Behringer UB-Xa Walktrough & Tutorial

Here's my overview for the Behringer UB-Xa.
Going trough the functions and sharing some tips. I hope this is useful for someone.
Dry sound without FX.
Part 2, explaining polyphonic aftertouch and MPE: • Behringer UB-Xa - Poly...
For more information you can check the UB-Xa User Manual: mediadl.musictribe.com/media/...
I forgot to mention the Synthribe Software. You can alter many settings via this App in order to avoid to much shift + click action through the menus. First step should be updating to the latest firmware using Synthtribe anyway- you can download the App from the Behringer UB-Xa website.
0:00 - Introduction
1:20 - Overview and structure
3:30 - Presets loading and writing
5:43 - Shift mode und secondary functions
10:10 - Víntage Atrophy Modes
13:00 - Oscillators
17:50 - Unison and poly voice count
20:38 - Portamento and Portamento Bend
22:05 - Filters
23:16 - Envelopes, LFO
27:20 Modulation Matrix
31:50 - Voice Panning
33:29 - Arpeggiator
34:50 - Chord Memory
35:30 - Sequencer
38:00 - Performance Section
40:00 - Spilt / Double Modes
44:53 - Outro Jam

[@tomnoise23]

Here's my overview for the Behringer UB-Xa. Going trough the functions and sharing some tips. I hope this is useful for someone. Dry sound without FX. Part 2, explaining polyphonic aftertouch and MPE: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKXLipKpft6pnJosi=3ioEAU49Oc4EHGmr For more information you can check the UB-Xa User Manual: mediadl.musictribe.com/media/PLM/data/docs/0722-AAF/FACE-PRIN-PH1_M_BE_0722-AAF_UB-Xa_A4_EN.pdf I forgot to mention the Synthribe Software. You can alter many settings via this App in order to avoid to much shift + click action through the menus. First step should be updating to the latest firmware using Synthtribe anyway- you can download the App from the Behringer UB-Xa website. 0:00 - Introduction 1:20 - Overview and structure 3:30 - Presets loading and writing 5:43 - Shift mode und secondary functions 10:10 - Víntage Atrophy Modes 13:00 - Oscillators 17:50 - Unison and poly voice count 20:38 - Portamento and Portamento Bend 22:05 - Filters 23:16 - Envelopes, LFO 27:20 Modulation Matrix 31:50 - Voice Panning 33:29 - Arpeggiator 34:50 - Chord Memory 35:30 - Sequencer 38:00 - Performance Section 40:00 - Spilt / Double Modes 44:53 - Outro Jam

[@geraldnahrgang5320]

Ist der link korrekt? Da lande ich auf einer Microsoft Seite mit der ICH nix anfangen kann.😮‍💨

[@tomnoise23]

@@geraldnahrgang5320Danke für die Info, der link war aus irgendeinem Grund verkürzt. Jetzt müsste es funktionieren.

[@geraldnahrgang5320]

1000 Dank!@@tomnoise23

[@VikerTurrit]

Thx for this chilled but informative "user manual" ❤ many new things i didnt knew before bout this synth! Great!

[@robertclements1514]

Thanks for making this video. You did a awesome job explaining everything. Had no problems following along. Just recently ordered my ub-xa and this video gives me a good heads up to begin understanding this awesome synth. Thank you!

[@tomnoise23]

@@robertclements1514 thanks too! I’m glad that you found it useful.

[@NTRSN-Archive]

Beautiful synthesizer.

[@joemillo]

Thank you for the great tutorial! Very informative.

[@EnervatedSociety]

Thanks for the detailed video. Well done.

[@Emil_m]

Thanks for this very thorough and useful walkthrough!

[@tomnoise23]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@KCJazzKeys]

Thank you for this tutorial. I wish the user manual was this informative. With everything you cover on this video it pretty much can point most synth-savy users into how to unlock the true inner powers of this amazing synth.. Great work!

[@tomnoise23]

Thank you! I’m very glad if it’s helpful!

