Behringer RD-78 In-Depth Review

In his latest video, synthesist Starsky Carr reviews the Behringer RD-78, a new drum machine that basically pairs the sequencing interface from their RD-8 and pairs it with the the sounds of the Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm drum machine.

Carr describes the RD-78 as ‘superbly cheesy’:

“The Behringer RD-78 is their take on the classic *Roland CompuRyhtm CR-78. The CR78 was famous for having user patterns, you could actually save your own!

You’ve heard it on loads of tracks, and as it was originally designed as an organ accompaniment – like all the OG drum machines – its got some wonderfully cheesy rhythms – who doesn’t love a Beguine, Foxtrot, Tango or Mambo?”

The sounds may be cheesy, and the preset rhythms, too. But, as Carr notes, the weirdness and cheesiness of the sounds can be a fun alternative to the 808/909 style sounds that are ubiquitous these days.

Check out the video and share your thoughts on the Behringer RD-78 in the comments!

19 thoughts on “Behringer RD-78 In-Depth Review”

  3. Looks like there’s no shuffle on this, like the rd6. I wish they’d open up the firmware source so I could add it myself.

    1. yeah, i’m off the behringer mutable clones for exactly that reason. i do a lot of mods, and cheap hardware is perfect for that – system 55 and 2500 – but the static firmware is not interesting to me.

      1. I guess you know, someone released an alternative firmware for the Neutron. I’ve enjoyed editing that and playing around with it. I don’t know how they came up with it, nor how hard it would be to do the same for other Behringer stuff.

        1. cool! i’ve been working on my own development and playing lately, so i haven’t been watching behringer much more than seeing the products tick by. recent events have restructured all my future purchases.

        2. I vaguely remember this having a great deal of potential (using the digital LFO as a paraphonic sound source etc) but being unreleased at the time. Is this the same project and do you have a link?

          1. Hi, the link is here. https://github.com/mrf-r/Neutron

            For me the potential was more that I could quickly fiddle around with different firmware ideas, add stuff to the midi implementation etc.. The code is pretty easy to edit. I’m not sure the extra digital vco’s sound all that great (yet) but it’s just fun to play around.

        3. it’s not all that hard; logic analyzer, scope, ST-link, disassembler, and some good experience will do wonders. you don’t need really schematics for this kind of work, just a good sense of circuitry, spare time, and a need to do it. i used to do this for a living with data center equipment; storage, comms, networks, mainframes, etc… it’s fun, rewarding and you learn a lot of useful stuff.

      1. Thanks but I think that’s a built in rhythm with that name, not a swing/shuffle setting. You can use triplets mode but then I think your pattern has to be very short, on the RD6 at least.

        1. You can use a shuffled external clock via the sync in on the front panel

          If you have some eurorack you will probably have something that does that

          You can also set up a spare output of an audio interface to do the same

  4. A few more of these and we’ll see a New Wave revival. That’d be fine with me if we got some quality music like that of OMD. Anthony Phillips, who began as a Genesis guitarist, did an album called “1984” that’s like a CR-78 homage. Its a powerful instrument because it brings a deceptive simplicity to things. It features built-in room for everything else to breathe, so its earned its spot.

  8. I love the CR-78. I feel conflicted about Behringer as a brand but I’m really glad they did this. I may have to make this happen.

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