Behringer MonoPoly On The Way

Behringer today shared a sneak preview of its MonoPoly synthesizer, a keyboard synth inspired by the Korg‘s four oscillator paraphonic Mono/Poly synth from 1981.

Update: The second video, embedded below, offers a demo and overview of the Behringer Monopoly in action:

Topics covered:

VCOs 1:34
PWM 2:28
Detune 4:20
Filter 5:00
Arp 6:56
Effects 11:10
Assign 12:49
LFO 16:05

Details on specifications, availability and pricing have not been announced.

154 thoughts on “Behringer MonoPoly On The Way

  1. Had one of these back in 1986….it was used n the key bed was in terrible shape….system sounded great….Sold it around 1990….

    I might just get this. Hope the CV compliment is the same like the original.

    1. My many objections to Uli Behringer’s behaviour, conduct, business practices, and ethical deficiencies aside, why build a synth with the same essential limitations when it could have been improved upon, built on the legacy of the previous product, and shown a bit of ingenuity in process and been able to call it your own…..you know, like how things are normally done….

      They could have started with preset saving for instance.

      1. Because than the price would be much more if they changed the original design. Why are people asking always asking the same questions?
        We all would love more functionality like presets, better keybed etc but less people would by these synths if they prices are set to high.
        You could better ask your question to the original builders as why they refused to rebuild these classics when the demand has always been large. And thank Behringer for at least offering us something close to the originals. 😉

        1. The original builders don’t need to reissue 40-year old designs, because they have innovated and advanced their designs, adding features that everybody likes, like patch memory, real MIDI support and real polyphony.

          So something like the Korg Prologue utterly blows away the Mono/Poly.

          Behringer has to go back to these old designs because the company hasn’t done any original designs of note, so the company has no cred and has to fall back to cribbing the cred of vintage designs.

          1. you are aware the world has been begging for old school synths etc for reasonable cost for years? now someone steps in they are all bad and have no cred? OK smh – as for designs of their own go look at the wing, the x range of mixers etc – these are world beaters, sure behringer have cloned a lot of stuff AT THE REQUEST of the public and its wallet, but they also have a lot of their own tech that sells in insane numbers. PL may in your opinion blow away the M/P, i agree, but should 600 euro synths not be made because something that costs 100 already exists? isn’t that a weird view you hold?

          2. Sorry, the Korg Prologue flat out sucks. Had one, sold it promptly. Plus, it is in another price range entirely.
            This mono poly is great for the price and actually has a strong sonic footprint.

        2. Right……well allow me to correct you! Repeatedly!

          First of all, the reason “people” keep asking the same questions, is a matter of demand for the same feature set. Adding patch memory and the digital processor for such would literally cost a company such as Behringer pennies on the dollar! The nominal cost of such a redesign at the capacity and volume they produce would translate to no more than $25 to $70 based on the complexity of the synth and the parameters captured.

          Secondly, the very same demand that you claim is the reason for the creation of these synths by Behringer most likely drives the same requests for feature sets.

          Third and most critical, other synth makers are not regurgitating their past, they are indeed building upon what they have learned and designing new synths. Behringer by and large has taken a relatively simple path of capitalising on nostalgia. The poor mans inspiration for creativity.

          Now as TJAD astutely pointed out, I would suggest you would reread his post. Repeatedly.

          And for the record I do not own a single Behringer synth, nor would I ever contemplate purchasing one for ethical reasons. And as a developer, I have no qualms about reissue old synths from the past, it is the manner in which Uli operates that I find objectionable. I do however own a Midas mixer.

          1. @Modern3 Why do you even look at these Behringer synth posts since you will never own one?

            Behringer are making clones because a large group of the synth community wants them. Behringer is actually listening to customers better than any other large music company ever has. People who want clones care mostly about the sound. These vintage synths each have a unique sound which is their strength. That is why use see so many modern professional recording artists still using classic gear. When you start changing the original designs the sound changes. You might not be able to hear it but many of us can.

            Some Korg Mono/Poly users: Tangerine Dream, The Orb, Depeche Mode, Flume, Chromeo, Legowelt, Jimmy Edgar, Tycho, Jean Michael Jarre, MGMT, Chemical Brothers, Giorgio Moroder, cevin Key, and many more.

            1. @ Woolgathering

              Perhaps reading comprehension is at issue for you, however as I noted I was opining on the subject of feature set. If this is purely about conduct and behaviour, Behringer would never be a company I would support. However as I noted I own a Midas mixer thus I own a piece of Behringer. That said, I purchased the mixer long before Uli’s conduct devolved into the current mess that it is!

              And it was not great by any stretch of the imagination previously.

              And if you read my post and understood it, then your post is superfluous at best and….I won’t say what it is at worst.

              This idea that Behringer is actually “listening” to customers however is laughable, a blunt mixture of gullibility and stupidity! Behringer’s business plan is simple, find demand and supply it in the least expensive manner possible. Listening infers that Behringer actually cares. They don’t. Nor have they ever.

              1. > Right……well allow me to correct you! Repeatedly!
                > Perhaps reading comprehension is at issue for you

                … geez, we’re just talking about music and synths here, right?

                  1. With some degree of confidence, i can say that people are unlikely going to refer to your negative energy draining “debate” to help make a purchase decision. You are not Behringers target audience. You just come across as somebody that likes to complain.
                    Behringer asked on social media which clones people would like to see next, the Mono/poly scored high. People asked for a clones, so they make clones. They are catering to demand. Seems like a sound business plan to me.

              2. Sorry to break it to you, Uli’s conduct was always like this. He’s been a rip off artist since the early days.

            2. i had a Mono/Poly back when they first came out …… can’t even remember how i was able to afford one ……. but in any event, i sold mine for drug money(worst mistake i ever did)…… i have been contemplating buying a used one off of Ebay, but they are still expensive, and unfortunately now, with this virus shit and me having lost all my jobs and income, i certainly cannot afford one – especially in the $1700 – 2300 range. But i loved those sounds and want to be able to recreate those patches and use those sounds again in my music, so, i figure if Behringer ever releases this and i can buy one for like $600-$700, i’ll jump on it……

          2. It’s not cheap to get patch memory etc as it would take much more r&d to develop as to just copy the original as much as possible.

