Propellerhead ReBirth RB-338 2.0

Pretty simple to use. You get two TB 303's, a TR 808, and a TR 909. All of these manifestations program very similar to the hardware counterpart. Not much more can be said as far as ease of use is concerned.

Limited. While this software nails the vintage groove setup, if you want to do anything more than that, I wish you good luck. You have four sound sources from each of the virtual modules, plus distortion, compression, and a PCF that can only be applied to one of the four modules (which is rather disappointing). Used in the context of a stand-alone, autonomous unit, this unit does well, but for live use, have fun getting it to play nicely with your other hardware.

I use it strictly for studio work, which means I can program the RB 338 to do whatever I want it to do, export it, then import it into Sonar to add whatever else I want. While you can layer your sounds with relative ease, I prefer being able to add real guitar or vocals with relative ease.

It's got a good sound to it. The 808/909 kits sound absolutely superb. The 303's sound arguably faithful, but I wouldn't go trading an actual TB 303 in for this. This software sounds great on its own, but I prefer to sample the 808/909 sounds so I can use them with hardware that's friendly with other hardware.

It depends on your computer. Mine's pretty solid.

Erm...

I've been messing with synths for the last 3 years, and this software is good to get the taste of loop-based techno in your mouth for a cheap price. I like the purity of this software; it sounds very 'rootsy' and steeped in the tradition of synced pre-MIDI hardware, and for that I love it. However, if you use this software, be prepared to export your grooves into a more powerful sequencer or use it stand-alone, because that's pretty much the only thing this software is good for.

Very Easy to use maybe for complete beginners the users manual will help with any problems
Presets??? what presets just tweak man tweak.

the 303 are monophonic and to some think the that the rebirth 303 sounds thinner well yeah it does but with either using rewire with reason you can phatten the 303 up using chorus, phaser reverbs etc remember the original 303 is monophonic and everyone has to modify their sound in some way.
effects in rebirth are a bit naff delay yeah pretty good distortion yeah sorted but no reverb get reason and use its FX.
sequencer is fine

Rebirth captures the essence of the roland TB-303 which nothing can truly emulate. its perfect for Hardfloor type music progressive drum pattern bulid ups to a steady rising distorted funky 303 which reaches an screaming climax this is Acid.

hell yeah its dependable
PC on a gig errrrr no thanks

never dealed with proppy heads
website is mint though loadsa downloads

if i lost it i would buy again no doubt i would love a genuine TB-303 but what rebirth lacks in absolute emulation it makes up for in this.
two tb-303s an TR-808 and 909 with Midi sync to all distortion and via reason seperate FX for each drum or synth sound and pan control for all drum parts.
all for #100 new that beats the #1200 for two TBS and #1600 for a 808 + 909 then you gotta get your FX midi setups for all that and hey
rebirth records your knob movements can't do that on the real thing.

I don't know anyone who wouldn't be able to use this program. It is extremely simple to use. The presets aren't that great, but tweak with them and you can get some classic synth sounds. Not much to work with, which makes it easy to use.

Not much. 2 drum machines and 2 synths. also has distortion, delay, and pattern filter effects, but you can only use the pattern filter on one instrument at a time. I think there are MIDI capabilities, but I never used them. The different mods are good for getting new drum sounds, but the synths stay the same.

The drum sounds are, at best, pretty good. The synths and the drum machines can only program for 1 bar, although you can store many different patches and switch them after each bar. The only way to get a different sound from the synths is to tweak the knobs ( accent, decay, etc. ). Only good for creating a simple rythm track for techno music.

Seems to be reliable, although I can't imagine how one could loose it as long as they had a copy of it on another CD.

Never dealt with company.

If your just getting into electronic music and have no experience with programming and sequencing, this is a good product to have. Good for playing around with and for begginers, not very good for professional use. If for some reason it did get stolen, I really wouldn't have any reason to buy another copy.

straight forward simple TRxox programing. Can get a nice song up and runing very quickly. Make sure you don't save over the silent song though as those present are shit.

distortion, filter good. Delay can make some interesting electro/techno beats.Best feature is the users mods by rebirth avaiable. Some great electro sounds.

The eternal question seems to be, how close is rebirth to the hardware sounds. What a contentious issue. Some users still stuck inside their square would say they are crap. Propellerheads actually went inside the heart of the 303, 808 and 909 and developed some secret source code within the circuitry emulates these classic's about 90% I believe. Respected UK electro mag Sound on Sound, compared both the 909 and 808 hardware in midi sync with rebirth both playing on the same note. The results indicated that the rebirth 808 BD was warmer stronger then the hardware, 808 snare hardware was stronger, 909 BD the same. The S.O.S reviewer suggested that he would rather sue rebirth then his original hardware. That's says everything. I think that the sounds are so much better then sample driven groove, beats the MC 303 and Remix 1 hands down. As for Fruity software being nicknamed the 'rebirth killer' forget it bullshit. On board effects are ok. Drive a Korg er1 with rebirth and your in electro paradise. Rewire rebirth into the Cubase VST environment and take to the sounds with vst effects

run fucking perfect.

don't know.

wouldn't lose it always backed up on CD.

