Hi, this is a brief sound comparison of the Behringer Spice with the Moog Subharmonicon. It is not really scientific, nor is it meant to be a review. I was comparing these two at home and I recorded the session. I thought this might be interesting and worth sharing. The comparison will start after the intro demo track. Drums by Maschine +
Thank you for the demo. Slightly misleading though since the Moog was recorded a tad louder and that always sounds "better" to our ears. Both sound good though, slightly different flavours, but close enough that nobody would be able to tell the difference in a mix. And that's where the real music happens. So, I will be buying a Spice when the price comes down, can't afford the Moog anyway 😅
Thank you for this video. After initially being confused by the sounds of the device, and now that I better understand the concept and structure of the unit, I kept wondering if the sound is sometimes really that crunchy? And how the Moog sounds. It gives me a good overview... and in my opinion, the SPICE sounds a bit rougher or more distorted. Well, depends on what you like at all - great comparison!
Subharmonicon's oscillators sounds almost like DCOs. It's clear that they're reseted by every NoteOn. IDK is it an option or permanent. But it's not good if it's permanent IMHO. Spice's oscillators sound like "free" definitelly. It's always good if there is an option to reset oscillators on every NoteOn. But not all synthesizers has it obviously (although it's not a hard thing to implement especially when there are just two VCOs). Waveforms are surprizingly different! I suspect that these are just different op.amps on the output stage. If Spice's motherboard has sockets for this ICs then it could be swapped with different op.amps. But I doubt that they do that (it's more expensive to produce even in big quantities). But these can be different filter's components as well (or even the schematics). Also every VCO has trimpots to tune the waveshapes (depends on the schematics, in some of them you can't change the shape without ruining the tuning).
Why do so many of the Spice tones sound like they have a phaser and distortion added? The sound is really soft and fuzzy compared to the Moog. It lacks bite and clarity. This is disappointing even compared to other Behringer clones. Good news for Moog I guess.
Yes, there is more “warble” and “wave” in the Spice. It’s adds more movement to the sounds so depending on your preference and usage that can be a negative or a positive.
I've really liked a lot of the behringer clones and was eagerly waiting for the spice, but to my ears it is so off the mark it is not worth getting. Every demo I've heard it sounds kind of fuzzy and phasey and lacks the warmth of the subharmonicon. I hope that maybe a firmware update will become available to fix the sound.
Spice sounds "fluffy" and Subharmonicon sounds very accurate and "straight". Maybe Spice has "worse" quality of some parts. Probably the capacitors has less precision and the same about transistors and transistor pairs (in VCOs). This thing is funny: when you take the cheapest caps and make a VCO it will sound much more interesting and live than the same VCO that was made of the best parts. Yeah, it will be consistent for years but it will be boring as hell. I can't tell that Subharmonicon sounds boring. But it's almost like a VST. If not count the filter's sound and no aliasing in any configurations (VSTs can't do that to the end). But I guess that in some near future we'll hear VSTs that will be simulating this sound without problems (not counting the CPU usage). Also I can't tell that I like how Spice sounds... It's way too detuned. Maybe Subharmonicon has a auto-tuning circuit that fixes any fluctuations. Or it has the best compensation parts installed.
Great vid, not a lot between them at all. I have a love hate relationship with the Spice after 2 weeks of it being in the studio I am ready for boxing it up and never using it again. I find it so frustration to get something good out of it. When it ticks it's amazing but for every 10 mins that it ticks it takes 30 to 40 mins to get it there.
Yeah, same with the subharmonicon. Just one touch too far and everything is ruined. But if you get it right, then it's just a beautiful and hypnotic experience.
I currently use it as midi rythm generator : Clock via USB to DAW, Jam with it, record the midi via USB in the DAW and use it to play other synths, e.g. a bass with short release, or drums, or a synth where you would typically use an arp to make it sound more interesting. If needed: spread the midi notes further apart on some steps for more variation.
Man...I hate it because the Moog seems smoother and warmer. The Spice (and a lot of Behringer remakes) have a slight fizziness over the original, but is that enough to justify more than twice the price???? That's the question I'm wrestling with haha.
Does Spice has the same problem with envelopes like Crave has? The thing in Crave is that you can't set very small Attack values precisely. In about 0-5% they comes with a noticeable step. It's like you just don't have these values at the beginning at all. The funny thing is (as I've found and remember) that Crave's envelopes are analog. So this mistake is probably from a cheap ADC (I guess that the envelope's controls can be changed via CC by MIDI). Or these are just very cheap and bad pots. Or a mistake in the schematics... Whatever. It has this thing.
Hi, this is a brief sound comparison of the Behringer Spice with the Moog Subharmonicon. It is not really scientific, nor is it meant to be a review.
