apples to oranges, the volca series are not analog. there’s a huge amount of great digital synths, samplers and grooveboxes available for relatively cheap.
Some of them (the ones I mentioned) are analogue.
2 Likes
well i’ll be damned, so they are! OT but korg are one of my favourite companies, i always especially loved monotrons.
I’m very fond of my Monotron Delay. It’s dirty in a good way.
2 Likes
I was poor for a good few years where owning any music gear was out of the question, so I guess it depends on your definition of poverty.
Yeah other companies have cloned gear and used Moog filters etc, none so widely though, and to my knowledge none of in production gear, like MS20, Arp, Keystep etc.
An analogy might be sampling, taking a snippet and making a new track isn’t the same as bootlegging a record, doing a cover version isn’t the same as piracy.
But ultimately if you want to buy Behringer gear it is your choice to make, however saying they are the same as other companies isn’t accurate, I don’t see any threads about other companies doing the same stuff, and if there were then you can bet that people would be talking about it.
7 Likes
If Uli apologized for his behaviour would that be enough to undo the reputation of Behringer. He might do one day. Nobodys beyond redemption.
1 Like
Thing is, Behringer is judged on different standards than other companies for some reason. For example, Studio Electronics cloned Minimoog decades before Behringer, but shitstorm only came when Behringer decided to clone it.
If any other company announced they will donate synths to charity, would people start calling charity organizations to find out if Behringer has made some mistake so they can start to bash them? Seems to me, some people want to hate Behringer for whatever reason and go out of their ways to find out new evildoings by the company.
I am sure competitors are not happy about the situation, as music equipment prices have been artificially high for very long compared to many other electronics.
But for consumers to hate a company that produces good sounding, solid quality instruments for cheap prices, I am not sure where it comes from. Some of it is elitism, some may feel bad for buying expensive gear and seeing similar stuff for cheap and want to bring it down. Some may actually think Behringer is evil I guess.
That is not a good analogy, as what Behringer is doing is legal. Bootlegs and piracy is not legal.
1 Like
I think if it was a heartfelt, sincere apology rather than a PR opportunity, it couldn’t do any harm.
2 Likes
And thats why i never throw away the key on anyone. Hes not the devil incarnate. Just a flawed human being.
2 Likes
Ok fair point.
But Studio Electronics were making Moog clones when there was no other new alternative, Moog were not in operation at the time they started FYI, so not quite the same either.
I’m not sure people hate them for the gear, and I don’t think it is about elitism either, I own some very cheap gear myself, nothing wrong with cheap gear done right.
I have even said they can make some great stuff, even though I would not buy it personally, not because it is cheap though.
If people had expensive gear that they felt bad for buying because Behringer came along, then surely the logical thing they would do is sell that gear and buy up a load of Behringer stuff and pocket the rest? You can see for yourself that Behringer gear has not impacted the price of the original gear, why would it? A new VW Beetle does not impact the price of a vintage Beetle.
1 Like
There’s similar companies in the pedal market, everyone has a muff or a rat clone. Or instruments, everyone copies Fender. Hell, there’s even companies who sell nothing but Fender “clones”. This is nothing new, it’s always been a part of the industry.
1 Like
Hey Adam, you missed one of Peter’s best articles, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Props to your comments for affordable instruments.
5 Likes
Also, I don’t recall Studio Electronics launching personal attacks on any journalists or taking legal action against forum users.
2 Likes
Do we need to point again to the other things no other company has done like suing critics on forums, trademarking a journalist’s name and then dedicating a video to (at least) making fun of him?
That’s just unprecedented behaviour, that coupled to not just being a mockup company, but the actual musical gear copier in chief (no other company in this business is as famous as them for that, none are even close to them, and it’s been like that for at least a deacde).
Maybe with all this (which again, is something you ask us to repeat again and again with your questions) you might be able to understand why B could attract a little bit more suspicion than any other company. They are just shady, and they are the only one with such a behaviour, it’s a fact. Maybe other too, but never at this height. So obviously when they claim “we are giving away 1000 synths” you fact check them. And of course, them more than others.
2 Likes
People dont hate Behringer just for the sake of it, But If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
2 Likes
Doing all the creation on the Model:Samples (BEHRINGER) is also a big middle finger to those who like to poo-poo low cost instruments to make themselves feel better about their $3,000 synthesizer expenditures – the people who call instruments without a long list of features “cheap plastic toys” and never add anything of substance to the conversation.
Hah, couldn’t help myself. I don’t even own any Behringer instruments, but I have a xenyx mixer for no-input mixing and it works just fine and cost me 20€ used, back when that was basically my budget for gear.
It’s great to see lots of talk about Behringer, Surprised to see a few people still sticking up for them though…
I really hate this mentality that people have that the consumer is powerless and that all responsibility to do well lies on companies, we have the power to vote with one money, a power that I reckon is probably more powerful than actually voting itself. If we look at the world and how it’s being destroyed by the actions of a few mega corporations, it’s evident that if the consumer doesn’t try to make a difference then no one else will. Regardless of the fact that the responsibility SHOULD lie on the business, I think consumer responsibility is the only mentality that’ll actually make a difference to the ways that companies operate.
For example, consumers started putting pressure on companies to stop using plastic single use straws, this lead to companies like McDonalds (who I doubt gives the sliightest shit about whether the environment burns or not) to stop using them which WILL have a significant impact on the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean.
If everyone made it clear to Behringer that they weren’t going to continue to support them by buying their products unless they made changes to how they operate as a company, they would (regardless of whether there’s genuine motive behind it) have to make a change.
on a completely note entirely… I don’t buy the whole argument that Behringer made it possible for musicians on a budget to buy gear, When I moved back to the UK, I had absolutely nothing and had no help from anyone, I just worked my ass off and saved money by cutting back on luxuries (going to the pub / buying food things I don’t need) I think the world has gone far in the wrong direction when people think that everyone is entitled to an analog synth… Besides, I’d much rather have something with a decent midi implementation like the Volcas over the Behringer stuff that is entirely useless to me because of its lack of.
28 Likes
Well put Hugely off-topic. I completely agree that if we all did this then things would change, but there’s a flip side to this. I personally don’t think enough people care to make changes happen fast enough. But if governments say ‘plastic straws are now illegal’ the problem is solved. It’s up to us to pressure those in charge. Anyway, back on topic, screw Behringer and giving them anymore money until they stop and apologise for the Trumpian bullying tactics 
12 Likes
Problem is, the original plastic straws were recyclable, but the new paper ones are not. Chances are the different straws will have an overall worse impact on the environment than the ones they replaced.
The straws aren’t the problem, throwing them in the sea instead of recycling them is.
Other than that I completely agree with you.
Sorry for swinging it off topic, just one of my pet peeves.
Behringer or something
1 Like