Behringer Crave 4-stars Reviews

Craving the Crave

The Behringer Crave is a compact semi-modular analog synthesizer that packs a punch with its rich sound, versatile features, and affordable price point. As someone who enjoys exploring the world of synthesis, the Crave quickly became a go-to instrument in my setup. First and foremost, the build quality of the Crave is impressive. Despite its small footprint, it feels solid and well-built, making it suitable for both studio use and live performances. The retro-inspired design with its wooden side panels adds a touch of elegance to the overall aesthetic. Sound-wise, the Crave delivers the classic analog warmth and character that Behringer is known for. The oscillator section offers a variety of waveforms, including sawtooth, square, and triangle, allowing for a wide range of sonic possibilities. The built-in sequencer and arpeggiator further enhance its versatility, making it easy to create complex and evolving patterns. One of the standout features of the Crave is its semi-modular architecture. While it can be used as a standalone synthesizer, it also offers patch points for integrating with other modular gear, opening up endless possibilities for experimentation and sound design. Whether you're a beginner looking to dip your toes into modular synthesis or an experienced user looking to expand your setup, the Crave offers plenty of room for exploration. Another highlight of the Crave is its affordability. Despite its impressive feature set, it comes in at a fraction of the cost of many other analog synthesizers on the market, making it accessible to musicians and producers on a budget. Overall, the Behringer Crave is a fantastic synthesizer that offers incredible value for money. With its rich sound, versatile features, and compact design, it's perfect for musicians and producers of all skill levels. Whether you're creating fat basslines, soaring leads, or intricate soundscapes, the Crave has got you covered. But... it could be just a little bigger so the sequencer performance would br Perfect! But... GO FOR IT! Get a double date! Why Crave for one when you can Crave for 2? Or more! A CraveBang! Crave IT!

Perfect first synth

This was my first analogue synth & it's built like a tank, much more robust than my TD3 & MS1 plastic clamshell enclosures. All wood & steel construction, very versatile for a single VCO. If you're unsure if an analog synth is for you this is the best way to get into it, given the price point & construction.

Fun toy for a person, who knows what to do.

If You are advanced synth-geek, who knows how to get sound out of it, it is a really fun instrument. But not exactly suitable for beginners. However the build quality is surprisingly good - knobs are not wobbly, metal case looks heavy-duty.

It's nice but....

Built quality is good and for price you get a great semi-modular synth.

Yes, it can be gateway to eurorack world but be mindful that you can't rack it in your case.

I also own Mother 32, and out of curiosity, I did compare them.

There is a difference although not huge, not enough to be a deciding factor.

On the other hand I do prefer M32, it feels better and it "calls" me to play it.

Don't feel the same for Crave but it will differ from person to person.

A fine moog emulation.

There are MIDI issues that need to be looked at. Good news is that they can be solved hopefully with Firmware updates.

Orange Mother 32 with clicky buttons

If you want a Mother 32 to a fifth of the price and don't mind that it's Behringer, then this is great purchase.

It sounds almost exactly the same as the Mother 32 and has a very similar feature set, except that the Crave also has a MIDI Out port.

The sequencer buttons on the Crave are controversial. Some people don't mind that they are made of plastic and have an audible click, while other people prefer the tiny rubbery buttons on the Mother 32.

For both Mother 32 and Crave, it's possible to make music with lead, bass and percussion, all with sounds from one synth (search YouTube).

It is also possible to achieve 16-voice polyphony with Crave, by buying several of them and chaining them together.

The Crave itself feels sturdy and has a metal case.

I have used the myVolts Ripcord 12V DC cable for powering the Crave with an USB battery, and it works great here.

In my opinion, it's not the ultimate synth, but it provides good value for money.

Great way to learn about synthesis

Great sound and features and a great way to learn about synthesizers, has a little bit of everything but not too much of anything

Overall good synth

Best VFM I would say, you can experiment allot with this, pretty fun equipment.

Would recommend it to every electronic music artist.

Entry level monster

Easy to access and hard to master, great for a beginner like myself to get

a hands on experience on what semi modular sounds like. Also a ton of tutorials and info online.

