Sonic LAB Behringer Neutron Desktop Semi-Modular Review 

Three years later, this little synth is still with me and is a permanent resident in my modular setup. It just sounds phenomenal and can keep up with synths, which are twice to three times as expensive! And this demo made me preorder it back then! :D

The fundamental is strong with this one

wow, that bass sound at 8:33 is already amazing with no additional patching! really impressive stuff.

11:50 "I'm getting a bit lost there"...oh yes. I had mine delivered to my work, and then took it home at lunch (I live close by). I decided to "just play a couple of notes" and was 45 minutes late coming back to work. That evening I started playing and ..later...my feet and calf muscles had fallen asleep from me not moving from one position for so long. - should you choose to purchase one, heed my warning lest you succumb to my fate- I ordered a second one the next morning. It will arrive tomorrow. I will put it next to my first one. which is Right beside the two Model D's that I.....needed

What a GREAT time to be alive and a musician... Love this!

Can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this video!!! 100% sold on this synth!

I don't know much about analog synthesis, but I learn a lot when I watch your reviews. Well done mate keep them coming.

What a wonderful time to be alive

Great review Nick! This thing is an absolute monster, especially for $300 - Cant go wrong!!!

8:09 sounds amazing! Thanks for the great demo, just got mine a couple days ago and it's great!

6 years later, I am watching your review Nick. Have to say, you're the best. Always top notch! 👍 Thank you so much for bringing this to us.

Very nicely done. I have one... and am always learning more of what it can do. Helpful info appreciated. ✨

Nick, one of the best reviews on Neutron! Not biased, no fanboy stuff... It's what I like :) One thing is really cool: you're showing the oscilloscope view. It would be much better to have it for the whole review. The moments when something was changed and it's playing obviously.

Best Behringer Neutron review on youtube. Thanks Nick! They are going to sell these by the boatload! Hope Uli can keep up, so I can get one before too long.

Great review! One of the most GAS-inducing in a long time. And what a cool sounding/looking synth. Overall I'm actually fairly impressed with Behringers foray into synths, eventhough so far it's been 90% hot air. what they've brought out has a lot going for it. This, however, is the first that doesn't make me think "yes, but...". They're not standing on anyones shoulders, no menu-diving or fans, no "yawn seen before", nothing remotely morally questionable. Just a solid sounding, unique piece of equipment. No matter how critical one might be, and I'm usually very critical, I struggle to see what's not to like. You may opt for something else, seeing as analogue monosynths is a very crowded and competitive market, even when looking at semi-modular specifically. But I see nothing that should make anyone dismiss this out of hand. I wonder how well this would fit into an Arturia RackBrute? I think it would make an amazing pair with a MiniBrute2(S), and mounted in a RackBrute - seriously tasty! Sadly more money than I got, but I'd be all over it.

Cannot believe how good this sounds-really exceeds expectations!

Amazing sound, sounds like it's going to fry itself any moment now. Those oscillators and filter are so hot, sounds like the oscs have a ton of drift going on as well. Even without the patch bay out would be an amazing synth for the money, add in the patch bay and it seems an absolute steal. Wasn't convinced by the deep mind as thought it relied on effects too much but this looks all synth. Excellent review as always Nick, woe betide the synth manufacturer who doesn't have a through zero on their pulse width modulation.

Good review! And results far better than I expected. Really nice sounding modular with cool options. With the dual oscillators, LFO and filter you have 4 audio sound sources. What I like very much is the sound and character, as well as the very nice filter which is not your everyday 4-pole transistor ladder. And at an amazing price as well! Serious stuff here.

Been waiting for Nick to do this review and it's been worth the wait! when you see the price of some single modules this Neutron is STELLA!! ;-)

Love this synth from the very first moment, such deep analogue sound and almost endless possibilities! it's a steal for its price, fantastic piece of gear, one of my favourites

Yeah, thought this would be a must-have for that price. Great review Nick, thanks!

Just got a notifications from Sweetwater earlier today that mine finally shipped out! :D Had to rewatch this in anticipation lol

Finally picked one of these up and it's a beast. The amount of sounds you can create with that patchbay are basically limitless.

This makes the sounds I want to hear.

16:00 Man I can never get enough of that talking filter bit. If you connect the second envelope through Attenuator 2 to the Attenuator 1 CV and let the LFO run through the Attenuator before going into the Freq Mod input you can automate the movement. It's very fiddly to get all the knobs just right, but it's an insane amount of fun.

Nick is supercool bloke. Every time I stumble upon one of Sonic LAB reviews, I realise that it is a good example of fine journalism in music tech world.

