Behringer Planning Complete Line Of Synthesizers, Starting At $49

In the days leading up to this year’s NAMM Show, Behringer held a Synth-A-Thon, where they did the formal introduction of their DeepMind 12 synthesizer.

The video above captures Behringer founder Uli Behringer at the event, discussing his early beginnings as a musician, the evolution of DeepMind 12, and his plans to go ‘all-in’ on synthesizers. He says he plans to create an entire line of synths, starting at $49. 

Along the way, he mentions Pete Sadler, Project Lead on the development of the Behringer DeepMind 12 and Rob Belcham, Lead Engineer on the DeepMind 12. Here are videos from Knobcon, featuring Belcham & Sadler offering their take on the DeepMind 12:

86 thoughts on “Behringer Planning Complete Line Of Synthesizers, Starting At $49”

    1. He said, “ask him in 3 months”. I think they may need to see what the DM12 sales are like. It’s kind of understandable. If they say, “The desktop version is out in one year.” Then sales of the keyboard version will be tamped down– and who knows what another company might release in that time frame.

  5. 2mn of the interview and it seems staged as hell. It’s rather sad to see how scripted it looks. Don’t you want to appear more human and passionate ? Make it simple, you are not Steve Jobs and will never be anyway so lose the ceremonial tone already…

    1. The problem is the girl who’s conducting the whole thing. Uli Behringer actually sounds like a nice guy and is trying his best to sound natural (and he probably is being natural, after all it’s his life he’s talking about), but she just, you know… doesn’t even know how to pretend to be excited and/or interested. It’s right there, in her eyes, expressions and tone of her voice, she just can’t disguise it. I can’t fully blame her, but at least she should try to do her job a bit better, I guess.

      2. She sounds like an overreacting interviewer but nothing that you wouldn’t witness elsewhere. Uli doesn’t sound natural, he makes those offset breaks after his sentences pretending to think about what he’s going to say. But the “we didn’t rehearse that” and him looking away when she asks something really looks bad overall. Also, when someone asks what is his favourite synth beside the DM12 or ub1, the only thing he finds relevant to say is “DEEPMIND”….. and claiming that the DM12 was built for him by his engineers, am I the only one to find it complacent and patronising ?
        When you listen to Dave Smith or Bob Moog interviews, their passion is the sound, not their own ego.

        1. I stuck my vl-tone through a monotron delay going into my circuit bent behringer delay pedal the other day and was sampling it with my old Sk-1 sticking it back through my pedal board and was having tons of fun.

        2. I’m a fan. Casio has always made nice instruments, solidly built and with an extra cool something about them, so affordable! Also, inexpensive digital pianos with great keybeds and very good sound. Not so affordable are the Grand Hybrids developed with Beckstein, but they look and sound incredible…

  11. Bought the Deepmind 12 and it has a place in my studio. It’s great. What I would love to see next, however, is a top end synth with all of the bells and whistles – 61 keys, polyphonic aftertouch, arpegiator, step sequencer, 12 voices, 3 oscillators per voice, 2 subs, all analog, ring modulator – basically a synth that could top the CS80. How much synth can you give us for $3-5K (more if necessary)? That’s what a lot of us who have amassed an arsenal of synths really want, a CS80 killer! Can you make it? If you could, people would talk about it for decades like they now talk about the CS80. It could be the ultimate synth! Anyway, just my 2 cents and I’d be willing to pay for it as well!

  15. sounds good to me. his original intention was to make an affordable analogue, which he’s not done. $3-5k CS80-why? plenty of boutique stuff for the would be Liberace

  16. the uli say will make a series of cheap synth while the same time the head engineer of the korg goes to Germany………
    i dont know if its a connection here with the creator of the Volca peoples synth (cheap synth)….

