Behringer RHYTHM DESIGNER RD-6-RD Analog Drum Machine with 8 Drum Sounds, 64 Step Sequencer and Distortion Effects, Compatible with PC and Mac

Great representation of Roland's TR 606 by Behringer. Sounds just like I remember my old 606 did, but with a lovely clap sound added to the palette. Not too fussed about the distortion effect but it might come in useful. Would have been nice if it had the ability to run on batteries, but that's just being picky. For just over a hundred British quidpounds it's a no brainier. Buy the one today, bask in its 606yness, then buy the TD-3, coz everyone needs a 303.Luvly.

Classic sounds for the cost of a nice dinner in a posh restaurant. Yes, you can get similar sounds from software etc., but there is something about the tactility of hardware that gets to me. The only negative for me is the lack of battery/USB power options. Other than that, I love it!

Great little replica of the TR606, great sounding. Nice price as the original is several times more and with MIDI and distortion.

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, SOUNDS AWESOME 💯

Great box of tricks

I have one of these. It's chunky. The RD-8 is a sonic clone of the old Roland TR-808 drum machine; it has a single set of 808-inspired sounds that are apparently generated with analogue circuitry. If you're after a general-purpose drum machine it's an eccentric choice, but if you really like the sound of the 808 - I do - it's terrific. If you have the space.Build-quality wise it feels well-made. None of the knobs or outputs feel loose. The base is metal but I can't tell if the top plate is metal or plastic; the plastic end plates are tough enough to carry the weight of the rest of the unit.As with the original 808 the sounds are obviously synthetic but hard as nails, including a famously bassy kick, a fizzy-but-not-insubstantial snare, fizzy hi-hats, a relatively realistic handclap, some toms that fill out the gaps between the kick and hi-hats etc. All of the sounds are tweakable although it's a shame you can't alter the snare drum's decay (at least not without running it through the compressor).I don't have an 808 so I can't A-B the RD-8, but from what I have read and heard on Youtube it's sonically the spitting image of the original, although the cowbell is tuned differently. On its own merits the RD-8 sounds fizzy but tough; the only drawback is that the kick drum is so deep it vanishes on poor-quality speakers, and it's hard to mix it without it swamping the rest of the bass, but that's apparently true of the original 808 as well.Physically the RD-8 has eight balanced 1/4" outputs, which is handy if you have some outboard effects or plan to run it through a multi-channel audio interface. There are three trigger outputs that draw trigger pulses from the cowbell, accent, and one of the other sounds; I can't remember the third. I can confirm that the trigger output will drive the Korg Volca units. I have run my RD-8 in parallel with a Volca Sample and a simple every-other-note pattern keeps the Volca Sample in time.The RD-8 adds a bunch of features to the 808. There's a built-in switchable low-pass / high-pass resonant filter, which can be sequenced, plus a compressor, which you have to tweak manually. They can be assigned to individual parts although sadly the effects aren't applied to the individual outputs. Presumably Behringer expects you to use outboard effects instead. The filter is perfect for cheesy late-1990s house build-ups.There are random and probability-based sequencing modes plus a polyrhythm feature that lets you shave beats from individual parts, so that e.g. the hi-hats loop every sixteen steps but the kick drum loops every fourteen steps. After playing around with this a bit I determined that it was good for rolling, jazzy fills. The sequencer transmits over standard MIDI and also USB-MIDI and unlike the Korg Volcas it has a rational arrangement whereby it uses one channel and spreads the notes over the keyboard, so there's nothing to stop you using the probability and polyrhythm sequencing to drive other drum machines.You can set each pattern to be up to 64 steps, in which case the sixteen buttons on the front panel act as a sixteen-button window into the complete sequence. You can also set the step duration down to 1/32, so it's relatively simple to make ticky-ticky hi-hat trills. There's also a dedicated note repeat function that does much the same thing albeit that it involves diving into the menus.Interface-wise basic sequencing is easy once you remember to hit the record button; saving and copying patterns is surprisingly awkward (it involves alternating between the PATTERN and SAVE buttons a couple of times) but copying the first sixteen steps of a 32-step pattern to the second sixteen steps is easy, so perhaps the designer had an off day.In summary at the very least the RD-8 has a bunch of easily-tweakable 808 sounds and at best it's a surprisingly complex rhythm creation machine that can drive other drum machines via MIDI, or audio clock and trigger out. The sonic character of the 808 is very distinctive, so if you use it all the time it will be fatiguing, but as with Behringer's Model D Minimoog clone it pairs well with e.g. one of the Volca drum machines or a DAW, as a source of analogue sounds.

Excellent machine. Nice size, weight, accessible & intuitive to use.Excellent solid build quality.Great sound quality. Thumping bass. Sounds just like a Roland.After just 30 minutes I became very competent using the machine.Glad I bought this. I considered loads of similar priced machines around £250-300 & this was a great choice.I cannot think of any flaws.I don’t use DAW, I prefer hardware.This has become my favourite drum machine & over the years I’ve had several.

It’s far, far better than the original 1981 Roland & it’s as good as Rolands new boutique TR. Seriously.However it’s less than half price & fully analogue. Sounds analogue.IMO it sounds better than the new & old Roland.Behringer have created an excellent simple drummer.Build quality is fine, pretty good. I use it all the time. Without issue.For £95-120 (prices fluctuate) it’s the bargain programmable sequencing drum machine we’ve been waiting for.I paid £97 for a red. New!