Above is the Teebee versions 1, 2 & 3 - The one i had on loan for a while was a yellow version 3 and is the version on which these comments are based
Seconds out! Round one! The battle of the 303 clones surges ever forward, and amongst the 10 or so dedicated hardware units on the market, the Syntecno TeeBee 303 is generally regarded as one of the best & most authentic sounding unit, and carries a higher price tag than some of the cheapies as a consequence of this fact.
Unlike some of the other clones, the TeeBee uses a 18 db filter which sounds as close as possible to the strange but actually 24dB filter of the original TB-303 (2 pole). All the controls are MIDI of course, but with the TeeBee you can specify the controller number of the unit's knobs. You can even specify which controller switches the "slide" function, and all these settings are stored within the unit on power down. Cool!
Now, although originally the first Tee-Bee's were marketed on a 303 tip, it is a FAR more versatile mono synth than that, offering a wide variety of sounds within it's given format.
The newer TeeBee 2 & 3 also includes a Korg MS20 ring modulator waveform as well as the Saw & square waves, and believe me, so far with my tests this ring mod' is my favourite bit. Switching it in produces a massive detuned sound the detuning of which has a dedicated control, so the first little demo track I did with the Tee-Bee features this Ring Modulator sound, and it's a monster!
I though, "well, the first thing anyones gonna do with a synth like this is some fast techno or trance or something, so I opted for a change, and did a little LA swing type thing. Likewise, the Saw is well biting, and the Square wave is big & hollow. You can also tweak the 'Harshness/Overdrive' of the filter via a small opening on the front panel with a small jewellers screwdriver... very nice touch that, cos it saves you having to open the box as with other units. 10/10 for that!
The Mark 1 & 2 TeeBee's both have 4 CV/Gate outputs, great for driving yer old kit, both outputting 0-5V, with freely selectable Midi channel for each pair, & freely selectable Volt/Octave or Volt/Hz for each CV & selectable polarity for each gate. Both models also offer a Roland Sync 24 output, Audio input for processing an external signal, plus 1 MIDI IN, 2 X MIDI THRU & MIDI OUT.
The Tee-Bee I've been messing with is the version 3, which includes a full 2 channel midi merger & a 10 Volt Moog gate output. Dunno about the Moog gate, but the merge could be very useful in a live situation.
Right! But what you really want to know is,"What does it sound like"? and here Syntechno really score. Other manufacturers should take a leaf out of these guys book, because they have a totally sorted website, where you can listen to the unit with either RA3 or zipped .Wav files. Well I say it sounds bloody good. You can listen to a small 15k .wav file from the Syntechno below, or go to the Syntechno website & check out a longer file or RA if the little taster gets you going (it did me!)
Currently in the UK, the distributors are Blue Systems, who sell direct to the public for £450 + VAT (check their website for contact details. Alternatively in London, Digital Village have them on demo (Blue Systems are looking for more authorised dealers at the moment)
Finally I'll have to say that with stuff like the Access Virus now coming online at around £980 GBP, maybe Syntechno should be thinking about a price drop? Ok it's a real analog synth, not a modelling one, and yes, It sounds bloody massive. But punters are punters, and faced with a choice of a 16 note poly & 8 part multi Virus for less than 2 x the Tee-Bee price, it's a tough decision to make, probably the Tee-Bee's sell well with pro users (oh yes, and lastly Syntechno, please add a midi channel switch to go with the sysex channel switching for Gods sake!.... LIVE WORK!!!)
_BIG.jpg)
Read 18 comments
Add review/comment