Behringer Moving Forward With Minimoog Model D Clone (Superbooth Sneak Preview)

Behringer head Uli Behringer expects to have a prototype of their Minimoog Model D clone built by next week and hopes to bring it to Superbooth 2017.

In a forum post, Behringer shared this photo of their PCB, noting:

We have just received the first PCB (Print Circuit Board) and if all goes well, we should have a working prototype ready by next week.

As you can see it is quite a dense layout as squeezing a complete Model D design into a Eurorack format is not an easy task.

Please keep in mind that we are still many months away from a shipment date. A typical design cycle requires around 1-2 board spins, all depending on the audio performance as well as the subsequent compliance testing which includes EMC and safety.

Since people have shown interest, we will happily share with you the design milestones of this synthesizer, so you get a better understanding how an electronic product is engineered.

Behringer recently announced their plans to make a $400 Minimoog Model D clone, below:

The synth is designed to be used as a standalone synth or as part of a Eurorack system, with limited patchability.

 

73 thoughts on “Behringer Moving Forward With Minimoog Model D Clone (Superbooth Sneak Preview)”

  3. Cool. Price seems fair for a modern mass-produced SMD analog mono with a fairly limited feature set. Obviously it’s not a Moog Mini Model D for $400 but if it sounds authentic, or at least as good as the best soft-synth emulators and clones out there, then it should sell well.

  4. Good to see that Moog is introducing new and slightly different designs like the new Drummer DIY module while others continue to revisit their earlier releases.

    1. The Drummer is for “DIY project for Moogfest Engineer VIP attendees” only. These tickets cost €1800 and the event is in the USA. I’d hardly call that “Good” or useful to anyone except a select few

      1. Oh it’s good, and I’m sure it’s going to be very useful. Yes it’s for “a select few” (lol) people that can afford a moderately priced synthesizer… only they’re building it, attending live music festivals and getting to meet many great artists while at it. So, what’s your point?

  6. I hope they are going to still go ahead with the DM12 desktops. I owned 2 Minimoog D’s for a decade, and currently own a Minimoog Voyager, the last thing I need is another Minimoog (though I admit if these clones actually hit the store shelves I’ll probably buy one down the road just as a studio conversation piece lol)

    2. Agreed. It would make more sense to place them on the bottom of the panel. Same with the filter and other control inputs. When mounted in a rack, the cables will hang over the controls with this design.

  8. I find the Model D reissue to be a lovely instrument, but I just can’t stomach the price. I welcome the opportunity to own a SMD clone if it gets the sound right. I’d love to own an Arp Odyssey, but I am perfectly content with my Korg reissue…

    1. Moog seems to be going into different direction with their stuff. There’s all that diy soldering events, moogfest, ipad apps, some reissues of old instruments and theremini running animoog. And of course moogerfoogers – which many electronic instrument players will buy anyway. But they also have their new and more affordable instruments around that are bot being copied 1:1. It’s all ok I guess. Moog being wise would probably be proud of having had such a classical instrument made which others too want to produce.

  10. Probably gonna have to pass on this one, once it is released. Even if it sounds good and is sturdy, which it most likely is. The DM12 is cool. There is just something that doesn’t sit right for me, YMMV. Not judging anyone who buys one, cuz maybe in a couple years i might too. It is just that, to me, it feels a little… idk… weird? uncomfortable? It feels like someone is trying to date my divorced mother, or something. No one is doing anything “wrong”, but the queasy feeling is not going away very quickly. For whatever that’s worth… (I will continue taking my meds. :p)

    1. The more accurate analogy would be that your mother passed away and 30 years later someone was able to obtain her DNA and cloned her and then started dating her.

      Which is probably way more weird and uncomfortable.

    2. Yeah, just not interested in putting a ‘discount knockoff’ synth in my studio. Its looking jet sharing screenshots of your cracked software.

      Also – this might sound similar to a Minimoog, but can’t match the sound simply because BEHRINGER is changing a lot in the design.

      Would be better if the just came up with a modern and superior design. Is the best they can do is knocking if 40-year old designs?

  11. This is gross. I like the idea of the old classics being made available again for reasonable prices, many of them contain features no modern synth has, but there are several versions of the mini currently commercially available from a company which has done much to give back to the community.

    Korg does the reissues right, gets the creators involved and offers the synth for reasonable prices. This just sucks.

    1. I must be missing something- where is the Moog Eurorack Model D with 14 patch points for $400? I paid over $600 for the 1 oscillator Mother 32… You can buy Rolex or you can buy Timex – a lot of what yo pay for is the brand/image/status symbol/company ethos – Let the consumers choose, there needs to be choice….

      1. “You can buy Rolex or you can buy Timex”

        And you can choose to support businesses that have a reputation for making great gear and that pay workers living wages, or you can buy cheap knockoffs made with what’s essentially slave labor, by people that actually LIVE at the Behringer factory in China.

