Behringer Pro-800

I'm not surprised that the price dropped almost 20% after 1.5 year from release. This is a toy and don't be fooled by hyped yt demos.

Next to the real thing this unit sounds like a buzzy mosquito farts.
(Compared to the Sequential REV2 8voice module on a concert PA)

I bought this synth to recreate for live shows purposes the sounds I made in the VST version of a Prophet (Arturia) and it was a disaster.
I couldn't get close with a Behringer to the synth sound I was willing to get.

Preset browsing and saving is annoying.

In live situation the PRO-800 needs to be tuned all the time (and the tuning of all the voices takes 1-2 minutes).

The manual is a nightmare. Who edited that? Looks like a cheep AI translation from Chinese. Shame on you B.

The overall construction is sturdy and the knobs feels nice. But that's not enough.

The synthesizer can do great vintage analog tones with just a couple twists of the knobs. It's quite immediate - only a few options are in the menu - and I found myself quickly churning out patches that I liked better than the factory presets. It comes to life with the Walrus Slotva reverb andd makes me wish it had built in effects like my other synths, so that I could store the effects settings as part of presets and have a complete package in one box. At this price though, the value is definitely there - it quickly became one of my favourites!

Behringer did an amazing job with this one, and they continue improving it by adding features with firmware updates.
I have owned a lot of synths but this is the first time I immediately connected with one, can't stop playing with it.
Probably thanks to the simple, intuitive architecture.
Its sonic capabilities are already beyond the "original" Prophet 600 thanks to the additional features like noise generator,
improved envelopes, etc.
The built quality is absolutely solid, easily as good or even better than some of my instruments made by other well known synth makers.
The fact that Behringer can provide such a quality and feature-packed instrument at that low price is almost unbelievable.

I've just recently challenged myself to recreate the main theme of Stranger Things using only this synth, have a listen!

, last but not least: first class service from Thomann, as always!

First the bad things:
- It's a true vintage synth design with all it's quirks: If you're not specifically searching for that very vintage sound or experience, you'll hate it.
- The presets are meh so either make your own or buy third-party ones.
- It's mono output only and has no built-in effects at all. (get a multi-effects pedal. Zoom makes great ones.)
- You have to dial-in each preset number to load them (you can scroll through them using the synthtribe software or midi CC, but not on the synth... wtf)
- You can't plug an USB keyboard directly in and need to use the MIDI connector instead, which limits a lot the controllers you can use (you can plug the synth USB to the computer and control it from there, just not connect USB keyboards directly to the synth)
- USB is midi only so no audio capture.
- It's a module without a keyboard and with a small external power supply, which means lots of cables running around, which is kinda messy.

Now for the good stuff:
- It really sounds like a vintage Prophet synth, with all its tuning instabilities and all. If that's what you're searching for, this thing delivers!
- It sounds better than the UB-Xa, for real.
- Automatic tuning to the touch of a button whenever you want (there's both a quick and a full tuning process, the full tuning taking about 20 seconds)
- 8 fully analog voices with 2 VCOs and a noise generator per voice, which means you can play chords with true vintage vibes.
- 24dB juicy filter with a resonance that sounds great.
- The filter can auto-oscillate when cranking up the resonance and it tracks the keyboard correctly, so you can make whistle sounds.
- It's very easy and fast to make your own sounds with it: no hidden stuff, no menu diving, what you see is what you get.
- It has presets, which, being a vintage synth design, is not that common. So you can spend hours crafting the perfect sound and save it for later use.
- It has a direct manual mode that uses the current settings of the knobs as they are in the panel, which is great to start a sound from scratch.
- The knobs turn very smoothly and the membrane buttons are actually pretty satisfying to press, so it's a great tactile experience.
- The manufacturing quality is really good: all metal chassis and front panel, real wood side panels, good knobs and good paint finish.
- It's insanely cheap for what it is.

Note: the synth comes with the earliest firmware, which is buggy and doesn't sound that great, so be sure to download the synthtribe app from Behringer and update the synth to the latest firmware via USB before anything else!

Overall, Behringer has really done a great vintage sounding analog synth with this one and I actually think it sounds better than the UB-Xa, even though this one is less sexy.

Could it be done in software?
Nowadays, probably, but it will cost as much as this hardware synth and you will have to deal with license management activations, software obsolescence and the push for subscriptions, which I hate with a passion .
Hardware will never require a subscription from me.