The Behringer Odyssey is a clone of the famous retro classic ARP Odyssey, which was equipped with a few extras compared to the original. It has remained true to the duophonic synthesizer built from 1972-1981 and has all three filter revisions that were released at that time under one roof: 2-pole 4023, 4-pole 4035 and 4-pole 4075 are easily switchable in the filter section. In addition, a switchable overdrive was integrated between filter and VCA.
The most obvious feature of the Odyssey has always been the many sliders and switches, which simply offer a different way of handling the instrument. With two analog oscillators that feature sawtooth and square wave with pulse width modulation, a comprehensive sample & hold function, LFO, ring modulator, audio and CV mixer, lowpass filter with all three versions of that time, downstream highpass filter, overdrive, VCA and two envelopes, this reincarnation of a cult synth is amazingly versatile and fully equipped.
Besides countless bass and lead sounds, it is the sync sounds that have the biggest share in the cult factor of the Odyssey. In addition, the instrument still has to be credited with the fact that its many modulation possibilities allow for abstract sounds, for which a modular system would have to be used then as now.
A new addition to the Behringer Odyssey is a digital effects processor from Klark Teknik with 32 different programs from the areas of delay, reverb and modulation effects, which is a welcome addition both live and in the studio. In addition, there is now also a 32-step sequencer with 64 memory slots and an arpeggiator.
I owned an ARP Explorer 1 years ago, which only half worked, and gigged it to death. I always wanted an ARP Odyssey and Behringer has finally put this in my price range. I grew up listening to Kraftwerk, Klaus Schulze and the new romantic/ prog bands who used the Odyssey, and lusted after one for many years. Sonically the possibilities of this are incredibly wide for an analogue mono/ duo synth. Its tuning stability is incredibly solid. Of all the mono synths I've owned, this is probably the best. You get all three filter revisions from the original Odysseys. I can get some Tangerine Dream style sequences from the sequencer. Basically, you can't do better than this for the price. All the original features of the ARP Odyssey are there, and more. Its built like a tank. The LEDs are funky, even if they are a bit of a gimmick. I feel like a big kid playing this, even though I'm the wrong side of 50. If you love the classic sound of ARP, you can't go wrong with this. Buy it.
I always wanted the Odyssey (along with the OB Synthesizer Expander Module) from when I was a kid. Now, thanks to Behringer, I got myself an Odyssey for my 55th birthday and I feel like a kid again.
The sound is amazing. The first thing I did was spend several hours recreating all those authentic sounds from my youth. I haven't smiled so much in ages. The wife and kids kept giving me The Look whilst I was alternating between doing the surly 80's keyboard player thing and rocking out like an idiot.
Thank you Uli Behringer and the design teams for daring to do something that has made a lot of people able to follow their dreams.
I finally have the Body I always wanted ;-)
There is a lot to love about this synth. I bought it because of its sound (I always do that) not its features. As is, this is a very fine replica of the original ARP Odyssey and the value is is incredbile.
The addition of the sequencer is great and very useful. It means you do not need an external sequencer, although you can still use those of course.
What really irks me is the FXs. They really are a waste of space. Why oh why did the designers at Behringer decide to rip out the stereo. They used a standard stereo FX module and vandalised it. It even has ping pong delay in it (which of course does not ping pong), infuriating. This may be fine for stage work, but for studio work the FX are pointless. They all sound flat. A real shame and so unnecessary. Also controlling the effects is pretty rubbish. Clearly designed for a pedal rather than a panel. And timing the delay is tedious.
This could have been a perfect synth, instead it is a really good one, but you will need to invest in separate FX I am afraid. I can highly recommend the Korg NTS-1 for this. I have used this synth with with the FX from the NST-1 and it sounds sublime.
It sounds very similar, operation wise its very good...But the PPC needs some work on it, its too hard to press down..Other than that its great.
This is simply the best incarnation of the original Odessey yet. Has the same basic operation as the original model, but has some well thought out additions. The construction is extremely robust. The coloured fader leds are a nice touch, so much better than the original coloured plastic knobs that used to fall off. The synth sounds amazing as well! Ticks all the boxes for me! At the price this is an absolute no-brainer, buy one, you won't be disappointed.