Behringer Pro-VS Mini

This mini synth seems to good to be true for the price, and in a lot of ways the price should say a lot about what to expect. Firstly, a midi keyboard to hook up to this is a must as the touch sensitive pads on the unit are not really going to be any use to you outside of maybe creating little sequences on the unit. The included voices are just OK. You can fiddle around with the unit and make them more interesting, but unless you know what you are doing creating your own patches from scratch is the only option. You can of course buy 3rd party patches for this device, but this is where my unit let me down. I downloaded some patches I wanted to upload to the unit. The Behringer Synthtribe app is used to handle this process and also keep the units firmware up to date. Unfortunately either a hardware bug with my unit or software bug with the latest Synthtribe 2.7.1 kept cyling my unit through an unecessary firmware upgrade which kept looping. This left me unable to backup the patches on the unit or install new ones which was a dissappointment. I contacted Behringer but am still awaiting a response. On the back of this I decided to return my unit for a refund.

I was so excited for this synth, but unfortunately it didn't fulfill my expectations. The presets are somewhat interesting but when you try making your own sounds, as you go through the waveforms, they're all pretty boring despite of there being 127 of them. (Make sure to explore the waveforms with cutoff turned all the way up and resonance turned down). Sure, you can use basic waveforms just like you would on Minimoog Model D (and in fact, you can kind of think of VS as Model D with the ability to mix the waveforms through an envelope), but I really expected the waveforms to be more interesting and engineered rather than there being hundreds of variations of twang and buzz. Maybe I'm missing something here, I don't know. If only there was a way to load custom waveforms, then it would be perfect. Other than that, the touch keyboard is pretty unusable and the sequencer doesn't work step-by-step, it's more like a looper where you have to play in tempo. Definitely needs an external keyboard and sequencer. The OLED screen is extremely small and it being OLED means it'll suffer from burn-in after prolonged use. The case is plastic is feels like a toy. It doesn't run on batteries, which is a shame, but it can run on a powerbank. I can't recommend it, but your milleage may vary.

I like the JT4000 overall, but there are a few things to keep in mind. First, the output level is quite low—you’ll need to run it through an amp or boost the input gain on your interface to get an optimal signal. Additionally, the placement of the USB-C and output ports is a bit inconvenient. With the audio jack plugged in, there’s very little room to comfortably tweak the cutoff knob, which can be frustrating during use.

On the positive side, the sound quality is solid, and all parameters are fully MIDI-mappable. I was able to set up a custom user mapping on my Arturia KeyLab Essential using the Arturia MIDI Control software and the CC values from the manual, and it works flawlessly. This makes it easy to integrate the JT4000 into a DAW or control it with another keyboard.

One small drawback is that you can only use one oscillator in "Supersaw" mode at a time, which was a bit of a letdown. However, considering the price, it’s hard to beat the value this synth offers.

It's hard to imagine how something this clever could be made for the price of a cheap night out on the beer and curry...
Pros: fat sounds with luscious filtering, sequencer and arpegiator full of possibilities.. surprisingly easy menu access..good old midi 5 pin connectivity..solid build quality...
Cons: no battery power option, only USBC..very small (but positive) rotary pots..dreadful small print manual which may just as well have not been included...no power (USBC) cable in the box..a slip case would have been nice...
Overall, it's sound and scope just put a silly smile on my face, this is a sonic pleasure that just says "let play"...give them your money and let your creativity loose...