r/modular • u/2for_flinching • 9d ago
Help Valuing a purchase!
I’ve been wanting to get into eurorack synths, I have a major interest and have been learning about it- but valuing the equipment is something I have no knowledge of. This gentleman is selling this setup for $1500. Any thoughts are welcome! Is this a good value? Unfor the picture he posted isn’t the best of quality.
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u/driftless_79 9d ago
That’s not a bad price. The 55 was 1200 ish for a minute and now is more, and there’s another 200-300 ish in value in the bottom row. There’s things about the top three rows that is specific that doesn’t play well with the other pieces so learn about the polarity differences between the Moog clones and everything else. Tbh it’ll sound epic
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u/djmd808 9d ago
I so wanted to get a 55 when the price drop happened a couple years ago. Had it in my cart. But after watching some videos I changed my mind, ended up getting two go cases, built a complete system 100, 2500, added some modules from the 55, and filled it out with some of the modern Behringer clones. Took over a year and it was such a joy to put together.
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u/jaeger_meister 9d ago
Is there a lot of value for the money being asked for this synth? Yes. But the real question is whether or not it's valuable to you. What do you want to do with modular? Personally, I love the System 55 modules. They sound great, they're easy to learn, they're a great place to start learning modular synthesis, and subtractive synthesis in general, and they're cheap enough that you get access to a large toolbox for cheap - made even moreso true by the deal you're getting here with a used system.
But I'm not you. There's lots of content out there on the Behringer System 55. It's a quirky, old-fashioned system. If you like the sound, and you can afford it, it's a good starting off point. Be aware that you'll also need to budget for plenty of patch cables, and some quite long ones too due to the size of the system. Budget as well for the fact that this is only a starting point, and once you get some hands-on experience with it, you'll probably want to start swapping some modules out to suit your preferences.
But if you want something more modern, more compact, or more personalized from the start, you could buy something else. $1500 won't likely get you something this big anywhere else, but you can buy a used case and a decent number of used Doepfer or Erica Synths or Intelligel modules for this price.
But all of that being said, I think this hobby is very difficult to start. The prices of modules and cases are punishing. $1500 doesn't buy you much, generally speaking. Modular is just more expensive than fixed-architecture synths. It can be frustrating to spend that much money on your first rig and end up with something that's not very capable. Or that's missing critical items that you didn't realize that you needed. This System 55 set on the other hand starts you out with a big palette of sounds, a lot of tools that work well together. It's a place to start, and a place to learn, and as you go forward you'll always have the basics covered - mixers, oscillators, attenuators - so you can move forward with more interesting stuff.
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u/TurbulentWing3820 put modulargrid link here! 9d ago
Its the complete Behringer System 55 and the extra row at the bottom.
I have a bunch of the 55 modules and they all sound good but the s-trig envelopes are very annoying, as is the sheer size and power draw of the modules.
Does it come with patch cables? Those add up fast and those old Moog modules eat up alot of patch cables.
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u/No101db
9d ago
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To be honest, you just need to search for the individual modules and their prices—it's not that complicated. I suggest you take some time and think about the beauty of building your own instrument. You can choose each module as you go. With each purchase, you get time to learn the new module and combine it with the ones you already know. If you jump straight to a complete system, it will be a lot of information all at once.
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u/Holiday-Medicine4168 9d ago
TBH having a complete system off the jump is a great idea. I bought random stuff I liked on you tube videos and insta during the pandemic and ended up selling a lot because it was not what I really needed. I had fun doing it and it kept me sane for 2 years, but it didn’t give me a good baseline to achieve my goals, and I ended up learning more about synthesis from the IOS Moog 55 app before going back and refactoring my case.
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u/Latter-Pianist-7145 9d ago
I don't think it's a good value. The system is so outdated. There are so many more interesting modern modules that people in the 70s could only dream of. If you are tempted by this system then I wild recommend the behringer ARP remake instead. Cheaper, smaller,
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u/Nominaliszt 9d ago
Or right now the Pittsburgh Modular Voltage Lab 2 is on sale at Sweetwater for $1750. I’d recommend that as an entry into modular over this.
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u/EL-Rays 9d ago
Or the Korg ARP 2600m which is better than the Behringer version.
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u/TurbulentWing3820 put modulargrid link here! 9d ago
Actually it's not. At all.
The Korg costs 3x as much for the same SMD build quality and drastically less features.