  18. People here shouldn’t be negative about announcement of cheap synths. It’s not about liking toy synths nowadays or something, it’s about new generation of people discovering synths or people who just can’t afford higher prices. It doesn’t matter what logo is written on the instrument or what it cost. No one cares about that! What matters is what people do with their instruments and what it makes people feel about. I too hate the thin and brittle sound of Naive Instruments softsynths and most virtual analog gear, but so what, its my personal opinion and it doesn’t really count.
    PS: That video was indeed a pain to watch. Hopefully they’ll do better next time. They should learn from the odd videos of David Lynch

    2. That “new generation of people” who can’t afford quality cheapen the market for everyone who actually cares whether gear lasts more than 6 months. It’s not about the logo, it’s about a race to the bottom in all consumer markets worldwide.

      1. I think you’re wrong about race to bottom..
        I too would love to own DM12, but I would actually prefer saving money for DSI OB6 instead. For each his own!

  19. Uli may not be the best orator but he’s probably the best thing to happen to the synth market in the last 25 years. A lot of synth makers are now being forced to up the features or lower their prices.

    1. The best thing to happen in the synth industry in the last 25 years is the rise of dozens of small European and American Eurorack manufacturers. Hundreds of young designers and engineers are producing interesting and affordable gear — and some of those tiny little companies are the giants of the future.

      These companies pay their employees a living wage (when they can) and often manufacture and assemble their products locally.

      Behringer, on the other hand, is currently building what Wikipedia refers to as “the largest industrial undertaking in Zhongshan, China. The complex will house a new factory and dormitories for up to 10.000 workers.”

      1. Dear Frodo,
        I think you can be sure that when Uli opens his large factory in China, the workers will be paid a living wage too. It’s the way things go. I suggest you concentrate on your Pulse Width Modulation and let the free market for synthesiser’s continue without the bleeding heart concern for making synths anymore expensive.
        Bob

        2. It’s never wrong to think about the big picture. Just like meat doesn’t grow inside a piece of styrofoam, synths don’t fall out of the sky into the Sweetwater warehouse. Synths are not somehow excluded from the world of ethics and values, of pollution and human rights.

      2. I agree that the Eurorack manufacturing community is probably doing the most interesting synth design nowadays, and I love the fact that a lot of them build the modules themselves by hand and offer DIY kits, but Eurorack is hardly affordable if you are looking at even a basic system.

  20. It’s a pretty saturated market. It has to be good to get my money. If it looks less like a computer and more like something I want to play with, then it’s got a very good chance. There’s a reason circuit bent toys sell like hot cakes.

  22. give me a workstation, uli. put some kind of maschine jam into it. i would buy it in second. akai made the big mistake by not releasing a mpc workstation. they had alesis sound content but decided not to build a mpc with keys/keybed around it.

  23. the cs-80 is old,we don’t need another remake let it die gracefully,,the cs-80 is a king of cheese with many many software replica’s ,,stop going on about the cs 80 or even the m1 ,,they are cheese machines that will not be purchased by me

      1. Dear Daniel,
        you are the consumer, your choices dictate what is produced, where it is produced and by whom.
        No one in the world is forcing you to buy a synth which might feature knobs that fall off, or a less than robust build quality. If you can afford expensive gear and “expensive designer” coffee for example, lucky for you and your friends. But some people don’t have the money to buy esoteric modular units or custom build short run items. Mass production makes things cheap. Where do you think Korgs highly praised Volca range is built? I’m guessing but its probably China.
        As for CS 80’s, even if PUTIN has never touched one, his ears still work. He thinks its cheesy.
        And he is right, this is preset synth with a cheesy sound, than can be made to sound amazing.
        But due to design flaws (like a too small enclosure) it was notorious for going out of tune due to heat.
        Hard to believe now but one could pick these up for less than a £1000 20 years ago. No one wanted them
        because they were cheesy and out of tune, probably only one or two people in the country could fix them.
        If you want a Yamaha Reface CS80, then buy one.
        If you don’t want a Yamaha Reface CS80 then don’t buy one.
        If you want handmade synth modules that command a premium price then go for it.
        Don’t try and make the people who buy “Casio” or Behringer feel guilty because its being made in China.
        Because they don’t.
        Respectfully yours
        Bob

  24. i picked up the deepmind 12 last week and its totally brilliant, no idea how they managed to pull this one off or cram so many great ideas in for just £1000, its just stupid good and makes Korgs efforts look like toys, it really does sound pro.

