Behringer VC340 Vocoder USER REVIEW Synthesizer

Audio and Video by G-Storm Electro c. 2019
Today I am giving a user review of the new Behringer VC340.
The VC340 is billed as a complete reproduction of the Roland VP-330 all-analog circuitry.
I have some experience having owned an original VP-330 MK1.
And previously reviewed the Roland Boutique VP-03 • Roland VP-03 Vocoder S... which had an Achilles heel IMHO.
How does the VC340 measure up?
0:00 What is the Vocoder VC340
1:07 Build Quality
2:50 Sound & Features
9:10 Summary of Final Thoughts
Recorded direct to Tascam DR-05.
No other effects nor processing of any kind.
EDIT: Please note! When listening on headphones or w/ monitor subs you will hear an errant sub-bass drone. I was concurrently shooting other footage of the SH2 filter and didn't mute that channel. While I edit on an old mac book and usually audition the final cut in other sound formats such as earbuds + Bose PC speakers - I didn't catch it before publishing.
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[@jamesortiz6312]

This review was outstanding and confirmed all my expectations on this synth, the review format was perfect! No fucking around and dead on to what a synth player wants to see and hear, at least in my case, really nice shots as well. Great job!

[@j1m1j3nkins5]

Yeah, mine is on its way after watching this.

[@gvickerschtick]

I can’t believe I’m saving up to buy a room full of Behringer synths?!?!

[@gilbertfrausto]

BEHRINGER what a come back!

[@rosepetal-ov7vl]

Right?? Behringer is my new favorite.

[@jennydeaf9O9]

BEST SYNTH REVIEW I'VE EVER SEEN. YOU ACTUALLY CARE.

[@SyncdAlien]

Very interesting, thank you. And thanks for showing the rear panel right away, always of prime interest.

[@DestroyER82]

Great review! They really nailed it, sound is spot on, lush and amazingly organic. Its crazy, completly "obsolete" 70's divide-down technology in 2019. Uli Behringer you BADASS!! ;-)

[@psywarltd.1984]

The crazy thing is how many Roland gatekeepers hate Behringer.

[@DestroyER82]

@@psywarltd.1984 There wouldnt be any drama if Roland was simply releasing interesting products (or did true to original reimaginations of classics, not a buggy bad designed crap). Funny I made this post almost 5 years ago and nothing changed with them, its unfortunate. (and I actually own and use more Roland than Behringer synths)

[@MrLawrence0071]

If I had paid a few grand for an old used original Roland, I'd feek really bad now: Behringer has created the perfect clone. This thing is way better than the new digital Roland. It's indistuinghuisable from the real analogue Roland back in the days. I now realize why all the Jupiter 8 owners are selling their jup for the price of a car: if Behringer makes their JuP 8 clone as good as this one, the real jup 8 is worth shit. Great work, Behringer.

[@jessihawkins9116]

they haven’t made one yet. the jupiter is a complicated machine.

[@bricemyles]

They have one coming out, it’ll be called the JT-16. It’s a clone of the Jupiter 8 but with 16 voices!! It’s supposed be released in June 2024

[@j1m1j3nkins5]

Great review! I bought one while watching this yesterday

[@Zemael]

So easy to keep 10 minutes with you. Thank you.

[@CommunityGuidelines]

I was wondering how the VC340 compares to the Roland VP-03, I'm glad you touched upon it.

[@clintt5266]

Sounds amazing - great review!

[@ManCalledMif]

Great review. The sounds are well chosen too. Definitely getting one!

[@mynameistechno]

OK, ok, thats what i needed to get one. Well done, sir!

[@marcfaur]

I never took a serious look at this synth, especially since the microKorg covers all my vocoder needs, but damn, this thing sounds amazing!

[@jessihawkins9116]

I’d rather have this over a micro Korg. I already have a Korg ms2000r and Behringer k2 so this compliment them better

[@MarkoDeLaVoota]

got mine today , love it so far

[@ElbowEddie]

You gave a nice voice, even before the cool keyboard effect 🙂 And that synth sounds lovely, very tempting 🎹

[@mikehydropneumatic2583]

Got mine yesterday. It is very well built imho. It sounds better than the VP-03 I have. After two or so hours I was doing a mix of some Kraftwerk vocoding along with TR8S and Trans Europe Express doppler FX with the pitch on human voice and strings, great times!

[@JamesCorbettMusic5000]

Just ordered thanks! I’m due to release a load of my own music soon, so I’m going back and going to redub all the string machine samples I’ve been using. Can’t wait to get creative with the vocoder!

[@oussmayo]

More videos of this machine pls it sounds lovely!

[@EdEditz]

I have one and wow how I love that string sound. It's just true 70's and the Vocoder is amazing.

[@gstormelectro]

As much as I love the Solina, the VC340/VP330 is still my favorite strings.