            Behringer says it wants to sell to masses that don’t have a large budget. What is it about that you don’t understand?

            Behringer has many synth ideas in the making beside the classics. But if you ever own a company you would understand that this route makes why more sense and not only makes Behringer more money but also pleases a lot more people around the globe.

            It’s just laughable that the only company making these clones at affordable prices gets trashed while the elites refuse to build them. Or make so called limited editions at insane prices.

            The build quality of the Korg prologue is not great btw. Because of that I wasn’t able to sell a single unit in the store It’s just way to expensive. I also owned the XD and sold it because of the build quality. Those slim keys are just stupid. They both sound good though.

            1. Sausage fingers have nothing to do with build quality. Also you clearly have no clue about software development. Patch memory is not a novel rnd effort other than having to test your design, which they have to do in any case. Behringer is a sweat shop and will cut costs wherever it will help to maximize their profit. That’s the main reason there is no extra effort. The calculation goes that people will buy it anyway because it’s a “cheap clone of”…

          3. How do you think digital patch storage works?
            It samples the parameters. And sure, there are low resolution solution for that, that aren’t that expensive, the issue then is, that limiting the resolution of the parameter data, will change the tonal range, meaning that it will not be able to sound as close to the original as people would like it to. Then there is the option of using much more expensive technology that samples the parameters at a higher resolution, but that would drive the prices up, quite a bit, but would be able to get at least close enough to offer the same tonal range as this version without patch storage.

            Higher prices, drive the demand down. It is a compromise.

            If there is as big market as there seemingly is for nostalgia synths, it is strange that so few other companies cater to that demand.
            Othrer makers haven’t superseeded their legacy products, by making better products building on the knowledge. The synth world has had some disruptive turns, that changed the course, and made several companies go out of business. There hasn’t been a “natural evolution”, so for the most part the synth industry isn’t full of companies that have matured their designs in to what they are today. Either they make very different products, of they have attempted to re-create products of the past, by re-vesiting the past, not by a “natural evelotuin” leading up to this moment.

            The mono/poly, is something as rare as a 4 osc monphonic synth. Korg has not built upon that legacy. They made polyphonic synths, that was superior for playing multiple notes, compared to the paraphonic mode of the mono/poly. The OSC cycling can be interesting as well, today though, there is parameterlocking/patch changing per step in some modern products, that makes them vastly more flexible in how the sound can quickly change, but those features usually occurs on products with quite a bit more menu diving.
            There sin’t really any other product on the hardware market that is based on the legacy of the mono/poly.

            As for ethical arguments for not buying Behringer gear, you better be prepared to throw out any product that uses Windows, Android/Chrome OS, Mac OS/iOS, since you are onllne you are probably using such products. If you start investigating, you will find that if ethics is your guide, you will pretty much have to leave the modern world.
            Boycotting isn’t a very effective method, when there aren’t any competitors to go to, either because they are the same, or there are non.

          4. Nope..patch memory alone would need a huge re-design of the architecture. I want a re-boot to be faithful to the original.

      2. because Behringer only has one true digitally controlled analog synth.. the Deepmind. Everything else is super cheap analog.. cheap and easy to copy and make. can’t wait for another year or so from now when all the pots in the audio path get scratchy and noisy and they become unusable… will Behringer back their products?

        1. I don’t think the Behringer synths will show quality issues. I’m using their products since 25 years and never had problems. I had in the past more headache with the quality of gear that were (hand-) made in the USA.

        2. I understand your worries Codemode !
          I have Xenyx 502 mixer. The second one in the row. Both of these has huge issues with scratchy pots and buttons. But they are is nice-small and cheap.But I will not buy another one for sure!

        3. what this post of yours shows is your complete lack of engineering and manufacturing knowledge, if cloning was so easy and cheap it would have been a lot more apparent – as for scratchy pots etc lolz, how old is little D now as an example? do you read about how it doesn’t work and all pots are useless? Nope. Behringer offer 3 year warranty for free ON ALL GEAR, 10 years on flagship products! . Elektron do a 3 year, who else? That is the backing Behringer are providing.

      3. Patch memory is a useless feature for this type of synth.. it’s a performance synthesizer. It has like less than 50 parameters, an old school analog. What is the point of patch memory on this machine? If someone is a keyplayer and not a synthesist who can program on the fly then this machine is not made for them. They did plenty of modernizing by adding midi, usb, and 5v standard cv patch points.

    2. Korg themselves makes a better analog synth in the same price range: The Minilogue. and the Minilogue is a true 4 voice analog synth with preset memory. So what’s the point of a Monopoly?

        1. You have direct access to all parameters on a Minilogue. It is also fully analog. Digitally controlled what? Keying for the polyphony? So what? True analog polyphonic synthesizers have had digital keying keyboards since the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 era.

          1. Bill has got a valid point there.

            …and where the heck is the preset-packed UB-Xa Oberheim-clone they’ve teased us with in January 2018?

            …I’m waiting…

            1. Yeah the Minilogue is analogue DCO and constantly retunes itself to be bang on pitch. I think there is room for non DCO analogues like the Behringer Model D or Odyssey etc, and also for the more accurate modern DCO analogue. I play a Model D through a very accurate Monologue and match the pitch of the oscillators, it never fails.

  2. It’s sort of lame that Behringer is very obviously waiting to tease their new videos until the day that other companies introduced major new synths. They teased something big a couple of weeks ago and then decided to hold this video back until Moog introduced the Subharmonicon.

    Also, who needs another paraphonic synth copied from 40 year-old designs? They could have at least given this real polyphonic capabilities. Do their nostalgia synths just sell that much better than when they try to do something that’s not a straight-up clone, like the Deepmind?

      1. Superbooth was several weeks ago. It was just an online thing for some Youtubers this year because of everything going on.

        Behringer teased this a few days before Superbooth, and then pissed off their fans by scheduling a debut and then faking everybody out and introducing nothing.

