Named after its founder, the company Behringer was born at the very end of the 80s, on January 25, 1989 to be exact, in Willich, Germany, around a kitchen table. Uli Behringer was born in Baden, Switzerland. At 16, the brilliant visionary was already building his first synthesizer, the UB1! A pianist and sound engineer, he then started building his own equipment for personal use by taking apart signal processors during his studies. Let's look back on this incredible journeyâŠ
The story of this young manufacturer, compared to much older major brands, is enlightening in more ways than one. One of the very first products from this company, then based in Germany, was an Aural Exciter quickly followed by a compressor because the 90s showed a desire to diversify products aimed at both sound reinforcement and home studios. In 1997, Behringer decided to move its production to China, following many manufacturers and luthiers who had already made this move. It took less than ten years for Behringer to rise to the ranks of global manufacturers, meaning represented and distributed in all industrialized countries worldwide.
A meteoric rise
But the major evolution for Behringer was undoubtedly the creation in 2002 of the brand's first large factory in China. The following year saw the launch of the Music Tribe university (online), and over the months and years, a true campus was born in the city of Zhongshan. Nothing seemed able to slow the manufacturer's expansion, which at the end of the 2000s acquired several renowned companies including Klark Teknik, Midas but also Tannoy, TC Electronic, TC Helicon, Turbosound, and more recently Aston Microphones!
From then on, Uli Behringer was finally able to fulfill his teenage dream: to build synthesizers. We first saw the DeepMind appear (models DeepMind 6 and DeepMind 12) which incorporate technologies from companies within the Music Tribe group. The technological development with a strong R&D team of nearly 250 engineers now allows the creation of products capable of competing with many other brands established in a highly competitive global market.
Facing the nostalgia for vintage synths
Building on the success of the DeepMind series, and after acquiring semiconductor companies (electronic components) based in the United States, the Music Tribe/Behringer alliance set itself a new challenge and launched into the vintage synthesizer market by reproducing models whose licenses (patents) had become inactive, and especially by offering synthesizers, drum machines, and modules at unbeatable prices. These instruments are sometimes exact copies of vintage models, but often extrapolations offering significant improvements compared to the originals. Some thus include built-in effects, a sequencer, a USB interface, and other features that were missing on the original models, which today are worth a fortune and require maintenance that only a handful of repairers worldwide can handle.
Progress on all fronts
Present on every continent, the brand's products have grown steadily since 1989, establishing themselves as a staple in sound reinforcement, with the Eurolive speakers, guitar amplifiers and effect pedals, a complete range of mixing consoles covering both live stage and home studio like the Xenyx. In this field, Behringer offers practically everything you might need in a home studio, from consoles (X32 Producer, Xenyx X1222USB, 1204 USBâŠ) to effects (FX2000 Virtualizer, Ultragraph Pro FBQ1502HD, Ultradrive Pro DCX2496âŠ), through amplified monitoring systems (Eurolive B112MP3, B208D, PK108AâŠ), headphones (HPS3000, HPX2000âŠ), controllers (X-Touch One), audio interfaces (U-Phoria UM2, UMC404HD, Studio XLâŠ), studio or USB microphones (TM1, BM1, BV4038, BV44âŠ), and even DJ mixers (DDM4000).
As mentioned earlier, the synthesizer sector is not left behind, quite the opposite, and the Crave, Neutron, Wasp, Monopoly, Model D, Odyssey, VC340, CAT, 2600, TD-3, RD-8, RD-9, RD-6, Poly D to name just a few, are very present in musicians' setups.
Developments to follow
Ultimately, Uli Behringer and his teams have provided a simple answer, suited to demand, and realistic regarding the budgets that some musicians have. Priced reasonably, the new Behringer products allow young musicians to access the iconic sounds of instruments from the 70s and 80s, and bring back synthesizers that have practically disappeared, even on the vintage market, like the Wasp or the CAT. Another original approach: Behringer bought most of the keyboards from the Tears for Fears group and, while giving them a proper maintenance operation, will use these exceptional keyboards (like the legendary Yamaha DX1) to revive them in another form. We are eagerly awaiting versions of Oberheim, Yamaha CS-80⊠For example, the Solina String-Ensemble was announced just a few days ago⊠Things move fast at Behringer!
