Page 2: Behringer RD-8 Rhythm Designer

Positive Reinforcement

Let's turn to some of what's new and fun. What I love are the new performance features. The 808's format already made it good for live tweaking, but adding things even as simple as Mute and Solo make a big difference to live improvisation on the RD‑8.

The RD‑8 enjoys the spacious layout of the 808 and measures 498 x 265 x 77mm. You might need a bigger desk.

Front and centre on the panel you get the Note/Step Repeat section. These functions retrigger/loop an individual sound or pattern step respectively, with a choice of four time divisions. I particularly like the Step Repeat. It's a fairly straightforward stutter/roll effect compared with, say, the Scatter effects on Roland's modern drum machines, but it's exactly what's needed to keep things alive with quick fills or more dramatic builds.

As well as the live Note Repeat function, you can tie one, two, four or eight(!) retriggers to individual steps as part of the pattern. What you can't do, here or on the live Repeat, is add dotted notes for those classic trap–style dragging hats.

RD‑8 sequences can store a lot more than just pattern data. Nearly all settings, including tempo, swing, filter mode, and even mutes and solos can be stored per Pattern, per Song, or Globally. You can choose this preference for each parameter type separately, so you might want to store the tempo for a whole song, but have mutes or filter mode stored per-pattern.

Taking a leaf from the Elektron book of sequencing, the RD‑8 features Probability: the option to introduce the element of chance into whether active steps trigger or not. The main Data encoder has a master mode for Probability, which adjusts the percentage chance of all steps enabled for probability. The same system works for Flams.

Now, the way that both Probability and Flam have been implemented is the very definition of the word 'assbackwards'. By default, Probability (and Flam) is on for every step on all tracks. So as you dial in Probability or Flam, these effects will start to apply to every note across all channels. To be more selective about which steps are affected you can go into a Settings mode and deselect the steps that you want to mask out. So, if you want to introduce a little randomness to a few snare hits in your pattern, you will need to painstakingly press every step button, on every bar, one channel at a time until only those few snares remain lit! Given that we only have a few short years to enjoy our families before the North Sea takes Kettering, this seems a tad inefficient.

Effects

Still on fun new stuff, two effects have been added to the RD‑8 master bus. Both of which are analogue, thus avoiding any potential griping about sullying the pure analogueness of the signal chain. Behringer's Manchester crew sure seem to know their market. The effects sit in series on an optional route to the master bus: they don't affect the individual outs or (somewhat frustratingly) the headphone output, and you can send signals via the effects on a channel-by-channel basis.

Signals on the effects loop first go through the Wave Designer, which is somewhere between a transient designer and compressor. It can add punch to transients, make the mix pump and generally add overall oomph. Then you have a resonant filter, which can switch between low- and high-pass modes. A surprising bonus is that you can automate the filter cutoff within each pattern. This can be recorded in real time, or adjusted per step in Settings mode.

It's a nice touch that you can send channels individually to the effects, but the routing scheme means that sounds have to go through the Wave Designer to get to the filter. I'd actually prefer it if the Wave Designer was on the optional bus and the filter was just on the mix all the time, ready for quick transition effects.

The Verdict

If you've ever lusted after an analogue 808 then the RD‑8 will definitely put a smile on your face. Surely only serious collectors would now opt to pay more than 10 times as much for the original? Sonically, it's spot on where it really matters, and where it differs I generally preferred it. The chunky form factor and comprehensive I/O make it ideal as a performance instrument, not just a studio gadget.

It was of course the right move to add a modern, more accessible sequencer, but I think Behringer have fallen short of the mark here. The structure and operation are confusing, some things like the Probability system are nuts, and I wish they'd stayed true to the 808's real-time song write system. As this sequencer will presumably form the basis for other products like the RD-9, it might be worth them taking another look. Even so, these frustrations wouldn't stop me using the RD‑8 for its new performance features like mute/solo, Step Repeat, and the automatable filter. In summary, it sounds great and at this price is bound to prove irresistible.