Behringer NEUTRON

I was looking for a budget semi modular and after a lot of search, I ended up with Behringer Neutron, one of the best budget choices to experiment with modular synthesis.

Neutron is equipped with 3340 VCO, the clone of the legendary CEM3340 found in analogue classics of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Lot's of other stuff you'd expect from a semi-modular synth are included. Sine, triangle, sawtooth and square with independent width control, an additional tone mod setting allows further tweaking. Furthermore, oscillator sync, white noise generator plus the ability to freely mix between the two sound sources and an external audio source to the oscillator mix, located in the rear panel; Neutron delivers, with sound-wise, amazing results and functionality! On top of that, the quite big patch bay, perfectly located. Connectivity with other modular synths is of course available, that renders Neutron an absolute component in bigger modular setups (connecting cable provided). Also, it can be mounted on a Behringer modular synth rack. Having said that, Neutron can be used as a standalone unit or connected with a keyboard/sequencer controller. But even without a controller, it can do amazing things.

Neutron has a con however, an annoying problem that I sincerely hope will/can be fixed in future firmware updates. It has to do with the onboard delay unit that kills some frequencies, making the sound duller when applied! In my case that is not an actual problem as I'm using an external delay, but nevertheless, it is a problem.

I'm a harsh noise artist, so I wanted something... harsh and believe me, Neutron can be quite harsh in a very positive way! That vitriolic little beast loves industrial music, loves noise, loves harsh stuff. Neutron can give you some scorching sonic annihilation, even without external pedals/effects but in the same, a full arsenal of quiter/softer sounds with endless tweaking possibilities. Of course, no save preset function is available, something expected from a modular synth. But fear not, huge databases with settings can be found online, making your experimentation horizon endless.

The overall sound of Neutron is spectacular, it delivers in any way possible and remember, it is a budget synth. There isn't something more you'd want in that money.

Last but not least, the design/color, which I personally love but has gotten some harsh criticism. But that is not a problem after all as you can buy an aftermarket faceplate of your choice.

Final words: a highly recommended piece of gear for the beginning of your modular synth experiments, if you are after a synth with a more modern sound.

Good synth with tones of features for the price.

My thoughts on the synth:
- Sound & synthesis. I love it! The oscillators sound great! It worths its money just for the sound! There are so many possibilities!
- The filter sounds great also a bit "blurry" or "muddy" maybe making the synth hard to stand out in a mix. Also, the resonance sounds different from what you 'd expect I think. It has it's own character and personally I love and hate it at the same time.
- The existence of the overdrive unit is really great.
- I love the S&H unit.
- The envelopes are very snappy which is awesome for a certain range of sounds but at the same time, the release and decay times are veeeeery short. They go about 3 seconds max which is unacceptably short if you ask me. It'd be great if there was a switch to make decay/release less snappy but longer if required.
- There's an assignable patch output that can improve your workflow a lot!
- The lack of a fine-tune knob is puzzling.
- The knobs are in general very tight. It takes too much effort to turn them around.
- I wish there was a physical switch to choose the octave range. These digi-buttons don't allow real-time octave switching.
- Not a fan of the analog delay. Not much of use to it if it's mono. That space could have been used for something better I think.
- I feel like there's a need for at least one more attenuator module and at least one more multiplier module. The possibilities would be so much higher with those additions.

Certainly worths its money but I wouldn't use it as my main mono synth. I'd say it's a great companion for model D.

At the time I purchased this, I really wasn't into modular, it was more of a novelty and since, I have sold it but now regret that decision.
The instrument was well packaged and built. All POTs and switches were solid and the instrument responded well to tweaking.
I can't really say anymore on this except that I will probably purchase it again in the future.
It's nice that it will also fit into a modular setup if you don't want to use the factory case.