Behringer head honcho Uli Behringer says that their Roland TR-909 clone, the RD-909, is coming in early 2019, with a target price of $299:
We have now entered TMS or Tool Made Sample stage which is one stage before pre-production.
We have now built 10 units for final testing to ensure everything is perfect.
What you cannot see on the current artwork is that we have added even more functionality. One of our engineers came up with a brilliant idea to allow the sequencer also modulate the Analog Filter and Wave Designer.
We still need to ask for your patience as it will still take several more months to ship the product. The guys here are very excited and work hard to speed up as much as possible!
We’re still targeting US$ 299 retail (depending on import tariffs).
Here’s another look at the ‘tool made samples’. These are advanced-stage prototypes, made using the same sort of materials and tools that will be used in production:
Here’s an overview of the RD-909 from Knobcon. This was an earlier prototype of the RD-909:
What do you think of a 909 drum machine for $299? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!
Yes! Can’t wait! The Pro-1 should be here before this though.
It’s even cheaper than I thought it would be and I want it now!
By the end of the day it is all about the sound. These Behringer clones sound horrible from what I’ve heard on demos so far…no matter the low price its no alternative. Even the Roland Boutique nails it better soundwise when it comes to “clones”
Peter, you gotta see an otologist. Really. You don’t need to like Uli Behringer for his market strategies, but all that doesn’t change the fact that a lot of their products during the last 20 yrs have been manufactured quite well. I checked out all their (development stage) replica synths at the Superbooth here in Berlin. There was no device that didn’t sound very well already. Behringer is simply now doing what Roland and all the others could have easily done but missed to do for whatever reason…
My problem with Behringer isnt with the sound or the shitty market strategies but the build quallity. Im a full time audio tech and I am yet to see there range of DIs last longer then a year and there live desks crash like no tomorrow. I think to many people try to hate the big B because they “sound like shit” where the reason most profesanals refuse to use there products is actually due to reliability. That being said for this price point ill probs be picking up a 909 and just fixing up the thing when it dose fail.
Seriously? The Model D has been declared an exact perfect audio clone all over the web for more than a year now. Even recreating the originals ICs.
This RD-909 looks great.
Except real owners of Pro 1, Model D etc are saying completely opposite..
true dat mr test
Yeah there’s a good comparison video of the D and a Reissue and they’re nearly identical. I have a Reissue and I’d still get a D just to keep the big guy safe at home.
They will be. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure they won’t be exact but they sound pretty damn good for 260 quid. I would be upset if I had a real one and a decent copy came out for 260 quid. I’d love an a to b test genuine over a good system let’s face it YouTube won’t really tell you the truth!
Admin: Comment deleted for personal attack.
Keep comments on topic and constructive.
*yawn
They sound better than the non existent full size analogue re-issues being offered by Roland or the €4000 originals that 99 per cent of us cannot ever afford. And while the boutiques may nail the sound, a few issues make them less than ideal for any kind of practical use: (1) the shitty USB power. (2) No individual outs except over the shitty USB. (3) The ridiculous 15ms latency of audio over the shitty USB renders them almost useless in a live jamming/recording context. (4) Some units suffer terribly from noise and grounding issues, again because of the shitty USB. (5) The operate only at 44.1 KHz so unless all your DAW projects are set to this, you will need to change them all to match… did I mention the shitty USB ? I can live with the rest. I even quite like the form factor even. But the fucking USB… I can’t get over it
Well … scuttlebutt in pro circles is that the Behringer Model D comes closer to the Minimoog sound than anything else ever has.
As for the rest of “the clones”, so far Behringer hasn’t released a single one, so all we have to go on is shitty YouTube demos of prototypes – to varying degrees of success.
So I’m not totally sure what @Peter is talking about.
You clearly have not played one.
As an owner of a early Osc board MiniMoog, reissue and behringer. The behringer is dead on with the original. More than the official Moog reissue.
Agreed. As a previous owner of a Minimoog, I was thoroughly impressed with the Model D (at its price point)
there was a pretty funny blind video someone did after the model D came out where he didn’t put up the results of which were which for about a week and all of these people posted comments slamming on the ‘obvious’ clone – they were about half wrong guesses. when it comes down to it the crappy sound of the behringers – tends to be the sound of biased brains.
Peter, have you heard the comparison videos for the model D and Behr D? Roland missed out on their own products. Too bad!
I can’t wait. I already have the model-d and sounds very good. Good job Behringer
Peter, you are saying things that are not true. I have a Juno 106 and I just received my Deepmind12 yesterday.
They sound exactly similar, spot on. I would dare to say that the Deepmind sounds even better.
In fact, don’t believe me and go see Starskey Carr’s videos comparing the Deepmind12 and the Juno 106 if you want a more precise approach when it comes to a sound comparison.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1OrME6w7nQ
Unless you can produce a better video demonstrating the contrary you can’t say they sound “horrible” that’s just lying for the sake of lying.
What’s up with the DM’s square wave in the lower registers? It flickers around noisily. Same thing with the Neutron, which also distorts itself, pre and post-filter by default, along with a growing list of patch panel errors. The Model D has audible modulation leakage you can only kill via switch. Behringer has not yet produced a single synth without some weird fault. Point these out and people get mad or say it does not exist.
Whilst they might have very similar tone there is a clear drop in the bass of the Deepmind and most importantly the Juno sounds clearly much more alive than the Deepmind. Some people might not notice or care but a lot of other people do
The Deepmind expands the sub ocillator into almost another oscillator (no saw but tone mod and pitch control). Has customizable osc and paramater drift, unison, a huge mod matrix and great effects. I’d much rather have these extra features than the 10% better sound of a real 106.
