Syntecno TEEBEE 303
Category: Products / synthesisers / analog synthesisers
Added: 19-Dec-98 | Author: admin
New price: discontinued | S/H price: Not listed
Company Link: No company link
Syntecno TEEBEE 303
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!!!)
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Category: Products / synthesisers / analog synthesisers
User Comments
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: Robbie
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 19-Jan-99
Hi Kilo,
Finally, my patience has been rewarded.
The TeeBee Mark III now has a fully featured
very nice review... Hopefully you'll have time
to add some more waves in the future.
Remember : "Syntecno started in '88, still kicking it in '97"
Next year, 10 year anniversary of Syntecno TeeBee :
"The first 303 clone builder,
The Last 303 clone builder,
not the biggest 303 clone builder"
Syntecno http://www.xs4all.nl/~syntecno
C-ya,
Robbie"303"
Product rating out of 5:  |
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: kilo
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 19-Jan-99
well Robbie, you obviously need a different marketing strategy, cos the synth has drawn no comment or whatever here...... also maybe a price re-think ?.....
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Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: nimanda
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 19-Jan-99
Kilo is right its priceee , you can get a pulse for this price and still have cash to buy food ;) but I'm grateful coos if it wern´t for people like Robby in Amsterdam (right on! its da place) and com. like Jomox who build pro products with´´a price tag´´, everyone would have one and it wouldn't really be special!.. sometimes you get what you pay for!
| Product rating out of 5: |
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: DJ Focus
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: part-timer
Date: 19-Jan-99
The TeeBee is an amazing piece of gear for the price.
It's very versatile and will fit in to any dance oriented
studio. For $450 I think it's a steal!
| Product rating out of 5: |
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: kilo
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 19-Jan-99
agreed.... it does sound massive !!......
| Product rating out of 5: |
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: Constrictor
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 19-Jan-99
Outstanding machine, no doubt about it !
But hey, how the hell are you supposed to sync
a SH-101 with sync24, as acclaimed in the specs??
The only thing missing is a built in distortion
unit.......
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Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: kid303
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 19-Jan-99
The price is way too much.The Mk2 is over 500
quid(not dollars mind).If it was 250 smackers
i'd get one. But when you can sample the Rebirth
program for free you'd have to be crazy to buy
one new.
Product rating out of 5:  |
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: kilo
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 19-Jan-99
agreed, for studio 303 imitations there are alternatives........but.... as the guy says above...... you get what you pay for.... and this unit has a big pro user list.... and.... It sounds bloody enormous.... s/w is no good for live work, there the teebee wins out with other hardware units.... as for the lack of distortion, you can drive the filter into distortion with the little adjuster pot accessible from the front panel... not a problem to add a guitar distortion pedal tho huh ?..... I would like to see this stuff generally cheaper tho'.... but that goes right across the board for all studio kit
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Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: Constrictor
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 19-Jan-99
I don´t get it !! Here in Sweden it goes for 4500 SEK ($620),
and that´s not expensive, IT´S CHEAP AS HELL! Compare that to the shitty
MAM MB-33 for 5700 SEK... Me and my studio-mate have two of ´em, just because
they are CHEAP and the BEST.
Shure Kilo, you can use some dist-pedal or the mixer, but it would be much
easier to do it "in-box", don´t you agree?
Ok, have a nice day everyone.
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Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: Kai Niggemann
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 19-Jan-99
I bought mine from Robbie and I love it eversince. I mainly bought it for the cv/gate outputs (it's an MK I) but I really like the sound of the TeeBee -- even though I *do* own a virus...;))
it's so quick to set up and get a grteat bassline going, it helps to get some very creative stuff going on.
I think the sound is somewhere between the 303 and something a lot phatter.
Product rating out of 5:  |
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: kilo
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 19-Jan-99
oh absolutely...... miles fatter than a 303..... this is not just a 303 clone.... it's got some absolutely massive sounds...... excellent...
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Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: JA
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 19-Jan-99
My mate's just bought one and they are A- mazing.
Verdict is, if you just want a 303 sound you're wasting your money i.e there are cheaper clones around.
BUT, if you want an enormously fat, versatile, tweakable, inspirational (and hey, it even looks fantastic). bass synth/mad sound generator. Save up and get one.
Go on, be different. Everyone's pissed off with that shitty Josh Wink tune anyway.
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Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: Tinus
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 19-Jan-99
enne, ik vin'm ook goed!
; )
| Product rating out of 5: |
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: kilo
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 19-Jan-99
yeah,,, i just had a listen to that demo above
again after about 3 months not hearing it...
and i remebered when i did it,
the day i turned that bassline up on the big old
richard-allen speakers..
in the office, which was 20x20 feet with a
high ceiling.. (it was like a club)..
and fuck me, i tell you it, the bottom end which
you cant really catch with this RA demo,
was staggeringly good... shook the windows ....great.
| Product rating out of 5: |
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: Andreas
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 23-Mar-00
Okey, the rewiev says about everything about the machine so all I can do i to agree and mention that the build quality is awesome. The knobs are made of metal and turn slow and accurate, the best knobs I have ever turned and I have experience with Doepfer, Roland, Yamaha and Kurzweil gear. And of course the box sounds very TB303 in my ears, I can't tell it apart from the original TB. I haven't heard all the clones, but I can say that the Freebass and DB9 sounds different. The TeeBee also solves my midi-cv and midimerge problem. The is one fault in the review though... the name of the company is SynTecno and not Syntechno (Atleast that is what is says in the manual and what is written on the front).
| Product rating out of 5: |
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: Guruzoo.
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 24-Mar-00
Wicked monosynth ,i love it.Bin mixing final mixes,and boy does it cut thru!Fav sound is the Saw ,with lots of scope for tweaking.Get one.
| Product rating out of 5: |
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: Adam
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 14-Apr-00
There is now A U.S. distributor in CA. Jupiter Sound is now selling the TeeBee for $425.00+shipping. Contact Nathan at Jupiter Sound for more info!
www.jupitersound.com/
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Last added comment
Product: Syntecno - TEEBEE 303
Name: druma
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity:
Date: 13-Oct-00
this simple little mono synth is BIG! what a Sound! and so solid in both performance and built quality... basically it sounds like the real thing, rebirth users I'm sorry u r not really jamming on the T, Im talking fat booty slamming audio here :) the ring mod has become my little mono moog and the midi spec is superb! Nathan at Jupiter Sound is excellent to deal with and I highly recommend his service!!
to all non believers that think i just went out and wasted my money on something that should be dated.. (waste!? well lets c: there is a reason why its not dated: yhea dudes like me r keeping it alive, we appreciate the sound (to my ears it is perfection!) and when ever I c a techy with a Tb its automatic respect. I don't care what the audience knows about the sound (real Tb or a saw on a Nord most wouldn't know but I would and so would other techeads / respect… and even if clubbers don't know the sound, they >recognize< it and they scream: take me higher.. and I scream: thank you.. and the t screams lets trip.
| Product rating out of 5: |
'Syntecno TEEBEE 303'
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Total stars: 90 | Total votes: 19
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