        It’s pretty clear that they held off introducing it until today, so they could steal attention from a competitor’s introduction.

        1. Yeah, it ended on the 11th of May, last year. Superbooth is basically exactly what you describe, an attempt to get attention while people are paying attention. That said, its poor taste for people to be launching products in the face of so much despair.

          1. Aaron I get that you are in despair, as many people are. However, (a) without economic development, the despair will only get worse, and (b) for some people, things like new synths to look forward to bring a little joy in a dark time.

      1. You’re out of line. People have a legitimate right to dislike Behringer’s business practices without getting called names.

  3. The Mono/Poly was considered a kludgy synth when it was released, and only is remembered now because it was rare. Of interest mainly to collectors now.

    Not sure why anyone would want a new one.

    1. Wrong. I’ve got an old one, I’ve had it since 1989 and I love it. Great synth. I would gladly buy another at the right price.
      This Borg sounds like some aspects are slightly different (LFO shapes seem different, env curves too) but still sounds reasonably close and I’d consider it as a backup if it passes the taste test.

      1. Can you tell me one thing it can do that a new analog with real polyphony wouldn’t do better?

        There’s a reason the original Mono/Poly wasn’t a big success. Competition like the DX7 was more powerful, had real polyphony and was more fun to play.

        I don’t get the interest except for collectors.

        1. It’s not really a polysynth. It’s more of a 4 osc monosynth with good mod facilities and fun trigger and mix options … which can also do paraphony. If you really really want it to. But not very well.

          What it excels at is stacked oscillator monophonic patches, leads, sync, xmod.

          It’s not a poly, it’s a massive mono.

    2. How many affordable 4 oscillator analog monosynths with paraphonic capabilities are on the market today? I can imagine many people getting excited about that alone.

      1. That’s what I said when they released the Poly D

        1970/80’s; 4 osc analogue polysynths completely unobtainable or costing the same price as a small terrace house.

        2020; 2 available at 600-700 English pounds

        What the hell are they all moaning about?

    3. I disagree about the MonoPoly being considered “kludgy”. I had two in the 80s as my basic rig along with a SQ Sequencer. Extremely powerful with an excellent sound. I still have one awaiting repair in the studio. This is a great release.

    4. I agree “kludgy” is a good description of it. Back about 30 years ago, my friend left his MonoPoly (and other synths) at my studio to use if I wanted to. I never liked the thing, but that may be because I had a Wavestation EX, JD-800, and an 01Wfd at the time. 😉

    5. in the early 90s, I played with someone that had one and I absolutely loved playing on it – I am so in on getting this when it comes out, it is the one that I have been hoping gets cloned since they started doing them

  4. Had one in the eighties. Hugely underrated. Everyone was blinded by the new DX7 those days.. I created incredible sounds with the MP (still have them on paper patch sheets)… Going to check the Behringer MP for sure!

  5. Like wasp to the comments, how long was this post even up!?

    They are flooding the market so mcuh that its starting to get a little corny. Spread it out, surprise people. If a new iphone came out every 2 months…well, people would still care cause…Apple and..sheeple.

  6. There are lots of other people making interesting, high quality, affordable products. People who aren’t throwing around lawsuits, mistreating their workers, stealing designs, and making insulting videos about a music journalist.

    If there is only one company I can not buy gear from in the future, it is Behringer. If there were, for some reason, only one company making gear in the future, and it was Behringer, I guess I already have plenty of gear.

    1. “There are lots of other people making interesting, high quality, affordable products. People who aren’t throwing around lawsuits, mistreating their workers, stealing designs, and making insulting videos about a music journalist.”

      This.

      Behringer has yet to do anything to move synthesis forward. They’re making tchotchkes for people that are nostalgic for the past and using the profits to harass anyone that calls them on their douchie business practices.

    2. You could throw those same arguments at most big money corporations. Just curious, do you exclusively play and work with only boutique independently made products bought straight from the creator? Also where is this talk of Behringer mistreating their workers? The stealing designs bit is beating a dead horse at this point to anyone with minimum knowledge of how patents work. The video was dumb but they owned up to it and apologized. What company has never made a mistake in their entire existence?

      This weird hate for Behringer is old at this point. You’d think Uli went around kicking peoples dogs and boning their moms with how up in arms people get everytime they get mentioned. He’s a business man like any other and if your gonna be so up your own ass about how he conducts his business then that rhetoric should be directed at literally every other corporation you consume products from on a daily basis.

      Or better yet, maybe we can just talk about the instruments themselves on their own merits and leave the “Ethics” out.

      1. “You could throw those same arguments at most big money corporations.”

        Calling bullshit on this.

        Name a music gear company that is suing bloggers, like Behringer.

        Name a music company that’s suing people on Gearslutz, like Behringer.

        Name a music company that’s uses lawsuits to stifle free speech, according to a US judge, like Behringer.

        Name a music company whose primary focus is riding other people’s coattails, like Behringer.

        Name a music company that harasses journalists by copyrighting the journalist’s names, mocking them on social media, and making videos to mock them.

        It’s complete bullshit to suggest that this is stuff that most companies do.

        If you’re fine with your money going to support this sort of bullshit, be honest and say so, but don’t pretend musician’s disgust for Behringer is ‘weird hate’.

        1. Congratulations, you proved my point by cherry picking my first sentence and ignoring pretty much everything else I said. People who just hate Behringer will jump on literally any thing slightly negative the company does and go “See, I told you they were evil!” while ignoring anything positive they try to do or blow off any apologies as disingenuous.

          What device are you typing your comment on? An Apple device from a company that doesn’t pay taxes and makes people work for slave wages? A Google Device from a company that had a full scale employee walkout because of various misconduct allegations? A Windows Device from a company that has a long history of mistreating and ripping off content creators and developers?

          Here’s a music related one. InMusic ripped off Roger Linn in the mid 90’s and stopped paying him Royalties for creating the MPC. Go look at the subsidiaries of Inmusic and see how much of their gear is in your studio. Gonna throw all that out?