[@chrisfortson8495]

Great video! Thank you! Just got mine yesterday

[@tomnoise23]

Glad you liked it. Congrats and enjoy your new synth!

[@michaelpierce3264]

very comprehensive thank you!

[@UniQueWerkx]

Wow! That can sound massive!! It certainly has an Oberheim flavor!

[@synthsamuraiproductions]

OH YEAH BABY!!! EPIC

[@MsLittleVillage]

Vielen herzlichen Dank für das großartige Video. Es hat mich echt gerettet. So ist es viel leichter und angenehmer sich mit den teilweise complexen Funktionen vertraut zu machen. Auch die Gliederung der einzelnen Kapitel ist super. Bin zwar mit analogen Synthies groß geworden aber verglichen mit den vintage Geräten steckt hier doch einiges mehr an Funktionalitäten unter der Haube. Klar waren die echten Oberheims seit jeher ein Traum. Damals wie heute. Aber das Preis Leistungsverhältnis ist bei den heutigen Gebrauchtmarktpreisen einfach aus meiner Sicht nicht mehr realistisch. Zumal die Teile halt auch um die 40 Jahre auf dem Buckel haben. Ich finde den UB-Xa wirklich sehr gelungen. Und das nicht nur zu dem Preis. Die 5000 für den aktuellen OB-X8 sind mir persönlich einfach zu viel Geld. Der Behringer ist für mich Preis Leistungsmäßig überragend und der Grundsound ist klasse. Das ist mir wichtiger als das was hinten draufsteht. :) Liebe Grüße

[@tomnoise23]

Danke für das positive Feedback! ❤️

[@samscott54]

Behringer continues to build cool stuff. Grew up with a mini Moog and loved the OBX.

[@blenderbuch]

That was a much more informative video that the others ❤ does the vintage ones had that mod matrix also? Somehow it feels much more intuitive than on my micro freak.

[@tomnoise23]

Thanks! The OB-Xa doesn’t have a modulation matrix. This was introduced with later models like Oberheim Matrix-12/Xpander and Matrix 6/1000.

[@SolidtraxNL]

Hands down the best video we've came across so far. Love it that you show so much detail! Thanks Tom! Question: Were you active in beta-testing? Or have we missed something?

[@demokid2000]

Great video! Sound's awesome. Is it possible to control the synced VCO pitch with glide/portamento, replicating the classic "Lacer Harp" sound of my Elka Synthex? If not, maybe you can ask Behringer to implement that modulation in the modulation matrix?

[@tomnoise23]

Not sure what you mean but you can bend one VCO against the other to achieve great and colorful sync sounds

[@AboveTheTrees00]

does it send polyphonic midi data out ? and does every knob and button is midi assignable in a daw?

[@tomnoise23]

Yes and yes! I didn't mention Poly AT because I'm working on another video to cover Poly AT and MPE.

[@seanspartan2023]

That intro patch bass reminds me of the 2001, 2010 movie soundtrack.

[@JoelBouchillon]

@ 5:40 if you edit a program but accidently press the "write" button, how do you back-out and not save or overwrite the program?

[@TheMikeypilk]

You can move the select encoder to select cancel instead of save after pressing it once.

[@tomnoise23]

@@TheMikeypilk exactly 👍

[@Raumfalle]

@@TheMikeypilk 🙏🏻Good to know, I was almost desperate about it

[@CiroPreZ]

You did a great job....but like the detached video about aftertouch, an in-depth video on the menu would also be nice.

[@tomnoise23]

Thanks! Good call. I suppose this would be something to make after the next update. You never know what details might change. I have also some Pro-800 videos with an early version and that is in some points not valid anymore.

[@MJamesIII]

I can't seem to get my midi to transmit and receive via MIDI... Can you do a tutorial specifically covering USB functionality?

[@tomnoise23]

Can you elaborate? What doesn’t work, USB or Din MIDI?

[@bitspacemusic]

Sounds from the get go. You know how to start a video!

