Behringer Vintage Time Machine

[Officer Bukowski]

Did you guys see what looks like a Small Stone clone on that Amazon page for $25?

You've gotta have some pretty brutal working conditions to crank that shit out for $25... Not gonna lie I want the delay and the pitch shifter

The small stone (sorry, vintage phaser) is great, got one my self, it is a clone of the small stone, few differences (uses a couple of different values, the OTAs have been replaced with available ones but perform the same job) but it's a damn good phaser, does suck tone a 'lil and has the volume drop but this can easily be sorted, I just true bypassed and added a booster on the output to mine. Good metal enclosure, standard 2.1mm DC jack, battery compartment, only cheap feeling part really is the knob.

The Vintage time machine is close enough to a DMM, different clock circutry, the signal path has been altered a bit and it uses the more available V3205 BBD chips instead of MN3005 (or BL3208 for the new Deluxe memory toy/boys) but i've been interested my self.

And yes, both are analog, a lot of the Behringer stuff is, only... well the digital stuff is digital.

Hear good things about there DM-2 clone too (with tweaking).

I figured the VM-1 would use the V3205. That's totally cool with me. What I want to know is how noisy it is running off a onespot and if it can get some ring mod sounds on the repeats when you turn the delay time all the way up. If its set to not get so lofi I'm also curious if there is a trimmer to fuck with the delay range.

One of my favorite sounds from my 70s Memory Man was this weird ring mod 'd repeat thing when I turned the delay time all the way up
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=468q7vU-6w0[/youtube]

I'd like to get some of those toanz back, plus the modulation is awesome

[stripes]

that... is really cool.

[Scruffie]

Did you guys see what looks like a Small Stone clone on that Amazon page for $25?

You've gotta have some pretty brutal working conditions to crank that shit out for $25... Not gonna lie I want the delay and the pitch shifter

The small stone (sorry, vintage phaser) is great, got one my self, it is a clone of the small stone, few differences (uses a couple of different values, the OTAs have been replaced with available ones but perform the same job) but it's a damn good phaser, does suck tone a 'lil and has the volume drop but this can easily be sorted, I just true bypassed and added a booster on the output to mine. Good metal enclosure, standard 2.1mm DC jack, battery compartment, only cheap feeling part really is the knob.

The Vintage time machine is close enough to a DMM, different clock circutry, the signal path has been altered a bit and it uses the more available V3205 BBD chips instead of MN3005 (or BL3208 for the new Deluxe memory toy/boys) but i've been interested my self.

And yes, both are analog, a lot of the Behringer stuff is, only... well the digital stuff is digital.

Hear good things about there DM-2 clone too (with tweaking).

I figured the VM-1 would use the V3205. That's totally cool with me. What I want to know is how noisy it is running off a onespot and if it can get some ring mod sounds on the repeats when you turn the delay time all the way up. If its set to not get so lofi I'm also curious if there is a trimmer to fuck with the delay range.

One of my favorite sounds from my 70s Memory Man was this weird ring mod 'd repeat thing when I turned the delay time all the way up
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=468q7vU-6w0[/youtube]

I'd like to get some of those toanz back, plus the modulation is awesome

Only if it's poorly calibrated, up the value of the delay pot if you want those sounds, I assume you mean when it starts getting bit crushed/aliasing cause it's exceeding the intended delay time... you'll start getting whine though.

You can also increase the value of the clock cap but you'll loose some of the lower delay times... could make it switchable, is all SMD though if you're not cool with that.

I think the pedal does have some noise yeah but a bit of extra supply filtering would probably cure that.

Studying the schematic it is fairly altered, transistor & opamp based audio path now instead of the original all opamp, no make up gain stage between the two BBDs now.

[Officer Bukowski]

Yeah I know the upping the delay pot value trick but I was just wondering if they have a trimmer that will do the same thing.

Maybe ring mod wasn't the right word. Basically it's like if you bend a note up the repeat bends down. It plays it back with the pitch backwards in a way. It sounds much cooler when I'm not just making annoying noises like in that video

But yeah it was quite noisy which is part of the reason I got rid of it. Not so bad in the lower delay times but the thing that really bugged me was the horrible volume drop.

If this doesn't have a volume drop I'm pretty much sold

[mathias]

Might be able to adjust for volume drop with some mods..

[Officer Bukowski]

Yeah but the SMD components make that a nightmare. I guess I could just throw an LPB-1 circuit in there if there is a volume drop issue.

[Scruffie]

Yeah I know the upping the delay pot value trick but I was just wondering if they have a trimmer that will do the same thing.

Maybe ring mod wasn't the right word. Basically it's like if you bend a note up the repeat bends down. It plays it back with the pitch backwards in a way. It sounds much cooler when I'm not just making annoying noises like in that video

But yeah it was quite noisy which is part of the reason I got rid of it. Not so bad in the lower delay times but the thing that really bugged me was the horrible volume drop.

If this doesn't have a volume drop I'm pretty much sold

Not checked but I don't think there is a trimmer no.

Haven't watched the video but possibly by your complaint of noise there was something wrong with your memory man causing that.
Really depends which model you had too... there's loads of variations and the 4 x SAD1024 model was probably pushed to its limits delay time wise.