I am getting one of these ASAP! I too was looking at the​ Moog Mother-32 and the Minitaur but this is not only cheaper but does more and sounds freakin great! Great review. Keep up the great work Nick! Though it does not have a sequencer, I could buy the Arturia Keystep Nick is using and still is cheaper than the Mother-32.

I sure do love your reviews, man.

I love it! Bass bass and more bass is my general music theory....cant wait! Thanks Nick!

Really cool stuff, excellent demo, djinn was different when i played. Massive thumbs up

Semi-modular are extremely exciting synths with mind bending possibilities. As a hardware guy, I was never interested in the massive cabling of modular covering up the controls....BUT.....this right side semi-mod of the Neutron/MiniBrut2/Mothers/ is on my list for next synth with Arturia's eurorack option. Just call me too obsessive with clean cabling, but this will be my highway into modular and all the modulation it can provide.

A little late to the party, but just ordered myself one of these to add to my setup. Looking forward to having a lot of fun with those LARGE sounds!

Thanks for sharing this. For the Neutron especially it is good to have videos that show how to bring out what it can do. It is a little more manual than other synths.

The patchbay is brilliantly laid out. I buy this for $300 and and a Model D. I can play for weeks and never get bored. If I hate it, it's just $300. If I love it, I can still use the individual pieces through the patch bay. As my setup grows and I need a spare slew rate limiter, oscillator, filter, etc... it's all there. The bang for the buck factor is seriously there. Behringer is really storming into the analog synth market. Glad to see them shaking things up.

The Neutron will be welcome to eurorack and semi-modular for so many people. The real complaint from people regarding modular? The price of entry. Case, power, cables, VCAs, osc’s, filters, envelopes, utility modules, FX....I spent about $2000 just getting started. This sounds great, as does the Boog. Snobs can keep buying 5U, Make Noise and whatnot. This will give a lot of people the opportunity to experience analog modular. Its all good. Great job on this.

Great review, modulated my day!

WOW. What a comprehensive demo - thank you Nick Batt. There is almost nothing to not like about this amazing, flexible machine. Are you imagining the almost endless possibilities just like I am right now? Also, unlike some folks, I actually think it looks really cool and distinctive - not just another black or grey synth. Very impressed by this unit.

the jam at the end is the best sonic demonstration for me.... more of that!

12:20 We all have our 'filter faces' -- the face you make while tweaking the filter cutoff and finding sweet spots!

Awesome stuff! Can't wait 'til preorders go up in Europe :D It sounds like Godzilla's thunderous trouser trumpets and an amazing review as expected from Nick

Brlliant review, Nick. Could replace a bunch of modules in my rack and augment a lot of the others. Kinda puts me off bothering to finish my Doepfer DIY synth (80 more solder joints to go...)! Definitely interested in this (and thus knocking my analog poly budget back down to 0 again...)

NIIIIIICK!!!!! best neutron video so far. 1. lower range of the keyboard was used.... so we can really hear what is going on and, lets face it, it is more fun than bloody bleeps a ultrasounds 2. very few have been using the patch bay so far. and if, not realy with explanation. that makes you superior to other reviews. you not leting out hings yougot no clue about, and i love it well done and thank you. i was sure i will buy it anyway, but now i will buy two :D

Wow. Just wow! I wanted the digitone but it’ll have to wait. Can’t wait till this is out:)

Yay! This thing is a delicious monster. Thanks for an excellent review as ever Nick!

This thing is actually insane what the hell. It's an analog synth for 300 dollars and it does almost everything

great review Nick :)

Best review of the Neutron so far!

Wow that sounds massive! But we kind of already knew that thanks to earlier Sonic State vids. I hope you guys do another review where you actually get freaky with the patchbay!

Real nice, I love seeing all those cvs on the right

Surprise of the decade? Absolutely mindblowing synth from Behringer.

Aaaand on to my shopping list it goes. I was fairly certain I was going to want one but it really does sound super. I thought it would be nice next to my Dark Energy... But it might actually replace it...

Man, thanks a lot for this vid! I'm now ready to get my first analog synth and it's gonna be neutron, no doubt 😀

Excellent review !!!

this honestly sounds amazing

Sounds great.I guess I will be adding this to my Behri collection ,next to Model D,and DM12 ,now this,later K2 ,Pro 1 and enough.Moving to another shopping sector.

Where did you get that USB cable with the grey braiding (on the right of the Keystep on this video)? Looks quite nice.

It's such a cool little synth!

Now, that's a lot of sound for your pound. I sold my Mother 32 because it made me want to get two more, which I couldn't afford, but for the price of two of those you could get four of these, so that's more justifiable. I like the look and features of it better than what I've seen of the upcoming Crave, I prefer the sound of the Model D, but I just love that patch bay and the stability of the 3340 clone chip.