I was comparing these two at home and I recorded the session. I thought this might be interesting and worth sharing. The comparison will start after the intro demo track. Drums by Maschine +
Thank you for the demo. Slightly misleading though since the Moog was recorded a tad louder and that always sounds "better" to our ears. Both sound good though, slightly different flavours, but close enough that nobody would be able to tell the difference in a mix. And that's where the real music happens. So, I will be buying a Spice when the price comes down, can't afford the Moog anyway 😅
Thank you for this video. After initially being confused by the sounds of the device, and now that I better understand the concept and structure of the unit, I kept wondering if the sound is sometimes really that crunchy? And how the Moog sounds. It gives me a good overview... and in my opinion, the SPICE sounds a bit rougher or more distorted. Well, depends on what you like at all - great comparison!
Subharmonicon's oscillators sounds almost like DCOs. It's clear that they're reseted by every NoteOn. IDK is it an option or permanent. But it's not good if it's permanent IMHO. Spice's oscillators sound like "free" definitelly. It's always good if there is an option to reset oscillators on every NoteOn. But not all synthesizers has it obviously (although it's not a hard thing to implement especially when there are just two VCOs).
Waveforms are surprizingly different! I suspect that these are just different op.amps on the output stage. If Spice's motherboard has sockets for this ICs then it could be swapped with different op.amps. But I doubt that they do that (it's more expensive to produce even in big quantities). But these can be different filter's components as well (or even the schematics). Also every VCO has trimpots to tune the waveshapes (depends on the schematics, in some of them you can't change the shape without ruining the tuning).
Great video, thanks
This is a really great jam!
Thanks Tom
Why do so many of the Spice tones sound like they have a phaser and distortion added? The sound is really soft and fuzzy compared to the Moog. It lacks bite and clarity. This is disappointing even compared to other Behringer clones. Good news for Moog I guess.
Yes, there is more “warble” and “wave” in the Spice. It’s adds more movement to the sounds so depending on your preference and usage that can be a negative or a positive.
Wat een onzin
They sound different but the same. If that makes any sense. Lol . Worth having both I think.
I've really liked a lot of the behringer clones and was eagerly waiting for the spice, but to my ears it is so off the mark it is not worth getting. Every demo I've heard it sounds kind of fuzzy and phasey and lacks the warmth of the subharmonicon. I hope that maybe a firmware update will become available to fix the sound.
thanks man
Spice sounds "fluffy" and Subharmonicon sounds very accurate and "straight". Maybe Spice has "worse" quality of some parts. Probably the capacitors has less precision and the same about transistors and transistor pairs (in VCOs). This thing is funny: when you take the cheapest caps and make a VCO it will sound much more interesting and live than the same VCO that was made of the best parts. Yeah, it will be consistent for years but it will be boring as hell.
I can't tell that Subharmonicon sounds boring. But it's almost like a VST. If not count the filter's sound and no aliasing in any configurations (VSTs can't do that to the end). But I guess that in some near future we'll hear VSTs that will be simulating this sound without problems (not counting the CPU usage).
Also I can't tell that I like how Spice sounds... It's way too detuned. Maybe Subharmonicon has a auto-tuning circuit that fixes any fluctuations. Or it has the best compensation parts installed.
Sie klingen sehr ähnlich, sehr zum Leidwesen der Behringer-Hasser.
Great vid, not a lot between them at all. I have a love hate relationship with the Spice after 2 weeks of it being in the studio I am ready for boxing it up and never using it again. I find it so frustration to get something good out of it. When it ticks it's amazing but for every 10 mins that it ticks it takes 30 to 40 mins to get it there.
Yeah, same with the subharmonicon. Just one touch too far and everything is ruined. But if you get it right, then it's just a beautiful and hypnotic experience.
I currently use it as midi rythm generator : Clock via USB to DAW, Jam with it, record the midi via USB in the DAW and use it to play other synths, e.g. a bass with short release, or drums, or a synth where you would typically use an arp to make it sound more interesting. If needed: spread the midi notes further apart on some steps for more variation.
@ Great use case! The Subharmonicon hasn‘t midi out.
Man...I hate it because the Moog seems smoother and warmer. The Spice (and a lot of Behringer remakes) have a slight fizziness over the original, but is that enough to justify more than twice the price???? That's the question I'm wrestling with haha.
@@byronvisiado09 tough decision to make… 🙂
Does Spice has the same problem with envelopes like Crave has? The thing in Crave is that you can't set very small Attack values precisely. In about 0-5% they comes with a noticeable step. It's like you just don't have these values at the beginning at all. The funny thing is (as I've found and remember) that Crave's envelopes are analog. So this mistake is probably from a cheap ADC (I guess that the envelope's controls can be changed via CC by MIDI). Or these are just very cheap and bad pots. Or a mistake in the schematics... Whatever. It has this thing.
Every synth has different scalings on the knobs. Never touched a Crave but I didn't notice such behaviour on the Spice.
Behringer holds up well..close..but not as warm and detailed as the Moog .
Is omdat er warmte uit de naam Moog komt voor u .
Moog will always win against counterfeit Moog
Wat een onzin. Praatjes door mensen die een merk het belangrijkste vinden.