[@dociler]

Thanks a lot, I feel like an idiot for having overlooked the mod matrix 😂. Kind of mega essential

[@JimDaneker]

Does Double Mode store both layers' patch data? On the OB-X8, it doesn't, which is a real pain. That means that you have to save both layers' patches separately, and then be mindful of which patches are used by Double/Split presets! Hopefully the Behringer gets this right...

[@tomnoise23]

As far as I was trying it appears to be the same.

[@JimDaneker]

@@tomnoise23 thanks for the reply!

[@SPAZZOID100]

Roland does that too. The Novation Nova/Supernova handled it right.

[@JimDaneker]

@@SPAZZOID100 yep, Roland has done that since the 80s. Can't believe that's still going on.

[@SPAZZOID100]

@@JimDanekerTo my knowledge the supernova is the only synth that saves unique copies of patches in your splits, where you can edit the patch elsewhere and the split version remains intact.

[@MightyMaul]

Did you have to do anything to get the split mode to work properly? I just got one of these and I can only get the lower half to work in split mode regardless of the patches I use or if im running mono or stereo outputs

[@tomnoise23]

Did you check the balance knob on the left side?

[@MightyMaul]

@@tomnoise23 That was it! You're a genius

[@tomnoise23]

@@MightyMaul no I am not. I just made the same mistake 😂

[@Gerald_Daniel]

That was a very nice, deep review. Your English is fluent. Since I tried to convince behringer to integrate OB's Pg, 2 around 6 years ago, when everyone else on social media just yearned for dead simple OB-Xa, I am astonished & happy about the positive result! What of course were very interesting to know, especially, since OB8 is almost entirely included in the UB-Xa, if its "special" wave is created, either in OB8 or an other mode: ‌When Saw and Pulse are pressed the same time within VCO 1 &/or VCO2 it should not sound like PWM. As soon as PW control is turned , an oct-shift up should occur, I simply called SWM. It's got introduced with the OB8 & mainly fattens the Sawtooth quite unique. Slow modulations almost act like a flanger. Does that wave exist anywhere in the UB-Xa?

[@tomnoise23]

No it doesn’t. As far as I tried there’s no way to activate more than one wave at once per VCO. And thanks a lot for the warm words!

[@Gerald_Daniel]

Please try again. Perhaps in OB8 mode something different occurs?

[@tomnoise23]

@@Gerald_Daniel No, it’s really not possible. Although you can influence offsets and ranges, the circuits are still based on the Xa

[@Gerald_Daniel]

@@tomnoise23 Oh, that's bitter, still thanx!. We have to stir for an update.

[@drsamurai009]

@@Gerald_Daniel Behringer often does firmware updates, so this is definitely something that could come to us down the road... fingers crossed. :)

[@user-vi5wp1vi1x]

Does anyone know how many preset sounds come loaded with this?

[@tomnoise23]

Memory size is for 512 Presets, 35 Splits and 35 Doubles. It comes with 512 Presets, although a few memory locations are filled with Initial presets.

[@ionian8606]

A very thorough and well put together tutorial, except…you skipped mention of the “Invert 1” and “Invert 2” shift modulation parameters. They don’t seem to work as expected on my synth: all they do is cancel the LFO, so I guess they’re only sending half the voltage. Can anyone replicate this behaviour?

[@tomnoise23]

Ah I see- they are inverting the LFO envelopes, for example fading out instead of in.

[@ionian8606]

@@tomnoise23 Ah..inversion of the envelope, not the LFO waveform. Many thanks for clarifying.

[@maxmeier532]

Hallo, kannst Du was zum verbauten Lüfter sagen? Es ist doch einer verbaut? Hört man ihn, sind die Optionen zur Regelung vorhanden?

[@tomnoise23]

Ja, es ist ein Lüfter vorhanden. Er schaltet sich bei höheren Temperaturen ein, dient aber nur der Stimmstabilität. Bei mir im Studio hat er sich noch nie eingeschaltet. Man kann ihn auch ganz ab- oder abschalten. Der Lüfter ist sehr leise, aber hörbar.