          1. We don’t have a choice when buying computers. They’re all made in China. However, we *do* have a choice when it comes to synths, because it’s a tiny industry with manufacturers around the world

            1. Where do you think most electronics components comes from?

              You can maybe even argue of the concept with the Moog or DSI…is it really 100 % made in USA or …made in China or India? and assembled in USA?

        3. Do you have information on how much Behringer employees make at the factory in china? How do we know that they don’t make enough to make a living wage in china? Just because you have employees in China doesn’t mean you’re paying them unfairly so I would like to see the evidence you have before accusing a company of doing slave labor.

      2. Choice is good. I would have no problems with Behringer making a 3 oscillator monosynth with a ladder filter and selling it for $400, ideally they would add their own twist to it too. Making a Model D leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

  13. Even prescription meds have generics that are as good and more affordable… therefore, having a clone of an iconic synth makes a lot of sense. Can’t wait to hear and see comparisons. Then at the 400.00 price point, it definitely would be the best bang for the buck.

    1. Generic medications put plenty of people into hospital due to bad reactions. They are not as good, they don’t have the same quality control.. A chef makes a cake, I make the same cake using the same ingredients. He makes money and I make people sick…

  15. yea it all depends on how it sounds. though i will say my mini is one the last things i would ever part with in life, ive had and sold a lot of gear over the years but i always come back to the mini for certain things and she never disappoints and at this point has been well worth the price. i have had a racked midimini too that was a great synth but you def loose some of the mojo with not having keys right there on your mini imo, at least for performance. but if it is really $400 and sounds good i would suspect people will buy it. but that is a lot of ifs…also i would add as many patch points as they could and add pw mod, note priority, etc just because its 2017.

  17. People need to relax. Nobody is choosing between this and a Model D reissue. If someone is serious they are going to get the Moog, the competition for this synth are other synths in the price range, the Erebus for example. I don’t see any way this will hurt Moog. Personally I would not buy a synth that is this ambitious value-wise, as there always seems to be something regrettably left out or of poor quality, but some people are happy with these types of products.

    Much more curious about the Behringer drum machine supposedly coming out.

  18. I like the idea of music for the masses. Cheap gear and from the second hand market in the right hands , gives us great music. (detroit techno/Electro etc ) anything that opens music up to others is a great thing . I hope this model D emulation has patch memories . I bought a voyager and wish I hadn’t . I think that the bottom price range of moog gear is very good. Well done Behringer you cheeky things!!

    1. I’d like an EDP Wasp one too, looks like the Jasper might provide them a good template. If I tried to make the Jasper it’d come out looking like Homer Simpson’s barbecue.

  20. This is what a Eurorack module looks like when it’s designed by someone that’s never used a modular synth.

    Check out the Mother 32 or any MOTM module to see intelligent synth design at work.

    Patch points go to the right or below the knobs. Because gravity.

    Also, 6 patch points? Do you even modular, bro?

    1. The design makes more sense as something used below or off to the side of a modular. HP is too expensive to waste on something that comes in it’s own stand-alone case.

      Speaking of… if Behringer is dipping their toes into Euro, I’d love to see how cheap they can make powered cases. That’s one of the big barriers to the format IMO.

    2. What is priceless about this comment is, this guy thinks a modular user designed mother 32- when it was not. every modular noobs favorite device to buy and then pretend they’re a pro or some expert. M32 is another vastly overpriced unit for what’s inside. Moog and Behringer both play very dirty behind the scenes. Most euro companies are small businesses and m32 was Moog, the big multinational, jumping on the euro bandwagon same as moog zombies accuse behringer is now. The only people who don’t like this are fanboys or collectors.

      1. Moog has 62 employees based in North Carolina. Not sure why you irrationally believe they’re “the big multinational.” Behringer, on the other hand, has thousands of employees in China.

        1. Take a look at which banks are involved in Moog. Take a look at the actual components used. Read what their future plans are as a company. The only difference is moog pays its execs better. Which is where your $$$ goes with Moog.

  21. $400? Even if it only comes close, this will make a welcome addition to my studio. Can we chain 3 of them to do chords? Bought the Deepmind 12 – no problems – sounds great! Uli, give us a full list of the synths you are considering but not necessarily promising to recreate. Let us vote for our favorites!

    1. Yep, I fully agree! The Deepmind 12 is awesome, so if Behringer can recreate classics at these price points than I am all ready to buy!

  22. This is fabulous and exciting… If it’s as close sounding or even If Its not to the original, at $400 for a 3 osc synth on a rack… It’s a bargain! And if its as good a built as the DM12, take my money!

