Should Behringer Make Minisynth Keyboards? (POLYOsc Sneak Preview)

Behringer today shared a sneak preview of the POLYOsc, a compact polyphonic keyboard, based on the voice of the Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar synthesizer.

Based on the photo, it looks like this will be Behringer’s first minisynth keyboard.

Here’s what they have to say about it:

“Once upon a time, the OSCar synthesizer was born—a groundbreaking instrument crafted by the Oxford Synthesiser Company between 1983 and 1985. Ahead of its time in many ways, the OSCar was one of the few mono-synths of its era to feature MIDI, making it a sought-after tool for musicians. With only around 2,000 units produced, it became a cult classic known for its distinctive sound and innovative design.

Fast forward to today, and we’ve taken inspiration from this iconic synth to develop the POLYOsc prototype. This modern version builds on the legacy of the OSCar, incorporating many additional features while staying true to the original’s spirit.”

While the photo looks like a finished keyboard, it’s a pre-production prototype. Behringer says that they have not made a decision on whether or not to move forward with this design. It’s not clear from their post whether this will be a true polyphonic synth design, or a paraphonic design, like the ‘Poly D’.

Early feedback on the sneak preview suggest that people want full-size keys, and want the POLYOsc to be a true polyphonic synth design, not a paraphonic design like their ‘Poly D’.

Should Behringer start making minisynth keyboards? Share your thoughts in the comments!

71 thoughts on “Should Behringer Make Minisynth Keyboards? (POLYOsc Sneak Preview)”

  1. I am a sucker for the mini key form factor and if its an analog synth with no menus I just may buy this been wanting this form factor for a long time

    im down.

    2. Agree the new form factor is cool!
      … also fine with the minikeys, makes it much more portable and im not a piano or keyboard player anyway.

    3. I hate them. Arturia’s Microfreak contact keyboard is the way to go if you don’t want a keybed.

      Keybed issues aside, an OSCar is a sound choice, it’s good that Behringer is making all these classic designs available and affordable, whereas few can afford to buy or maintain the originals now. I’ve been into synths for 25 years and have never even seen an OSCar.

      1. I wish they’d make a freakstep midi/cv controller. freakstep pro, 4 tracks like a keystep pro…. i’d be first in line.

  3. Absolutely not!! It would be as stupid as making mini electric guitar, mini drums or mini mini grand pianos – fun toys for toddlers but useless as musical instruments for musicians to play.

    3. You realise that probably 90% of people with synths are not accomplished musicians and couldn’t care less for instruments made for musicians?

  5. They’d be smarter to not build any keyboards whatsoever. Desktop units, stacked high and sold cheap. Everyone has suitable master keyboards (or perhaps more likely: sequencers) and for those that don’t , I’m sure Behringer would be more than happy to sell you one.

    Forget mpe etc. Won’t happen

    1. Be great if they did a poly aftertouch midi controller to control the modules. I do like the smaller keyboards for working in other locations.

    2. I have a rack full of stuff and I still think something that I can just turn on and play on would be nice to have; without having to turn on the whole Christmas tree of other things…

  10. Of course they should! With real 2/3rds-sized mini-keys. First up, a mini-keys version of EMS’ classic “Synthi-AKs” briefcase VCS3 ( -with 4 x AA standard or Nimh rechargeable ) battery and AC powering options! Their planned ( $99.00 ) “tiny” version of this model is a devc
    ided step down and doesn’t cut it!

  11. The knobs on that control panel look really cheap. I suspect they’re trying to hit a ridiculously low price point, but you get what you pay for.

  13. Looks great. Always wanted an Oscar but never even got to try one. I’m no keyboard player so mini keys are just fine. In fact I love little synths with mini keys – my Reface CS will never be sold. Don’t really get the hatred? Are the haters all making ELP prog noodles? It’s not like no synth music has been made in the last 30 years that wasn’t keyboard skill based…. Oh well, each to Thier own.

  15. I’d rather see a clone of the Yamaha DX-1 with improvements like 256, or more, patch memory, multiple waveforms on the operators and digital effects including reverb, chorus and delay.

