17 thoughts on “Behringer Neutron 2.0 Update In-Depth Demo”

1. ‘Paraphony’ is a hack used to trick people into thinking that they aren’t spending a bunch of money on a synth that can only play one note at time.

   That’s what it’s always been – marketing BS, rather than real polyphony synthesis. Too many people confuse polyphony with polyphonic synthesis!

   The only benefit is that it lets you play like a bagpipe over a drone, and after 40 years, that’s not really a feature.

   Also – this isn’t a duophonic synth – a duophonic synth is a two-voice synth, with two discrete synth voices. It’s a paraphonic synth with two independently controllable oscillators.

   Behringer should focus on the features that actually make this a decent synth – it’s an inexpensive dual-oscillator synth voice with deep modular matchability.

   1. Well, if you really want to get cocky: douphonic means “can sound 2 notes at a time” and paraphonic means “can sound more than 1 note at a time”. So if you think it is not a duophonic synth it cannot be a paraphonic synth either. They mean basically the same thing. And even if he does not demo it very well, you can actually just play a normal 2 note cord as on any other polysynth . They just get the same filter & vca shape etc.

      1. Not sure I follow your logic.

         ‘Paraphonic’ has always been a BS marketing term that refers to ‘polyphony lite’. This has never been a feature that synthesists wanted, only marketers and manufacturers.

         ‘Duophonic’ is a little messier, because people used to call things like the Oberheim Two-Voice duophonic, but now it seems to be mainly used to take about two-note paraphonic mono synths.

         I think the bottom line is this: if a company says their synth is paraphonic or duophonic, you can make it sound like a bagpipe. And, if you want real polyphonic synthesis, you’re going to have to shell out a little more money.

         1. paraphonic = independently playable oscillator pitch, one set of envelopes and filters, envelope triggering can generally be set based on note priority, essentially one synth where you can play different pitches on the two oscillators
            Duo/polyphonic = one or more playable oscillator per voice, one or more envelope per voice, one or more filter per voice, essentially two (or more) synths you can play from the same keyboard

   2. I’m sure your average Synthtopia reader is well aware of the differences between polyphony and paraphony. Nobody’s being tricked. The Neutron also doesn’t cost a bunch of money. That happens to be one of its primary draws. You can do more than simple a lead over a drone with two independent oscillators. It’s a reasonably useful feature, and yes, it is still a feature on a machine where nearly every incorporated concept is of a similar age. While you are correct on the technicalities of true polyphony being hyper critical of loopop’s terminology appears needlessly pedantic. I haven’t seen Behringer, or anybody else for that matter, touting this as a synth with limited polyphony. It’s always been presented as an accessible semimodular monosynth. The paraphonic modes are only a footnote.

   3. My Korg SQ-1 sequencing my Neutron’s paraphonic voices independently of each other makes your statement false.

      You should let go of your snobbish outlook. An artist is only limited by him or herself. Never the medium.

      Hope one day you see that 🙂 take care.

2. Thank you Loopop for the InDepth Demo. Good stuff. Only 2 things I have to add.

   1. I have my Neutron in my Eurorack. I wish Behringer would have brought up to the front panel of the Neutron the USB and audio input. Would have made life simpler for some folks. But space on the front panel is at a premium. So my comment here is not a criticism.

   2. The S/H function, from the patch bay, can, in some ways, be one’s Sequencer….random at best.

   Thanks again Loopop,

   Bill

   1. Putting a CV though the S&H input, like an LFO or a slow cycling envelope can give you a rhythmic variation in the randomness. The possibilities are next to endless 🙂

3. if you have taken your Neutron out of the original case and put it in a eurorack then you need to take the neutron out of the eurorack and plug it back into the original case. So far the only way to do the upgrade is via USB and, unlike the Model D, there’s no USB port on the Neutron once you remove it from the original case.

   1. “If you have taken your Neutron out of the original case and put it in a eurorack then you need to take the neutron out of the eurorack and plug it back into the original case.”

      Same thing with Roland’s Aira Eurorack effects modules – the USB connector is only available on the back.

      It’s too bad, because they are fantastic modules, and the USB connector lets you send/receive audio and CV’s from your DAW, which makes it useful for recording your modular or sending audio into your modular.

      I’d like to see somebody come up with a Euro module that just lets you plug in your USB cable and then it connects behind the panel to the USB connection on the Neutron or the Roland AIRA module.

      1. the Neuron doesn’t even have a USB on the back, or even the electronics for USB. All of that is on a small daughterboard that is part of the case and is powered by the AC adapter, I suppose you could take the small board out of the case and mount it on a bracket in your eurorack case but you’d have to find a way to power it as well.
         With the Aira modules the electronics are all there, I just ran the USB cables from all four of mine out a 1HP hole on the side of the case.

         1. Thanks for the clarification. I don’t have a Neuron, but it kind of interests me.

            The whole idea of having features that disappear when you put a module into a Eurorack system seems wacky. I’m not someone that moves my modules around a lot – it’s sort of a pain!

4. Hello, I took my Neutron out of my rack when the update 2.0 for the Neutron came out. Everything went great. I then put the Neutron back into my Eurorack n Voila, seamless. I just have little wishes like the USB port being on the front panel, like the Midi In port is.
   No criticism on Behringer. Front panel space on the Neutron is at a premium.

5. I gave up trying to load it, the firmware updater just kept searching all day for the Neutron…never found it….oh well……

   1. Brian, did you contact Behringer regarding the firmware issue? They are
      very
      helpful. With enough detail provided by you, I’m sure they’ll get you going.

6. Great video! It’s a pain you have to have it case-mounted to use the USB features and to upgrade it. I may take mine out of my Eurorack case permanently but that means longer patch cables and more spaghetti! But does give me an excuse for more modules…

7. On that note, are there any nice “tall and thin” solutions for mounting, say, the Neutron and a Model D vertically? So like being in a Euro case, but using their original cases?