Behringer continues its announcements and shows Model 15 a, new semi-modular analog Synthesizer for $299 inspired by the Moog Modular
The Behringer Model 15 is available now for 299€ at Thomann.
Update: The Model 15 from Behringer will soon be available at retailers. They announced it as a semi-modular analog Synthesizer based on the vintage Moog Modular. I waited for the first videos to see if it was not more of a Moog Grandmother clone in rack format. And yes, it is true.
The latest video from Starsky Carr, who has a pre-production unit, made a detailed comparison, and there are almost no differences to be heard. There minor differences.
According to Starsky Carr, the Grandmother has a real spring reverb, while he assumes that the Model 15 does not. Behringer’s “Grandmother” has additional sub shapes on the second oscillator.
So it is clear that the Model 15 is actually a Moog Grandmother clone in Eurorack at 1/4 the price. Personally, I like the idea of bringing back all kinds of vintage synthesizers, but not current products like this. Because a Moog Grandmother is still on the market.
Update From May 18, 2024
And now it’s official: Behringer has released the Model 15 Synthesizer. It is available now from their factory, which means it will take some weeks/months to arrive at the retailers. You can pre-order it now for $299/299€.
Available for pre-order at my partner
Update From May 10th, 2024
There was a time when Behringer flooded the news pages with new announcements. That was in Q1 2022. Many of these are still in development and have not yet been released. One of them was the Behringer Model 15, which is very reminiscent of the Grandmother’s feature set.
No news for 2 years. A few minutes ago, however, a new video from YouTuber Starsky Carr popped up in my feed that showcased the upcoming Model 15. It’s not a review but a first look. Yes, the project is alive. The sounds you hear are very promising. I’m curious when it will officially come onto the market
Article From March 2022
The Moog Modular is one of the most legendary modular synthesizers. Behringer has already replicated/clone this beauty as Eurorack modules for little money. But that was not all.
Today Behringer introduced Model 15, a Synthesizer, already number 7 this week and it’s based on the circuits of the Moog Modular Model 15/35/55”. It is semi-modular, Eurorack ready and reminds me a lot of a grandmother I know with a keyboard.
Behringer Model 15
The Model 15 is a new semi-modular analog Synthesizer that takes inspiration from the legendary Model 15/35/55 modular Synthesizer. You get two oscillators with 4 waveforms, sub-oscillator, oscillator sync, and pulse with modulation. The filter is, of course, a replica of the legendary 24dB ladder filter with resonance control. Plus it has a high-pass filter.
Modulation side, you get a multi-wave analog LFO with 4 waveforms for the pitch, filter and pulse width modulation. Thanks to the semi-modularity, you can also patch it differently. There is also a classic ADSR envelope. On the end of the signal chain, you can activate a spring reverb emulation for refine your sounds.
Model 15 is a semi-modular and thus also has a patch matrix on the right side with 48 patch points (ins/outs). Here you can build the wildest modular patches or integrate signals from other Eurorack synthesizers.
On the left side, it also hosts a built-in arpeggiator with an hold function and multiple playback modes. There is also an advanced sequence with 3 separate 256-step memory slots, key transpose and multiple playback modes. The synth has 37 controls giving you direct and real-time access to all important parameters.
MIDI input is on the front panel and on the back you can find a MIDI thru with MIDI matrix, headphones socket, audio output, USB connection and a power supply input with a on/off button.
Hello Grandmother?
According to Behringer, it has a comprehensive MIDI implementation with MIDI channel and voice priority selection. In these synths, as always, there is no advanced MIDI CC support.
The synth is fully Eurorack compatible and is housed in the classic Behringer Eurorack case. But it can be easily removed and installed in another Eurorack system. It is 16-voice poly chain ready so you can create a big Moog-inspired poly synth with 16 voices.
The Model 15 is very reminiscent of Moog’s Grandmother especially the colored layout and the feature set. The Grandmother is also based on the Moog Modular. Also has a spring reverb, arpeggiator and sequencer. The synth does not have the charm of the Grandmother, but is Eurorack and significantly cheaper. A sound comparison with the GM will certainly be interesting here.
Availability
Behringer Model 15 will be available in the near future for $299 USD. The product is fully completed and ready for production. Once they will receive the chips, this synth will be produced and shipped to the retailers.
More information will follow here: Behringer
Behringer should release eurorack cables. They add some very short one with their synths but if the goal is the Behrinrack then they should do longer cables, couplers, braided, color coded, color coded w/lines n dots, etc. If they do a good cable ppl would try more of their stuff.
This is unbelievable. Will they never learn? It’s a shameless copy of someone else’s commercial product, the Moog Grandmother.
Shame on you Behringer.
I don’t mind them making copies of old synths, or making variations on them, but I do mind when Behringer parasitizes on someone else’s current commercial products.
Of course this will all be legally covered. The design the Grandmother is built on, is probalby no longer patented. But it is morally wrong.
I lost my appetite for any of those instruments they announced in the last two weeks. I might have been in the market for a Proton, but that GAS has gone.
Luckily for us, there are products in the same price range that also can be called synths, and that are not shameless copies from someone else.
Full ACK, nothing more to say, thank you!
Every week I find it easier to respect Behringer less and less …
You build weak sounding synths but let them look like great sounding machines of other Inventors,
but only the same user interface or similar look from the outside doesn´t make them a good machine.
You just try to fool people for your profit.
Pitiful Behringer!
I have a Behringer Model D. It does not sound weak at all. The general consensus on the model D is that the sound is very close to the original and the original does not sound weak. So, your statement concerning weak sound is false.
In the foreword of “Patch and Tweak with Moog” Hans Zimmer say that he has made a big comparison of many Moog copy’s and compared them to the original … and nothing will ever come close to the original. So you doubt not only the words from “The F stanst for F”, you doubt the words of Mr. Zimmer too!
Brave!
He said:
“…several years ago we did an experiment at the studio, setting up several different synths that all tried to imitate the sound of a Minimoog, either in hardware or software, next to the real thing. And every thing else was horrible, just terrible in comparison, and not at all satisfying. “
You guys are very harsh. I very much doubt that this will be cannibalizing any Moog Grandmother sales. No one who wants a Grandmother will be getting this and now people who can’t afford a Grandmother or who don’t need the high quality expensive key bed (or both) have the option of getting this. Moog wasn’t going to make it.
I want this synth. I’m saving every penny and WILL buy it. Moog is great but out of my price range, THANK YOU Behringer for making it affordable for people who don’t have a ton of cash to burn and then put it on a shelf to collect dust , I don’t just buy synths to be hip. it’s my livelihood.
It just looks like a Moog from the outside,
but the sound will never come close to a real Moog…
don’t be fooled by the user interface….
not the same under the hood!!!!
Behringer can produce affordable synths. Why can’t everyone else. It’s proof we pay premium for the label. I just put together a Behringer system 100m. The quality is excellent. It sounds awesome. Yes it’s a Roland clone, but where else is a system 100m available? I’m cool with the clones.