Recent sales charts indicate that Behringer’s UB-Xa synth is flying off the shelves, but even its manufacturer admits that the size of the thing might be a problem for some.
“It’s the size of a car,” admits Behringer, though only if that car happens to be the tiny Peel P50. Still, at 104cm long, the UB-Xa certainly isn’t compact, and certainly not small enough for the - according to Behringer - seven out of ten synth fans who say that they don’t have the space for it.
Enter the UB-Xa D, a desktop version of the Oberheim-aping UB-Xa that gives you the same feature set and sound minus the keyboard. “All of us spatially challenged producers can finally sleep easy,” reckons Behringer.
We knew this was coming, of course, but the launch of a proper promo video and a pre-order listing on Andertons indicates that it’s now close to shipping. This has the UB-Xa D priced at £699, which is £300 less than the keyboard version. On Facebook, meanwhile, Behringer has the US list price at $799.
Otherwise, the story is very similar: 16 voices, dual oscillators per voice, a 12/24dB filter, two LFOs and two ADSRs per voice. And, although there’s no keyboard, the polyphonic aftertouch and MPE support is retained.
Most importantly, the width has been reduced to just 46cm. If you’d rather have your UB-Xa D in a rack than on your desk, you can mount it there via the supplied rack ears.
