Behringer CRAVE review

Review of the Behringer CRAVE synthesizer, a desktop/eurorack synthesizer with 3340 VCO, transistor ladder filter, built-in 32 step sequencer, and 16-voice poly-chain capability
00:00 Introduction
00:21 What's in the box
00:40 Front Panel controls
02:30 Rear Panel connections
02:50 Waveform demos
05:52 Arpeggiator features
09:09 Arp demo 1
10:42 Arp demo 2
11:45 Arp demo 3
13:15 Sequencer features
14:43 Sequencer demo 1
17:15 Sequencer demo 2
19:13 '80s Glam Rock syn lead patch
20:41 LFO rhythm electronic patch
21:19 '70s style saw lead patch
22:33 '70s sci-fi movie patch
24:31 Conclusion

[@darthrex761]

I just tuned in to hear him say “Behringer.”

[@jeanbonnefoy1377]

And with the right German pronunciation, rhyming with Ringer - and not with Ginger - contrary to so many Americans or Brits ...🤗👍

[@klerp]

Hhihi it sounds like a planet in Star Wars almost , and with respect i say this: He makes them sound like they rule our planet. ❤️😇 for those about to say Behringer we salute you

[@m_romm]

Hahha I lold

[@klerp]

It sounds dope in swedish too btw 🙌👍😀❤️

[@mikaelschloenzig9590]

Beer-hinger?

[@edthewave]

Between this, the new RD-9, their System 100 modules, and rumors of an updated TD-3 with their take on the "Devil Fish" mod, Behringer has given me more GAS than any other synth company, hands down.

[@isweartofuckinggod]

Not rumors anymore!

[@scottadams7820]

These units are so cost effective I can't even consider it gas lol

[@DrDroogkloot]

The td3-mo is a nice addition.

[@Kludgedean]

I swear i could listen to people jamming / demoing all day! 😍

[@glenesis]

I do 😉

[@graxjpg]

I do a lot of that on my channel, but I only have a couple synths but I use the guitar a lot too. Just experimental jamming mostly

[@minisynthmaniac]

That 80's glam rock lead patch demo was sick as hell! 😍

[@AnthonyGoodley]

💯

[@ChrisSmith_NW]

I’m waiting on shipment of my Crave and all these great demos/tutorials are just adding to the anticipation! Thanks for the informative video. ✌️

[@monsirto]

Nice to see you taking a look. It's on my possibles list. Thinking your perspective is ideal, given the nature of the beast!

[@carlosquintero6677]

Thank you, I always look forward to your tutorials, they are the easiest and the best on youtube

[@mvoproject]

Thank you for the demonstration, Paulo! Cheers and have a nice summer days!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks, you too!

[@MrPrincepop]

Good demo as always!

[@kezstone1]

Great review thank you. I never realised this little box was so cool

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks for watching!

[@MichaelScheuenpflug]

Great Review! Thank you.

[@barbaracolquhoun7421]

I will buy one this minute, thank you for a very good demo , cheers. MR Mania, stay cool

[@fmanuel2174]

Paolo..is a fantastic rewiew about Crave. Thanks a lot!!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you liked it!

[@RedCloudServices]

just got a crave thank you for this video it’s better than most

[@BluePlanetMedia]

Very informative. Thanks for posting this

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MyBichSustained]

I have had this for awhile but have not done anything.....you inspired more than anybody,especially with that delay.

[@paulyearley1084]

I just ordered one of these, and it's oddly fitting that you reviewed this on my 40th birthday

[@Breowan]

Great synth for the money. The semi-modular features (not really shown here) add a lot of depth.

[@freddiebozwell7049]

133 quid in uk, unbelievable.

[@volt7cooltangs701]

I love your vids. The advantage you have is that I can tell that you’ve had years of experience of the original synths & drum machines back in the early 80’s thus making your reviews more relevant because you use the old techniques and tricks and know the original sounds. Man the VCO on that Crave sounds great. Is it the same VCO that Behringer use in their Pro 1 clone?

[@LCMessinger]

Excellent video. Thanks!

[@ambientsession]

I love this great small Box.👍

[@freddiebozwell7049]

Great vid paolo, anymore synth walks, cheers from Northern England.