Good Synth

2 weeks review so far awesome synth mostly works best for Bass Lines , very heavy and clean sound knobs and build quality is on the top ends.

would definitely recommend for any start up on modular synth as very easy to learn and remember the patches as you go working on your sound design there is a few noisey clicks that happened through through out my journey working with this synth but gonna explore deeper and would update

Mother 42

For the price.... this machine "de-stroys-ah" its competiton, IF it even has any! It's a little modular synth of its own, sounds "PH" phat ON its own, and it plays nice with analog synths as well as well as PC/iPad. Yeah, it's got only one Oscillator. But the Crave can bend and mangle that thing like it's nobody's business. If you... um... like music... get this!

Peace out!

Can't be beat for this price

The Crave is a monophonic synth with quite some editing possibilities due to an extensive patchbay and step sequencer that is quite expressive and flexible. Even if it looks like a limited synth at first sight it is surprising what you can make with it - just check youtube tutorials by loopop, Starsky Carr and Anton Anru. I use it for electro and techno and it somehow finds its way in almost any track I make.

Best first analog synth to start with, ease of control, wonderfull filter and really good build quality. Nothing better for its price range

Difficult at first but plenty of video's on youtube to learn. It is a very fun toy and i highly recommend it!

Nice Moog Mother 32 clone

I compared this Crave with the MM32 and in many respects they are real twins. To me this is a stealth clone of the MM32. What's lacking is some patch input to allow external LFO control of the filter. And the sequencer starts by itself as soon as an external sequencer starts midi. This can be solved by using a midi filter to disable system and real msgs, but the patch bay does not offer a workaround. Exactly the same problem as MM32 by the way ;-) The sound is very nice, Moogish so to say. A fun synth.

sounding good, just the paint went off very fast...

I have the Mother32 already and the Crave just sounds like a slighty upgraded mother with a different Pro-1 CEM oscillator, which is basically what it is. I think Behringer improved the workflow and I had some fun with it when I was touring India, but after two days of programming and playing with it live near the beach in Tamil Nadu the paint went off already so it went to a friend there, because I bought it for use during trips. And I have the Mother already, but it's build in my Eurorack setup, taking a lot of space. So I might buy a new Crave now because of it's size and the improved workflow. Would make me feel better though if they would pay Moog something too for taking so much of their design. ButI must say, after comparing many B's to originals, this one is probably their best job (maybe because the Mother is made with new modern parts too?). It sounds great.

Good for the price

Nice little synth with integration capability with other hardware you have.... usual Behringer build quality, feel fine at first, then you realise it wobbles in a flat desk etc.... really is not bad for the price though!

Fantastic Value for Great Sounds

This synth is a fantastic introduction to modular synthesis if you are new to it and is able to create some fantastically nuanced and striking sounds (very similar to the Moog Mother32).

The built-in sequencer is very usable for banking some cool ideas but I would not recommend trying to do any performing with it. The keys are small and clicky and don't lend themselves to improvisation.

Mine came with its oscillator slightly out of tune but it is able to be tuned using a small flat head screwdriver if you have the same issue. The general build quality is sturdy with a metal body and sturdy knobs. though it is nowhere near the same quality as something like the Moog Mother 32, however, considering the price as well as the sounds this thing can make, It is unrivalled.

Ispiring little monosynth

I found this machine to be really inspiring to me, the patchbay opens up a full rabbit hole of crazy modulation tricks (especially if you bring in a couple modules to help) the metal chassis and switches make it a pleasant experience to handle it while contributing to a structural strenght. Knobs, switches and jacks are solid and well made, on my unit the rubber feet weren't aligned so it bounced around a little.

Soundwise its really enjoyable and inspiring, the apparently limited texture can be expanded via the clever use of the patchbay

Mother on a budget

I got this after selling my Neutron (decision that I would later regret) and, although it's not as powerful as the Neutron it has a sequencer which the Neutron doesn't.

Pros: almost a Mother 32

It works pretty much as a Mother 32 with almost identical controls, patch points and sequencer. I like the patchbay on the Crave better (I find the Mother's pretty confusing) . They both share the same Moog ladder filter but the Crave uses a 3340 oscillator. You can even use most Mother 32 patches on the Crave. IMO they both sound great and the Crave is 1/4 the price!

Cons:

The main con I found are its clicky buttons. Unlike the Mother 32 which has lovely rubber buttons, the Crave has plastic clicky buttons that are used to play notes (I wouldn't recommend them for this job. Better use a Midi keyboard) and to program, load, copy... your sequences. They are pretty annoying to use.