    1. Mini-keys often make a synth seem more like a cheap toy. Just think of them as desktop synths and use a MIDI cord with a full-size keyboard.

    2. Cool. Just plug in a controller with normal sized keys. Problem solved.

      Solid keybeds are welcome but it’s ultimately about the sounds, isn’t it?

  17. I’m going to replace those cheap plastic knobs with more outrageous looking expensive knobs and then try to sell it for twice what I paid on Reverb.com while it’s still on back order after I already posted me using it on social media and gave it a bad review because it didn’t make me a better producer.

  19. It would seem like the lack of glide types is a pretty big oversight for the sound profile of the synth. Maybe it’s hidden behind a menu???

    1. There is a set button below the glide knob, maybe that takes you to the settings like on the moog one/muse.

      hmmm, you could wait for this instead of getting the muse XD

  20. Never mind that its another B* project. Just IMO, its not a bad idea to have a mini-key synth like Roland’s Jupiter Xm, if the engine is good. It can be a target module, but also easy to trigger for special effects, above the main rig. I’m mostly a full-sized keys + modules type, but I couldn’t resist the MiniNova. I still admire the mega-stacks of Vangelis and Patrick Moraz, with the little specialty pieces sprinkled on top.

    1. there it is. it took 44 post to get to this time, instead of being all 44 posts. looks like Behringer is growing up, or trolls are dying off. good show!

      On Topic, I am not a fan of minikeys except for Reface’s. tbf, I’m a one keybed guy, and it’s the Korg Prologue. I’ll play the UBXa with it’s fancy after touch, but I record with my Prologue’s action for everything. the synths sound great, the mechanicals and electromechanicals latey have been poor on every’s synth imho.

  22. Yes to true polyphony. Yes to MPE. Honestly I doubt anyone is like main-ing this sort of synth anyways. It’s clearly a supplemental impulse purchase synth – so screw it let it come with mini keys it will be fun like the microkorg – Jesus I think the logic might apply to most of their synths cause honestly I think people are just building collections of these obscure recreations anyway and that’s awesome

  23. Having owned the original OSCar this looks like the absolute joke that Behringer is.
    The OSCar didn’t only sound unique but was also build like nothing else. And here comes Behringer again with no imagination finding the cheapest way to mass produce.

    2. Absolute joke? Exactly what is the absolute joke?
      Where can I get a reliable OSCar with MIDI for a few hundred dollars with a warranty?

      Back in the day, Billy Currie switched from the ARP Odyssey to the OSCar as his soloing instrument. At 1:18 in this clip, Midge Ure briefly demonstrates Ultravox’s OSCar:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmBZV15vKyw

      I have the Behringer Odyssey, and I look forward to getting a Behringer OSCar.

  25. I think this is a great idea. I used to work for an Oscar dealer, it’s a great synth in original form. The imposcar vst does a great job as an emulation. No one is making a hardware version the company is defunct and this is an iteration of a synth that builds on history.
    The vast majority of people have never played an original and never will. It’s a huge sounding synth and making it work as a poly that doesn’t overwhelm itself as a blob of too much richness will require great attention to voicing.
    Most potential buyers are not virtuoso players and have limited room and budgets. If you need big keys use a controller, like most people do with modules.
    Imho Modules are fine but having a small keyboard, allows you to make small adjustments
    to a sound without having to hit keys on a controller that may be out of reach. Of course if it had a full sized keyboard it’d cost more. As for the comment on “it should be touch keys like the micro freak,” if you really want a broken playing experience that’d be a great path.
    Im not a behringer fan boy, but they can make good stuff. My deepmind12 sits next to my OB2VS Model D OB6 etc etc. I’ll play one of these Oscars , if it sounds good I might buy one. But that decision isn’t based on a picture and outraged fluff from virtuoso keyboard players who at best have been playing a keyboardless vst to form an opinion on a product that doesn’t exist. It is extremely unlikely such a synth will be available with fully sized keys, mpe, polyaftertouch, piano action keybed, poly cv ins and outs, battery power, pitch controller strip, breath control and weigh under 3kg with all these “wonderful” and costly options. That’s not what this appears to be. I hope it sounds good, the wasp clone does not, the mini D does.