[@EdEditz]

@@gstormelectro I agree!

[@filippobuccianelli4606]

Good review, accurate, still musical and not boring at all.

[@darrenringer9811]

Lol sweet... was just playing around with your old VSP-330 plugin, ordered a VC-340, then found this video.

[@payt01]

Nice review. I have it too, and couldn't be more pleased! I've wanted one for a long time, and now here it is for relatively little money and it's built like a tank while sounding the part. As for the wiggly keys: it's no more wiggly than any of my other synths, including the rev 2. Also: there's something producing a deep bass hum in your studio.

[@gstormelectro]

Been shooting another demo of the SH2 filter concurrently, forgot to mute the sub-bass drone.

[@payt01]

@@gstormelectro haha ok Well there you go! Lots people listen on their phone or laptop anyway, so they won't hear it ;)

[@gstormelectro]

Oh, and I wanted to concur about the keys. They are not 'System-1' bad, by any means. And I am so thrilled they are regular size and not slim/mini-keys.

[@gregorysmith8964]

Sounds really good. Nice.

[@greystar321]

that looks so fun

[@abrokenframe82]

great review, classy item. How ironic it sounds way better than Rolands attempt!

[@josephwright5921]

abrokenframe82 The Roland VP 03 sounds pretty thin and pathetic compared to the Behringer.

[@computron808]

Awesome review ! I have the SVC-350. But man oh man !! That thing sounds incredible !! Once again,you did amazing job !!! How is that mic ? Is it as good as a regular hand held dynamic mic ? I’m totally sold !!!

[@darrenirwin]

GREAT REVIEW.

[@Psychlist1972]

Great review. :)

[@MrShiffles]

Awe man that thing sounds so sweet! I was hoping you would try to do a little Mr. Blue Sky (even tho ELO used an EMS, but still...) Cheers!

[@GNeuman]

Pink Floyd Animals and Vangelis Bladerunner....nice....

[@rdm5190]

Nice review,used to play the original also&never should have parted with it but now i can at lease reasonably afford a replacement.... now if after the obx clone ive heard rumors of a univox/korg minikorg 700 would make all my childhood(well late teens,early20s)toys come home again....

[@shookstylez]

this thing sounds miles better than Roland's efforts.

[@davidosolo]

@Neb6 Roland is doing R&D (instead of just cloning). This VC340 is currently still double the price of Roland´s VP-03. However, it does sound better indeed. Probably because it is analog instead of virtual analog.

[@jumpingman8160]

@@davidosolo behringer is also doing R&D

[@davidosolo]

​@@jumpingman8160 Sure, but they don´t start from scratch, but take as their starting point, a product that has already been fully developed by another company. Moreover, they select those products which success has already been proved. Imagine that, after various failed attempts, you have finally developed a product that succeeds in the market and then there comes a company that clones it and offers it on that same market for half of the price. How would you feel about that David?

[@jumpingman8160]

@@davidosolo First, Behringer does a lot of stuff for other companies. Secondly, I wouldn't feel a thing because what Behringer clones are legacy synths (ie, gear that is more than 30 yo, and whose original manufacturer couldn't care less on re-making, despite the demand for them).

[@davidosolo]

Vp-03 has six-note polyphony

[@AlainHubert]

I also own this little gem and this is an excellent review of it. Thanks for sharing. BTW, the power connector on the back is IEC, and not EIC (as you state at 2:27 in the video). ;-)

[@phranquepeasant5688]

Great review. I am gonna order mine tomorrow and use it with two VP-1 phasers for an incredible JMJ sound. BTW has anyone ever told you that you sound exactly like Billy Bob Thornton?

[@bigdebbie6265]

Such a cool review. Could you please give any more examples on how to use an external synth to control the pitch of the vocoder voice. I don't know much about the modular world (you use a self oscillating modular square wave?). Could I do this with any synthesizer (digital) or even a SQ - 1 sequencer? Thank you.

[@pcuimac]

Have you put it thru a chorus? Would like to hear that and a comparison to the Streichfett. thx

[@VincentsVideoVisions]

I just wanted to say that I love my g storm modules and can't wait to score more.

[@gstormelectro]

@@VincentsVideoVisions Something new is coming soon.

[@VincentsVideoVisions]

@gstormelectro any plans to do a banging full voice or is that too risky?

[@gstormelectro]

@@VincentsVideoVisions don’t rule it out but it wouldn’t be anytime soon.

[@VincentsVideoVisions]

@gstormelectro it would be dope but it'd be hard to compete with the atlantix. I'm thinking hard about getting one. I'd sell some stuff first.