  23. $400 Model D clone. Okay fine. Looking forward to hearing it… Y’know what would be really cool though: NEW SYNTHS. The DM12 was really exciting because it was NEW. A company joining the synth market with a fresh entry (despite their reputation) that’s exciting. When I heard Behringer put together a whole “Synth Team” I was excited. Then it’s all clone this and that. Boring. Make new stuff. I’m not hating. I’m just bored. There are gonna be so many boring youtube videos of people comparing these with the real deal. How many 303 clones are out there? zillions. Take synths you love, take them in a new direction. I wish I had a “Synth team” we’d get inspired by the stuff we know and make NEW SYNTHS… And hardware sequencers. Not enough on the market IMO.

    1. Agreed. This is just as boring as the movie industry, with all the remakes or cinema versions of TV shows from when I was a kid. I’d rather see a bad-ass original design. Like the matrix brute. If behringer could do something amazing like that in a modest price range I’d get excited.

    2. I would rather have the Moog Clone. I did not like the DM12, other than it does pads well. If it were a minimoog copy, I would still have it.

  24. I get that there are cork sniffers in the synth community but what’s with the comments on every Behringer post about elitism in the industry and snobs who believe good synths have to be $1500+? A lot of companies can’t offer what Behringer does because they don’t have an empire built on low quality gear constructed via slave labor. Nobody’s trying to pull the wool over your eyes. Moog might charge more than the average manufacturer but everybody knows they’re the most iconic name in synthesizers. They also provide quality tools, something Uli Behringer wouldn’t be able to say with great confidence. You don’t need to pay Moog prices to get a quality monosynth anyway, especially these days. Instead of getting worked up over a clone that’ll probably be junk and calling people out over a business you perceive as greedy why not explore more sensible options?

    1. Uli is a jerk, but you should read about Behringer City before you go throwing around “slave wages” while typing on a foxcon phone.

  25. I have a model d reissue. Man, I love the sound of it! To me, it blows away the voyager in warmth and color. I just wish that it had memory storage so that I can spend more time playing and less time trying to remember how I made a certain lead patch. If Behringer can pull this off and add memory, I am all in, as it would be insane not to buy one at that price.

  27. Behringer, hire the programmer of the Voyager OS and create a voyager Euro rack module with SMD components. Thanks. That is what Moog should have done years ago. Have a Voyager but would not mind too add some clones if it’s the same.

  28. Everybody is talking about the good build quality of Moog and so on. I owned a Moog Sub Phatty. Awesome looking machine but with a cheap clicking keyboard. I got a new one (warranty) and still the same. I sold it.

  29. Seen this comment now so many times, “Hand build quality”, it’s a hoax. Hand build is not equal to better quality. Mass produced, large batch, high volume products normally have more stable quality due to stable supply of components and less variances in batches of raw material. I all depends how companies implement their incoming, in process and outgoing inspection and their acceptance standards. If you look at those production line of these small company “cell” based lines won’t be able to meet the level of quality of Chinese production lines. Outsourcing is normally much better due to economies of scale and scope but it can cause real problems when physical, communication and cultural distance stands in the way. A mid way to avoid this is is to outsource domestically, you may get the best of two worlds.

  30. I’m in favor of what was previously stated by Zarnut and Stu, but to some degree, Huff as well. The film industry is regurgitating the same material despite the availability of new work by screen writers practically falling from the sky. The same is true for the synth industry. Potential for new creativity is unfathomable, especially when the market is poised with those who are fully willing to buy – from starving musicians and sound designers to those who like to curiously poke around with knobs and cables. The need is ever present. But does that mean the quality of creativity and even the end build should be an issue? Humbly, I don’t believe so. With reference to what Huff was saying, “more sensible options” might provide others, such as students and small universities or colleges with low funding the capability to provide more equipment. Granted, most students these days are using soft synth, but some are turning to hardware. This also opens the question of whether companies which provide soft synths will open their arsenal further in the area of analog, with Behringer having pushed the legal boundaries in the area of hardware synths. And before it escapes me, can the gap be bridged between affordability and jaw dropping, new design? I suppose the only true answer will be available… as always, after – or hopefully after summer NAMM. Patience for new gear that is utterly needed can be gruesome torture… as such would be waiting until winter 2018.

  31. Why a Model D? Why doesn’t he clone an ARP 2500, or Memorymoog? Maybe a Synclavier, or Fairlight? C’mon, go big or go home.

  32. At first i thought wow, then i realized just because it´s in eurorack format it´s not automatically suitable for modular stuff.
    …

  33. I hope Moog protects their Model D re-issue circuit design. It’s not a 40 year-old synth anymore, it’s a modernized synth that’s back in production. Imagine Moog cloned the DeepMind, we all know there would be a lawsuit.

  34. It would be very nice that behringer make a simple full key size keyboard for the behringer D.with a mounting to allow it to fold forward and backwards like the moog. This would give it that instrument panel look which is very pleasing to see.

    An arp 2600 clone is utterly dream stuff for me.

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