Shut Up & Play – The Behringer DeepMind 12 Synthesizer

At Knobcon 2016, we got a sneak preview of the Behringer DeepMind 12 polyphonic analog synthesizer.

This video is nothing but raw audio demos of the Behringer DeepMind 12 synthesizer. This captures some of the first patches created on the fourth-generation DM12 prototype. 

At Knobcon, we also interviewed Pete Sadler, Project Lead on the development of the Behringer DeepMind 12. He told us that the DM 12 synth design was pretty well worked out, but they were going to use the next prototype to do things like improve the noise floor and add support for WiFi. See the interview for more on the origin & development of the DeepMind 12.

Pricing and Availability

The Behringer DeepMind 12 is priced at about $1,000 and is expected to be available in late 2016. For more info, see our earlier Behringer DeepMind 12 posts.

39 thoughts on “Shut Up & Play – The Behringer DeepMind 12 Synthesizer

    1. The wifi is for the graphic editor that has been demoed and discussed in other posts. I believe tt will provide parameter adjustment and preset management.

  1. This is going to be a killer pad machine, but it also sounds like it can do a LOT more.

    Looking forward to checking this out in December.

  2. I didn’t realize until now how shallow the depth of the keyboard is. Will be nice to fit a computer keyboard just in front of it on a desk. The filter does sound vaguely Roland, but the oscillators don’t sound all that rich in this video.

          1. Piercing, naval-grade oscillators used in submarines for echolocation. Those things will put a hole right through your skull if you forget to switch the chorus on.

  3. I imagine this can also be a great lead synth. Pad-only players (like myself) may just not have the musicianship to pull off effective lead melodies. Pads are easy to play with presets, no theory understanding needed. This synth looks awesome, like a prophet for the cost of a mopho. Behringer is good at making cost-effective albeit late to the party alternatives to expensive gear. Great video, what I find most remarkable is this synths range, I’m hearing sounds as diverse as from jupiter to absynth.

    1. I was wondering if they would be able to bring a digital audio stream in via WiFi– so if a physical audio input wasn’t possible, perhaps at least audio via iPad could work. But I very much doubt that they will do this. It’s not an effect box (though it could have been!)

    2. Audio in is an unusual request for a polyphonic synth, isn’t it?

      It makes a lot of sense on a monophonic synth, but what would you want to do with audio in on a polyphonic synth?

      The only keyboard I’ve ever played that had an audio input had it so that you could play along to your iPod – it wasn’t designed to let you process the audio in any interesting way.

      1. it would be good to mix other sources with the sound before the effects. if it’s multi-timbral this will happen anyway for internally different sounds? or do you mean that extensive effects section will be per-voice rather than global?

        concerning audio over wifi excuse me but i doubt behringer could pull that off – look at the abysmal wifi implementation in their recent x-air mixers that is barely able to maintain a weak connection at all and needs 30 seconds to transfer a few parameters… audio, sure…

    1. In some way I think I understand why you make a connection … the massive pads with massive reverb and FXs bring back memories from the 90s digital synths. I have the 3 JD990 and use to have the SY77 and I really like these new Behringer.

    2. I like the sound of these synth, has a good analog source, very impressive polyphony and the FX is a very nice option to have inside the instrument. The FX are the same quality of the ones inside the X32 mixer?

    1. It makes complete sense to demo patches with effects, because the DM 12 has effects built into it.

      It’s completely different than a demo where a synth with no internal effects is demoed with a bunch of reverb and shit.

      The point of an audio demo is to show what an instrument can do on its own, without a bunch of external effects.

  4. Some nice acid in there. I hope it is at least bi-timbral. Would be nice to layer/split those 12 voices. I only have 8 fingers and two thumbs.

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