The Behringer 303 clone is real: Roland-inspired acid bass synth leaks

Behringer TD-3
(Image credit: Behringer)

Update: It looks like Behringer's official TD-3 announcement will be via at 5pm (GMT) on Friday 8 November via a YouTube video titled Winter Of Love 2019.

If you didn’t already believe that Behringer is about to launch a Roland TB-303 clone, you certainly should now: the TD-3, as it's known, has leaked.

We’re still expecting an official announcement tomorrow, 8 November, but a webpage detailing the product - which has since been taken down - has already gone live, with images and specs posted on the Gearslutz forum.

It seems that the TD-3 sticks pretty closely to the TB-303’s design and specs - it’ll be interesting to see what Roland has to say about that - bit with the addition of a distortion circuit that’s based on the Boss DS-1 pedal.

As such, this looks to be an all-analogue instrument that’s based on the original TB-303 circuitry. Leaked specs suggest that you get a sawtooth and square waveform VCO, a 4-pole low-pass resonant filter, a 7-track 16-step sequencer and an arpeggiator.

16-voice Poly Chain, meanwhile, enables you to connect multiple units for 16 voices of polyphony, and there are the obligatory MIDI and USB ports.

Word has it that the TD-3 will cost €150, but we’re still waiting for confirmation of that price. We’ll bring you more news as we get it.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it. 

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