Behringer DeepMind 6

The Sound - I'm no synth expert but a quick look on-line and you'll soon see that the Deepmind is being compared to some of the much higher priced equipment and with good reason. The proof in is the pudding.

Ease of use - No one likes to have their inspiration sapped because of a complicated menu system with loads of levels to have to edit. Forget that with the Deepmind. There's plenty of control on the surface but when you do have to use the menus they have been written and layed out in such and intuitive way that it's an actual pleasure to use. USB to a PC and use the outboard app and it's even easier.

Specs - As per the title. Flexibility is what this synth stands for. There's so much for money and everything can be edited, configured, routed, modulated and changed to how you desire.

Build Quality - This is where I most expected to have to compromise but as it sits in my studio it's not going to get knocked about. Again, how wrong I was. This thing is build like a tank. It looks absolutely beautiful in the flesh and every control from the sliders to the mod wheel to the keyboard feel nothing less than top quality. I've only ever had a couple of Behringer bits and never, personally, had any issues. I suspect the case will be the same with the Deepmind.


PRO's -------------------------------------
Quality, Quality and lets not forget quality

Comparable to Synthesizers 3 and 4 times the price.

Ease of use. A total beginner will get a lot out of this but put a pro in the driver seat and watch this Synth fly.

Effects are amazing and not only fully editable but can also be modulated down to the parameter.

Mod matrix - So flexible and involved but easy to get your head around.

Sound Quality.

CON's -------------------------
The only one I've found thus far is the Occolator section could be more flexible. There are two of them but OSC 1 only has Sawtooth and Square. OSC 2 only has Square.

A waves section would be icing on the cake.

I'm into music and sound experimentation so a synthesiser with open and intuitive control is essential. I simply didn't have the budget for spending £000's so The Beheringer Deepmind was easily top of the list for spec.

I expected to be having some kind of compromise with the Behringer as per previous revues of some of their early hardware. How wrong I was.

Fantastic Job Beheringer.

The DeepMind 6 is a really great synth for those on a budget. It has a really versatile sound, and can be used for just about anything from soft pads, to hard-hitting, deep basslines. Really easy to configure, and even easier to integrate with a DAW. I use FL Studio and have had absolutely no trouble in setting it up for recording. Once you have the setup worked out, it takes just a few seconds to prepare it for recording in a session.

It really does a great job in creating an analog sound, and it's no wonder so many people trust in it. Sure, it emulates iconic synths in many different ways, but it has its' own sound, which is what makes it so special.

I have used it on countless major-signed records & will continue to use it on my tracks. It really helps you to shape your OWN sound too, as you can save your own presets & start bringing them into all your records.

I’m primarily a guitar player, but I like to incorporate synth sounds into my music sometimes. Previously I’ve used vst plugins or synths on my ipad. Vst plugins I found to be unsatisfying and annoying to configure/edit sounds. Too much menu diving and mouse clicking. I got better results from the iPad synths…. But I was left with envy at all those people on YouTube with their hardware midi setups grooving away. So I wondered if investing in a real piece if hardware would be worth it for me.

It took me a long while to settle on the deepmind 6. From my research it seemed to have the right amount of ‘twiddlability’ to be satisfying to use.

I wasn’t wrong I’m happy to say… but also importantly it comes with a ton of ready made patches that you can instantly twiddle and work out how they are done… or simply use them. This is good… because you have all the options that a serious synth player demands, but less of a learning curve to get going. I was making obnoxious noises within seconds of plugging it in!

Construction wise, behringer have done a good job. Most of the chassis is metal with what appear to be fairly classy wooden sides. It’s heavy and reassuring. It does have a fairly noisy fan, but I expected this.

So being no synth expert, I’ll try and explain how I’m using it. So it is an analog sythesiser, but all the settings (so far as I can make out) are saveable as patches. What is also cool, and I didn’t expect, is that when I hook it up to my DAW to sequence the deepmind, it also records all the automation of sliders and other controls on the unit. So you can create a full performance in layers. This is an awesome thing. Endless fun trying the sequenced parts with different sounds and settings.

Syncing it to your DAW is very easy too. I’ve not worked out how to make the DAW the master for tempo yet, so I’m setting that manually for now. Not a problem for my use case in a recording setting.

The sounds are very good in the this machine and work well in a mix. Better for me than trying to get vst patches to sit well. I’m sure that’s due to my own inexperience with it, but this works well instantly. I find it easier to mix everything as audio for some reason.

Ok so one down side is that the audio outputs are a little noisy. This is not a deal breaker for me. This is a real analog piece of kit and for me it’s part of its charm. Practically speaking though it doesn’t affect any productions I’ve done with this so far. It’s not noticeable in the tracks. I’m just aware when I have the deepmind hooked up to my studio mixer I have a little electronic hum that isn’t usually there. So I press the mute switch on that input… job done. I do that anyway. I have everything hooked up to my mixer and mute them when I’m not recording them.

This unit offers the kind of sounds that I grew up listening to from the 70s and 80s, but I think your imagination would be the main limiting factor here. This machine is very powerful. Also it’s clear that the team that designed it really put a lot of thought into how it will be used in different setups. It’s also just incredibly fun and satisfying to move a slider and the sounds instantly changes.

So in conclusion, this is a great way to get into analog synthesis with enough options to let you grow as you become more proficient. I’m very happy with it.