    1. Have they released any information on the mix of digital/analog components? I wasn’t sure if they might’ve just put ImpOscar software in a case.

    1. Duh, of course. If you have the stacks for the originals, awesome. But for the rest of us, it’s not always practical. I have yet to purchase a Behringer product besides a channel mixer but having tinkered with various cloned modules and synths in showrooms and reading all the reviews, there’s little to poo poo about the manufacturer’s output. Moreover, it’s rather remote to read anything they’ve produced that has many negative reviews. Here and there, the knobs might not feel solid on some units but other than that, Behringer doesn’t just clone a faceplate and put their stamp on it. Rather, they’ll take a scheme and flex it with contemporary tech or even add more voices to a limited original concept. They’re nothing what they were 25-30 years ago. If they’ve survived this long, they gotta be doing something right.

  29. “Should Behringer start making minisynth keyboards? Share your thoughts in the comments!”

    This is a bs question and you know it is. These are already in the making. Are you gonna pretend that if people said “don’t do it Uli” they will scrap all production? Are you taking your readers for that stupid?

    Who cares what we think. This is already happening! Screw you for promoting it once more. 😉

  31. I’m thrilled to see Behringer continue to release remakes of old synths in whatever format they want, but I’d prefer more desktop modules for the most part since there’s only so much space in a home studio. I just got the Imposcar 3 vst and it’s wonderful, really enjoying it. Not sure if I would be let down by a physical clone, since it would surely lack some of the upgrades the vst tho. Too bad they couldn’t reproduce the vst as a physical synth! Maybe it will be awesome though. People hate on Behringer, but I’m grateful to them. I couldn’t afford half as many synths without them.

  32. Behringer should focus on the remake of synths that are out of production like the Oscar. But I’d love to see a faithful reproduction and not the crappy mini synth format.

  33. Make it multitimbral with separate outs and I’ll pay extra for it, otherwise this particular synth doesn’t appeal to me.

  34. If you started out playing organ or piano, your idea of good Feels is on the opposite end from those who started with synths. A keyboard is just one kind of access point among many for the second group. Most of the factional flaming falls flat because its my idea of the best > consumer electronics < versus yours. Its nowhere near the level of gauging the tone of a cello, where there is a proven standard.

    Besides, I've never even been in the same room as an OSCar, so I can only take this synth on its own terms. This kind of revisiting may be the best thing B* can do. When a synth had an original run of 300, you can bet 200 of those are rotting in a garage or got puked on by a toddler. I've heard some useful, solid sounds from B* gear, so if one of them really speaks to you, look at it as a corn dog wrapped in cotton candy and dig in.

  36. Love this post. If Synthhead was ever trolling Synthtopia commenters, this is it.

    “Behringer” _and_ “mini-keys” _and_ “what do you think?” in the same post?? 🙂

  38. So this thing is digital controlled. it saves presets.
    Why can’t we have modern modulation now?
    morph from sound A to sound B via mod wheel 🙂

  40. Mini keys are cool. I used to gig with mini keyboards (as a 2nd keyboard). They have their place. My Arturia Keystep has excellent action + aftertouch. If you have any doubts about minikeys, check out Chick Corea ( with Return To Forever) doing lead solos with. Yamaha KX-5.

  42. This is exactly what Behringer should do. I’ve thought so from the very beginning of their venture into synths. I dare say reasonable priced synths are bought primarily by home enthusiasts like myself. It’s the equivalent of a serious guitar player investing in an expensive Gretsch or Gibson vs an Epiphone. I’d say a the arpeggiator and a sequencer (with memory) is way more important than full size keys. Programable patch memory in general. The Yamaha Reface is the perfect form factor size/ quality keys. ask there’s a big IF: no keys is to be preferred over cheap wonky keys. I’d never buy any of their full sized bulky clones myself. Rather invest in a top quality keyboard for ‘learning the piano’.

  43. I would say leave the keyboard off. Behringer synthesis are cheap, so you will start collecting them. I already have three. I could only find space for one or two if if they each had a mini-keyboard in the way

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *