Behringer DEEPMIND 12




Weight: 8.4 kg
Dimensions: 82.19 x 25.7 x 10.31 cm; 8.4 Kilograms
Model: DEEPMIND12
Colour: Black
Colour: Black

50 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

     Italy

    il synth fantastico 100% analogico e a controllo digitale suono leggermente freddo rispetto ad un vintage, ma non vuole esserlo, secondo me a questo prezzo non si trova qualcosa che abbia tutte le possibilit del deepmind, non me lo aspettavo da bheringhe

  2. Derek Malcolm says:

     United Kingdom

    Love it. Moved from hardware synths to software, now I’m back to hardware with the deepmind 12, and it’s been a good decision, great to have cthe control of the sounds at your finger tops.
    Construction is solid, and heavy especially after using keyboard controllers for a couple of years.
    Value for money is excelle

  3. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    First off, yes it is a fantastic and complex synth for the money and the ‘general’ build quality is excellent.
    However there seems to have been some quality control (or maybe just ‘quality’) issues with the key-bed.
    I’ve seen a few Youtube videos and read a few post with users complaining about ‘dead keys’. This is where you play a key, but you either get no sound from that specific key or it doesn’t consistently trigger a note.
    I had 2 such keys on my unit. Interestingly it seems to always be an issue with minor (black) keys.
    I’ve contacted Behringer support, who guided me through some calibration settings, but the problem persisted.
    I’ve booked a return to Amazon (always impressed how easy that is).
    Unfortunately I have to miss out on the pretty sweet deal I’d had.
    The unit i bought was listed as ‘from the warehouse’ (basically Amazon’s version of ‘B-Stock’), so there was already about a 35 discount. But there is currently a promotion on where-by certain warehouse items receive a further 20% discount. So I saved quite decent amount. Unfortunately I can’t just replace my defective ‘warehouse’ unit for a full price one, so after my refund, i’ll have to pay about another 150 to buy one full price.
    Damn. Was so close to a great deal there for a minute!!! :/

  4. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    This is a very good machine for use in your setup,but not so good as a one show pony.
    It really does make a lot of wide and varied sounds in a high quality and has a huge amount of features under the hood.
    You can get the deep mind software from the website which is great and makes editing really easy.
    It is also very aestheticly pleasing to the eye and i like that as it makes me want to play with it.
    Expect a learning curve but its worth it.
    A*****

  5. RachelUDLA says:

     United Kingdom

    Not only is this a fantastic synth at this price point but it’s a fantastic synth full stop! Lush warm and rich analogue tones. The filters sound amazing and the 12 voices allow the creation of unbelievable soundscapes. It also connects easily to the windows app and also the IPad to delve deeper into sound design. This will be in my collection for a long time and will feature in all my releases moving forward!

  6. Darwin8932 says:

     Spai

    La fbricacion es muy buena y robusta se nota que es de calidad y bueno su funcionamiento es increble

  7. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Looks like it will survive a lot of gigging. Not a flight case of course so don’t be dropping your deepmind on the floor and expecting this to save it. But it will protect against scuffs, rain etc when loading in/out the van. Fat sturdy zips, couple of handy compartments. Pricy but you get what you pay for…

  8. KerrieCarper says:

     Germany

    Da der erste DeepMind 12 eine Defekte Taste hatte, ging dieser zurck. Nun wie der defekt zustande kam kann mehrere Ursachen haben.

    Entweder ist was im Fullfilment Center, Spediteur oder gar bei Behringer selber bzw. auf dem Transportweg.

    Der Support seitens Amazon war gut so wie der von Behringer auch. Die Retoure verlief ohne Probleme und die Rckerstattung ebenso.

    Die Software fr das Gert luft auch mit aktuellen Wine Versionen unter Linux mit kleinen Einschrnkungen. Es knnen keine Presets per Drag and Drop hinzugefgt werden. Das Firmware Update war auch nur via Windows/Mac VM mglich.

    Der DeepMind hat einen schnen Klang und ist sehr vielseitig. Aber eine Bagpipe hrt sich darauf schrecklich an, zumindest mit dem Factory Preset “Bagpipe”. Das kann die Poly D besser.

    Das Display wurde von vielen bemngelt, aber ich hab damit keine Probleme.

    Die Verarbeitung ist gut. Die Seitenteile sind aus Holz und der Rest des Gehuses ist aus Metall.

    Man kann auch mehrere DeepMinds ber Midi in Poly Chain Modus betreiben. Ich werde mir noch einen DeepMind holen.

    Ein toller Analogsynth mit viel Potenzial

  9. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    A fa tasting 12 Voice poly synth you can’t beat it for the money

  10. DeniceP78fbi says:

     United Kingdom

    A six voice version of the great DM12 sounds just as good with factory presets and endless options to craft your own sounds

  11. Dale51Rwengpgum says:

     Italy

    Ottimo synth ad un prezzo veramente basso, occorre ovviamente un po’ di esperienza nel campo della sintesi sonora per poterlo usare al 100%. comunque dotato di una libreria di suoni molto ampia.

  12. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    A very heavy, but very well built synthesizer, this is the big brother to the Deepmind 6 synth.
    Sounds incredible, quality construction, and more fun than a balloon dance. ( Well… almost..).
    Go on… treat yourself.

  13. Anonymous says:

     Germany

    Golden Review Award: 2 From Our UsersVorweg lsst sich sagen: das Gert wird auf jeden Fall eine Weile bei mir bleiben.
    Zuerst das Positive: Der Klang lsst keine Wnsche offen. Echter voller analoger Sound bis hin zu abstrakten Soundeffekten, ist alles machbar. 6 Stimmen mgen manchem zu wenig sein, strt mich persnlich aber nicht. Die Bedienung knnte kaum besser sein. Behringer hat tatschlich den Spagat geschafft zwischen einer intuitiven analogen Sounddesign Oberflche nach Vintage-Synth Manier, verbunden mit einer modernen, schier unendlichen Modulations- und Effektmatrix in der man sich Stunden verlieren kann. Und das noch mit einer relativ bersichtlichen Menfhrung. Optik und Verarbeitung in der Preisklasse auch top, robustes Metallgehuse, zwei Holzpanels an den Seiten, die Fader und Knpfe fhlen sich gut an. Die eingebauten digitalen Effekte sind brauchbar, hauen einen aber nicht vom Hocker, das knnen einige VSTs besser. Dafr bekommt man gleich eine ganze Bibliothek an Effekten geliefert, deswegen trotzdem nice to have.
    Jetzt zum negativen:
    Der Lfter vom Gert ist relativ laut (etwa wie ein Tower-PC), vielleicht ist das fr einen Synthesizer dieser Gre auch normal da fehlt mir leider der Vergleich. Zumal merkt man das nach kurzer Zeit schon nicht mehr. Alle verfgbaren Speicherbnke fr Presets sind mit Werkspresets bespielt, heit um eigene Presets zu speichern mssen erst Werkspresets gelscht werden. Dazu kommt, dass durch die schiere Menge zwar hier und da auch brauchbare Sounds dabei sind, im Groen und Ganzen sind die Werkspresets aber nicht so der Hit. Nun aber zum grten Manko am DM6: das Keyboard.
    Zwar fhlen sich die Tasten fr einen Nicht-Klavierspieler wie mich in Ordnung an, die Anschlagsdynamik ist aber frn A****. Selbst in der Einstellung Soft” sind die weien Tasten nur mit seeehr viel Gefhl leise zu spielen. Umgedreht sind die schwarzen Tasten vielleicht gerade mal halb so empfindlich, was dazu fhrt dass diese Tne beim spielen von Akkorden komplett untergehen. Somit ist gefhlvolles Spielen auf diesem Keyboard praktisch nicht mglich. Dazu kommt, dass die obersten drei Tasten bei meinem Gert das schn fter beschriebene kleben” im Tastenbett haben. Wer also ein anstndiges Midi-Keyboard zu Hause hat, ist mit der Tastenlosen Version vom DM6 wahrscheinlich besser beraten.
    Abschlieend kann ich trotzdem sagen, abgesehen vom Keyboard sind alle negativen Punkte Kleinigkeiten und wer einen soliden analogen Synth mit vielen Funktionen zum Einsteiger-Preis haben mchte kann beim DeepMind beherzt zugreifen 🙂

  14. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    I’ve had my Deepmind 12 for a few months and the experience just keeps getting better! Most fun I’ve had in 40 odd years. Wife has to drag me off it at meal times.

  15. HowardBedford says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 3 From Our UsersThe Deepmind is a fantastic machine. So much for such a low price.
    Unfortunately after a few weeks quality issues forced me to return for refund.
    Keyboard issues, software issues. Control issues. Remote iOS did not function & Behringer simply couldn’t help.
    If it worked perfectly it would be a bargain but all the faults I found in a few weeks were intolerable.
    Had to return for refund.
    Hopefully Behringer will perfect the Deepmind. It’s a great machine but it MUST be totally reliable.

    Update – Had another Deepmind 12 delivered again it was faulty. It would not connect with my PC or iOS.
    I tried 2 computers & 2 iPads.
    The LCD screen was also askew.

    I have given up now. I really looked forward to using the Deepmind based upon the reviews.
    The Deepmind is a fantastic machine but you pay for what you get.
    Hardware & software issues are unacceptable.

  16. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Just buy one quickly. Absolutely amazing for this massive sounding synth and mega cheap for what you get. Loads of presets which you can alter to taste quickly and easily. Just simply fan f -ing tastic!!!!

  17. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Some people say the fans are noisy, utter guff. They can be dialed down to a level where you can barely hear them easily. This is a real synth players synth, superb effects, great sound (and easy to replicate classic synths from Roland with. This is a keeper for sure. The manual is paper thin, and whilst it’s easy to get detailed info online, I would have hoped for a better manual, but as I’ve been programming synths for over 30 years, not a biggie

  18. IndiaSixsmith says:

     Spai

    De una gran calidad de construccin y acabados. Se nota en el peso que siendo moderado, muestra la buena terminacin.
    El 6 tiene un tamao perfecto para tocar en casa.

    Su uso es muy sencillo y tiene multitud de parmetros para variar la seal que se pueden configurar hasta el infinito. Suena de maravilla y no tiene nada que envidiarle a sintes de marcas mucho mas caras.

    Sin duda es una opcin 100% recomendable.

  19. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    If you want good advice on the deep mind 12 watch some YouTube videos, you won’t find many bad ones, if any.

  20. Hillary says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 3 From Our UsersNot an expert on synths to be honest just dabble a bit writing and recording the odd synth pop tune on my tascam but totally blown away by this synth, I believe its worth way much more than the price. Loadsa preset sounds that sound Fantastic to me and tweak and make your own sounds. Pretty easy for a thicky like me to use.

  21. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 5 From Our UsersI’ve been playing and buying synths since 1970 and only recently started to buy Behringer models. I first got a Poly D and was blown away by it’s power and similarity to the MiniMoog in layout but then I decided to add a Deepmind 12. This has to be the bargain of the synth centuary. I’m getting sounds normally associated with synths like Juno, Prophet, CS80, PolyMoog and other such greats. This is an amazing machine and had I paid 2 or 3 or even 4 times the price, I wouldn’t have been disappointed. Don’t listen to the comments that say it is an entry level synth, it’s far more than that although it would be a great first synth as you can start getting some wonderful sounds from it as soon as it comes out of the box. *****+

    Behringer Deepmind 12

  22. GretcheIsaacson says:

     France

    Golden Review Award: 3 From Our UsersJe ne suis pas un fin connaisseur de l’analogique. Au del de la qualit, la multiplicit et la diversit des sons c’est son ct robuste qui m’a surpris. Je n’ai jamais eu un clavier de 49 touches aussi lourd. On sent la qualit de fabrication. Je ne parlerai pas de ses dfauts car l’heure actuel c’est encore trop vite car je l’ai depuis peu. J’aurais juste aim que les fonctions reverb, delay et decay soient en faade direct mais franchement pour le prix c’est de la bombe. Mon premier synth Behringer et aucun regret pour cet achat. Beaucoup de vidos sur le net pour dmontrer ses fonctionnalits, une plthore de sons 1024 presets l’intrieur de la machine et des banques de sons tlcharger sur internet. Qualit sonore un peu la Roland srie juno, des nappes bien grasses, des sons plus discrets, un arpegiateur assez complet.. bref y en a pour tous les gots. Pour ma part beaucoup de sons analogiques que je recherchais et pour son prix je n’en reviens toujours pas. Dommage qu’il ne soit pas multi timbral et aussi que l’on ne puisse pas splitter le clavier mais le plaisir est l et c’est le principal.

  23. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    An incredible synth. Simple to start playing with but with loads of depth to the sounds and effects. One of the best synths I’ve ever used and an absolute must have for any modern synth setup. Modulation matrix let’s you route up to 8 controllers (such as LFO, mod wheel etc) to almost any parameter and the built in effects units can be chained in various ways to really alter the character of the oscillators. Mind blowing stuff and worth every penny. Unbeatable in the sub 1000 range.

  24. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    DeepMind- It’s the Roland Juno 106 revised & advanced to version 2017.
    Fantastic. What a synthesiser.
    No further description required.

  25. MyrtleQ50o says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 6 From Our UsersWhere do I start with this?! The bad first. Mine had a slight fault whereby one of the keys needed more force to trigger than the rest, but areplacement synth was sent the next day and the faulty one was collected the day after. Can’t complain about service like that!
    Now the good. What an amazing synthesizer! 12 voice, 24 digitally controlled ANALOG oscillators, fully analog sound path with bypassable digital effects, over a thousand user editable patches… And at an amazing pricepoint, though I have seen some idiots charging stupid prices – pay no more than 699.00 at the most if you are desperate. I have seen it at between 580.00 and 650.00 for a reasonable price. I would recommend this to anyone looking for either a first synth or someone who wants to expand their pallet of hardware synths. It is incredibly versatile and a powerful tool for sound design, yet is very easy to use and with its display screen very informative. Easy to program new sounds and, get this, has built in WiFi for remote editing and patch storage. There is a free editor and librarian app available for pc and ipad which is amazing. Over 30 top quality effects built in of which you can use up to 4 simultaneously. It goes from classic analog bread and butter synth sounds to modern cutting edge sound design with ease. I love it to bits.
    Now, stop wasting your time reading this and buy one.

  26. Anonymous says:

     France

    Golden Review Award: 2 From Our UsersTrs inspirant ! On peut crer des sonorits volutives varies, des pads magnifiques, mais aussi des sons d’orgues simples ou des pianos lectriques, sans grande difficult.
    YouTube regorge de tutos, de reviews sur ce synth. Les banques de patch de GeoSynth pour cette bcane sont trs bonnes.
    Je regrette juste le fait qu’on ne puisse splitter le clavier, d’o mon toile en moins.
    En-dehors de cela, ce clavier est vraiment trs bon, bien pens et bien construit.

  27. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Grear quality gig bag for Behringer Deepmind 12 synthesizer. Logo and writing is very nicely stitched on both sides. Plenty of room for accessories. Good padding, but I wouldn’t want to throw it about with the synth inside or place in airliner cargo!

    All I need now is the Deepmind 12 to be delivered.

  28. RubenCadebi says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 3 From Our UsersInvaluable to my setup, I cannot believe Behringer have been able to offer such a good synth at such a low price. I’ve used several synthesisers – both polyphonic and monophonic – and this is one of the best I’ve used.

    Punches above its weigh

  29. Amber Faith says:

     Italy

    Dall ordine alla spedizione passata circa 1 mese, ma io non avevo fretta poi L ho pagato 100 in meno di qualsiasi negozio italiano, suoni bellissimi e potentissimi,vero analogico migliore come timbrica del 12.

