Behringer UB-Xa Synthesizer (OB-Xa clone)

[bmanic]

<snip of awesome long and indepth review>

Extremely thorough and to the point review. Thank you so much!

Yeah, I'm still interested in the desktop version as I much prefer the Deepmind 12 desktop module over the keyboard (didn't like the keyboard on that one at all).. besides I have no space.

Slightly worried about the bad screen. It's been mentioned by pretty much everybody. Wonder how it got through the testing phase. I mean it's not like they can't make good displays!

Also a bit worried about the badly designed connectors. That's not a place a company should cut costs. On my Deepmind 12D the jacks are really stiff and have virtually zero wobble.. but they are NOT as sturdy as on my Kurzweil K2500X but that thing is known to be ridiculously over done so yeah, there's that.

[Aliens]

No arguments about the poor choice of screen. Beggars belief it made it through beta and production meetings, but it is what it is - A 16 voice, pat 5 octave keyboard that pretty much nails the look, feel and sound of the original synth while adding functionality and features, and all for a grand.

The more they make the better they'll get, so hope they crack on with the next lot of releases and give us even more choice at cheap arse prices.

[CoolColJ]

DISPLAY

angled
https://i.imgur.com/THrxwNg.jpeg

above
https://imgur.com/d4vSRqB

[Constructed Identity]

DISPLAY

angled
https://i.imgur.com/THrxwNg.jpeg

above
https://imgur.com/d4vSRqB

I wonder who decided on that display? It doesn't go with the color scheme of the main panel.

[egbert101]

Probably a bulk buy decision, the cheapest possible display. What other reason could there possibly be for choosing the worst possible colour display? I've seen someone mod their UB-Xa with various different alternative colour displays and they all look better than the one that was chosen.

[Aliens]

I read it's because the display is back lit and you can't turn it off or dim but if you could it would be issue free... colour choice aside.

[vurt]

DISPLAY

angled
https://i.imgur.com/THrxwNg.jpeg

above
https://imgur.com/d4vSRqB

I wonder who decided on that display? It doesn't go with the color scheme of the main panel.

it's very 80s.

[Aliens]

The company haven't said why, not that they have to, but I suspect it was exactly that reason, being very 80s was the inspiration like a modern take on the segment style we had at the time... And it was cheap lol

[egbert101]

Firmware update for owners:

https://youtu.be/AT37TBotS0c

[Constructed Identity]

I think the desktop version would be very appealing when it becomes available.

[kritikon]

Thanks for the heads up re firmware update . Must remember to do it. Looks like there's quite a few fixes in there and some new stuff. Especially like the new mod matrix destinations - I haven't delved into that much as yet, but definitely will when I get time. Hopefully they fixed the clicky LFO - I seem to get it on sawtooth especially with any kind of heavy amplitude mod, though it could just be my fault - not spent much time on it yet and could be programming something stupid into it. As is, it makes sawtooth amp mod almost unusable (mostly I'm still playing around with it on headphones, so it's likely more obvious). LFO is fine on other waveforms.

Overall I'm happier with UBXa than I thought I would be. It's still a lot less aggro and in-yer-face than my usual flavour of analogue synth, but it's actually quite nice to have a rounded fluffy warm one. Gives me something different. It actually makes me play around with a different style of music than my usual, so that has to be a positive.

[Constructed Identity]

Yes, they did fix the clicky LFO. Here is a new comparison to the OB-Xa
https://youtu.be/5F8ViqTZz84?si=_MH1_0nca9cDc-lm
Almost identical sounding...

[VitaminD]

With software, the state of my virtual synth tracks are embedded in the project. So I open the cubase project and everything is as I left it -- synth state, effects rack, midi data, everything. Even a decade ago. It's all there and ready to be edited, worked, and reworked as I please.

Does something like this UBxa allow for that? Can you have multiple tracks with different patches where one can click on a track to automatically switch to whatever patch and settings were set for that track? Then click on a different track also linked to the UBXa and get it's different patch and settings automatically loaded?

I'm not sure for recording that introducing hardware would not become a tedious and much more limiting work flow.

So how do you guys overcome this? Are you guys recording full songs or just noodling? Are you simply recording fixed audio tracks? Producing with software until the final mixdown and then switching to hardware? Something else?

[cryophonik]

Not sure what this has to do with this thread, but if total recall is important for you, then software has the clear advantage. Personally, it’s a low priority for me because I typically finish my songs and almost never have a need to revisit synth parts. I also play and record most of my synths in real-time, the same way I do with vocals, bass, guitars, etc. The advantage with synths, though, is that I can record the MIDI first (or alongside the audio), fine-tune the performance in the MIDI editor if needed, play it back while tweaking and recording synth parameters, etc. Once it’s printed to audio, I save the patch and include the synth name and patch number in the audio and MIDI track headers, just in case I do want to recall it later (almost never). It’s actually much quicker and more fun and satisfying to me (YMMV) than penciling notes and automation into a piano roll, which is a very tedious and boring process IMO compared to just playing the parts and making minor tweaks after the fact. Then again, I’m a trained and fairly skilled keyboardist, so not everyone will work the same way.

That said, I do sometimes start with ideas using software (esp. when noodling around with ideas on my laptop), then switch some of the the parts out for real synths (or bass, or guitar, etc) later on. Most of my songs end up with a combination of software and hardware synths and drum machines. This is why I think hardware-software debates are stupid and annoying. They’re both great and I love having both options.

[VitaminD]

Not sure what this has to do with this thread

It has quite a lot to do with this thread. This is a hardware synthesizer and I'm asking how to integrate it into a production environment to make it as close to software as possible. I figure those using this hardware would have answers. What better place?

Your response was interesting to me. Thank you for taking the time to respond.