It's pretty stright forward. My only complaint is in editing/modifying songs - it's a bit unintuative. There is a ulility that just came out that is supposed to make it easy to program patterns/songs. This is a great toy for getting song ideas.

There are 2 monophic 303 like synths each with it's own step sequecer. An 808 and 909 drum machine each with the ability to change drum sounds to your own samples. Built in pattern filter, distortion and delay.

Rebirth sounds great by itself. The filters on the synths sound good and you can get a great dance/techno sound. Once you put the thing in a mix and add other instruments it seems to get lost. It just doesn't have the range to stand out in a mix. Even just adding a lead part seems to make it sound muddy. Stacked up to say a Waldorf Pulse it dosn't sound as good anymore.

It's as reliable as windows ;-). I have had problems integrating it with other software packages like VST (yes even with rewire) and Cakewalk Pro-Audio 8 & 9. It doesn't replace real midi gear.

never had to deal with them. I did get the program direct from Propellerhead and they were very quick in getting it too me even though they are in Europe.

I wish it's integration was easier, it was more intuative to program in song mode and it's dynamic range was better so that it would stand out in a mix. It's a fun toy for generating new ideas and if you use it for that you'll be very happy with it.

Anyone with a vague interest in making techno music or the like will find the interface friendly, intuitive, and sensible. Even if you use the randomly generated patterns or the keyboard, you can still turn out acid house tracks within a short time. Exporting .wav files is very convenient for mixing into multi-track programs or just individual songs.

As mentioned by others, two basslines, two classic drum machines, single tap delay, distortion with shaping, a pattern based filter (resonant band pass or low pass) with 32 presets, and compression. In short, tweakers paradise(unless you're Richard James). All the effects are single send only, unfortunately. Also, the PCF can only modulate one source. You can't pan individual drums either unless you have Cubase 3.5 or better. Despite the mixing limitations, there are many features to make music faithful to the house and techno style. There is plenty of room for experimentation and variety once you master the interface, which is very easy. When you switch from pattern to song mode, almost anything you move will be saved in the sequence, so an external sequencer is only needed to sync it to the rest of your music. The program is very fast(PC version), and has acceptable latency even on a pentium 133.(but make sure you use Direct X and a stable sound card)

So does it sound like a 303? Mostly, yes. The warmth, lower end, and screechy filter are there. But 100% faithful reaction is questionable with any emulation of discrete circuits, as that is what this program is. There's a level of unpredictability of any analog that would be nearly impossible to reproduce in software. One quick example: repeated 16th note accents of the original 303 would drive the resonance and amplifier higher with each note, until a rest, into saturation, and do so unpredictably. Rebirth seems to act more like a SH101 here, and accents die down fast enough for it to sound like a retrigger.
It really does sound good though, and acts mostly like a 303 does. Only purists will grumble. Combined with the pattern filter, you can create sounds that resemble other old synths with the 303's slide and accent qualities. And the delay, although not essetial to good sound, will add much to the mix when you start tweaking. The drums are punchy, clean and loud. I wanted more options for modifying drum sounds, like pitch and decay for all the hi hats and cymbals and pitch for the 808 bass drum and cow bell. But the sample based drum sounds will not disappoint dance composers. Many of the downloadable demos surpass even many commercial recordings in quality and variety.

A lot can be said for software vs. hardware regarding reliability. Although you'd have to have a laptop for portability(and laptop sound cards are usually rather lacking), studio work will be quick and inexpensive. Plus you can take your saved files anywhere. But it certainly won't break, unless your hard drive or windows crashes on you.

Steinberg and Propellerhead are helpful with updates on this version, and many of the mods add longetivity to already versatile composing software. Test them out with the demos and find one tailored to your musical style. I've never found any bugs. The documentation could be better, and some people have problems reading the pdf files(language compatibility is common). But the program is so easy to use, there isn't much you can't figure out on your own quickly.

I use this program frequently. There's no better and faster way to get traditional techno/house music without the real McCoy. And ease of use and reliability exceed the originals here.
Electronica enthusiasts and professionals alike will find it useful and enjoyable.

Rebirth v 2.01 is my introduction to the techno-style world, and I feel like I have a pretty complete grasp of this thing after three intensive days with it. I own no other instrument about which I can say that. It's downright elegant in its simplicity anbd power.