[@maxmeier532]

Vielen Dank für die Info! @@tomnoise23

[@Raumfalle]

What kind of patch is the A119? I don't have it

[@tomnoise23]

It’s a self programmed one.

[@l0riz624]

I just received my UB-Xa. How can i make an Init patch so i can create my own sound?

[@tomnoise23]

Press shift & write, then use the encoder right to the display to select ok and confirm by pressing the encoder. (about 12:50 in the video)

[@l0riz624]

@@tomnoise23 Thank you so much! I was a bit in a hurry so i didn't see that part of the video.

[@tomnoise23]

@@l0riz624 no problem, you’re welcome!

[@texacomann]

Usually the comparision function is to hear and compare the original Sound of the preset in comparision to your new setting! But this is not possible?

[@tomnoise23]

No, unfortunately it's not. I was confused in the beginning too, because I was expecting to hear the saved preset. The way it works on the UB-Xa is useful if you tweak a sound while it plays and want to catch up with the saved value without jumping to the value of the actual knob position, if that makes sense..

[@texacomann]

@@tomnoise23 thx for the fast response, I hope there will be an update in the dar future where these few things could be fixed or changed.

[@maval4537]

I wish it was already July '24 so I could get one!

[@Raumfalle]

Wenn ich durch die Patches klicke kommen immer wieder Patches wo ich manuell Filter aufmachen oder andere Knobs ändern muss bevor der eigentliche Patch hörbar wird, gehört das so oder hab ich falsche Einstellungen 🤔

[@tomnoise23]

Okay. Ich habe auch ein paar Presets gefunden, die eine sehr lange Attackzeit nutzen oder wo man erst den mod lever benutzen muss ,um sie besser hörbar zu machen. Ich vermute, dass das normal so ist. Die Presets eignen sich sicher wunderbar für ruhigere Styles und Intros, man muss aber immer ein bisschen schauen. Mal braucht man etwas Aftertouch, mal etwas modulation vom lever und bei den teilweise langen Attackzeiten vor allem Geduld 🙂

[@Raumfalle]

@@tomnoise23Ja genau, diesen Eindruck habe ich auch. Bei den Patches D2 D4 D8 D12 D32 D40 ist es extrem, wenn ich Filter nicht aufmache höre ich wenig bis gar nichts, bei Dir auch?

[@tomnoise23]

@@Raumfalle Ja, ist hier auch so. Aber wie ich sagte, manche haben eine extrem lange Attackzeit wie zB. D4. Oder reagieren auf Poly Aftertouch, wie D2. Einer der Betatester hatte irgendwo auch berichtet dass die Presets teilweise auf früheren Firmwareversionen entstanden wären. Kann natürlich sein dass das eine Auswirkung auf das Verhalten hat und nicht immer so passt wie der Sounddesigner sich das gedacht hatte. Ob 12 oder 24db Filter macht auch einen Unterschied. Das 4pole ist mit mittlerer resonanz leiser als das 2 pole.

[@Raumfalle]

@@tomnoise23Danke Dir 🙏🏻

[@drsamurai009]

Wow, excellent review. Before this review I had no idea how deep Behringer went with the button to access so many parameters. I haven't decided whether to get this or spring for the OB-X8, the X8 has more filter options (including the classic SEM variable state filter) but this synth seems to have more bells and whistles in other departments. Plus double the poly and Poly AT keybed. Man this is a tough call. First world problem, LOL!

[@tomnoise23]

Haha yes! Too many choices 😁

[@ingostromitzky497]

Cool video thank you, my UB-xa has in split or double mode only 4 voices and in split mode the upper part goes till the lowest key and the lower part goes till the split point, can you please test it on your UB-xa?

[@tomnoise23]

Mine doesn't have these issues. Did you try a factory reset? Maybe some wrong setting is causing this behaviour. Or Poly voice count might be set to more than one on a preset?

