Behringer SOLINA STRING ENSEMBLE Classic Analog String Ensemble Synthesizer with 49-Voice Polyphony, BBD Chorus Ensemble, Vintage Phase Shifter and Eurorack Format

I am assembling a keyboard rig that makes the kinds of sounds found in prog rock bands of the 1970s. I have the Hammond clone. I have the Moog. What I lacked was the string ensemble - the kind of keyboard that made the distinctively cheesy background washes one associates with Pink Floyd, among others. You can buy them secondhand, but they are expensive, and, after half a century, fragile. The king of the string ensemble was the ARP Solina. But these days they are rarer than hens' teeth. Yes, there is an iPad app, but it doesn't quite have that distinctive smell of wet afghan coats and patchouli oil and being thrown out of the Marquee Club at 2 am.. Behringer obviously felt this need with a unit that reproduces the Solina in a compact Analog MIDI module. It's simplicity itself. Contrabass and cello sounds are in the left hand with separate volume. Viola, violin, trumpet and horn are in the right hand (the horn only works if the trumpet is already engaged). There is a control for overall tuning, and sliders for 'crescendo' (attack time), 'sustain' (release time), and overall volume. It's fully polyphonic. The killer feature is the ensemble (a modulation effect that's either on or off). An addition is a phaser (supposedly the guts of a classic 'Small Stone') that has two present depths and a rate switch. The MIDI 'in' socket is conveniently on the front panel. On the back there are all sorts of sockets for this and that, including for a computer; a MIDI thru; on-off switch, mono audio out (there's a separate mini-jack for headphones) and a socket for the supplied mains adapter. Now, all these sounds are almost (but not quite) entirely unlike the instruments they are meant to emulate -- but who cares? Nowadays we have sample libraries for that. The contrabass is authentically squelchy, but apart from that each sound on its own is rather weedy. The thing to do is engage all the sounds at once and kick in the modulation, and you're RIGHT THERE, shining on like a crazy diamond. Overall -- this is a highly specialised product. But if, like me, you're looking for THAT SOUND, and are frustrated by the expense and unreliability of secondhand units, there really is no other choice. There is obviously someone at Behringer who's an old prog-head, as the company is putting out good-value clones of all sorts of classic keyboards, from Minimoogs to Prophets. My question is -- when will they do their own version of a Mellotron? Watch the skies....

Seems well built, and it is very easy to produce those wonderful shimmering synth textures we remember.

This module is a faithful clone of the classic 70s synth. You'll know the sound immediately.

It never fails to bring a smile to my face, bringing out my inner Jean-Michel Jarre. It sounds so good just holding down random notes. I plug it into an Arturia keystep 37 via midi. If you want that classic string sound I highly recommend it.

I had to write this as the only other review was 1 star, without any writing (enough said) Rest assured if your thinking of getting one of these for that authentic string machine sound then just go for it. It really is excellent with a decent analogue phaser built in. It might not be a genuine Solina, but it still sounds better than many 70s string machines and of course beats any emulation. It swirls and sizzles just like an analogue string machine should.

It sounds fantastic and is really simple to use. Very good replication of the real thing at a fraction of the cost. Highly recommended if you want clockwork orange or Jean-Michel Jarre! Behringer are becoming legendary!!

Excellent

O equipamento depende de efeito externo para gerar uma sonoridade mais adequada ao que pretende apresentar. O grande problema é que ele não admite pedal de sustain, o que é totalmente necessário neste tipo de sintetizador.

Wow! The wait was so absolutely worth it. Purchased the Behringer Solina earlier this year when it was on sale for a super ridiculously low price. Then the wait started - I was even asked if I wanted to cancel my order due to the unforeseeable delays. Well, since I wasn’t in a particular rush, I decided to “wait”. Received it last month and had a chance to take it through its paces extensively. At the end of the day, every single time I play it I can’t stop smiling excessively. This Solina produces EXACTLY the sounds that I was hoping for - I’m a Floyd head and I’m happy to report that the Behringer Solina delivers the original sounds as found in the Wish You Were Here and Animals albums to the T. Craftsmanship, tone quality and features are amazing! At the ridiculously low price (even today, while it’s not on the “intro sale” anymore) it is a total no-brainer. Alternatively, you could get yourself a laptop and an Arturia Solina V plugin. But at that time, you spent multiple times of what the Behringer Solina sets you back. And it’s super easy to dial in the sounds you want absolutely on the fly. Analog tone heaven at its best!!! On top of that, as a side note, I am using the Solina in tandem with a Behringer Poly D… No further comments require I suppose.

This synth/organ itself is a really good recreation of the original with a really nice sound. It's a one trick pony with very few modern capabilities but that's not what it's about. It's about a fairly specific recognized range of retro organ sounds and the Solina does that beautifully. I've been getting some really nice and satisfying moments out of it and it plays well with other synths. Now that I have one to use and understand I have been able to see why I couldn't build an adequate recreation of this sound using other gear I already have. The electronics are a completely different approach to sound generation. Five stars for the Solina. The shipping on the other hand was absurd. Basically I had to wait 4 months with no tracking information (with a threat of up to 8 months) while the seller waited to get a cheap deal for themselves even though they said they had stock when I bought it. If a trade war hadn't broken out I'd still be waiting. If they haven't got something to sell they shouldn't be advertising. It's a borderline bait and switch. Realize if you buy one of these at this fair price (the Solina isn't complex in operation or build and shouldn't be in the $500 ranges) you could be waiting a very long time to see it. I should have bought it over the counter months ago for about $40 more.

昔、ソリーナが欲しくて探し回った時期があったのですが、よい個体に巡り会えず、ずっと心残りだったこともあり、迷わず購入しました。(ソフトウェア音源は全く興味なしです。) 当然ながらモノラルアウトなのでエフェクターでステレオ化していますが、綺麗でクリアーな広がりのあるサウンドは病みつきになります。大変コスパのよい製品かと思います。 坂本龍一はソリーナについて下記のコメントをしていました。 ・簡単に弦っぽいものができたので重宝していた ・だけど音が下品だから好きとは言えない ・便利だけど基本的に１つの音色しかなく限定されたもの ・それであんなに場所を取るのは効率悪い このコンパクトさなら教授もOKかと(笑)。 でも音が下品というのは、確かに全ボタンONだとその通りかと。

Fonctionne à merveille. Le bon son de jean Michel jarre. J'adore et c'est petit et pas cher