Rebirth forces me to think very differently--in a way more primitively--than any other instrument I own (Synths include QS8 and Korg ns5r) but its limitations are its strength, in a roundabout way. It forces you to play buy it's rather narrow rules, but rewards by paying off with great sounds and great control of those sounds. Hell, I don't know, I can't seem to stop using it and keep dreaming up ways of incoporating it into my decidedly non-techno songs and compositions. Syncs up fine with Cakewalk.

Fab.

Extremely stable thus far, though using it realtime on a big Cakewalk projec with lots of audio tracks has cause my meager P200 to quake a bit. No problem because Rebirth exports .wavs

No experience yet.

I will buy it again when there's reason to. Great value, great product, a real stimulator.

This is Rebirth 2.0. It is simple to use the machines, and the online documentation is a great idea.

Rebirth's two emulated TB 303's are monophonic, but you get two. The drum machines are good but you cant have open and closed hihats at the same time. You can control it with a phatboy midi controller. You get a complete techno/industrial machine worth $5000 for less than $200

The sounds are flexible. The only thing it can do is techno/dance/electronic. The FX are delay, distortion, and PCF. The only problem is (except for delay) the settings have to be the same. It is cool when you use the knobs.

It is dependable, cuz its on a computer. You cant really gig with it though. Its kinda akward having a pc on stage.

Dunno

This is the program. Add vocals and distorted guitar, and you're nine inch nails.

This software is the closest you will ever come to owning a Mint condition pair of TB-303s as well as the two most important drum machines in the world (especially if you make house, trance, electro or dub music). Version 2.0 is incredibly easy to use, but does require a small learning curve (read some very basic instructions included on the CDROM jewelry box and you're ready to make patterns which you will string together to form songs. You can create patterns from scratch or you can start with an existing songs pattern set and manipulate it very easily. If you spend an additional 10 minutes reading the manual about how to program the synths from your typing keyboard, you will realize there are many cool ways to make short work out of creating patterns and making music as all controls are accessible from your fingertips. There are also many cool features in your pull-down menus, such as randomizing patterns or pitches, shifting pitch, shifting synth and drum patterns left or right (within your 16th note four bar loops), and altering drums and patterns without changing pitch (radomizing accents or slides for example). The manual is included in PDF format and can be printed for your convenience. It's very easy to learn.

The coolest features for this software is automation of nearly every parameter of your songs. You get two TB303 basslines capable of playing one note at a time (but with the on board digital delay, you can create very thick sounds!) Each bassline has automation for Tune, Cutoff Frequency, Resonance, Modulation, Decay and Accent parameters. You can also automate changes between saw and square waveforms, gain level, delay input, pan, distortion on or off, PCF filter and compression! Multiply all these features by two and you can create nice solo-styled synth leads, backed by fat classic acid bass lines. As for the drum machines, well let me just say that these babies are great! You can't cheat the sound of a true 808 any better unless you've got samples of the original TR808, and believe me ReBirth is easier to set up and use. As for the 909 drum kit, this is a very welcomed addition to this application. These classic sounds can only be found in this software for this price. Expression is only limited to your imagination. MIDI support and sync are great, as nearly any control you could want to access is available. If you've got the patience, you can also customize which parameters will respond to your taste in MIDI messages. I would urge anyone to buy this software based on features alone... I almost forgot to mention that you can export your patterns to aiff or wave files! Cool.

True to form. I've been listening to house music since early 1990, and this machine captures the blippy acid sounds perfectly. You can also create fat and thundering bass lines that overflow with energy. The drum sounds are as good as the Original TR808 and TR909. I love how accurately they have been REBORN. : ) On board digital delay is a very cool feature which can be used to make this software sound like much more than is two note polyphony. Also included is a Distortion fx box which can recieve signal from each or all of the four sound modules simultaneously, with control over the amount of distortion feeback as well as the shape of the feedback. I use ReBirth 2.0 synced to Studio Vision Pro software, but this software will sync to any incoming MIDI clock you may have (as long as your hardware set up allows it to.) This is quality software!

This program works perfectly. I love it! It has never crashed on me.

Propellerheads has a great website designed for customer feedback. They have the best customer service in the business! Just check out their site and see for yourself. There are tons of free Modifications to the software available, plus direct feedback email systems where your email is replied to within 48 hours (based on my personal experience...)

Overall this software kicks ass! I would buy it 10 times over and strongly suggest you download the demo from Propellerheads website to see for yourself. The only feature this software lacks is a reverb fx box inline on each module... only if it had reverb could it be any better.

