Retrolab.xyz

The

colourful Behringer RD-6's.

How do they stack up to the

Roland TR-606 ?

Victor Cvirn 2024

retrolab.xyz



When I realised that the Behringer company made clones of Roland's TR-606 and TB-303, I got rather excited, mainly for the following reasons. Firstly, I appreciate Behringer's philosophy of utilising analog electronics, exploiting circuit variations by means of adding control knobs and switches and also doing it all at a very affordable price.

Having kept company in my youth with an electronic drummer by the name of TR-606, I was well acquainted with why I liked this machine. But first, let me say, back in the day, I was a total skeptic of the TR-606 and it's TB-303 strange brother. You can read more about that here (coming). Moving right along from that initial introduction, I came to acquire these machines; firstly, the TR-606. After learning to use it; and it didn't take long; it was just such a breeze to use. At least if you didn't want to write songs. If you just wanted to jam along to patterns on the fly, it was just so easy to fly around the controls to drum up a beat. The controls were really manoeuvrable and intuitive. Simple to use and program. And it had trigger and sync capabilities if you wanted to utilise that.

The sounds of the TR-606 were though, somewhat twinky and boxy, perhaps. But, for me personally, it still grew on me and those sounds burned their sound signatures into the hearing cortex and worked really quite well for some music and sonic sketches. Especially if you combined the machine with certain effects and a suitable amplifier, it really made for a cozy and friendly sonic atmosphere. I guess that's one of the benefits of analog musical devices. The ability to patch combinatinos, mould sounds and reproduce them in a particular space and atmosphere; giving overall memorable experiences.

One could argue that Roland could have come up with anything, pretty much, so long as it was good, and it would have become a great and memorable device. And that may be true. But the TR-606, in this case, is that device.

And so we come onto the Behringer RD-6. It's kind of like a band doing covers, isn't it? But, having modified one of my 606's, Behringer has done some of these mods so that we don't have to. It's already here. And at the price, who wouldn't have one?

I have to say that I was, and am, really impressed with the RD-6. The sounds are very authentic to the original TR-606, as Behringer, according to their website, have reproduced the 606 analog; sound circuitry. Not only that, but they have used transistor matching to boot. It would probably be easier to model or sample the sounds digitally. But to do it with analog electronics, to my mind, seems more of a desirable feat.

How about the hardware? Well, I have to say that the hardware seems very good. It doesn't seem and feel quite as solid as the TR-606, but it definitely seems acceptable and ample for jams, gigs, busking etc; so long as you're not careless with it. The control knobs are not exactly the same as the TR-606. The controls on the RD-6 are actually slightly taller and bigger than the TR-606. Thus the slightly tinier controls on the TR-606 are a little more highly geared. So a quick volume cut of the kick for example takes a bit more effort on the RD-6. However, the seperate outs, which the TR-606 does not normally have, could be run into a seperate mixer which could be used for volume cuts, seperate and individual eq, overdrive, effect send etc.

What does the Behringer RD6 have over the Roland TR-606? I'll list some additional benefits here as bullet points:


Criticisms:

Not much at all to criticise; but here goes...

Perhaps the controls are a bit tougher to turn than the TR-606. But I'm not sure if a new TR-606 would have been the same or similar. Perhaps the RD-6 just needs some more running in. ;)

I'm not personally a fan of distortion, however, I can understand the inclusion of the distortion feature in the RD-6. It's going to be a feature that many would want to heat up the overall sound. Personally, it's not my favourite part of the machine; though I would like if the distortion was a little more customised to my liking. That would make it more useful for me. The distortion seems like an additional effect that was thrown in as an extra draw-card. If I had designed the distortion I probably would have over-complicated it to a different price point though. Also, given the physical real estate of the unit there's only so many potentiometers and switches that can be accommodated.

I should mention that the pattern writing tool using Behringer's software I found a bit non-intuitive at first. Once I worked it out it was quite straight forward and it does the job well.

Conclusion:

Not everyone wants a copy of a classic baby drum machine. But for many, this is a an ideal way to make practical use of a device like this. If you happen to own a TR-606, you can use the RD-6 as your workhorse and leave the 606 locked up in the display cabinet. If you are someone who wish they had a TR-606, the RD6 is a no brainer and a sensible choice in my opinion. There's a lot you can do with it given the seperate outputs and software linking which the TR-606 doesn't have. I should mention that it is possible to get a MIDI to Sync24 converter to sync the TR-606, however; and it is possible to modify it to have separate outputs. But for most of us, Behringer's RD-6 is something of a dream come true, having features that we wished the TR-606 had.


Note: I wish to be transparent and let you know that as an Amazon Associate, I earn commission from qualifying purchases. Such links may appear on this and other pages on this site. Items that I link are items that I have used or researched, and may in fact be on my personal wish-list! ;)

If you would happen to like to use my Amazon link to purchase the Behringer RD-6, I would really appreciate it.

I have provided links to a number of colour choices etc, so see what works best for you!

https://amzn.to/3SKXLkr  (Blueberry, Germany. Only a few available at a great price)

https://amzn.to/3wlczPj  (Choice of 8 colours)


Thank you for reading.


© Copyright 2025 retrolab.xyz. All Rights Reserved.