[@ingostromitzky497]

@@tomnoise23thank you I’ve tried it all , but it still happens

[@tomnoise23]

@@ingostromitzky497 sorry to hear that, but sorry I don't have more ideas what could be causing this. You might need to ask the support at behringer.

[@tomnoise23]

@@ingostromitzky497 Oh one question left: Does it happen if you disconnect USB and midi, too? Just an idea... could be that you have it connected to a daw and didn't set Local control to Off so that it receives double notes?

[@tomnoise23]

Hi Ingo, did you manage to identify the issue? Curious to know if Local On/Midi was the cause or not. Thanks, Tom

[@tonytramonti5828]

Why are you turning the sustain envelope and not the filter frequency knob when you are doing your filter sweep demonstration? , thanks.

[@tomnoise23]

That's a quirk of the original. The Filter Frequency knob doesn't open up the filter fully. So I applied envelope modulation and used the sustain knob to sweep over the whole range.

[@tonytramonti5828]

@@tomnoise23 understood , I think this is the same on my moog voyager also, thanks for the reply , and for the excellent demonstration.

[@defrigge]

Nice video, and surely a nice synth. To me, it just doesn't quite nail the rich and fat Oberheim sound. It's definitely reminiscent, but not really there, somehow thinner and a bit hollow sounding. To realize that the Tom Sawyer patch seems to sound better from my software GForce OB-X than from this one was a bit sobering for me. The Behringer Minimoog and Oddyssey have been closer to their originals for my ears. Still a very nice synth, just not quite my cup of tea sonically.

[@tomnoise23]

Cheers! Fair opinion. I can't compare to an original OB-Xa but Rush used an OB-X, not the Xa. OB-X was a different synth. Even the OB-Xa doesn't nail the Tom Sawyer sound exactly from what i heard in other demos. So it doesn't surprise me that you can come closer to that sound with a good emulation of an OB-X.

[@alex_darsen]

Does it need warm up time?

[@tomnoise23]

Yes, about 15-20 minutes at least.

[@geraldnahrgang5320]

Ich bin sehr dankbar für die ganzen Tipps und Tricks, aber wie kommst du an die ganzen Informationen?? Ich kann (im Lieferumfang und online) nur die Schnellanleitung finden und da fehlen mir viel zu viele Informationen!! Danke für das Video. Das hat mir schon viel weitergeholfen!

[@tomnoise23]

Es gibt ein pdf manual bei Behringer: mediadl.musictribe.com/media/PLM/data/docs/0722-AAF/FACE-PRIN-PH1_M_BE_0722-AAF_UB-Xa_A4_EN.pdf Manche Funktionen sind dort nicht aufgeführt, das ließ sich aber durch ausprobieren herausfinden.

[@geraldnahrgang5320]

@@tomnoise23 1000 Dank

[@luisbarrera5740]

Huh. Sounds a bit too fizzy. I'm sure that can be corrected. Just an observation

[@KiR_3d]

Hello! Very nice review with many details! Thanks for this! Now I wait till they'll make a fully multitimbral analog synth... Let's say: 8 voices, 3 osc each (tri, saw, square, sine - morphing, PWM, FM, RM, Cross modulation), 1 noise/voice, 2 independent resonant filters (multi LP/BP/HP/Notch + moog style, serial/parallel modes, filter overdrive), stereo VCAs with separated panning for both filters, 2 ADSR + 1 AR envelopes/voice (all fully assignable for any input), 2 multiwave LFO/voice + 1 vibratto LFO, 8 part multitimbral, separated stereo outputs. Some DM12 style mod. matrix (with branched dependencies) will be a good part of this synth. Plus a modern FX block with separate FXs for every timbre + 3 send FX slots. Is this possible, what do you think? I know one hardware analog synthesizer that almost match these specs... It was priced below 1000$.

[@spurv]

They finally ditched the triangle ear logo?

[@pickyyeeter]

They still use it, but it's not as prominently placed on the products. It's in the manual for the UB-Xa, but not on the synth itself.