    Bring it on, they’ve got some great ideas, cant wait to see what the come up with next, i’d love to see a 61 key version with an audio input, if they brought that out for £1500 it would be a steel.

    They are going to make a packet on this range.

  25. I see people picking on the low price gear, true it will not sound as good as the high end gear and probably wont last as long (as long as juno 106 voice chips are not used). But there are allot more poorer people than rich and some of the poor are very talented (billboard charts always has some on their list) . Would it not be nice to allow them a chance to get in and maybe make it big, or least a bit better. I am pretty sure some of you have seen a movie based on at least someone like that.
    Another thing to point out is how many times a hit song is mad with a cheap POS toy and all of a sudden that toy is selling for top dollar on ebay (FYI the TB-303 was once at 50 bucks) Volkswagen add anyone?

    The best retort i have about high end versus cheap has to be the “Steve Jobs” movie where in the end he talks about how the computer will help change the world and make man that much more improved. The question i have is “How do you make it work when it cost 2000 bucks a pop to do that?”
    It is why i believe the raspberry PI and the offshoots around it will do more than apple will.

  26. As someone who professionally produces and directs shows, this could have been done far better. They even got simple things (such as wearing black clothing in front of a black background) wrong. The angles and lighting are also shocking.

    I like the passion but presentation is so very key!

  27. The goals of the production were pretty clear. [1] personal historical context [2] passion [3] open to new ideas, listening to forums [4] bright future, etc.

    It’s all fine. They could have hired slick actors, etc. I mean, even the website has some pretty hilarious images of people rocking “a little too hard” on their gear. That’s not that important. This is their more folksy version of the Steve Jobs hype-fests (btw, I’m a mac user and I hate that $#!)

    It would be nice if Behringer had a better reputation for build quality & after-purchase support– that’s not to say they won’t or can’t improve. In the meantime, it is worth it to get the little extendend warranties from 3rd parties– which brings the price up a bit.

    1. You might give a shit when you reach for that filter cutoff knob at the peak of your set and it breaks off in your hand. No Wal-Mart synths, please.

  31. Surely It will be a monosynth next (after the DeepRack12) . I’m guessing €299 -€349 . Then perhaps another polyphonic with a few more oscillator options. Me – I’d like 4 unique fully controllable oscilators per voice. Because I’m greedy. I’d be OK with 8 note polyphony to keep the cost lower.. I’d also like some innovative feedback paths to allow some Westcoast style “complex oscillator” fun. Just dreaming here.

  32. wonder how to get people to try your gear,well kinda hard at 1000 but at 49 I am pretty sure you get takers, just look at teenage engineering, hey the op-1 is nice but at the price, so out came the noise monsters

  33. A nice fully analog semi-modular with two different filters with ability to patch one into the other for under 600 eur would be bombastic!

    1. yeah I think if you made something like a volca but just dropped in patch points you would get a lot of takers who aren’t looking to go full modular but would love to experiment for cheap.

  35. I want a 45 dollar pipe organ in my house, behringer can you do it ? It would be amazing, the challenge is out there!!!!! ????????????????

  37. I have a DM12, love it, amazing value and built like a tank. I would love to see Uli take on Eurorack, its getting seriously overpriced – low volume boutique makers are great for choice, but it would be nice to have some more low cost options

  38. Im sending my DeepMind12 back to Sweetwater. The Oscillators sound thin and fake, you have all those behringer quality effects built in for a reason. to make things actually sound interesting. Also, the slider caps are super wiggly, and this again makes me think of behringers quality and design. Its a solid piece, just loose around the edges…

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