Attack of the Clones! Gorge Lucas knew this would happen.
tr-8s sounds way better. nobody needs this.
that is a troll comment and untrue 🙂 TR-8S is the instrument, which is forgotten tomorrow…sorry just saying!
it loads user samples, so it makes more interesting music than played to death XOX sounds 😉
It doesn’t have a screen so I thought you’d be all in.
What about the RD808?? ;-( ;-( ;-(
Exactly, but then I’ll have to decide somehow… 808 or 909…?
RD 808 schedule is exactly on par with the 909, no worries. 😉
What a stupid idea ….. clone old drums 🙁
I’d take one.
I like the size. No more puppet stuf
Where is the Moog One clone?
As soon as they moog- bugs completely removed,
for now, it’s not profitable ..
Re: the clock input; can it accept swung clock? As would like to clock via gates from an external sequencer, that will have swing applied to the pattern
Always one person looking for something super specific.
Why do you want the clones to sound ‘the same’ – I want them to sound and be better than the originals they were based on – I also think the DM12 is better than the Juno in most ways that matter. I am sure people who actually paid 1000’s for a 909 will be quick to say it doesn’t sound the same even if it sound better, I would in their position, it loses a lot of resale value if they dont say that!
As for ‘hardware cloning’ of non IP protected circuits – get over yourselves, everything is copied in the consumer market and we have all been happily using copies in the virtual word for years using ‘component level’ circuit emulation (feeding the actual deign in to Spice or whatever)
Vintage TR-909 currently gong for over $4K give or take, so I love what Behringer is doing here. I’ve read that Uli is a total synth nut and am so happy he is bringing is passion and enthusiasm to life for the struggling musician to make some kick ass music. I’m totally in on this one!!!
You are wrong. He wants Your money, nothing more.
You can both be right you know. One statement doesn’t necessarily exclude the other.
At these silly prices he/Uli won’t be making any money. With a the expenses and cost of building these units. Behringer will probably be making a loss. But maybe they count on seillng more mixer speakers and accssories which they do make money on.
I dont give a damn : I have a TR8-S which does all the 909 plus others plus import samples. If you do a price per machine emulated, the Behringher is not such a good bargain, unless you really want a dedicated machine which is bigger than a boutique.
now music is going to sound more the same then before 🙁
An affordable Drum Machine with preset and pattern saving along with independent outputs? Youd be stupid not to buy it.
Too late i need it this few years already 🙂 Looking forward for this, be fast please!
The most authentic, semi-affordable 909 clone right now is the Nava kit, hands down. It even uses old school eproms on the digital voices. It does take a lot of time, dedication and a bit of skill to put together, but worth it.
Totally agree. We will see how the RD-909 compares to the Nava 909…
Also: anyone complaining about the discrepancies between vintage kit and cheap clones should get the real thing or stop whining.
$299 will not get you a 909, period: not back then, not now, not ever. You can’t even buy the parts for that money.
Hear Hear….
As a lover of my DeepMind 12, I have the money waiting for this drum machine and the SH-101 clone as well.
Cheap copycats … Since moths “beta test version”. Boring.
And the price of a real 909 goes up another $500. I’ll stick to a real one kthanks
Anticipation deluxe 🙂 Instant buy !
A $299 909 clone is cool. But you know what would be cooler? A new, unique drum machine like the Arturia DrumBrute Impact. Why can’t Behringer make a DrumMind 12?
I think that at this moment, Music Group (Behringer, TC, Klark Teknik, MIdas, …) is the most innovative company around. Maybe not in terms of what they offer, but they’re definitely doing something revolutionary. A (probably spot on sounding) 909 at this price point for instance. And for those of you who are not aware: TC recently permanently slashed prices, so you can get analog pedals for €29 now. Also, Klark Teknik is offering a Pultec clone (with real tubes) and an 1176 for €199. And in tests this gear usually comes out as sounding on par with the competition. There is something going on.
Of course, there is enough reason to be skeptical of how they achieve this. Some commenters here (who seem to get quieter and quieter) apparently know everything about it: Slave labor, cheap components, killing of free speech, Glass Door reviews, stealing others’ designs. Hearsay and gut feeling is enough to have them come here and proudly proclaim that they will never buy anything from Behringer. I hope that some music tech journalist sees what is happening and does some proper research to get to the bottom of this. If I was a journalist working in music tech, I couldn’t think of a more interesting subject at the moment.
I’m amazed that the recent Klark Teknik price drops have not been more widely reported, I mean they are practically giving these things away. And if Behringer can deliver products like this at these prices then Music Groups plan for world domination is well on course I would say.
909s on ebay are flooding trying to make the last coin they can before they plummet
Just like the price of Minimoogs has bottomed out because of the Behringer D?
These Behringer products lack quality.
ie. I purchased a deepmind 12 online recently and the quality of the keyboard was so bad I sent it back.
I was looking for a Juno 60 type sound which it sort of had!
I considered getting the desktop version but opted for the Novation Peak instead. Wow, what a piece of kit that is for £989….. (DM12 £649 keyboard version, ok if you like those clacky keys)
It concerns me that these pre release demos and talkthroughs of the 101, Odyssey etc by Berhinger saying “the same quality keyboard as the DM12.
Maybe Uli should put these guys on a quality course 🙂
There is an old saying….
“You get what you pay for”
I am one that wants a physical version of a vintage drum machine I wouldn’t ever be able to afford
So I’m definitely interested in this when it’s released
Good idea if it’s all analogue. Bear in mind Roland have the TR09 and TR8D, both are great and have multi USB audio, there’s also the cloud versions. But the Behringer being pure analogue would sell really well. Hope they do the 808, the CR78 and TR66 at £300 also!