[@johnpaullovetek1809]

que belo review !!!!!

[@michanowacki9152]

Great review

[@graxjpg]

Looks like it would make a great machine for bubbling away on its own sequence, Klaus Schulze or tangerine dream style!

[@jppagetoo]

When I first got my Crave I was disappointed. Eventually I found ways to use it in my set up. It is not a Moog Mother32 ripoff. It is a good little synth for leads and for sequencing. I combine it with a Nuetron and a 2600 to create a killer semi modular setup with lots of cross patching options. I like the small form factor. Most of all, it sounds great!

[@glenesis]

Hi :) Congrats! It's a nice piece! I just bought a second unit. It's a great utility piece, sequencer, patch bay, assignable CV knob, and a great voice. I want to wallpaper my room with these 😹😹😹 Happy music-making, brother!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Very nice!

[@yonireinon1598]

@@SynthManiaDotCom Hi, aa a beginner I am looking for an intuitive machine, kind of a toy. All this stuff is too complicated for me. Can you think in something really easy for beginners?

[@johntammaro]

I've had mine about a year now. Great for simple bass lines and leads. Also nice use of filter sweeps on the noise oscillator. I really enjoy it, nice and small and compact so fits on my desk.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Cool, thanks!

[@cryptout]

Great review!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you think so!

[@DestroyER82]

NIce review. Its good piece of gear, I see it as really great expander module for other semimodular synths. 3340 + Ladder filter combination was used in Moog Memorymoog, since you have it, you might hear the similarity in tone? All the best!

[@Motocicleiros]

I only can imagine the keyboard players of the early 70s having contact with such a small, cheap and yet powerful module like this.

[@t3chnod3lic]

After hearing the sequence at 10:00, reminded me of the beginning of Kraftwerk's Europe Endless (Trans Europe Express). Good work!

[@djmikio]

This has been out since early 2019 at least. Thanks for a good review and I like it enough to own one already but Behringer would get more bang for their sample bucks by sending current releases.

[@flourfree2K]

Well, I'd have very much appreciated a patch bay in depth exploration. This synth is very capable of GENERATIVE music as well (Assign = 8 - RANDOM). It's not just a sequencer with a voice, modulation and a filter, you know. And for its price, it's a serious invitation to try (semi)MODULAR synths. With a bonus RESETTABLE sequencer.

[@PeresD]

I added a modular berhinger 110 as a second voice.

[@dolovfm]

Many thanks

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

You are welcome

[@demonicsweaters]

Damn you for making me want to spend more money! I actually think this things quite rich and nice. Really warm analog tones!

[@bastardseaman188]

That 80s lead patch was 🔥

[@Dmaccabees]

💯

[@wanggang3885]

So basically the Crave is a Severed Heads, Chris & Cosey, Legendary Pink Dots type of synth when used with delay.

[@thomasmetz2681]

Yes❤

[@bornshamir7792]

Got mine -🛸

[@amazeus1980]

Question…because you will be able to answer I think. There are these screws…below osc/pitch knob. I’m wondering if I can use these in order to tune that synth to A455 for example?

[@leethium6982]

would you test the pro 1 ? to see if it's really that's close to the original

[@omarbonifacino3381]

Good friend great video

[@edrosa3485]

Note to self: Do not watch Synthmania demos if you are trying to avoid having GAS for a new synth...

[@volt7cooltangs701]

Btw that beautiful DR-55 rim shot is the Best drum machine rim shot sound ever!

[@asdifasi5379]

hello Paolo.Smashing return maestro with this gr8 demo. now i definitely need a b. crave in my synth arsenal. Paolo please make a video about cv+gating crave with microbrute and another abour b.crave + b. td3 showing the sound making possibilities. Another questions: -when will be a new Synth Walk ? a summer of 2021 Studio Tour would be amazing Best regards from the humble carpathian mountains ,God bless you Paolo and yours family

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Will do!

[@andyparle5494]

Great simple review and demo Paolo. Can you please tell me if whilst running the arp with hold function, can you use the up and down transpose keys to transpose the arp whilst it runs? Thanks

[@alanl.a8353]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@eyeball226]

Are ties still bugged in the sequencer? You're supposed to be able to tie notes by increasing the gate length to 100% but it doesn't actually tie them as the envelopes still retrigger instead of being legato. I don't know if they've fixed it in a firmware update yet though.

