Behringer is an

audio equipment Audio equipment refers to devices that reproduce, record, or process sound. This includes microphones, radio receivers, AV receivers, CD players, tape recorders, amplifiers, mixing consoles, effects units, headphones, and speakers. Audio equip ...

company founded by the Swiss engineer Uli Behringer on 25 January 1989 in Willich, Germany. Behringer produces equipment including

synthesizers A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, mixers, audio interfaces and

amplifiers An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power suppl ...

. Behringer is owned by Music Tribe (formerly Music Group), a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

chaired by Uli Behringer.

History

Foundation and early development

Uli Behringer was born on 13 April 1961 in

Baden, Switzerland Baden (German language, German for "Thermal bath, baths"), sometimes unofficially, to distinguish it from Baden (disambiguation), other Badens, called Baden bei Zürich ("Baden near Zürich") or Baden im Aargau ("Baden in the Aargau"), is a town ...

. His father was a church

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and

nuclear physicist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

; his mother a pianist and interpreter; his uncle a professor of composition at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich; and his aunt a classical singer and pianist. At the age of four, Uli Behringer started to learn piano. When Behringer was five years old, his father acquired the organ from a church being demolished. He then helped his father integrate the organ with over 1000 pipes into the family home. At the age of 16, he built his first synthesizer, the UB1.

Marketing, manufacturing, and acquisitions

While Behringer products were manufactured in Willich, Germany, many of the individual components were imported from mainland China. In 1990, to lower production costs, Behringer shifted production from West Germany to mainland China. Initially, subcontractors were engaged to produce the equipment. By 1997 Uli Behringer had relocated to Hong Kong to better supervise manufacturing quality.

CoolAudio acquisition

In May 2000, Behringer acquired the rights to the entire CoolAudio technology from Intersil Corporation, a US-based semi-conductor manufacturer specializing in

integrated circuit An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

s for audio applications. The acquisition included an intellectual property portfolio and licensees such as Alpine and Rowe, among others.

Music Tribe City

In 2018, Music Tribe opened its own factory, Music Tribe City, in

Zhongshan Zhongshan ( zh, c=中山 ), alternately romanized via Cantonese as Chungshan, is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is n ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The factory handles the production and distribution for Music Tribe's 12 brands, including Behringer products.

Products

Behringer makes products for

audio engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound * Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of soun ...

, producing, audio playback, effect processors, and electronic instruments.

Effect units

Outside of their sub-company TC Electronic, Behringer has released guitar pedals based on famous circuits. Their main pedals are designed to be similar in design to BOSS. In 2019,

JHS Pedals JHS Pedals is a guitar effects pedals manufacturer with headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. History JHS Pedals was founded by Joshua Heath Scott in Jackson, Mississippi. He began by repairing and modifying his own pedals, and then sold m ...

made a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

video comparing the basic pedal range to their inspirations. The video reportedly caused Uli Behringer to lose sleep as he was confused on "why a pedal company would tell you to buy other people's stuff". In more recent dates, Behringer has been taking a similar approach to the company Warm Audio with recreating vintage pedals to be as visually close to their original, such as with the Chorus Symphony (clone of a BOSS CE-1), the Centaur Overdrive ( Klon Centaur), and the B-Tron III ( Mu-Tron III).

Electronic instruments

Since 2016, Behringer has become a manufacturer of synthesizers and drum machines, which includes original models and recreations of analog hardware. Manufacturers (such as Curtis Electromusic, Roger Linn, and Tom Oberheim) have been vocal about being unhappy with their products being cloned without asking for permission. Behringer has said in response that creating clones of older hardware is legal where the

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s have expired.

List of synthesizers and eurorack modules

= Originals

= *

Neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. The Discovery of the neutron, neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, leading to the discovery of nucle ...

(2018–present) * Crave (2019–present) * Space FX (2022–present) * Grind (2024–present) * Phara-O Mini (2024–present) * PROTON (2024–present)

= Clones/recreations

= * 1000 series (clones of the ARP 2500) * 2-XM ( Oberheim SEM) * 2600 (

Arp 2600 The ARP 2600 is a subtractive synthesizer first produced by ARP Instruments in 1971. History Developed by a design team headed by ARP namesake Alan R. Pearlman and engineer Dennis Colin, the ARP 2600 was introduced in 1971 as the successor to ...

) * Abacus ( Make Noise Maths) * Brains ( Mutable Instruments Plaits) * BX-1 (

Yamaha DX1 The Yamaha DX1 is the top-level member of Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha's prolific DX series of Frequency modulation synthesis, FM Digital synthesizer, synthesizers. Background The DX1 has two sets of the synthesizer chipset used in the Yamaha D ...

) * Cat (Octave Electronics The Cat) * Chaos (Mutable Instruments Marbles) * Deepmind 6/12 ( Roland Juno-106) * Four Play ( Intellijel Quad VCA) * JT-4000M Micro (

Roland JP-8000 The Roland JP-8000 is an analog modeling synthesizer released by the Roland Corporation in 1996. Overview The Roland JP-8000 was released in early 1997 as part of the first wave of virtual analog modeling synthesizers (VA synths). Others fro ...

) * JT-Mini/JT-16 ( Roland Jupiter-8) * K-2 ( Korg MS-20) * Kobol Expander ( RSF Kobol Expander) * Model 15 ( Moog Grandmother) * Model D/ Poly D (

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

) * MonoPoly ( Korg Monopoly) * MS-101/MS-1 ( Roland SH-101) * MS-5
Roland SH-5
* Odyssey (

ARP Odyssey The ARP Odyssey is an analog circuit, analog synthesizer introduced by ARP Instruments in 1972. History ARP developed the Odyssey as a direct competitor to the Minimoog, Moog Minimoog and an answer to the demand for more affordable, portable, a ...

