Solina String Ensemble

Solina String Ensemble tech specs

Behringer Solina String Ensemble

Released: 2023
Company: Behringer
Types: String machine; effect (phaser)
Polyphony: Paraphonic
Control: MIDI; MIDI over USB
Size: 3U (Eurorack), 70HP

The Solina String Ensemble is Behringer's clone of the first string machine, Solina's String Ensemble.

As usual, Behringer ditched the keyboard, added both MIDI and MIDI over USB support, and shrank it down to Eurorack size, while leaving the classic sound alone.

It also includes a built-in phaser based on the Small Stone,^[1] replicating the pairing used by musicians like Jean-Michel Jarre in the 1970s. A good thing too, as it accounts for a surprising amount of that signature sound.

The phaser has a separate input and output, allowing it to be used independently... as does the string machine section's own chorus. It even has a VCA CV input, and trigger and gate outputs, allowing flexible interfacing with more advanced synthesisers.

With so many inputs and outputs, the Solina String Ensemble can work with other machines to do more together than any of them can do alone. For example, anyone looking to make kosmische Musik will surely want to try running their 900 Series or Model D through the phaser, and alternately running the Solina String Ensemble through the Moog style filter. There's not much more you could ask for. (Maybe a CV input for the phaser, bypassing its internal LFO, so that with a little help it can be tempo synced, or each new note can retrigger it... Modders, take note!)

While it's not as versatile as the VC340 (Behringer's clone of the VP-330), it's smaller, cheaper, and has a distinctive sound of its own. It's certainly much more convenient (and lighter) than the real thing.