  30. NolanIEDAvtjy says:

     Germany

    Golden Review Award: 6 From Our UsersSuper Gert, kann ich uneingeschrnkt empfehlen! Bestellt habe ich zwei mal, da an der ersten Lieferung eine Taste prellte. Die Verpackung durch Amazon war ungengend. Der erste kam ohne Umverpackung im original Karton. Der zweite wurde lose in einer riesigen Umverpackung, in der er wohl wie ein Flummi umhersprang, verschickt.
    Knftig wrde ich keine Musikgerte mehr bei Amazon kaufen. Das macht Thomann und Musicstore besser.

  31. Anonymous says:

     Germany

    Analoger Synthesizer zum Hammer Preis
    Unbedingt antesten.. Deepmind 12 mach spa und klingt richtig gut
    Die Tage der berteuerten gebrauchten Analog Synthesizer sind gezhlt
    Viel Analoges fr wenig Geld

  32. Christine Persaud says:

     United Kingdom

    Bought this for my son and he is over the moon with i

  33. MellissBettingt says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 4 From Our UsersIt’s my first analogue synth so I have nothing to compare it to, but I’m loving it either scrolling through 1000 plus presets, or making new sounds. Display is basic but tells you all you need and the Windows app augments it. Only slight minus was the lack of written information that came with it. Needed a download to access some of the features, which wasn’t mentioned anywhere. That aside, excellent, good value and sounds great.

  34. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 5 From Our UsersFor synths amazon sellers are NEVER competitive. (amazon price 11.05.20 – 899)
    At the time of review via PriceSpy I found this synths for:
    – 611 Thomann
    – 639 Muziker
    – 695 Andertons
    – 619 DV24/7
    Amazon seller fees most likely killing off any likely discount. SHOP AROUND !!

  35. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Great synth, great on lush pads and room shaking bases. Versatile too, my best synth purchase in many years.

  36. Anonymous says:

     Canada

    Awesome – if you have the DM 6 you need this bag for storage. The DM 6 is just bulky enough that a good storage medium is essential.

  37. Grace Earl says:

     United Kingdom

    This is an incredible analogue synth from Behringer with a massive sound and feature set. With WiFi integration and editing via iPad app makes sound design a breeze.

    Behringer are creating amazing products at an amazing price point. Highly recommended.

    Great service from seller, item arrived next day.

  38. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    It’s not as heavy on menu-diving as some have stated, but the menus are quite easy to navigate anyway, even for someone who’s relatively new to synthesis like myself. It’s sonic capabilities are unique without sacrificing practicality and it is always a pleasure to play. Also, it arrived before the estimated time which was a welcome surprise.

  39. Tom Caswell says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 3 From Our UsersNow almost half the price than the original rrp. This is the version to get as reports of the actual keyboard on another version is not great. If you want vintage sounds then the presets contain a lot of junk but you can make some really decent Basses for basslines ( using 2 of the 12 voices in Unison ), decent pads and string sounds too if you program your own ala Juno 60/106 otherwise buy a preset pack out there. The FX section is so comprehensive that this also makes an excellent sound design machine for ambient things too. I`d give it 4 stars at the price I paid a year after release ( around 750 ) but for 550 it has to be 5 stars now !

  40. Anonymous says:

     India

    Awesome synth for the price! Product came with power cable that works in India. Five stars for the product but amazon needs to know how to handle musical instruments! The box had a footprint on it… Apparently someone had stepped on it. Fortunately there was no damage.

  41. ChandraEdments says:

     Canada

    Trs bon rapport qualit / prix / Construction solide / Belle finition / Mode d’affichage de l’cran obsolte mais fait quand mme le travail. Banque de sons gnreuse orient style “Juno”, par contre ce n’est pas un bon choix si vous dsirez des sons style Moog model D

  42. Dennis Green says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 10 From Our UsersThe Deepmind has been likened to a modern Juno 60/106. That’s about right in terms of it’s place in the synthesizer world. It doesn’t have the greatest range of capabilities and sound designers need to look elsewhere. But if you want a poly that has significantly greater complexity you need to spend 1000. The Deepmind does smooth rich analogue really well. It needs a bit of work to make it sound gritty and dirty, and quite a few of the presets are wasted – though it does have some good ones – but for the money it’s near faultless. It’ll be in my rig for a long time.

  43. Melvin2357 says:

     United States

    Many many sounds. Nice to have for options between midi and synth.

  44. LottieBPUah says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 2 From Our UsersSimply a fantastic sounding synth with infinite options, filters etc. Not sure what else to say… The only negatives are, the lcd screen could have been better, but it does the job and the pc software for linking to it is pretty terrible.

  45. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 5 From Our UsersLove this synth the build quality is superb like a tank and its sound is amazing once the firmware update has been installed and patchs an controls have been calibrated, the complete update process takes around 30 minutes but once done your ready to go. The menu system is logically thought out hence theres no need to use.a operations manual the synth guides you through all tasks required for editing and saving etc… The synths overall sound is warm thick very Juno 106 ish with more in the tank. The only thing I found was a pain was that I had to delve into the Global menu and switch of the program change option in the MIDI SETTING and USB SETTING , to stop patchs automatically changing on their own when running the Deepmind 6 through my DAW, that’s the only fault I could find with it , mind you once altered everything ran smoothly. this synth is exactly what it says deep and intriguing, a programmers treasure troth the analog sound it delivers is amazing and the topping is its effects engine and modulation matrix a really must have considering its affordable price tag, how Behringer achieved this is just amazing, this synth is definitely a keeper.

  46. Blair4022rugcjj says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 32 From Our UsersThis is an awesome synth, I personally bought mine to replace a Juno 60 which I regrettably sold a few years ago. I was going to write a review about how great it is and how it compares to my Juno but others have already done that and there’s plenty of information online. So instead I will mention that mine required calibrating when I got it out the box and doing so made a huge difference to the sound and performance.

    On first power up I noticed some of the patches just didn’t sound quite right (they sounded too quiet and went into distortion when the volume was turned up for example) so what I did was as follows…

    1. Installed the DeepMind app on my laptop and used it to flash update the firmware over USB.
    2. Ran the built in calibration procedures by…
    a. Pressing Global 5 times
    b. Selecting Calibrate with the up down and yes controls
    c. Selecting Calibrate Voices followed by Calibrate All
    … this runs automatically on its own and takes a very long time, get yourself a cup of tea …
    d. Doing the same again but this time selecting Cal Mod Wheel, rolling the mod wheel all the way back and fourth multiple times and clicking yes to accept the new settings
    e. Selecting Cal Pitch Wheel, rolling the pitch bend back and forth multiple times, clicking yes then wiggling it in the loose bit in the middle position to calibrate the dead zone and pressing yes
    f. Selecting Cal Aftertouch and pressing a few keys individually as hard as I felt reasonable
    g. Skipping Cal Pedal (as I don’t have one)

    The difference it made was phenomenal, if you have a DeepMind I thoroughly recommend doing this because when I first got it out the box I thought there might have been something wrong with it or the patches were corrupted or something. After calibration I simply can’t put it down it sounds so great.

    I hope this helps others, I’m not sure why mine wasn’t calibrated out of the box but it definitely wasn’t.

  47. Anonymous says:

     Germany

    Golden Review Award: 3 From Our Userswow, was ein gert, ein kleiner makel, beschriftung fr die anschlsse hinten oben auf deckplatte anbringen, dann htte es noch ein sternchen gegebe

  48. VonnieDaniels says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 4 From Our UsersLoving the DM12. Go for it! You know you want to.

  49. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 2 From Our UsersOk, been out of the synth game for a while. When did they get sooo good ! I loooove the flexibility of this gem. I only wish I saved up a bit more for the Deepmind 12 now.