          I won’t defend Behringers actions or mistakes, but I have no problem calling out people spewing a bunch of nonsense about “Ethics” on a website dedicated to electronic music and instruments when it’s ignorant, hypocritical and in the end completely irrelevant. If people don’t wanna buy Behringers synths then fine, don’t buy them, but don’t act like your some kind of hero or patriot because you didn’t support Behringer or that the rest of us are scum because we did.

          1. “I won’t defend Behringers actions or mistakes”

            Looks like you spent your afternoon defending Behringer. Sad!

            “don’t act like your some kind of hero or patriot”

            If you could point out where anybody is saying they’re a ‘hero or patriot’ for calling out Behringer for their bad behavior, you would’t be making a straw man argument.

            1. “If you could point out where anybody is saying they’re a ‘hero or patriot’ for calling out Behringer for their bad behavior”

              It’s called speaking with your actions. Feeling compelled to post about how you don’t support a company every time they release a new product is basically going “My opinion is the right one and I’m gonna make sure everyone hears it til they agree and all is right in the world”. Putting aside your condescending comment acting as if you don’t also post on this same website on every Behringer article in a similar matter. Is that you Kettle?

              1. Everyone who responds here responds with their opinion. Whether they say “Cool synth” or “I hate behringer”, they’re -all- opinions in response to this announcement.

                Guess why? Because this is the -comments- section of that post on Synthtopia. The whole point of this comments section is for people to post opinions and discuss them. If you can’t however seem to do that without verbally abusing your fellow posters you best sod off. If all you read in someone’s opinion on this is “I’m gonna make sure everyone hears it til they agree and all is right in the world” that might, surprisingly, be your problem if interpretation.

                1. Telling me that comment sections are for opinions as if I don’t already know that and then telling me to sod off for posting my own opinion without addressing any of my actual points. Hello again Kettle! We keep bumping into each other like this.

                  Again, having an opinion is fine. Posting the same opinion over and over on every article about one specific company is childish. So is posting ad hominem arguments directed at peoples arguments and not the actual topic at hand.

            2. It’s funny how you keep attacking him (argumentum ad hominem) and do not even try to reply to his points. What device are you typing on? Do you only own boutique, made in USA, Trump-approved instruments? Are you an activist involved in companies’ business ethics?
              Torgood, I’ll let you in on a secret: workers in China are exploited, everyday by every company. Let that sink in. Never heard of Apple and Foxconn? I’m a Mac user, though. Why? Because if I had to live without made-in-China stuff… well I’d probably wouldn’t be better off than a hermit. The same goes with Behringer.
              If you really believe a 300$ K2 is any different than a 500$ (with mini-keys and Korg trademark) MS-20 Mini… well, you’re pretty naive. I can’t stress this enough: Behringer’s products AREN’T cheaper than Korg’s. Look at the K2, the Poly D or their DeepMind. Chances are, actually, that the very same Chinese companies assembling Korg, Roland or whoever else’s synth are the same Behringer works with.

              1. Why are you bringing Trump up in a synth blog? Take that crap and shove it. This is not a place that has to be destroyed by political hacks. Do you really think about that guy while you’re palying? Jezz

              2. “If you really believe a 300$ K2 is any different than a 500$ (with mini-keys and Korg trademark) MS-20 Mini… well, you’re pretty naive.”

                If you could name ANY OTHER MUSIC company that:

                is suing bloggers, like Behringer;

                suing people on forums, like Behringer;

                uses lawsuits to stifle free speech, like Behringer;

                harasses journalists by copyrighting journalist’s names, mocking them on social media, and making videos to mock them;

                then you might not be spreading complete bullshit.

          2. “I won’t defend Behringers actions or mistakes”

            ” People who just hate Behringer will jump on literally any thing slightly negative the company does and go “See, I told you they were evil!” while ignoring anything positive they try to do”

            “blow off any apologies as disingenuous.”

            “The stealing designs bit is beating a dead horse at this point to anyone with minimum knowledge of how patents work.”

            “The video was dumb but they owned up to it and apologized. What company has never made a mistake in their entire existence?”

            “He’s a business man like any other”

            Every other line is you defending Behringer, but o-k. Mark made very valid points in his post and those are in -no way- normal things for a company to do. I’m glad you found Uli’s apology to be sincere, but if it takes an angry mob for you to apologize for registering someone’s name as a trademark and making fun of him for -years-, it’s really not an apology. The only reason he apologized is because people were upset, not because he thought he did something wrong. Would he apologize if people didn’t get angry?

            And regarding patents: Behringer has copied -many- products that are products released in the last 10 years, yes, a Model D’s patent might have expired (despite being for sale by Moog at the time), but the Mother 32 or Ebtech cable tester were not expired.

            It’s fine if you disagree with Mark or think that these are o-k ethics, but reacting so aggressively to someone’s opinion of a company’s ethics just because you disagree is… Worrisome.

        1. Finally somebody that’s honest.

          I don’t agree with you, but at least you’re not acting like Behringer’s practices are not unethical.

    3. When morality is a free tweet, there are many, when it comes to even the very small inconvenience of mailing in a ballot, and when nobody is watching, few step up, and when there’s actual sacrifice, even slight things like 2 fewer synth voices for the dollar, it’s all crickets. Don’t let the “Bash The Fash” rhetoric of the “community” fool you, their commitment to an ideal is thinner than the fabric of their skinny jeans.

    1. For comparison, B announced the cat and the poly d around the first of the year and the people that purchased them are just now getting them in their hands this past week or 2.

      So about 5 months. Maybe less if the pandemic slowed them down a bit on their latest batch.

  7. The tiny keyboards are a no go on the Behringer clones.

    For whatever reason, they’ve cut at least an octave off of the keyboards of all their clones. I know it’s part of making these cheap, but three octaves on a paraphonic/poly keyboard? Why bother? If they were $300 modules, they would be a lot more interesting.

  8. I have an original Mono/Poly and still use it, the keyboard is nice to play, it has a good layout and it sounds great!
    I dont know if this is a “nostalga synth”, hopefully it will be in a price range that makes it afordable to musicians. Technoogy has evolved in interesting ways and there are synths that embrace this. This new Mono/Poly looks a lot lighter and compact than the original which is a fantastic synth.

