Donner B1 Analog Bass Synthesizer and Sequencer

Good build quality, better than I expected for the price, has a lot of features but is easy to use after reading the manual. Just recently in the last few days there was a firmware update which added a song mode and some other new features. The built in saturation sounds very nice and can go from subtle to quite wild, the delay is also very handy. Soundwise it is very nice, not an exact 303 clone but still capable of convincing acid type sequences, it has a very nice short decay at the lowest setting which is very nice for choppy staccato bass and acid. The resonance and cutoff have a slightly wider range than other clones, the accents and slides are on point, the square wave is not quite as hollow sounding as a real 303 but still perfectly usable. The realtime performance modifiers are really fun to use and can be a great way of adding interest to a performance. The windows app is handy for pattern backup and is used to perform the updates, I believe there is a Mac version too. The only slight criticisms/wishlist I have are: The text around the buttons is a little difficult to see in low light conditions. The LEDs seem to be RGB but only blue and white are used, it would be nice to be able to change the colours, also when editing they could be coded to know what modifiers are on a step - eg accent red, slide yellow, accent and slide orange etc. Patterns can only be a max of 16 steps, you can chain them in song mode but it would be nice to have 64 step patterns like the bass bot has. The random generator function could be improved - it would be better if you could select which aspects you want to randomise for example accents, slides, notes, ratchet, rests, gate length - this could be chosen by button combination or set in the setup like how note priority, midi channel etc is set. The analog clock sync is not compatible with some other gear like Aira mini, the pulse is a bit long, which can cause a bit of delay if using B1 as master, it would be handy to be able to configure the pulse length in setup. All in all though a very nice product and most importantly a fun instrument to use, great sounds, good support and after sales updates, great price and features. I will definitely consider Donner products in the future and look forward to the forthcoming D1 drum machine.

Wanting a bass & rhythm synth for my music composing, I was dubious about purchasing a lesser known brand, having been a Roland, Behringer & Korg loyalist for many years. But I decided to take a risk with the Donner B1 & I was not disappointed. I can honestly say that it is just as good as Roland, Behringer & Korg, but a much lesser cost. The unit itself is well made & easy to use & the sounds that it creates are amazing, especially when using Appregio. I'm truly impressed & recommend to any budding musicians who want a good, but cheap little synth, to create bass rhythms for their music compositions.

The music hardware scene is drowning in cheap 303 clones at the moment. But if you can still get this for around £100 then it is a surprisingly good contender. Possibly the best at around that price. It sounds good, it's far easier to program than the original, and even the extra features are useful. . The only negatives are that the dials feel small, fiddly, and like they will fall off any moment. Although after a year of heavy use they still haven't, but they just FEEL like they still might. And, unless i'm doing something wrong (which is possible), when you change something like the MIDI IN channel in the software, it changes back to the default factory settings when you power down. Maybe this will get fixed in an update. . Either way, this synth is still well worth the price. Fix those issues and i'd definitely recommend this over any of the Korg Volca range, and even over the Beheringer TD-3. But not over a Roland TB-3 though. .

Great 303 clone - can glide, sequencer is easy and pattern/song making is way too. Build in effects for delay and overdrive make it sound excellent. Mono synth, but easy to connect to external gear audio and midi. now the bad - dedicated wall wart for power supply, not USB. Legend under buttons not clear ..could be better. overall tho for the price? Very pleased indeed. everyone should have one of these in their synth collection. Just for fun!

It's a great bit of kit! I send my back the following day unopened as it was the wrong specs for what I was looking for. But the service was rapid and came quiet quickly.

I have lots of synthesisers and I even have the Roland TB-03 as some of you may know I make a lot of psychedelic dance music. I would like to say that this is one of the best sounding bass generator machines that I have, it is easy to use and looks nice too!

1st impression was I didnt really like the keyboard on it but would have happily overlooked that had this unit performed. It has a good sequencer which if time is taken can be got to grips with. I just found the single Oscillator too limiting. add to that there is an inherent background noise which at volume is very noticeable. I checked around and appears this is common on them so was a definite show stopper for me. UPDATE. Seller contacted me with solutions to the problems I experienced. They sent me a free replacement of which I spent a bit more time on it. The noise problem wasn't so prevalent on this one and was easily removed altogether by turning down the drive just a touch on saturation. There has also been a firmware update which allows you to chain Sequences to lgether which is going yo prove usefull moving forward. I still don't love the keyboard but am getting used to it. To be fair it is better then other budget synths I have worked with. So have upped my rating from 3 to 5 stars

Good but I found the bass sounds a little samey there are not many controls to alter them. Easy to program and good value and can be also used as basic midi controller keyboard. Probably the heavy bass sounds was just not for me.