Eh, volume drop is easily sorted, as I said about my phaser, True bypass it and stick a booster at the output. Not read anything about volume drops though.

Oops, you beat me to the post, yup a LPB-1 would sort it as I said.

[Officer Bukowski]

I had the blue graphic Memory Man (not Deluxe) with MN3005. I thought it was an SAD1024 model but when I opened it up to repair it I saw it used the MN3005.

It wasn't so noisy that it seemed like there was a problem, it just added some noise to both the delayed and bypass signal. Enough to bother me for recording. What was unforgivable though was how the boost/buffer circuit was wired up.

Engaging the pedal gave you a very noticeable drop so EHX was like no problem we'll throw a booster in there.. Except the booster boosted the bypass signal and effected signal equally so there was an equal volume drop either way.. It was just really stupid. Stupid enough for me to not even bother modding it to take care of that.

[Scruffie]

I had the blue graphic Memory Man (not Deluxe) with MN3005. I thought it was an SAD1024 model but when I opened it up to repair it I saw it used the MN3005.

It wasn't so noisy that it seemed like there was a problem, it just added some noise to both the delayed and bypass signal. Enough to bother me for recording. What was unforgivable though was how the boost/buffer circuit was wired up.

Engaging the pedal gave you a very noticeable drop so EHX was like no problem we'll throw a booster in there.. Except the booster boosted the bypass signal and effected signal equally so there was an equal volume drop either way.. It was just really stupid. Stupid enough for me to not even bother modding it to take care of that.

Ahhhh, not deluxe, the memory man with boost with only one MN3005 I assume.

Reason that's probably noisy is there's no companding in it... plus probably old caps.

[hiorgos]

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[Officer Bukowski]

It was probably just the wiring in the places I was using it. It was always much noisier than my other pedals plugged into the same power though.

That's pretty strange about the sound of the long delay repeats. Come to think of it it may have done that for me too, but it also really depended on how hard I picked the note and how high the note was. I don't think anything is wrong with it though. It's just an old ass analog delay.

The chorus side IS awesome. It's the best chorus I've heard and the feedback control is still active so you can do weird things with that. I could have easily built a true bypass loop for it but I prefer to keep a simple board with minimal cable.

I fixed the Maxon though and it's back to being my favorite delay, so everybody wins!

[Seedy]

The VTM is a great pedal and certainly worth the list price. Any discount or used one should be purchased without hesitation. I love the dirt sound, and this pedal was perfect dedicated to the fx loop of my beloved QTron+.

Regarding quality control, I own/have owned the Behringer Vintage Time machine, Bass Synth, Reverb Machine and 3 Ultra G DI boxes and have never had one go south. On the other hand, I've owned closer to 12 EHX pedals and had quality issues with a Muff Pi, SMMH, Small Stone, Microsynth, and the aforementioned QTron+ that I had to send in for repair 3 times. From all eras, and I love them, but EHX quality control suuuucks. Vintage Time Machine is the tits. Now I miss it, shit.

[Scruffie]

haha, I may chime in since I got that blue MM.. At home it's virtually noiseless, really, so it should be something else, who knows.

It does have that ring modulated-like repeats when you turn up the delay time, but, also, it's something that sometimes does not happen. If I turn the power on from the plug outlet switch, and I don't touch the delay time, repeats are nice and normal. Not always though, it must have something wrong for sure, but it would be a pain, and expensive, to send it for a check alll the way to Howard Davis and back, just to see if he can do something for it or not.

The chorus side is so awesome, can get really crazy, may keep it only because of it. And solved the volume drop simply putting it on a fx loop, having it plugged on the boost input it works as it should if the pedal was truebypass.

Find someone to recap it, that's probably all that's needed. There's also a low pass filter & clock balance trim inside that might help clear it up.
(He didn't design this one and i'm not sure he works on pedals he didn't too... plus he's kinda pricey).

Oh and put a heat sync on the NE5554 regulator, they can overheat and die and don't exist anymore.

As I said, no companding too so it may just be bits of clock noise or something or BBD distortion.

So i'd try those trims, the only one not to play with is the bias but using it wont be the end of the world, just have to tweak it untill it passes delay and distorts the least again.

Had one of these, never used the chorus, kinda wish i'd tried it now.

[Ghost Hip]

I would totally buy one used but I never see them. So perhaps they are awesome and so no one resells them, or they suck so no one buys them. I think pumpkinpieces' bass player or something had one and dug it? Behringer pedals are pretty decent in my experience but get a bad rap because of their shitty-looking enclosures and poor amp/cab reliability.

Word, I've played with the Time Machine quite a bit and it's pretty gnarly. The repeats are dirtier than the DMM, but still keep separated from the dry signal (or not so much if you want to). The reason I mention that is the Memory boy circuit has pretty dirty repeats but for me they can't be blended well with the dry signal. I could never seem to get enough delay signal in the mix without it overwhelming the dry.

Anywho, definitely worth a go for $70. It is not disappointing by any means.

[Officer Bukowski]

Scruffie - That thing has some ridiculously huge electrolytics in it. I think I took some pics of the component side of the board if you want to see

Personally I think that delay has some funky magic going on that shouldn't be changed. If you want a cleaner delay you'll probably never be satisfied by that MM anyways. But I don't think you'll get quite the same unique lofi edge to the repeats out of anything else.