48 thoughts on “Behringer RD-808 Coming In March For $299 (Roland TR-808 Clone)”

      1. For the same reason i couldn’t afford a yamaha dx 7 in the 80’s because it cost about 5000,- of the currency used in my country and i had only 2500,-; I’m glad to see some nice musicinstruments are now available to people with a modest mondly income.

        To the * with behringers-whiners with well filled pockets.

        Can’t wait to hear and see the price for the UB-Xa clone either…

    2. The question is how does this compare to the System80 880 module. Since both are current production and are modeled from the same product, the comparison should be useful.

  4. did anyone notice the hiss at the very start? the individual voices sound convincing for the price. the sequencer is another matter, is it digital? doesn’t sound like the 808 i’ve used but that thing is as old as i am.

  8. Based on this video, it sounds surprisingly good. The kick drum doesn’t feel quite right though, but I can’t really say why. Looks interesting enough to give it a try though.

    1. Maybe because you can tune the kick (not possible on the 808)? Although… Behringer said this was one of the features they considered, but I don’t seem to see a knob for it…. that would be a serious omission.

      1. Dunno. I’m a bass head and love all kinds of old school 808 music, but somehow the kick is not quite there in this demo. I would have to listen how it sounds through a compressor and 12-bit sampler though, that might be what’s missing.

  12. Okay. Aren’t there enough 808 – (and 909) clones out there, not to mention a billion sample packs, VSTs, and iOS apps???

    I’m not even annoyed at Behringer per se, nor commenting on their business practices. I’m just annoyed at this endless regurgitation of “classic” gear…including Roland themselves.

    1. There are many clones out there, but none for $300 that contain original analog circuitry.

      The Yocto, for example, costs more than $600 and you have to build it yourself.

    2. Agreed. The 808 has a timeless sound, I just don’t get the appeal of a one-trick pony drum machine in 2019+. These machines arose out of the limitations because of that decade and happenstance.

      This “analog or GTFO” attitude among some people is borderline insanity. For synths? I can see where you might want to go full analog. And I really appreciate limited menu-diving with one knob per function…

      … but your crappy beat is going to still sound crappy on a vintage “real” 808, this “clone”, Roland’s ACB or something sampled from a real 808 sampled from another record like everyone in the ’80s and ’90s used to do anyway.

      Kind of like composing music with only I VI VII chords.

    3. I agree with @Roving Richardson !

      The audacity of these companies, listening to the “majority” customer base, watching the industry charge insane prices for outdated gear then using their own time, money and resources to make newer versions of classic gear just to do what businesses do, make money!!!

      Someone please stop this insanity. We need to live in a world where you can’t make anything that is an improvement on the past, makes it accessible to a new generation and or allows people who could never find nor afford a “classic” have one.

      Everyone should conform and if you can’t afford a multi-thousand dollar original 808 or otherwise, use samples, that’s what they are for.

  13. These things are going to sell like hotcakes. Roland haven’t been listening to their customers, so in steps Uli to fill the gap and the whole time he’s also showing us how cheaply it can be done. Competition is good. Real good. I’d pay double if not more for a true Roland re-issue.

  15. We should accept that this is the official roundhouse kick in x0x history. They did it because they can! Our over 30 year old understanding of electronical dance music is based on x0x sounds and will not crash because of this … We should think about why Behringer gives us what we wanted since many many years and none of them could do a similar job … The only thing that matters at the end is the music, nothing will change because everyone does already have x0x sounds ….

  18. truly… something like this should have happened 20 years ago…

    take that 3K price and shove it directly up your ass, “collectors”

  21. Cool, the kick has tuning! It almost seems as if Behringer’s strategy is to share as much info as early as possible, to get a wide range of reactions from forums like these, and then incorporate that feedback into the final product. Somehow I think that for instance making the UB-Xa look almost identical to the real thing is just to get people to talk about it. And they do…

    A nice side effect of this cloning business is that it’s so well done, that we’re probably looking at the last clone of an 808 ever. I mean… where can you take it from here? Cheaper hardly seems possible, a digital approximation just looks silly after this and good multi-samples may be more convenient but look almost just as silly. The judge is still out whether it could be more authentic, but so far it sounds good. So after years of half-assed attempts, this might be the final word in 808 clones. Good! Now let’s move on.

  23. Got to play on it yesterday and it is the first 808 clone that actually sounds like a TR-808. I have tried most of them (Jomox, Yocto, Miami, Roland TR8, TR-08, eurorack 808 modules, plugins) none have sounded as good as the Behringer. Its unbelievable, Behringer clones are the real deal. It also is super fun to use, better than the original. Lots of cool live performance features. Thank You Uli for making the gear I love sound great, have even better features, and an amazing price.

    I no longer regret selling my TR-808.

  24. I really wonder how Roland execs are feeling right now. I would have bought a real Roland clone if they made one and would have gladly paid $1000 for it, not $299. They had 30 years to do it but didn’t. And not just with the 808, the 101, 303 and many many more awesome machines in their catalogue. Can you name a single current Roland machine that’s worth getting? I can’t. I’m getting the RD 808, and to everyone saying oh Behringer why don’t you come up with something new – there are a million companies making amazing new machines right now, go get their products instead of trolling this one. And Behringer IS making something new – There was no definitive 808 clone in 30 years, the few that were out there are either lacking in features, sound, connectivity, etc. The Miami sounded shit, the Yocto kit was hard to assemble with many parts missing from electronics shops, the Raw-808 has no sequencer, the System 08 is modular (tho sounds like it’s the best one imo after the RD) and reigning supreme as the shittiest ever clone – the Roland Boutique. Too small/fiddly to touch, digital, no outs, static noise over USB, buggy (try to change the tempo while kick is playing) and while it sounded alright it’s basically a kids toy, not a real studio machine. Shame on you Roland, you earned this moment fair and square. I actually don’t own any Behringer equipment but I’m gonna start with this, as well as the 101, and whatever else they roll out. For $299 a piece who can argue.

  26. the only problem with clones are the majority of sounds you make with them are dated….granted some of this machine could be useful but beyond the kick and hats, anything else puts you instantly into the past…

    despite that…I will probably buy one anyway…because it is a cool bit of kit…and cheap enough to circuit bend it…

    1. Thing is majority of popular music (rap) still use 808 sounds in one form or another on nearly every track. I’d say 808 snares are even more prevalent than straight up 808 kicks.

    1. This is true…but it’s at $405.38…guess I’ll wait for it to hit the Guitar Center cause that’s my playground…lol!

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