Captain Pikant shared this in-depth comparison between the updated Behringer RD-8 MKII and its predecessor, the RD-8 MKI.
The RD-8 MKII fixed some issues that users identified with the original RD-8. The company says that the RD-8 MKII uses Behringer’s clone of the Roland BA662 VCA chip, introduced last year, to more accurately recreate the sound of the original 808.
The differences are subtle enough that, as Captain Pikant notes in the video, “there’s no reason to upgrade”.
Check out the demo, though, to see if you agree. And share your thoughts in the comments!
From now on, I’m going to pronounce ‘phase inversion’ as ‘face inversion.’ This is the perfect video to answer the, “so, what has *really* changed?” questions once and for all.
Amazing work keeping the two machines perfectly lined up throughout, too. Nice.
I was thinking the same thing – the video is technically amazing. I thought that they were just photoshopping the button color at first!
Great comparison – but I see no need to upgrade from the mk1.
Great video, any of the 3 machines shown would be perfect for 808 sounds (and indistinguishable from each other) in track
Unless you use the cowbell 🙂
I liked the MkII more. True, in a mix, you probably wouldn’t notice a difference but, comparing the two by themselves? I prefer the MkII, mainly for the removal of the 50/60 cycle hum and just a little bit more “alive” sounding.
ive always found the Mk1 to have shinier/brighter hi hats. That brittle top end in the hats is …less pronounced and smoother, dare i say it, more “vintage” sounding in the Mk2. With those BA chips in the Mk2 it also makes sense. Aside from the cowbell length this is the main difference i hear regularly….
The sound difference is profound, most instruments sound much better in the MKII, i upgraded and was very much worth it, this you only know if you know if you how the original roland 808 is sounding, not refernced to software 808 samples… just saying, the upgrade is definatly worth it and much better.