[@sebastianotrovesi2650]

🙏❤️

[@manuelfernandez2174]

Genial……thanks

[@markuskoivisto]

It’s a heck of a lot of synth for so little money.

[@slowbro1337]

Prty much most behringer synths

[@asdifasi5379]

yes yes thas the point the crave is also build solid best buy imo

[@alexwestconsulting]

@@couchcamperTM not quite a m32. doesn't sound the same.

[@mr.spongylikeaboss4987]

@@alexwestconsulting Sounds better..... for less.

[@alexwestconsulting]

@@mr.spongylikeaboss4987 it does not "sound better". You demonstrably have no experience or knowledge of what's at play here. It clones a M32 with 1:1 functionality, same moog ladder filter, but with "wrong" vco chip (harsh curtis 3340 rather than smooth cem3046) so it sounds like sequential rather than the moog it clones (so rather than smooth vco and with smooth filter, it's bitey vco with smooth filter, which is something of a paradox). All that you are effectively saying is that a sequential vco "sounds better" than a moog which is patently stupid (would anyone say that a prophet sounds better than a model d? Or just different). They just sound different. This absolutely matters if, for example, you aim to partner it with a dfam and subharmonicon thinking you can cheap out and get away with this clone which you can't because it's objectively the wrong sound (yes, I own all this gear, including 2 Craves). So many little behringer fanboys around these days who have no idea what they are talking about yet shoot their mouths off regardless. "crave sound better than m32". It's just such a cringe-worthy comment.

[@neonpop80]

Can I use the sequencer to control my synth?

[@MirkoMancini]

Ciao Paolo. Very interesting machine, it sounds kinda "Stranger Things" 😊👍

[@billypilgrim1]

Yep, those guys stole the C7 chord for the rest of time

[@nofretzDW]

Really cool, Paolo. I got some Yo Gabba Gabba vibes when you added the drum machine. Did your kids watch that? Very cool electronic music on that show. 👍🤓

[@georgegeez8708]

@Dadrian Wilson That was a really great show. When my kids were young and I discovered that show, I fell in love. Analog heaven in a kids show. I used to crank that show through my living room sound system. I used to shake and rumble my house.

[@nofretzDW]

@@georgegeez8708 Same here 🤓

[@maxk3684]

Hello, Did you try to use it with your microbrute? I Wonder how it would be as an additional vco/env/filter section for it ? That would be my usage (i considered buying the neutron but its filter is 12db/oct so maybe the difference with the microbrute's vcf wouldn't be as big and interesting as with the crave) Thanks for your review !

[@maxk3684]

@@couchcamperTM i love mine but with 2 vcos and an additional envelope it would be so much fun (yes, a microbrute 2 !)

[@micindir4213]

As an adjustable vco for microbrute, its kinda bulky (vco > ext in). As a second voice it's not nearly intuitive. I'd say microbrute has UX of 9,8 and crave 5. The difference just make it hard to play. Also Microbrute has dead stable oscs, while crave's osc goes all over the place, and sensitive tuning knob really make it hard as a live machine. As a studio machine , Crave is great though. It's bass is as punchy as Microbrute's, maybe even more so.

[@wizmos74]

Thanks Paolo for review,great synth for that price, i think gonna buy it . Forza Italia today !

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Enjoy! Forza Italia!

[@New_Zealand_Music]

But I simply don't need another monosynth. Oh no gas lol. Those Arps a very cool. This almost sounds like it could compete with the td3. But far more versatile. Love using delay on a drum machine. Set it right and you can get double time it's fantastic. Your 1970s lead patch reminded me of War of the world's. Would be awesome for that

[@RayR]

Very meaty, thick and juicy sounding synth. Like a good steak!

[@maximusheronimus23980]

could it be my first synth? or is a Poly D or Deepmind a better option for a synth noob like me?

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

If you are a noob I recommend to learn how to play the keyboard as first thing. For that you'll need a polyphonic keyboard - better if it has five octaves, but a DeepMind 49 with four octaves will be adequate as well, to start with. If you buy a three-octave keyboard like a DeepMind 37 or Poly D, it will be much harder to learn how to play the keyboard with two hands - you need at least 49 keys, but it's much better if you get a keyboard with 61 keys or more.

