Behringer Kobol Expander - SonicLAB Review

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6 ай бұрын

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We're looking at the Behringer Kobol Expander, a remake/re-imagining of the French RSF Kobol Expander from 1979.
It was an interesting though quite rare instrument, based on the Kobol (the version with the keyboard) and designed to offer an alternative to the ubiquitous Minimoog. The Oscillators (with crossfading waveforms) have character and the 24dB resonant filter - not the Moog design but still with the low end reduction when resonance is added made it also has its own thing.
The additional patch points of the original made it more of a synthesists instrument with quite a lot of patch points, making it highly modulateable.
The Behringer version is built to a budget - with plastic knob shafts and a basic built-in MIDI interface, but its still got a character and has something about it that makes if an enjoyable synth to play with.
It can be used in desktop mode with the case it comes with, or indeed Eurorack mounted as it the case with many of their other cloned range.
Cheap, yes, but also not without character, charm and a lot of fun with some thunderous low end - the two oscillators sound great. I really enjoyed this one and found that while simple, the patching options make it more flexible than you'd think. It also sounds pretty nice.
Available now priced at around £175/$199
www.behringer.com/product.htm...
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#soniclab #behringer #kobol
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Пікірлер: 264

@sonicstate

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@davidpetersonharvey

I still don't think the original is worth the over $11,000 it's commanding on Reverb. I own a Juno 60 I bought in '92 for $250 used and I don't think they're worth the $2,000 price tag, either. These vintage prices are insane.

@bonaventura_AKA_ben

If you are reading this, please DO NOT HESITATE buying this! I’ve had mine a few days and I’m probably getting another. At 299usd it would be a bargain, at the current 199usd it’s an exceptional bargain, and if Nick is right about the vcos not being 3340s and a discrete design, then this baby is a phenomenal bargain. This is as close to a Moog Nastiness Level of 11 you’re going to get. This is going into my System 55 (Behringer), along with the 55 modules and my Moog Mother 32. Absolute modular heaven. Damn

@voidcat6876

this , this i dont mind behringer doing , cloning out of production synths to me is moraly perfect , it doesent harm the other company , becouse the synth is no longer generating revenue for them , and it helps musicians .

@SCHAAFJOERG

Best Kobol presentation so far!

@keythinwatford7153

Connect mine up to a Hydrasynth 49, Behringer Abacus, Brain, Chaos, Doepfer MAQ 16/3 and Dark Time sequencers. Endless hours of fun so far.

@johnnyvandeclit259

Funny thing is the Kobol is a bit of a French VCS3 as you could find it in some schools. It was the first synth I ever played with during my musique concrète workshop when I was 15/16yo. A friend has the modules now, gifted to him by our music teacher : 2 expander 1 and one expander 2 and the infamous presets sequencer. As you said, while the expander one is kind of Moog related (what substractive synth wasn’t ?) the expander 2 was very arp2600 related with the exact same voltage processor, sample and hold and lag and an LFO with individual waveform outputs, a mixer, all things making me believe that the French designers had maybe a bit more of ARP in their minds while designing the thing. To be honest, if Begringet puts the expander II out, I might fall for it as it is essential IMHO. Also as I spent quite some time with the original Kobol, I can confirm that you really hear and recognize the spirit of it in your demo, for those wondering. Good thing to know that the VCOs have been fully recreated, I also thought maybe there would be some trickery with the 3340. And 175 bucks. Crazy. You could add a zero and them multiply that by two to get a real one.

@paulemery7353 10 сағат бұрын

Why don’t we see many Sonic Lab reviews like this now ? Really miss them.

@JLeonSarmiento

Finally got what the Kobol was about thanks to this video.

@ultralife73

That thing has a LOT of character and you really bring that out. Thanks!

@NEOREV_MUSIC

Enjoying hearing what Behringer synths sound like in Nick's hands. I always love his sound design.

@mauriciomandara5946

The best synth reviewer on KZfaq … thanks for sharing!

@kezstone1

Thank you so much for the excellent review. I purchased the Kobol and it's wonderful. It reminds me of 1980 when I first got my hands on a synth. It took me a while to suss it out as the layout is very different but when you finally click...oh! my it's an absolutely joy. It is very simple but has synergy. Incredibly inspiring.

@skywalnut

You have a real knack for extracting great sounds from these things. I didn't expect to like that as much as I did. Thanks!

@MatthewFolstad

Great job Nick. Definitely the best review of the Kobol so far for me. Really got it to show its unique sound.

@CommunityGuidelines

Excellent review, Nick, you coaxed a lot of nuance and character out of this unusual instrument. It sounds fantastic.

@mike.thomas

Wow that was an excellent review. Nick always manages to coax great and interesting sounds out of equipment, and this time is no different!

@roismacara5079

Bought this a month ago for the depeche , broken frame sun and the rain type sounds which it excels at. Really nice synth indeed.

@jrsrcz-r512

Great review.. I am just getting to grips with mine.. You have given me a few great ideas in this review .. Good to see Behringer products reviewed. Thanks.