[@AllenMichael]

Behringer did a better job at page 2 functions than sequential and oberheim. Embarrassing!!!!! What behringer should do is a elite model with full components not smd micro stuff.

[@AllenMichael]

@@dankeplace no… the behringer model menu has more settings.

[@AllenMichael]

@@dankeplace I get that. What I don’t get is why everyone is cheaping out of stuff. I own an ob8 and I had the x8. The x8 STILL was missing the “midrange” detail. The behringer imo is missing it too.. sounds too tight as well.

[@isham16]

⁠@@AllenMichael excellent analysis, I’m feeling the same with all demos (this one is VERY good). I feel the ub-xa is too rigid sounding, the obx8, miss some raw sonic quality… the only copy which is so close to oberheim magic (obx clone) is the vs-1 …to confirmed once ready

[@AllenMichael]

@@isham16 what happened to the vs1? I was following that for a while but it looked like the creator ditched the project.

[@isham16]

The diy kit are shipping now , the built version should folllow after 😅

[@phpn99]

I don't understand the excitement about these old, cheesy synth designs. I'm old enough to remember when they came out. Back then we were trying to get credible instrumental sounds and we knew the brass, strings, leads and bass sounds we got from synths costing the price of a car, were far from it. In time musicians learned to exploit the intrinsic character of these contraptions and this is how Zawinul, Hancock, Duke and the whole Synthpop genre got some of their sounds. But Synthpop was cheesy then as it is cheesy now. Case in point : as soon as better synths came out, all of these guys moved on. There is nothing to miss about these limited and defective designs. The whole synth nostalgia thing is like Xmas : A marketing ploy. There are exceptions to this rule and they concern very specific instruments, like the Arp 2600, the Minimoog, the MS-20, which were perfectly 'synthetic' devices aimed at sound exploration. Performance synths from Roland, Oberheim and Sequential were not so much synths as they were "home organ" gadgets aimed at the lucrative stage market.

[@omniphoriusvcf907]

Seems you like monophonic analog synths, but not polyphonic analog synths. Some of use get very inspired by harmony when creating patches. For me personally, improvising at a keyboard and using harmony is my most natural creative state. Though I agree that recycling synths can be annoying, I don't see any reason to give the 2600 a pass but critique a reissue of an Oberheim. As far as I'm concerned all of the aforementioned instruments are perfectly synthetic-they sound nothing like acoustic instruments.

[@issiewizzie]

I remember in the mid 80s, no one will touch those analog.gear dust in the shops. I would spend ages on the D50 & M1 . We were all looking towards the future of sound. Somewhere along the way that disappeared also back in the 80s I wasn’t looking 40 years back for inspirational on sound.

[@JimDaneker]

Of course those old vintage synths don't recreate "real" instrument sounds and yes, we knew it back then - but you alluded to it yourself: they became instruments in their own right, and we embraced them for what they were. Would "Jump" sound right on a piano? Would "1999" be the iconic 80s masterpiece it was if played by a string quartet? Of course not. We loved all those songs first and foremost as *songs* - but those sounds became as iconic as the songs themselves. People are nostalgic for lots of reasons. For one, there will never be another decade of music like the 80s. Sure, there was some cheese. There is in every era. But one look at the charts of that decade will set anyone straight about the cultural impact of that music. So yeah, there's a good reason people want to play those timeless sounds again. They want to connect with the songs - and the sounds - that inspired them. Those synths are every bit as important as any other instrument, and "they don't make 'em like that anymore."

[@Gerald_Daniel]

@@JimDaneker Totally agreed!!!

[@gzalot4816]

I agree that in terms of synthesizing the real instruments, early synths were awful. A lot of DX7 sounds in mainstream music are just absolutely horrible, for example. Just like the music itself. People who want synths like the OB-Xa, Prophet, MS-10, etc. are not into that type of music, we're into stuff like Suicide and Eno and PiL. We're not after trumpet sounds, we're after synth sounds.