're doing a live act and jam by fadding instruments it's almost impossible to do it without touching the adjacent knobs. my honest sugestion, in case you "HEAR US" is that you offer some kind of replacement knobs, or at least for the cost of manufacturing, only a set per rd-9 serial number maybe, i dont know. These knobs, as they grow tall, they should be slimmer on the tops of the knobs making it so there is more space between them where you grab them. is it awesome for such affordable clone? of course yes... but if it's impossible to do a propper live jam without touching other knobs, it makes the instrument as-a-full-clone worthless. i know, i can remove the tuning knobs before starting a set sure, but there's still the question of the HIGH TOM, RIM, CLAP volumes being way to close together.. ill probable commit myself to a mental hospital if you ever thing about making a "boutique" version... are the knobs going to be glued together hahahah :D it's almost impratical for us, end users to manufacture such knobs without wasting a TON of money, so please behringer, fix this. Im posting this comment in every rd-9 video in hope someone from behringer reaches out, if you're the owner of this video and somewhat agree, pin it so there's more chances or someone from behringer to see this.

Meglio la Bheringer

Do you really think that Roland was not capable to put a “tune” on the hihat back in the 80’s if they think it was really necessary? Buy yourself an akai 900/1000 for a couple of dollars and sample the real TR, even that sounds better. RD 9 is a joke …

Jeez , not even close... Doesn't have the oompf or the vibe of the original.

As usual you get what you pay for.

Rd 9 scheiss Bassdrum.

Whiner. It’s not meant to be a one to one replace,ent. I’ve owned the original 909 20 years ago and this one sounds even better to me and different. Thus is a winner. All these talking heads on YT just wasting people time to put down an awesome drum machine is just pure pathetic. D8nt you have better things to do.