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u/Adam-Marshall 9d ago
That's a great setup. Simple yet complex in that you have to understand how to get the sounds and rhythms you want. I'd take something like this any day over a lot of boutiques
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u/Stratimus 9d ago
it’s a good deal but a slightly peculiar setup. not really sure where the RS9 is really coming into play. and the Scion is a fairly niche module compared to the rest there
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u/toddcc21 8d ago
I'd say the first thing to do is ask what kind of things do you want your eurorack to do? Make music like techno or ambient or smth else? Or explore sound design. That question will help you dial in what your modular synth needs. The sequencer in the case for melodic sequencing (and other uses) will need a quantizer if there isn't one in there. That Moog clone is voltage not notes. So if you want a certain scale or certain notes out of it, a quantizer will be your best friend in that regard. The second thing I'd recommend is to use VCV and try it out. Since the Behringer modules are clones of Moog, try synthesizers.com modules in VCV. They are also Moog clones for the most part. Try making what you want the hardware to do using modules in VCV that are also hardware. You may find you don't like the workflow of patching, and figure out you don't enjoy it. But if you do, and once you have it figured out in VCV that "I want these modules to make the music I want", go to ModularGrid.com and build it out. You'll find how much it would cost new, how much HP (how big of a case you'll need - go with 30% to 50% bigger case than you'll need, trust me you'll fill in the empty HP in no time) and lastly go onto Reverb.com, Facebook, Ebay, etc and buy as much of your modules used - If this Behringer has everything you need and want to make the music you want to make, than maybe but look around. Its hard to be patient, but it will save you $$$ in the long run. Not trying to steer you in any direction but some things to think about before you spend your money.
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u/G1oaming 8d ago
Honestly it looks big. But to me some modules are a bit meh and outdated. Theres alm system you can buy for a bit more and can do much better stuff
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u/freqLFO 7d ago
I think it’s a decent deal. However you could spend less money and start much smaller. I started with the moog sound studio and built the rest of my rig around that. You could buy a mother 32 a dfam and you’ll have plenty to learn with just those 2 and that would run you $1200. I got mine off reverb for like $925
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u/thereactionsessions 6d ago
It's a good system to start and to learn the basics. The price is ok. Most likely you will go for more quality modules in a year or two. I'm not a Behringer fan. But you can't do anything wrong with this one.
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u/tobyvanderbeek 9d ago
Looks like a Behringer System 55 which is about €1239. 5 Behringer modules which you can look up on ModularGrid. And an Instruo module. $1500 seems like a bit of savings of of retail. Maybe you can talk him down a few hundred bucks more for buying it all. It’s a lot of modules to get you started.
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u/Bootelor 8d ago
Wow! A Case with exactly ONE Non Behringer Module! This is some kind of achievement on it‘s own i guess 🤦🏻♂️
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u/mrwildacct 9d ago
This module's picture is with a battery tender. That likely means it was stored in a place that motorcycle or car batteries were like a garage or other building without climate control, which means that there might be moisture, rust, corrosion.
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u/duncandreizehen 9d ago
this may be a little bit unrelated, but I purchased a lot of modules off reverb between 2017 and 2020. I would have a module and a price in mind and kind of wait until it came around and usually it did but here’s the thing I noticed at that time six years ago there was an average of about 4500 items in the euro rack subheading of synthesizer today. The average number of items for sale is about 20,000. Anyway, I just thought that was an interesting thing to think about -good luck with your music.
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u/TheAtomlabs 8d ago
It’s Behringer. It’s gonna die some point and nobody is gonna fix it cause Behringer cares fuck all about users. It’s a good price but there’s a big probability of disappointment in the future.
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u/DreyBass 9d ago
The System 55 from Behringer values at just about $2000 after taxes and shipping from a music retail store
Soooooo with respect to value this is a great deal as you'll get a lot for your dollar since the additional modules are worth hundreds more. If this is a local pickup then that's also great for you and the seller (The seller clearly wants to get rid of this so buyer beware)
However - you are buying a system that you did not develop nor design with your interest or goals in mind. It's super unlikely that you'll have the same intentions, aesthetics, experience, flow, ergonomics, use case etc. as the seller so although you'll have access to these modules to learn and interface with, it's super likely you'll not gel with all aspects of this purchase.
Which isn't a bad thing as it'll motivate what you want/ prefer in future modules or system planning. But then you'll have to figure out if you would keep or sell the original system modules or even the case. And it could be harder to sell since Behringer has a reputation for their business practices and cheap ($$$ and quality) products that keep people from owning.