[@christoroppolo8742]

This thing is awesome. I got to work one and it was totally focused and old school no to much pepper or lacking ing salt if you know what I mean! Peace Christo 🎶👽🐕🛸☮️😉💀

[@hexahexametermeter]

The sounds are spot on. Best vocoder for that price. Plus you get the strings and human voices sections. There are some mechanical flaws tho. The headphones do not output stereo (but the left and right main outs are fine). Also the pedal feature is not all it's cracked up to be. If you disengage the pedal it will still play notes and if you happen to have your voice going through the input when you disengage the pedal, the notes will linger on the last syllable your speaking. I won't be using the headphones or pedal very often, but it would be nice if they worked properly.

[@gstormelectro]

Phones out is stereo on mine for strings, and choirs w/ ensemble turned on.

[@perzyboy]

Great sounding machine! But what type of microphone work best with it? Does the Beyerdynamic M88TG work well, for example?

[@gstormelectro]

Any vocal mic such as that one will do fine. You may want to keep your hands free to play the keys. Get a mic boom stand for the M88TG. I use a headset microphone, Audio Technica Pro 8HEx

[@Onelychild]

Wonderful review! I love it! Sub to your channel.

[@lugeroaccordion9957]

awesome..

[@EdEditz]

The Arturia MicroFreak does a better job at recreating the original Cylon voice because it also uses 16 bandpass filters like the EMS1000 they originally used. This VC340 vocoder sounds less sharp in the high end but it is such a recognizable sound, used on so many records, that I wouldn't be without mine. :)

[@cjk-28-JockeK]

thanks for your review :-) Can any of the panel controls transmit and receive midi?

[@gstormelectro]

The current manual states the VC340 will be able to respond to incoming MIDI sysex commands. But Behringer haven't released any MIDI implementation documents yet. My feeling is they are probably working on the update and document right now. First thing they will need is a unique MIDI product device ID from the MIDI Manufacturers Association. AFAIK, a device ID is not necessarily required to transmit/receive general note on/off data for product release.

[@nogoogleplus]

Old School Battlestar Galactica cylon!

[@iqi616]

6:07 Cool!

[@bestrickie2]

Excellent. Does this have on board the Speak And Spell eEFX?

[@petedako]

no

[@fyvewytches]

I have a VP-330. It may be due to compression in the video or some other issue but doesn't sound much like the VP-330.

[@bioelectric1788]

Thanks for the demo. Is that huge sub/bottom end actually coming straight from this synth or did you enhance the mix somewhat?

[@gstormelectro]

I was concurrently shooting other footage of the SH2 filter, and edit on an old mac book. So I didn't catch it in time.

[@georgegeorgio1751]

gstormelectro not sure you answered his question

[@gstormelectro]

Now I read my post it doesn't make much sense. To clarify, I didn't enhance the mix, nor does the synth have that large bottom end. Another errant signal coming from my eurorack is present by accident. While I audition my videos before publishing them, I was listening on macbook speakers which didn't enable me to hear the errant sub signal.

[@OneDarkMartian]

I have it and I absolutely love it. My only issue is that the vocoder with inbuilt synth is only 4 voice and only allows you to play as low as C1, the only work around I've found is to use the pitch slider on the bottom left to slide it down an octave. This is odd as it clearly with go lower but just not when played. I discovered this when trying to play some chords via MIDI in Logic Pro. Anything lower than C1 just plays the same note (C1). I hope Behringer can fix this with a software update, but who knows.

[@gstormelectro]

The note range is due to the fixed divide down voicing, no software update can fix that. This was the exact same limitation as on the original VP-330. It may be possible to install a mod to shift the pitch of the master oscillator - but say bye bye to the warranty.

[@OneDarkMartian]

@@gstormelectro damn! That is such a shame. Oh well, at least there is the slider as a work around. Still, its a beautiful synth/vocoder

[@joshgardner8238]

What would happen if you fed a waveform into the microphone in, and tuned the oscillator to a note say, A440. What would happen, would the divide down circuitry scale it so it would sound like a poly synth or something else entirely?

[@gstormelectro]

I uploaded something on my Facebook

[@joshgardner8238]

gstormelectro thanks!

[@simple_guy2118]

5:10 YES LIKE ZET

[@decemberagents1401]

Soon, my studio will be filled...with the sounds...of cylons.

[@securityrobot]

No it won’t because this wasn’t the instrument that was used to create them in 1978.

[@Thoracius]

If this had an additional octave it would be an instant buy even if it cost proportionally more. If they're only going to put 3 octaves on there, they might as well go all the way make it mini keys and make it compact and portable. Really strange decision for this kind of keyboard. I hope some day they come to their senses and release a proper 4 octave version. I'll be the first to buy.

[@jaggass]

Will this push up the price of VP330's?

[@gstormelectro]

Judging by recent reissues of MS-20, Odyssey, Model D, 101 and more - I'd say prices remain about the same.

