Behringer DeepMind 12

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FM VERDICT

7.9

The DeepMind won’t

undermine the market

for characterful vintage

analogue polysynths, but it

is ﬂ exible and interesting.

SCREEN With a lot hidden depths in

the programming department, this

screen is important. Edit buttons

across the front panel provide multi-

page access to additional parameters.

DCO 1&2 DCO1 offers a saw and

square wave (with PWM), while DCO2

is square-only, though the Tone Mod

slider interrupts the waveform with an

additional variable width pulse.

UNISON DETUNE The DeepMind

facilitates a host of voice layering

options with voice in the stack

detunable from next for extra fatness,

especially with 12 of them at once.

CONNECTIVITY Although the synth

sports the now-obligatory MIDI and

USB connectors, it is the invisible

wi-ﬁ networking feature that is

most unexpected.

a third all-purpose envelope for other

control duties. Unlike those in the

’80s, these software envelopes can be

very fast, with the added advantage of

conﬁ gurable curves for every stage.

This vastly expands the synth’s

mimicry possibilities.

The two LFOs are also very

well-equipped, with each capable of

generating one of seven waveforms,

though even here the Slew-Rate

control allows you to smooth the

underlying shapes for further choice.

Unlike many vintage analogue

polysynths, each voice has its own

LFO, and there are a host of ways to

determine how each is triggered and

their relative timings.

Besides the section-speciﬁ c

routings for envelope and LFO

modulation there is a dedicated Mod

Matrix with eight user conﬁ gurable

slots. Here 22 modulation sources

can be routed to nearly 130

destinations including individual

envelope stage times, levels and

curves, panning, drift, high-pass ﬁ lter

cutoff frequency, effects parameters

and the mod depth of other

modulation slots. This section is

comprehensive, very powerful and

better than many soft synths.

The ﬁ nal icing on the cake here is

the effects section, which employs

some powerful digital DSP to deliver

four simultaneous processing blocks

that can sit in parallel to the analogue

signal path if you wish it to remain

unsullied by digital modernity.

Mention must also go to the ARP/

SEQ section. The Arpeggiator has all

the features you’d expect, including

Swing, but adds a pattern sequencer

that automates velocity and gate time

(but not notes) for each step

independently of the current Arp

pattern. There are 32 preset patterns

and 32 slots for your own. This

sequencer shouldn’t be confused with

the Control Sequencer – also in this

section – that allows you to create

32-step custom modulation

sequences. Add to that two types of

chord memory function, portamento,

pitch and mod wheels, and that’s

almost it, in terms of control, until

you peer around the back and ﬁ nd

the Pedal/CV input plus MIDI and

USB connectivity. However, the ﬁ nal

string to the Behringer’s bow is wi-ﬁ

connectivity (both as client or access

point) that supports rtpMIDI. In fact

all three MIDI connection methods

can work simultaneously, with the

option of DeepMind acting as a MIDI

hub and passing data between wi-ﬁ ,

MIDI DIN and USB ports.

One possible criticism of the

DeepMind’s editing system is that not

all parameters are available via front

panel controls. Others are accessed

from Edit buttons that offer screen-

based tweaking. Frustratingly, the

software editor takes a similar

approach and requires you to open

and close individual windows to edit

various groups of parameters. While

DeepMind is certainly interactive and

powerful, it lacks the immediacy of

some simpler classics like Roland’s

Juno-106 or Jupiter-8. For example,

an FX bypass button would have been

very useful; though this reveals

something else about the DeepMind

– effects are central to its sound.

Removing the effects leaves a decent

synth with its own sonic template but

one that perhaps lacks the charisma

of beloved analogue classics. One

also wonders if it could have lowered

its voice count but added more

oscillator options. The other oddity is

its internal fans. They are audible,

though can be turned off, but with no

mention of long-term consequences.

All told, DeepMind is an

impressive ﬁ rst entry into the synth

arena for Behringer. Unlike some

previous products of theirs, this is not

a cut-price clone, and has its own

take on what a £1,000 analogue

polyphonic synth should be. Throw in

the free cross-platform editing

software, massive 1,024 onboard

presets and three-year warranty, and

you have an alluring package.