Behringer TD-3-SR

My unit was shipped from the first batch of TD-3's to hit the shelves, so I was expecting some minor niggles. However, so far, so amazing! :)

From an authenticity perspective the TD-3 does a great job at emulating the warm depth and high screams of the original.

If you've owned a TB303 then you'll feel right at home with this.

Yes, it's chassis is made of quite cheap plastic, but it's functional whilst the knobs and pot's (Which are the main touch points for end users) seem of high quality.

The minor gripes I have are are that it didn't ship with a UK PSU so you have to buy an adaptor, and my personal unit suffers with quite a lot of mains interference.? A ground loop isolator took care of most, but it's still quite noisy. I'd be interested to hear from others on this.

Finally the headphone jack wobbles and seems like it may not last that long from first impressions. Time will tell on that one.

With that said, the device does come with a whopping 3 year warranty as standard so any build quality concerns I have with mine can get sorted over time if required.

Having owned and sold a few originals over the years I'm more than happy with this purchase.

Pro's:
Its £130 for a 95% TB303 Clone!
It comes with built in distortion effect! (No need to ship it to Australia for a Devilfish Modification). ;)
Its £130 for a 95% TB303 Clone!

Cons:
UK PSU not supplied. :(
Possible shielding issues on PSU creating noise? (can others please comment)
Possible weak connectors on the faceplate. (time will tell)


For the money the TD-3 is a no brainer and on the whole I'm having a blast replicating my Rebirth set up of the 90's with actual analogue hardware. A dream come true. Thanks Behringer! Top marks for keeping the vintage analogue revival going.

PS: I ordered a 2nd yellow one. Not Sorry. :)

I've been playing with the Behringer TD-3 for a few weeks now, and I have to say, I'm thoroughly impressed. As a fan of the iconic 303 bass lines, the TD-3 absolutely nails it. The sound is warm, punchy, and delivers that distinctive acid vibe. The built-in distortion is a fantastic addition.
Many people complain about the internal sequencer, but after some studying and use, I find it intuitive, and the knobs are smooth and responsive, giving precise control over every tweak. It's compact and well-built.
Overall, the TD-3 is an amazing piece of gear at a price point that’s unbeatable.

Supposedly, this unit was built off of the work of the Open Music Labs x0x-Heart module, which is open source. That being said the TD-3 sounds the part of a 303. Of course it's not 100% like the original, but nothing will ever sound like the original and the originals all sound different anyways.However, for the price, there are zero valid complaints in regards to sound. The unit sounds the part and does it well on a budget.

Unfortunately, the sequencer also fills the part. It's archaic and cryptic just like the original, which is what led to the downfall of the Roland TB 303. Thankfully, Behringer made an easy to use computer sequencer program that is quick to get good results. Just connect the TD-3 to the computer via USB and you're off to the races. I was able to use the program without any instructions in stark contrast to the onboard sequencer of the TD-3.

Everything else like build quality is good. The machine is light, but that doesn't correlate to quality as it's probably just a single circuit board and no on board power supply. My unit did ship with a UK power plug to the US. A slight inconvenience, but I think Behringer and Thomann could eventually offer country specific plugs worldwide. The distortion circuit does not sound great, but it could be used to get extra sounds out of the machine so a welcome addition.

Overall, I would recommend the TD-3 to anyone that wants the 303 sound. For the price, there's nothing else out there that comes close and also is analog. It sounds better than the Roland TB-03 digital reissue (DOH!) for way less money. The alternate sequencer on the Roland TB-03 is better though. My answer is to get both. The TD-3 for the analog fatness and squelching filter, and the TB-03 to fill a different sonic space that digital does well. They would complement each other well.

I got an early version. The filter is a tad too polite even for 303 but it's not bad. I think they maybe improved it a bit since but google it if you are bothered (you shouldn't be for what you get at this price). Maybe if I a/b I'd notice but from ancient memories of using 303's this sounds like one.

What I don't like - missing that last 2% of filter oomph, no battery power (guys could have done USB here).

What I love - cheap as chips, random function. Random is is a huuge underrated feature and a stroke of genius, I swear many people would have paid double for original 303 with this. Really 303 is horrible to program, only fun to play - it's exactly why all those cool basslines made with it back in the day were kind of random anyway :D I will only ever use random sequences on this guy!

Been waiting a long time to replace the double bass player in my cocktail jazz combo, the wait is over. Smooth Charlie Mingus lines aplenty, free form slides and accents, endless pattern chaining to fit in to any Sun Ra exposition that the audience throws at you in request time. Accurate recreations of custom double basses are possible.The snappy resonance of Giovanni Paolo Maggini instruments is easily moddled, but the rich harmonics of a good Giovanni Battista Rogeri bass are sadly lacking, I feel Behringers engineers have rushed this opportunity. Having said that it's hard to tell the difference between the TD-3 and my venerable 1730 Matteo Gorfriller, so top marks there. I do wish a varnish spruce version was an option, still one can hardly blame the maker for wanting to cash in on the current Acid House boom.
So to sum up: well done Behringer. 10/10.

Its genuinely hard to believe that they managed to get the unique TB-303 filter, CV outs and distortion circuit, along with the original sequencer, into a box at this price. That it sounds almost indistinguishable is nearly secondary - this thing is a fraction of the price of the MC-303, half the price of the x0xb0x (*and pre-assembled) and honestly on par if not better than anything out there 303 wise at the moment.

Even if it didn't sound *that* good you'd be delighted with a piece of hardware with those capabilities at pound shop prices. Now realise that it can be seen in the likes of Carl Cox's live rigs in conjunction with things likes Moogs DFAM and 10,000 euro modular rigs and you begin to understand what a revelation this is.

Buy one. Scroll through factory preset patterns. Start twiddling the cutoff and resonance. Realise you have a big dirty smile on your face. Start trying to reason to yourself that another one is definitely justifiable at this price.

Norman Cook had it almost right - everybody needs a TD-3.