Behringer clones

[kveye]

Well, that can be said about most of the manufacturers of anything. Not protecting Behringer here.

[s_hamann]

I don’t think I’m saying anything about Behringer, I’m asking in all honesty, I’d love to know if they have done something that others might copy.

But I’d add, other manufacturers have clearly made, at one point or another, something worth copying.

[fbusche]

That really sucks. As I have stated in the past, I own (and enjoy) a Behringer RD-8. I though the TD was cool but I am not buying anything at the moment. I think it would have done alot for Behringer to come to an amicable deal with Mr. Whittle.

On a side note, His father Jeff Whittle was a real innovator in the space of open pit optimization and the use of computer optimization in Mine planning and scheduling.

I agree with the article that the whole “murdered out” bit is pretty gross. Aside from just the ethical horror of completely ripping off the Devil Fish work.

[Jensu]

@fbusche

“murdered out”

Where does this term come from? I remember seeing it at Magpie Modular, but I never got the connection.

[fbusche]

The term apparently originated as a descriptor for motor vehicles that have had everything blacked out, according to my google search.

[Cementimental]

Yeah sucks that they ripped off his mod ideas but as far as I understood it these are (fan contributed?*) mockups rather than actual designs. Also ‘murdered out’ is just slang for painting your fancy car/van matt black with black details. That part of the blog post made me do a bit of an ‘OK Boomer’ - “There is no precedent for plastering such words on a musical instrument” is a bit strong, considering literally every doom metal fuzz pedal ever made for a start

it does look stupid having it literally written on there tho

(* getting your facebook followers to do free product research/design for you is another dubious business practice, for that matter)

edit: also, putting “DF” on there for devilfish is especially scummy/clueless/legally dubious given they were previously in talks about doing something officially, tho I guess it’s just one hand not knowing what the other is doing

edit 2. seriously tho they are called ‘devil fish’ how can they be pearl-clutchingso much about someone edgily using the word ‘murder’?

[jwhiles]

This all made me interested in what the devilfish mods actually do - so I watched the first youtube video I found.

And

[DMR]

The only thing I can think of is that the Deep Mind has voice number as a source in the mod matrix, so for example you can have different modulations per polyphonic voice. Of course other synths have been completely multitimbral, or had unique keytracking sources (for example keytracking on envelope time in the Alpha Juno) but Im not sure off hand if other synths have used voice number per se.

Crave is just a straight copy of the Mother 32 functionality, down to the CC numbers on the MIDI implementation.

[bradfromraleigh]

Their X-series mixers were fairly innovative at the time and continue to be standards. This product line, however is a direct result of the Midas acquisition - whether this can be considered a “Behringer Innovation” may be up for debate. The price-point of those mixers is certainly a result of Uli and Behringer’s supply-chain expertise.

---

On another note, here’s an excerpt from an article re: Uli’s perspective on IP from 2012ish.

Original Article

[s_hamann]

That’s interesting. I think TC has filled some of that role for them too, with things like Toneprint and the MASH switch stuff. Along with supply chain, they definitely have a smart acquisition strategy to go with it.

[Cementimental]

The plot thickens Uli replies: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpost.php?p=14513109&postcount=4580&fbclid=IwAR3HUccWp20WRhLyuF5loQzve8byQxsZGoHPGZ58sn7lJvr4qDFPb_WZbNY

[rycolos]

I like and dislike this. But I mostly dislike that forum.

[jasonw22]

It’s kind of a non-reply. I hope we never see this thing in the light of day. Pretty sure we will though.

[rikrak]

@wheelersounds

That’s the main issue – if Behringer is putting care and attention into their build quality, I take very little issue with what they’re doing. Their copying is blatant and unethical, but so is this version of Capitalism so what are you gonna do.
I use my dollar to try to buy things that will last. If it won’t last, I don’t buy it. If I’m unsure about whether or not it will last, I let early adopters buy it first and look for reported failures. I’ve seen enough already to know that I don’t trust Behringer, and that’s enough for me to opt out.

Exactly this. I really look after all my equipment, keeping machines covered when not in use and making sure they are well packed and protected when moved about. The two Behringer machines I had failed in multiple places through poor build quality during light usage. Contrast that with a Yamaha drum machine which is over 20 years old, also mass produced, but has moved house 15 times, been stolen and recovered, dropped down a flight of concrete steps, crushed in storage, used as a cigarette holder during a smoky house-party - banged on for 20 years - and still works like new!

[Cementimental]

https://www.facebook.com/105517788913/posts/10158101281683914/ “the Devil Fish drama was such good publicity for us that here’s that mockup again along with a request that people let us know more mods to rip off!”

[damon]

TFW a company removes the question from “morally questionable.”

Update: The video has been removed. See @petesasqwax’s link a few posts down for summary.

[unicity]

Unreal. How low can you go?

I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the next Behringer clone was a red hat that says “Make Synthesizers Great Again”.

[rossominerale]

There is a lively discussion on their YT and FB channels, on elektronauts and twitter. I have reported the video on YT and the post on FB.

We could also try to overtake the likes on the YT video with a mountain of dislikes, as Behringer seems to care about data metrics on YT.

[petesasqwax]

For anyone who hasn’t seen it (the video has now been removed) this summarises it well:

Is this how Behringer responds to criticism? - MusicTech

[jayhosking]

Thanks for posting this. I didn’t catch the original.