) * PRO-1 ( Sequential Pro-One) * Pro-16 ( Sequential Prophet-5) * PRO-800 ( Sequential Prophet 600) * Pro VS Mini/Victor ( Sequential Prophet VS) * Solina String Ensemble ( Solina String Ensemble) * Spice ( Moog Subharmonicon) * Surges (Mutable Instruments Ripples) * Syncussion SY-1 ( Pearl SY1 Syncussion) * System 15/35/55 (

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

) * System 100 (

Roland System-100M The Roland System-100M was a modular analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the successor of the Roland System-100, a semi-modular keyboard. In the 1980s, shortly after its introdu ...

) * TD-3 (

Roland TB-303 The Roland TB-303 Bass Line (also known as the 303) is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units we ...

) * Toro (

Moog Taurus The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music. It was originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less pop ...

) * UB-Xa/UB-Xa D ( Oberheim OB-Xa) * Wasp Deluxe ( EDP Wasp) * Wave (

PPG Wave The PPG Wave is a series of synthesizers built by the German company Palm Products GmbH from 1981 to 1987. Background Until the early 1980s, the tonal palette of commercial synthesizers was limited to that which could be obtained by combining ...

) * Waves (Mutable Instruments Tides)

List of drum machines clones

* LM Drum (

LinnDrum The LinnDrum, often erroneously referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Development The LinnDrum was designed by the American engineer Roger Linn. It was ...

) * RD-6 ( Roland TR-606) * RD-8 (

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patterns. ...

) * RD-9 ( Roland TR-909) * RD-78 ( Roland CR-78)

Controversies

Legal developments

FCC dispute

In February 2006, the US

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) fined Behringer $1M.Gearwire.com. 14 June 2007
"Behringer Fined One Million Dollars By FCC."
Retrieved on 4 October 2009. The FFC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability claiming that 50 products had not been tested for conducted and radiated emissions limits as required by US law, and noted that it continued to sell the products for a year after being notified. Behringer's position was that, since the units had passed stringent European CE standards, they would also comply with FCC verification requirements. According to Behringer, it had overlooked the differences in testing standards and procedures under FCC and European requirements. It has since implemented a complete UL certified safety and EMC testing laboratory under the UL Certified Witness Program, including in-house audits and global regulatory review systems.

Legal cases

In June 1997, the Mackie company (now LOUD Technologies) accused Behringer of trademark and

trade dress Trade dress is the characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a building) that signify the source of the product to consumers. Trade dress is an aspect of trademark law, which is a form of intelle ...

infringement, and brought suit seeking $327M in damages.Loud Technologies Inc. LTec Quarterly Report (10-Q) Item 1. Legal Proceedings
The claims were later rejected by the court. In their suit, Mackie said that Behringer had had a history of copying products by other manufacturers and selling them as their own.Verna, Paul. ''Billboard'', 5 July 1997
"Mackie Sues Over Knockoffs: Behringer, Sam Ash Are Defendants."
Retrieved 27 October 2009. The Mackie suit detailed an instance, in which Behringer was sued by

Aphex Systems Aphex is a brand of audio signal processing equipment. Aphex Systems was founded in 1975 in Massachusetts. The name is shorthand for "Audio Perception Heterodyne Exciter", in reference to its original product, the Aphex Aural Exciter. The comp ...

for copying the Aural Exciter Type F. In that case Aphex Systems won DM690,000. The Mackie suit also mentioned similar cases filed by BBE,

dbx dbx or DBX may refer to: * dbx (debugger), a Unix source-level debugger * dbx (company), a professional audio recording equipment company ** dbx (noise reduction), a noise reduction system invented by dbx, Inc. * .dbx, the file extension for Micros ...

and Drawmer. On 30 November 1999, the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington, dismissed Mackie claims that Behringer had infringed on Mackie copyrights with its MX 8000 mixer, noting that circuit

schematics A schematic, or schematic diagram, is a designed representation of the elements of a system using abstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic pictures. A schematic usually omits all details that are not relevant to the key information the sc ...

Roland Corporation is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefect ...

sued to enforce Roland's trade dress, trademark, and other intellectual property rights with regard to Behringer's recently released guitar pedals. The companies came to a confidential settlement in 2006 after Behringer changed their designs. In 2009, Peavey Electronics Corporation filed two lawsuits against various companies under the Behringer/Music Group umbrella for patent infringement, federal and common law trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution and unfair competition. In 2011 the Music Group filed a countersuit against Peavey for "false advertising, false patent marking and unfair competition." In 2017, Music Group filed a defamation lawsuit against Dave Smith Instruments, a Dave Smith Instruments engineer, and 20 Gearslutz forum users. The case was dismissed as a SLAPP lawsuit.

Fictional synthesizer advertisement

In March 2020, Behringer published a mock video for a synthesizer, the "KIRN CorkSniffer", which appeared to mock the music technology journalist and synthesiser developer Peter Kirn. The video received criticism and accusations of using

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

imagery. Uli Behringer issued a response on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, saying the video had been intended as "pure satire by our marketing department". The apology was deleted the following day.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Behringer
Company website

FCC Notice of Apparent Liability against Behringer, February 2006
Audio amplifier manufacturers Audio equipment manufacturers of Germany Audio mixing console manufacturers Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia Companies established in 1989 Guitar amplifier manufacturers Guitar effects manufacturing companies Loudspeaker manufacturers Microphone manufacturers Music equipment manufacturers Synthesizer manufacturing companies of Germany Audio equipment companies