    Seriously, this is a very versatile piece of equipment. It is a highly creative tool if you know what you are doing. The factory sounds are great to play with, but it just makes you want to fiddle with all the bells and whistles to create more interesting sounds.

    Nice one Behringer ! Serious value for money and the quality is good too.

  50. Susan Whelan says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 10 From Our UsersI got my DeepMind 6 yesterday. The first thing that struck me was that it was heavier than I expected – it’s a solid, well-built unit and feels like something that was made to last. Three octave keyboard, but full size keys rather than the, often flimsy, mini keys used by some other manufacturers. There’s a little bit of sideways wobble in the sliders, but no more than in the classic synths that the DeepMind was based on. The panel layout is logical, straightforward, and I took to the VCF control layout immediately because of it’s similarity to my old Roland Jupiter-4 (which was also the last synth I used that had the LFO Delay feature that’s also included with the DeepMind – you can set it up so when you’re playing a melody and hold a long sustained note, some vibrato or filter modulation gradually fades in. A very musical feature. But, if you prefer, this keyboard also has aftertouch, so you can get a similar effect that way.) The box also contained the power cord (kettle-type plug with a relatively short cable, so I used a longer one that I had lying around) and a Quick Start guide. No manual and I can’t even find a DeepMind 6 manual online, so I’ve been using a DeepMind 12 manual for reference.

    The DeepMind synth engine design is based on the Roland Juno – Behringer now manufacture their own chips cloned from the Curtis chips used in the Juno, Jupiter, and many other classic polys, so it does have an “authentic” vintage analogue Roland-type sound and feel. But is also comes with a whole lot of clever stuff added that you didn’t get in the 1980s. The synth itself has a completely analogue signal path (and sounds like it), but with digital control, plus the option of digital effects (with 4 FX slots available and a full range of fx routing options – although, if you want to keep your signal 100% analogue, you can bypass the effects processor completely. ). And 1024 patch slots, so I’m unlikely to run out of storage for new sounds.

    There’s also a modulation matrix that lets you assign any controller you fancy – mod wheel, foot pedal, oscillators, envelopes, etc to modulate anything you fancy (could be filter or oscillator modulation, or even effects parameters – anything you like). This allows you to use it like a modular synthesiser and apply the same sound creation techniques. That’s a massive bonus too. Particularly for me, since most of what I’ve been doing recently has been with my Doepfer modular system. But, at the same time, for someone new to synths, it’s an easy synth to use – just browse the presets, find something you like and tweak the front panel controls until you get it sounding just right. (Which is what I’m doing right now, until I’ve absorbed more of the manual – although it’s easy enough to use, there are so many useful features available via the menu system that it’s going to take some time to get my head round everything. This is a serious piece of kit. And it’s features are very useful musically, which is the key point…)

    The only other current analogue polysynth I’ve used is the Korg Minilogue, which I like a lot. But this is better. And I mean way better in almost every respect – far more sophisticated, sturdier build, better keyboard, much more control over more sound parameters (including the effects section) and, personally, I prefer the sound of the DeepMind – the Minilogue filter wimps out a bit too much under high resonance. It would be unfair to the Minilogue to say it was like comparing a serious musical instrument to a toy keyboard, but I can’t shake off a little bit of that kinda feeling…

    I’ve never used a Juno, but I still have my old Jupiter 4 and, to compare (and there’s a lot more to the DeepMind than there’s room to mention), after “analogue signal path” the Jupiter obviously has almost none of the rest. I probably prefer the sound of the Jupiter-4 to the DeepMind, but that’s fine – I prefer the sound of the Jupiter-4 to most classic synths (including the Junos and even the other Jupiters). But I like the sound of this DeepMind more than some revered classic synths, like the Prophet 5 – it’s entirely subjective. Now, if I got my Jupiter fixed and restored, it would probably be worth around 2500 (I got it for 50 when it was unfashionable), and modern equivalents like Dave Smith’s Prophets and OB-6 also tend to run to at least a couple of grand. And this DeepMind cost me 465?