  9. The world’s fastest synth platform’s factory is starting back up in Alameda county. Let’s see Behringer copy the Model S.

  10. I understand where you’re coming from. The last thing I need in the studio is MORE KEYS! Between all the synths I own, I already have 318 keys– and that total would be 343 keys, but I modded my Korg monologue into a module by cutting off its keyboard! People don’t need low quality mini-key keyboards taking up studio space when controller keyboards are inexpensive and can control multiple sound sources.

  11. I had an original for about 3 years back in 1984…. one of my favourite synths…..and one of the few that I regret selling. . the way the voices split in poly mode was such a limitation but also made it special when you assigned different waveforms/footage.. and the X-mod was lovely. It really was/is a classic.

    Obviously I won’t be buying this crock of shit for so many reasons but it’s great to think of the original for a while.

  12. If you like the sound of a synth buy it and love it. If you don’t… don’t. We all have Our personal preferences in all areas of our lives. Classic… not a classic… underrated… not powerful enough… great sound etc etc. None of that matters. All that matters is if you like it. Which I do. I’d love one.

    1. “If you like the sound of a synth buy it and love it. ”

      There are tons of great, affordable synths made by legitimate companies. There is no need or excuse to support sleazy behavior.

    1. Just because Behringer is doing it doesn’t mean that it makes good business sense. They’re flooding the market with inexpensive clones of other people’s creations from 40 years ago because they’re easy to make and easy to sell because they’re riding on the reputation and mystique of the original instruments.

      And remember, if Music Tribe is willing to treat Moog, Sequential, Korg, Tom Oberheim and others like this, how do they treat their employees? Where is Rob Belcham — the lead designer of the Deep Mind 12 — now? More importantly, what does Rob think of Uli? 😉

  13. This seems like as good a place as any to ask– how is Behringer acting unethically by producing far out of production synths?

    I’m not trying to be confrontational, I’d like to understand.

    I see parallels to one of the only things that actually works for the good of the people in the pharmaceutical industry – their policy on GENERIC DRUGS.

    I’m not a fan of Big Pharma, but I propose that Behringer is merely creating GENERIC versions of:

    1/ Products abandoned by their original manufacturers
    2/ Products where the original producers have long since gone out of business
    3/ Products where development has ceased

    Two examples: Roland is dedicated to their ACB tech and has stated they are not interested in creating fully analogue products, EDP made the original WASP synth in 1978 and went out of business in 1982.

    Here’s what I see:

    Pharma

    • Manufacturer develops a drug.
    • Manufacturer has 20 years of exclusive rights to produce the drug – affording ample time to recoup development cost and profit from their creation.
    • After 20 years, the drug is open to other manufacturers to produce generic versions of the drug, offering great savings to the public.

    VS

    Synths

    • Manufacturer develop a synth.
    • Until Behringer’s recent wave of clones, manufacturers have had exclusive rights to produce their synths without competition. There may be an exception I’m missing, but primarily the synths Behringer has been cloning are each AT LEAST 20 years out of production– most, like the Mono/Poly, are even further out (37 years!)
    • After +20 years of the original manufacturer having exclusive production rights, Behringer has begun producing generic clones, offering great savings to the public!

    So If Behringer had announced plans to clone the NEW Korg Wavestate, I would absolutely object, but the Mono/Poly and other classic synths are a different situation entirely.

    I’m open to alternate opinions, so I’d love to read any non-emotional, logically presented objections to what seems like a reasonable and precedented business practice, one that takes care of producer and consumer – offering a substantial period of protected profits for original developers, with eventual massive discounts for consumers.

    Peace and thanks!
    -Rich

    1. pthelo

      If Behringer was really just making generic clones – without ripping off the look, feel and names of synths that people that are still alive created – and if they were not using lawsuits to harass people that criticize the company’s business practices, and using your money to attack journalists personally, do you think that anybody would be objecting to Behringer?

      Nobody objected to Korg’s Volca FM – because it’s the type of clone that you’re talking about. And Korg doesn’t do the sleazy things that Behringer does over and over.

      Literally nobody else does the horrible things that Behringer does (see Mark’s comment above, if you’re not familiar with some of the things that Behringer has done in just the last couple of years).

      Your question seems thoughtful on the surface, but also suggest that you are completely ignoring all of Behringer’s horrible business practices.

    2. Just google around, Behringer has produced many many products in the past that are rip-offs or copies of modern and still available products, no one’s complaining about the vintage synths, people take issue with the harassment of journalists, copying of in production or modern equipment and the constant lawsuits (Even against forum users for posting things like this, so be warned).

    3. The pharma analogy is apples/oranges. I think that analogy works a little better when you’re just talking schematics. Because a drug is just chemicals. A better analogy would be cars I think. Say, a 1969 Corvette or something. And some company starts to sell exact replicas of 1969 Corvettes with all of the styling exactly the same, without any agreement with Chevrolet.

      But, that part of it just put me on the fence. The part that made me think I might not ever own a Behringer product again was when they trademarked a journalists name, and came up with a fake product specifically for the purpose of publicly bullying a journalist who was somewhat critical of them. It brought me back to Junior high school. I don’t think inexpensive stuff is worth supporting a CEO that does that.

      1. The Moog compnay we have today is not the same company that made the original model D, as that went under a long time ago..
        And Korg isn’t ARP, and ARP is another synth company that went under.
        Where is the massive outrage against their cloning?

        If thre are no patents or trade dress, then anyone can actually copy a product from the past, as long as they don’t mislead customers by making them think they are vintage originals.

        As for the second part, there is no real deffence for Behringers bevahiour, but it wasn’t a journalist following the ethics standards of journalism, simply being somewhat critical. It was a person using his platform to spread his subjective ideas about the Behringer company. Still of course does not make the Behringer behaviour excusable, but neither of them behaved perfectly, Behringer was arguably worse, but that doesn’t meant what the other person did, is therefor right.