Love it! Behringer have done an outstanding job. Hoping they bring out something similar in a polyphonic vein.

Slew is also traditionally used to make portamento by patching the slew between the sequencer and 1V/O input of the synth, then activate the slew via CV between the notes which you wish to portamento.

Gotta say, Behringer is doing wonders in the low cost space, and offering WAY more value than the leading brands. You can tell they are taking it seriously, and looking to unseat some of the big guys. I hope they keep at it and people buy this gear.

Awesome review Nick! $ put aside, between the Minibrute 2S and the Neutron which one would you say has better sound quality?

Wow!! Might have to pre-order this great sounding red devil!

Looks great! What does the Input do? Can you route external audio through the FX section? That would be awesome!

Great review of the Neutron! Hope to try one of these out soon! A++++++++++++++

I just bought me the BEST oscillators tor my modular system ! those 3340 clones are TOP ! they sound fantastic through all my other filters !

Wow, thats a massive sound, BURG approves! :) good review as always !

So will the LFO always sync to MIDI if playing it over MIDI or is that switchable somehow?

Great review! Those oscillators from behringer finally sound good. Still prefer my ms20 desktop over this but I'm just really hoping that behringer gets the continously variable filter going for the Obxa clone. Please please please....

Does anyone know for sure whether it is 80 or 84HP? when placed in a rack?

12:28 Lovely indeed. Aswome review for an awesome synth.

Bagging one or two , it sounds fantastic for the money and will be a welcome addition next to my beloved nyx, can you route external gear into the neutron delay ?

SO anxious to get mine!! :D

This is a KILLER synth and Eurorack module. It's got so many utilities and tricks, it's like a mini rack all by itself. So for the cost of a nice module, you can get a complete voice with loads of extras. My only complaint is that there isn't a dedicated clock out, I have to use up an LFO output. But maybe that can be added as an assignable output in a future firmware. It could be the S&H clock out.

Any idea what they are going to do as far as euroracking it goes? Are they going to have a break out module for the stuff on the rear?

Thanks Nick! Amazing what 300bux gets ya - even if just for additional filter/lfo for an existing set-up. Quite a no-brainer for me personally!

I've had my neutron for about a month or Two. VERY FUN. no problems with it so far!

Does the portamento have an 'auto-glide' mode (ie. only applied when playing legato) or is it always active when dialed in?

Nick (or anyone else who might have an idea) - Do you know if Behringger modified their LFO after your review was made? I have all the cords and knobs and settings setup just the way you had it but with my KeyStep and without MIDI cable and I still can't reach that high LFO rate that lets you do "The Talking Filter". It sounds just the way that it does hooked up with the MIDI cable. Any ideas of what *I* may do wrong?

Had mine for about a year now. Amazing machine, incredible modular gateway drug. I actually have learnt stuff on VCV which I've applied to the neutron later. My advice: Pair it with a CV sequencer, so you can use the two oscillators at your will. I use the SQ-1, but for more control the Keystep would probably be better, I just like the analog modular feel of the SQ. It looks like just a synth whatever, but its overdrive and modulable delay give it some rich personality. Oh, and BASS. Lots of it. If you have to buy anything from Behringer, it must be the Neutro. Go back to hating them after you have one. Best value semimodular, period.

Wow... This just entered my radar. Might have to think about this after the Erebus v3. That talking filter sound is incredible. That said, what does the shape patch control actually do?

wow this sounds great!

This is officially on our list now.

lovely stuff

I like the patch bay on the side because if you wish to daisy chain them the patch leads don't get in the way of the controls like they do on a pair of Craves mounted one above the other.

Nice one, thanks! Any DFAM review on its way?

if its good enough for Nick, then i'm sold

Thanks for sharing! This one might become my first Behringer synth. Although red is really not my color ☺️

So the LFO is syncable? I remember seeing an older review and thought they said it wasn't. I guess because it's a digital LFO, the patch fixed that?

Great review

My 1st Sonic LAB that isn't a rerun. 🤗

Great review thanks - what model is the Arturia Keystep that you are using Nick please ? Did some research - it's the Midi Controller methinks ?

Throughout the review: yep, this sounds good. With the final, little demo: THIS soouuunds GOOOOOD!

wow that sounds great

15:05 "Being boiled" first riff

Wow. This sounds amazing. Super flexible oscillators.

I want One. And I hope UDG Creator would be fast to make some fine hard(foam)case so I may take it anywhere when travelling...good spot to me

I know this video is a couple of years old now, but if you had to choose today would you go for a Neutron or the Pittsburgh Modular SV-1b? Thanks for the channel, really great for a beginner like myself.

If I use the USB connection for MIDI input, will MIDI thru output that information to other devices?

Damnit, now I want one.