I guess many here knew that already. 😊
I've always been very fond or Monark, already did some pretty lenghty testing against the Minimoog and Behringer Model D, based on sound examples from YT videos in the past, but, I have a Behringer Model D for a couple of days now, and, the way I am, I, of course, tested it extensively against Monark, to see how far software tech has come. My summary is: Extremely far.
It's not just simple sounds, or the raw waveforms which are very close, up to the point you'd be hard pressed to tell which is which (and I more than once twiddle the GUI when I played the Model D, or twisted the knobs on the Model D when I played Monark…), but also more complex sounds, and, especially remarkable, pretty extreme sounds, when you crank up the resonance, dial in very short decay times, or use filter or oscillator FM. It's absolutely amazing really how close Monark actually is to the Model D. I would estimate (totally scientifically 😉) that the sound is 98% there.
The biggest differences I noticed are with the parameter ranges. You have to dial in other values, to make the sound close. What I especially noticed is that the Model D seems to have a different attack phase shape, at least with the filter envelope, not sure about amp envelope, but, I guess it's the same there. Also, the filter decay stage must be dialed in very sensibly on the Model D, as low values have a big effect. I also noticed that there is quite a lot of buzz on the triangle waveforms on oscillators 1 and 2 on the Model D, while Monark only has a slight buzz on them (but it's there). Oscillator 3 seems to have a "pure" triangle.
Of course, the big difference is that Monark won't go out of tune. One of the godsends of digital and software. The Model D needs some warming up (about half an hour), so that you get when you last turned it off, and, there are also variances while you're playing. AND, the scaling is also a bit off, meaning that you get a slightly different tuning when you go up or down the octaves. Obviously, that's something you can tune when you open up the device, and, I read that they're usually not that well tuned by factory default.
My summary, for what it's worth, and if it may be of help to someone, if you consider the Model D, be aware of the downsides you have with such a device. Of course, the factor of being able to tweak every parameter from the device is great, and, it's the main reason I got it, but, when you have something like Monark, I can only say that it is incredible how authentic and close it sounds, and, we're talking about a clone here, not even the real deal (but, obviously, Behringer does a mighty good job with reproducing the original components). Monark has a lot of advantages, like, total recall, being able to use presets, no tuning issues, no cabling required, the ability to use as many instances as your computer can handle, etc. etc.
The Model D is a lot of fun, but, heck, it probably made me appreciate Monark even more, because it so nails that sound. 🙂