        But in terms of how it relates to the original poster, well, that is a recent affair, and people have been attacking behrigner about their synth clones for a couple of years now.
        The supposedly bad working conditions at the factory hasn’t been independently veryfied, but also, it is common with stories of chinese factory workers being treated badly, so if it would be true, the same would probably be true for other makers producing products, parts of components in china. When it comes to various lawsuits, that is unfirtunately something that happens a lot in the business world, not always unjust though, as there are libel laws, so there is not such things as completely free speech in europe or US (I also suspect that since they involved Dave smith instruments, they thought that there was a risk that company was involved in unlawful business practise, by telling their workers to attach the Bheringer brand, probably not actually the case, but it would not be legal if that was what was going on).
        The ethical actuments don’t hold up, as people are very unlikely to be able to connect to the internet, without supporting other companies that behaved unethically. There are even examples of CEOs at other companies personally attacking private persons, and actual journalists. So not even that part is not unprecedented, while it might be among the big music electronic makers,any ethical arguments, would have to be obeyed in all parts of ones life for them to be applicable.

        If we could be freed from all the emotinal based argumenting against Behringer, the comment sections, could instead be places where the products ae discussed, that could actually have an impact on future products by them. Be it tweaks to the design, to make them less similar to the originals, with just a few details flirting with the past, and dealing with some of the originals shortcomings that would lead to a slightly different design. Or ideas on how they can take what they learned from a clone, and make it in to something else.

        1. “There is no real deffence for Behringers bevahiour, but it wasn’t a journalist following the ethics standards of journalism, simply being somewhat critical. ”

          If there’s no defense for Behringer’s behavior, why are you trying so obsessively to defend it?

          Spending several months and thousands of dollars attacking a journalist, and making hate videos is just completely indefensible. And it’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Behringer’s unethical behavior.

          Also, Peter Kirn’s articles definitely fall into the category of ethical journalism. If a company’s business practices are defensible, the company will not fear critiques, like Behringer seems to.

          Why do you defend Behringer so adamantly?

          Do you want your hard-earned money going to sue people, like yourself, that discuss Behringer products in forums or in the comments? Last time I checked, free speech was still an idea that was worth defending.

  14. Hey, can we talk to the synthesizer pro’s and con’s….

    I for one get really tired of the name calling n arguing back n forth…

    If you have an opinion on the company express it….np…. ….it doesn’t Need to be rude or crude though…we’re all wanting to talk Here n not be shut down…

    1. Bill

      The cons of a Behringer synth include: buying this synth pays for a company to personally harass people, rip off synth pioneers, and use lawsuits to stifle free speech.

      That’s a fact, not ‘name-calling’ or opinion.

      The fact that Behringer does this stuff is a show-stopper for a lot of musicians.

      1. Not really. It’s a tiny vocal minority. The vast majority just see a cool cheap synth and click ‘buy’.

  15. I had a Korg MonoPoly and it was a weird pleasure to play paraphonically. Polyphony was still struggling to reach 8 voices when it first appeared. It got a bit thin as a 4-voice, but a little delay helped that a lot. I play Korg’s Legacy version and I recommend it. The sound is on the mark, it offers dual effects, the polyphony is a game-changer and it comes with a generous patch set. Its a solid software alternative.

  16. As much as I disagree with Behringer mass-cloning all those vintage gear, the M/P is one of my all time dream synths and it’s going to be very hard to resist this one…

  17. Vince Clarke hated it!! He reviewed it for the first ever edition of the magazine “One Two Testing” and slated it!!

    I’ve owned the MonoPoly since 1982. I mean this sincerely – I do not recognise the sound of this synthesizer. I’m intrigued by it – but – it sounds _absolutely nothing_ like my MonoPoly (still in mint condition, fully serviced recently by KSR).

  18. I have a Mono/Poly since the mid 90ies, it´s still one of my favorite synths.
    From what i can tell from the video isthat it has the monopoly sound, not sure if it´s fully there or not, but there´s a distinct sound to the original and that´s what heard in the video, nice job, i won´t buy one though 🙂

  19. I still have one, also a Polysix. Very good instruments; the keyboards were not optimal though. Curious how Behringer’s version compares to the original and whether they will also go for the Polysix.

  20. As for Behringer being called an unethical company, that is a matter of opinion and opinion only. If you watch the 30th anniversary Behringer celebration clip, Uli Behringer talks at the end of the clip about making gear available to musicians who might not otherwise be able to afford it so that these musicians can, “…fulfill their musical dreams.” How many of us who have a Behringer Model D can afford a $5,000 Minimoog on eBay? Is Octave Plateau still making the Cat? How many bedroom musicians can afford a $2,000 decades old Cat on Reverb? You can question Uli Behringer’s sincerity (I don’t) when he says these comments about desiring to help musicians to fulfill their musical dreams, but when his company is accused of being immoral and is the subject of written abuse online when he believes that he is helping many in the music community, he understandably gets defensive. This isn’t unique to the Behringer company. Many companies music related and otherwise fight to keep their reputation intact. Also, the Behringer company isn’t just Uli Behringer. There are numerous other employees, some you see in their YouTube clips, who make their living and support their family via the sale of Behringer products.

    If you buy generic food and do not always buy the name brand product and complain about Behringer, then you are a hypocrite. If you buy a generic version of an over the counter drug and not the name brand version and complain about Behringer, then you are a hypocrite. Do you criticize a company that makes a version of the Oreo that is not made by Nabisco? And to extend the analogy to Behringer, Behringer is making “Oreos” that are no longer being produced by the original manufacturer. That is not the case with generic foods and generic drugs.

    Also, some here are acting like threatening to or actually suing others including the “little guy” doesn’t happen with other music companies. Here’s an article about Korg bullying and not just threatening to sue but actually suing “the little guy:”

    https://www.tdpri.com/threads/korg-sues-phantom-guitar-works.475852/

    As others have pointed out here, if you don’t like what Behringer is doing, then don’t buy their products.

    I for one look forward to purchasing the Cat and am looking forward to hearing more about the Behringer MonoPoly.