[@BB69175]

Yup, sounds like a synth.

[@stocchinet]

End of the review

[@fritsvanzanten3573]

19:42 Emerson, Lake and Paolo!

[@bayleybaybey]

Underrated comment

[@fritsvanzanten3573]

@@bayleybaybey Maybe you should have heard "Emerson, Lake And Palmer Peter Gunn Theme" to recognize it. 😀

[@aurelionasvw]

Show men

[@cendakrys]

👍👍🎶🎶😎😎🎹🎹

[@Wagoo]

The main thing that irks me about this one is them moving the patch points to the top for no reason.. breaking the ability to eurorack it.. and making some bodge job to 19" rack it much more ugly due to the stubby width

[@valley_robot]

Every synth head should own one of these , for 130 quid it’s a no brainier

[@jeanbonnefoy1377]

Definitely Stranger Things coming out of this Crave under your hands Paolo😅🤗

[@starglider101]

Hi Paolo, will you beta test the Behringer Wave? 😈😈😈

[@dvuemedia]

I hope they send you ARP 2600 clone for the review. I wanted the CRAVE, but instead got the NEUTRON, I think it has more possibilities.

[@jppagetoo]

I have both. Vastly different synths. The Neutron is a playing synth. You need a keyboard and/or a sequencer to really make it useful. But the Neutron has a lot of utilities sections that make it useful to combine with other synths.... like a Crave. The two together are great with a ton of options for cross patches. I find I play the Crave more than the Neutron.

[@ke0kie]

stranger synth ;)

[@Astronomater]

much bleep. much bloop. I like it!

[@greganderson5972]

Hmmm, reminds me a little of my Moog Mother32. Just more than a bit. But with an RCA patch bay and some cool extra features, like reverb (oh, that was the stomp box) and that awesome arpeggiator. The sequencer is better too. Of course it’s not Moog and it’s not “analog”. And it’s not Eurorack (tho I guess you can hook it up). Great review and another Behringer slam dunk. Now I Crave one. And one of those DD-3 delays!

[@je7647]

It is a mother 32 with a prophet one oscillator. Get a dd2 they sound better

[@drakedebalmont5345]

Did You Get Out of "Sopranos" to Make That Demo ? :)

[@rjbush7955]

Vegas mode at startup 😄

[@djRoyalTee]

808 views lol...what are the chances?

[@fritsvanzanten3573]

Over 2300 by now, I'll have to wait until 3340, I guess

[@omarbonifacino3381]

Nice Digital Delay Boss

[@whatsupdoc-6093]

Good day, Paolo! Love Your videos, but, I think You should not use this universal chip сhinese power-adapter with ☩-connector. That is not safety for Your brended high-quality toys ))

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks. That power adapter is not a "universal chip сhinese power-adapter". It's a high quality TEAC model# 2704 that I've owned for decades. That said, both the CRAVE and the power adapter that comes with it are made in China and work fine. I'm sure you realize that most things are made in China these days. I'm sure you own things in your house that are made in China: so, according to your logic, you are not safe in your own home?

[@whatsupdoc-6093]

You're absolutly right about сhinese electronics, I just has a dramatic expirience, when an adapter with the same connector killed my Casio CTK-810. Writing my previous comment, I thought that different devices needs a different parameters for a long and normal work - such as: voltage, frequency and other... But, sadly, many manufacturers tryes to get more money when sells their devices without a special power adapter (Like "Casio" do).

[@DrDroogkloot]

Where’s the reverb? Delay is nice but reverb makes it stereo.

[@wreignone]

Sounds so much like the moog ifs not even funny. This really does sound like a moog

[@synthlord2368]

15:00 "Stranger Things" anyone?

[@RuslanKentawrus]

Хотел себе такой купить... Но купил akai force😏

[@nalaeel219]

4th the golden turd

[@toomuchtoofast4533]

First and liked

[@innerspacerace9196]

I think you need at least three of these for a cheap mother 32 substitute

[@MaggieKeizai]

Second. Always the bridesmaid...

[@NoxBoxdy]

Can you review something innovative? Like the Sonicware XFM or maybe try our software finally? Lol