Though I'm still fairly new to the software's operating system, I can honestly say that with a few niggles (namely recording and automation features being overly convoluted), the operating system is quite easy to get a hold of. Most of the features work as a straightforward 15 year old synth or drum machine would (i.e. very intuitively, with instant feedback). In this regard, the program works well out of the box. Still, once you peel back the layers and dive a little deeper, it becomes more difficult to set up some of the automated functions, while the process of stringing patterns into songs could use a bit of tweaking to make everything much more seamless.
Other than that, my only concern with the program itself is with regards to the size of the screen; I would have preferred a scalable option to get away from the DOZENS of tiny little objects one must click. A zoom/reduce feature would have helped.
Patch editting is so simple, a moron could do it... and that's because a 303 bassline has but six knobs and a handful of switches. I've seen stompboxes with more complex panels. The TR-808 and TR-909 are equally straightforward, and all parameters have immediate, linear responses.
The manual is good, but geez... did they have to make it "online only"? I can't get the 2.0 manual to override the 1.5 version's manual... I'll have to use a friend computer to print it out. This seems like a waste of time. A proper, printed out manual is invaluable, and it would be only a couple of bucks more. I don't want to have to switch windows back and forth while programming.

Polyphony: 2 pitched notes for the 2 basslines (1 per). I have no idea what the drum machines' polyphony clocks in at, though I would assume Steinberg is pretty true to the limitations as well as the capabilities of the originals, so I'd guesstimate 4 to 8 notes simultaneously for each module.
Keyboard: You gotta be kidding.
Effects: The 2.0 version adds a "colour" knob to the distortion (great for total fuzz and odd, almost ring-modulated sounds). The delay is usuable, but disappointing (a milliseond clock would have been better than a step setting, and it sounds too grainy). The compressor ranges from fairly mild, to a very nice, tubby whomp, perfect for playing along with the distortion. Best of all is the PCF (pattern controlled filter). Sure, I'd love to see a highpass or notch mode thrown in, and the ability to import one's own sequences for the filter to be slaved to would be nice as well, but it already offers some wonderful squelch, bite and zip to drum and bass patterns. Other items on the wish list? A Chorus/Flanger module would be appreciated (and simple to implement as a sub-routine of the delay feature), and a simple graphic or parametric EQ to be applied to either the entire mix or a simgle instrument would be fantastic.
Expansion: It's software...expansion just means writing more code, I presume. An MC-202 expansion.. now THAT bit I would pay good money for!
MIDI: I haven't yet tried slaving it to any other keyboards, so I can't comment.
Sequencer: Can you say rudimentary? Okay, I'm being tough on it, but that's part of the beauty, making great music with bare-bones tools. It's logical to a point, and very easy to get up and running. My only concerns (as I stated earlier), are the needlessly complex steps one must go through to generate a song, as opposed to a pattern.

Everyone tries to make this out as the best program out there for techno. Well, yes, it's very good for techno. It's also good for doing early 80's sequencer bits (think Cabaret Voltaire, OMD or Human League), and I've been able to do a decent Kraftwerk facsimile on it too. Best of all is the "Mod" section for alternate front panels and sounds... each with it's own theme (from bright and bubbly guitar chucks taking the place of toms on the 808 kit) to dark, industrial fare that probably looks good on stage too. Basically, try the program out.. you can do some nice little fugues on it too if you like classical.
See above for effects, I certainly can't find much to complain about with them.
The whole program is nicely interactive, with only a bit of lag/latency... usually it's not obtrusive at all. Adjust a knob, and you hear it immediately, and you always have a visual reading of where you stand. That's valuable to have at all times, and ReBirth delivers it in spades.
As for the actual sounds, they're quite true to life, though like most people, I don't have a 303, 808 or 909 to compare the modules with, they certainly work in my "mind's ear".... bear in mind I've only run them through cheap little multimedia speakers at this point, so one the program's output gets hooked up to a proper amp/speaker combo, I expect to be floored.

The software hasn't crashed yet. Given the (lack) of success I've had with computers thus far, this is a very good sign. As for gigging... I never do, but thusfar, I certainly wouldn't try to dissuade anyone from using it.

The 2.0 upgrade to my version 1.5 was shipped as soon as it was asked for, it arrived a scant 5 days after I requested it, no charge. Bravo! As for repairs... I don't think you can repair a CD-ROM. hehe

I'd buy this program in a second; the value of it is beyond compare. Having been a long-time eye-roller at the silly popularity of TB-303's (I recently saw a used one on sale for $1200), I must confess I love this program, since it does so much more than simply playing back bad techno riffs. It's great to have this alongside a proper modualar system for more programming-intensive parts. Why tie up a modular for sequenced bits when this does an admirable job? And yes, it does sound convincingly analogue, in case you were wondering. I've mentioned a few items that are on my wish list, and it woudl be grand to have non-Roland products used as a source of inspiration. If the folks at Steinberg and Propellerheads plan this properly, ReBirth could become a very good platform for future upgrades, be they in the form of drum or synth modules, effects, or even sampling. A streamlined Song mode would be nice too, it's just far too confusing for the first time user. Still, for the relatively low cash outlay, it's a nicely performing program. Best of all, I found it to be an inspiration. Can't complain about that.