    Can’t we all just get along? -Rodney King

    1. so Meussdorfer pulled a Disney, he tried to take something long in public domain, like pinnochio or snow white, and try to claim he has intellectual property over it.

      sorry, i have no sympathy for this guy. he deserved it. go korg.

    2. “As for Behringer being called an unethical company, that is a matter of opinion and opinion only.”

      Of course, but if you think it’s ok to harass journalists and stiffle free speech with constant lawsuits, you have a pretty shitty opinion. Then again, so is thinking pharma patents are ok, or ignoring all the products Behringer rips off that are still being made by other companies.

      Furthermore, thinking that pointing out harassment from other companies somehow makes it ok… I mean c’mon, you know what Korg did was fucked up too, right?

        1. @Modern3 you are all over this thread. No wonder this post almost has 100 comments. You do realize you are helping Behringer?

    3. “Do you criticize a company that makes a version of the Oreo that is not made by Nabisco?”

      I have nothing to contribute, but Oreos are actually generic Hydrox cookies, as Hydrox predated them. 😀

  21. Uli, & Behringer, I fukn LOVE you guys!!!!
    Thankyou for all that your are doing, seeming the companies that originally made these synths, don’t
    give a shit about them, despite people crying out for reproduction for years!!!
    Behringer ARE unstoppable, and I like it!
    Your original synths are as bitchin as your repro’s!
    Getting your 808 & 303 soon too!

  22. It sounds good but I agree with some commentors that it should be available in a module.
    I don’t always agree with Behringer and I was a tech for years and we never fixed their stuff it
    was all cheaply made. I own two of their synths because I can put them in a 19inch rack and they
    sound good. I just wish companies like Moog and Korg would make more rack mount synths. I
    honestly feel like roland is the worst company. The cloud subscription is terrible. Why can’t you just buy
    stuff anymore. They built the gaia with the best layout of any modern synth at that time and it sounded
    really bland. So then they make great sounding synths and put them.in a micro format that is no fun to use.
    The JP-08 sounds great but imagine if it was in a gaia case. At least the behringers have full size knobs,
    are analog, and have midi thru. ( Seriously we need midi thru)

  23. I’ve been hoping for years Korg would bring back the Monopoly and the Polysix: seems like Behringer was smarter this time. The Moog-like format is funny but quite convenient.

  24. another terrible behringer demo… for a synth that probably would be sounding far the from original too

    honestly, in the beginning i was excited for all these clones, but its looks, design, ‘authenticity’, quality, etc turns me off big time, i know they try to get them as cheap as possible but all look terrible and build quality is mediocre

    was most excited for the synthi clone but after hearing their latest ones i am sure they just cant clone that stuff right, they dont have the knowledge and will f*ck it up big time

    wake me up when they release a perfect clone with perfect look and quality
    we dont want cheap clones, we wont authentic ones, in every aspect

    1. You don’t want cheap clones. Many others do and they sound pretty close to the classics.
      So maybe try one first before you judge. Or not, but don’t expect anyone to care about false claims.

      1. i’ve tried enough of their clones, the one thats somehow close is the model d, its maybe 80% there, good for you if thats pretty close… pro 1 is a close second but they f*cked up with the digital envelopes which is pretty big deal imo… k2, 101? faaaar away… especially the k2, sounds nothing like the ms-20, even the mini ms is better… rd-8? have one in the studio right now, the roland boutique stays and this is going back to thomann, thats how good it is… not to mention the software bugs, almost unusable for a lot of people… i guess you’ve never tried one of the original synths or you trust some youtube videos for these ‘authentic reproductions’… now, should i give more false claims about their attitude and all the bullsh*t scandals they constantly get into?

        1. I have a mint Sequential Pro One and a Behringer Pro-1. I dialed in the same patch on both and played it two note polyphonically. There was no discernible difference. I have a Behringer D that I did a direct comparison with my friend’s Moog Model D reissue. The results were spot on. I have a Behringer RD-8, Roland TR-8S and recently sold a Roland TR-08. While I have not done a direct comparison with my remaining TR-8S and the RD-8, they both sound great. To my ears, the TR-8S and TR-08 sound more Roland polished (processed). Much like the original TR-808, the RD-8 needs more external finesse to get that polished sound we all know and love. It does have firmware bugs, but the RD-8 is 1642% more fun to use than the TR-08.

          BTW: I just got my Poly D and it is a work of art. My guess is the MonoPoly will equally as impressive. I’ll definitely be getting one.

  25. Hey, the subharmonicon was just released. Lets send some comment that way. I know it cost a fairly reasonable price and doesnt give you the opportunity to get on your white horse and fight for synth justice, but it has some sub-ocs’s and a pretty nifty poly rhythm section.

    Behringer is only giving us all the opportunity to sound smart and show it. “I know patent law, I know economic history, I know disney, I know lawsuits”. Pretty amazing what cheap gear can do. Like crumbs for the ants.

    SUBHARMONICON. MOOG!

    1. Don’t you dare compare Behringer to Disney! Disney at least has a great LOGO! And Disney delivers perfection!

    2. Synth Justice Warriors.UNITE!

      Let us now begin our Holy Crusade in earnest and crush the infidels that disagree with our Sacred Opinions!

  26. Why would anyone would want something like this over newer analog synth designs, which are cheaper (assuming this is priced like the Poly D), have way more features and sound better?

  27. Korg makes a better synth at the same price range: Minilogue. The Minilogue is a true 4 voice analog synth with preset memory.

    1. Korg has ignored its much loved MonoPoly and produced copies of Arp with no preset! Nobody complained. Behringer picked up on the love of the ignored MonoPoly and did Korg’s work. Korg is too busy making a product with no presets that it has no history of – the Arp.

    1. Wow. Your such a hero for posting these. What would we ever do without you? Maybe actually talk about things that actually matter? Nah, why do that?

      1. Actually whilst I do not agree with Atomic Shadow regularly, I could not disagree with you more! These things do matter. Character matters, conduct matters, and ethics matter. It is that very slippery slope that got you Americans that maggot you have for President….or was that Maga?