[@marcuspearson6214]

Really good review, I recently purchased a moog opus 3 string synth, I love string synths...do you know behringer are bringing out a desktop version of the solina ensemble

[@gstormelectro]

I have a Solina and I'm still very excited about this. On board phaser: genius. Euro format :D and you can patch anything into that luscious triple BBD chorus section! And it's STEREO - mine is not

[@marcuspearson6214]

@@gstormelectro yeah, the small stone is a must with any string machine, by the way, I have recently been sending my Korg Polysix thru your ARP2600 filter clone I bought from you a while back....it sounds bloody awesome and wipes over the built in filter

[@notgonnatakeit1]

You actually talk like a robot without the vocoder! I wonder if that helps with the VC340.

[@scavenom2008]

Behringer is destroying the competition for sure

[@gstormelectro]

They're hitting home runs. And just getting started :D

[@TPsynth]

No sustain input on a string synth???!! Is there at least a hold button?

[@neoaureus]

not phased locked and divide down architecture ? whoa ? pls explain

[@gstormelectro]

I was saying the VC-340 didn't have the same shortcomings as the VP-03, I address those things in my VP-03 review kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJWad2Vsi8-npbc

[@texacomann]

On mine there is nö stereo out at the head Phone output. Is this normal?

[@Pi-Photo]

Would be interesting to hear an arpeggio controlling the vocoder + voice...

[@MasterIvo]

you can make it velocity sensitive, read the online manual

[@zajdima]

8:24 -> ordered ✓

[@ingoodmusic]

blade runner blues

[@Xorcist-Band]

It's IEC power cord fyi =)

[@deepeightyeight]

did u use any effect on master?

[@gstormelectro]

Recorded direct to Tascam DR-05. No other effects nor processing of any kind.

[@deepeightyeight]

thanks @@gstormelectro

[@AlainHubert]

Great review. I love my VC340, but I wish it had a 4 octave keyboard, as one the original, to take advantage of the full range of the divide down design. Although it's possible to exploit it with an external MIDI keyboard controller (I use my DeepMind 12 for that). I don't know if you know it, but the VC340, as well as the original VP330, have a peculiar feature when you use a footswitch pedal with the vocoder, where it will hold the last modulator signal. For example, if you say "oh" in the mic, and hold down the footswitch pedal, it will hold that "oh" for as long as you press it, and for as long as you play a note. There is no "standard" keyboard sustain pedal on this machine to hold down played notes (exactly like on the VP330). That's why Vangelis, a famous VP330 user, used some kind of clips to hold down notes for drones sounds from his VP330. You can do the same on the VC340. Also, the VC340 adds velocity control (selectable between fixed at 127 and variable, by holding down the two ensemble buttons upon power-up, which toggles between the two modes).

[@petedako]

FYI everything in your comment about the very useful but not so well understood sustain pedal function is already covered in this video clip FWIW as a new VC340 owner/player I found downloading the original Roland VC330 manual was super helpful

[@ingoodmusic]

please, make another more playing and no talking video

[@richievega8921]

I think the IEC power connector puts this over the top!

[@gstormelectro]

It almost makes up for the no sustain pedal thing. Which I think a firmware update w/ MIDI sustain pedal response would be great.

[@josephwright5921]

I am astounded that it doesn’t have a sustain pedal input!

[@TPsynth]

Seriously for string and choir sounds its a must!

[@securityrobot]

The original VP 330 was released in 1979, Battlestar Galactica was released in 1978 - so the Cylon voices couldn’t have been created with this instrument.

[@gstormelectro]

It may be an EMS vocoder? The 330 makes a convincing Cylon nonetheless.

[@Wagoo]

yeah it's an EMS - "supajc" channel on youtube has a whole series about trying to recreate the exact signal chain of the Cylon voice

[@The_Invisible_Man]

Shame to hear that the range was not extended, that would have been an improvement on the original.

[@synthesizerhome2041]

to feature MIDI is a strong improvement

[@ruffiankickloops]

id buy one just to sound like sounwave from Transformers LMAO

[@fortheloveofnoise9298]

The only bad thing is no ensemble for the strings.

[@kanekitchen3802]

ensemble is always on for the string section, so it's the opposite - only bad thing is you couldn't turn off ensemble if you wanted to

[@jdssurf]

For over 500 bucks it better have metal pot shafts lol damn.

[@joemcm1]

seriously the behringers are really pretty good-but this one doesnt really sound like the vp330.a good instrument in its own right?-yea fair enough

[@LuddyVonBeat]

i am interrested but, The strings sound very distorted to my ears.

[@WrvrUgoThrUR]

Literally the same housing as the Deepmind.

[@jackpijjin4088]

Same construction, different design.

[@MarkGordonBrown]

You should give it to someone who can do something creative with it

[@yayayaokoksure]

Wtf Behringer

[@therealpianodude]

not very convincing the demonstrated sounds. If it can do better, why don´t you show