      2. Mad Mike

        Why are you so hell-bent on burying the truth about Behringer and mocking people that discuss things that Behringer has done?

        If the company’s business practices weren’t reprehensible, fan boys wouldn’t have to attack people for discussing the things Behringer does.

        If Behringer wasn’t doing so many douchy things, would you be be stuck defending them with what-about-isms and lies?

    2. It’s links like these that have kept me from investing my money into behringer previously. Thanks for retrieving them.

      I’m positive though that even Uli himself will have a change of heart eventually …beacause, hey, I still would like to scratch that UB-Xa itch of mine.

  28. I have never had so much fun as I did with the DeepMind 12, a vast improvement on the Juno series. To the Juno it added effects, sequencer, mod matrix, digital display of waveforms, endless presets, iPad editor, etc. I wish the BonoPoly had all these modern features. That said, I think the BonoPoly will give many people a lot of joy who for various reasons would never get to experience the MonoPoly of the 80’s. Thank you Uli for this.

  29. It’s got the lifty uppie thingie at the back….. great for twiddling. Can’t say I know the original so might give this a try.

    Still not found the presets on my 1980 Fender Telecast so I just play it. Learnt more twiddling nobs on the Behringer Model D than almost anywhere else. My presets are stored on my iPhone….as photos. So I just play it

    I Now spend an hour each time I go to the local PMT store with their Moog subfatty thingie. Great fun almost hooked…… so personally I think there is a place for these units. You can also euro rack most to integrate them into bigger systems though probably not this one. They can also come alive when fed through guitar pedals.

    But

    It’s got the lifty uppie thing going for it…

  30. It’s interesting how Behringer has politicized the synth world.. shows a lot of people’s colors. Uli has adopted practices that have not so subtly aligned with a certain US president.. Personal vendettas against journalists, brazen business decisions with “free-market” capitalism as the only moral defense… all sounds strangely familiar
    That’s the main reason why I wont ever support Behringer. I have no desire to support aggressive business practices in a market that is supposed to be about making music, even if they are legally sound.

    Also the whole “wider accessibility” argument falls a bit flat when all of these hardware synths they are producing exist as software. If you really can’t afford to spend $400 dollars on a synth, there are many many cheap and free software synths out there. Behringer is saturating the market with cheaply produced relics that will gather dust in peoples closets for the next hundred years.. more e-waste

    1. Nice try kUndleJenner, trying to justify your opinion by giving the puzzling statement:

      “Also the whole “wider accessibility” argument falls a bit flat when all of these hardware synths they are producing exist as software.”

      That is like saying “A cheap clone of an expensive guitar pedal is pointless since that pedal exists as software”

      Some people will want a hardware version and will not use software for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:
      A) It is not analog
      B) It does not have the same liveliness as analog components
      C) A physical device is much easier/simpler to use for many compared to a virtual instrument/effect
      D) They like a hands on approach to the things they do.
      E) They don’t want to deal with a computer at a gig
      F) They record without a computer/DAW
      G) They want the nostalgia factor of the original, but the reliability of a modern synth
      H) They may want something with the keys built in (yes, this one does not apply to modules)
      I) They want something that will be usable anywhere and for a long period of time (many VSTs are eventually abandoned and no longer work well or at all with modern computers) a physical synth will always be what it is, able to hook up to what is available
      J) They wan’t to tinker with it and add their own physical modifications.

      There are 10 reasons, I could give more….but I think this is enough to get my point across.

  31. Another winner from Uli I reckon. I’m a massive fan of the Deepmind (still the best synth they’ve made in my view), and I keep arguing for Behringer to put the DM effects on it’s newer clones, and add an audio input that can play through them. But fair play to Uli, he knows his market, and what Behringer’s made recently, Behringer has made well. Critics should consider the following perhaps? Would you rather the Behringer stuff had not been made at all? In which case, who would you have to slag off? 🙂

  32. I will buy this. I had the Korg MonoPoly new when it was released along side the PolySix. The pair sounded great together but the MonoPoly was much more flexible and fun. Of all the vintage 80’s/90’s synths I’ve owned and sold only three of them are on my regret list… MonoPoly, Jupiter 4 and Fizmo.

  33. When the Korg mono poly came out it was the bomb.very fat.The mono poly and poly six were very affordable compared to other synthes of the time. The polysix had more balls than the Juno 60 The Mp sounded like a Mini Moog on steroids.The MP was hard to make space for in a recording because it was to big sounding.Alwsys had to use LPF to thin out the bottom end.Killer synth for Bass lines And leads.

  34. Just want to say how excited I am for the Behringer MonoPoly!!! I’ve always loved this synth – got to use one in someone else’s studio back in the day – but never owned one. Now I will, and it’ll be brand new with MIDI and not a three decades-old metal box of decaying solder ready to set me back hundreds every time nature inevitably does its thing. Hey, I totally get people being mad, but let’s not forget people like ME have been mad as well. I bought my Behringer Pro-1 solely because I spent a lot of time using my original Sequential Circuits back in the day and I LOVED working on that interface. LOVED IT.

    If I was a carpenter I could buy a hammer and craft. But here in synth-land, the Rolands, Korgs, and Yamahas insist I change my tools and my workflow every time they need revenue, and I really have no interest to change what I do because it works for me. I want REAL knobs to turn and switches to push and definitely do NOT want virtual sound sources, period. So for those of us young enough to be banging hard on our music 24/7 and old enough to have learned a way of doing it we don’t want to change – keep the “re-makes” coming. Obviously, the original manufacturers don’t want money from people like me – boutiques and refaces with toy keyboards and tough to find cables were insulting and overpriced as was the Jupiter in the VariOS platform that was abandoned. Thank you Behringer – please start shipping the MonoPoly SOON!!!

  35. All the Vitriol here regarding new “retro” reboots of classics makes me wonder what the end game of some of these commenters are. Is George Soros paying you to do this? Bill Gates?

    Nobody cares about your “I hate Behringer” stance. NOBODY. Don’t like it, don’t buy it.

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