Is Behringer significant competition to Korg,Yamaha, Roland?

[Song80s]

my Yamaha Modx is made in China.

That's part of how it gives you so much of a Montage for so little of its price. Montage is made in Japan.

 

 

I might as well run my post topic into another topic

 

I have always thought MODX was reasonably priced , a very good alternative, with some understood considerations

compared to Montage.

[Jim Alfredson]

The MODx keybed is horrible. A shame, really, because it's a cool keyboard.

 

I refuse to buy anything Behringer because of their business practices. I also think their stuff is boring. DSI / Sequential is doing far more interesting things, as is Moog, the newbies ASM, and Novation.

[SteveCoscia]

Rather than niche their slice of the existing keyboard market pie, Behringer's major contribution might be growing the keyboard market pie. They've added new excitement, customer demand and leveraged affordability, all while maintaining a buzz. Tapping into a customer's psyche takes astute marketing know how and Behringer seems to have figured this out. Whether they can keep it up will be the test.

[SteveUK]

Rather than niche their slice of the existing keyboard market pie, Behringer's major contribution might be growing the keyboard market pie. They've added new excitement, customer demand and leveraged affordability, all while maintaining a buzz. Tapping into a customer's psyche takes astute marketing know how and Behringer seems to have figured this out. Whether they can keep it up will be the test.

 

I was about to type something similar myself. I wonder how much the MI market has grown because of companies like Behringer? Has its products (and the prices they sell at) brought more people into the market place. Previously would people have scoured for used when now they can buy new? Can they now buy two synths rather than just the one etc?

[felis]

....Ok, so back to Topic. Is Behringer making inroads to keyboard niches mostly dominated by the

Big Dogs ? .....

 

No.

 

Of the 48 products listed in the 'keyboard' menu, 26 are modular components,

only 8 have keyboards, 7 of those are 3 octaves, and none are the typical S&S of the big 3.

The rest are analog modules, monophonic or paraphonic.

https://www.behringer.com/Categories/Behringer/c/Behringer?q=:catRank:division:CREA:publicProduct:true#googtrans(en|en)

 

So while they've been selling a lot of stuff, I don't see any of it in direct competition with things like the Montage/ModX,

Fantoms, and Kronos........yet.

[Song80s]

....Ok, so back to Topic. Is Behringer making inroads to keyboard niches mostly dominated by the

Big Dogs ? .....

 

No.

 

Of the 48 products listed in the 'keyboard' menu, 26 are modular components,

only 8 have keyboards, 7 of those are 3 octaves, and none are the typical S&S of the big 3.

The rest are analog modules, monophonic or paraphonic.

https://www.behringer.com/Categories/Behringer/c/Behringer?q=:catRank:division:CREA:publicProduct:true#googtrans(en|en)

 

So while they've been selling a lot of stuff, I don't see any of it in direct competition with things like the Montage/ModX,

Fantoms, and Kronos........yet.

 

excellent analysis , a direct answer, free of sugar-y drinks that some are hooked on

 

Thank you for taking the time to present the data.

[RABid]

A few years ago I would not even look at anything Bahringer. Now I own a Neutron and would recommend it to anyone wanting to break into modular while on a budget.

 

In my opinion the best thing that Behringer is doing is applying downward pressure on the price of vintage gear. I've always wanted an Arp Oddysey but refuse to pay the price for a 50 year old unit that may or may not work. Now I have options.

[ElmerJFudd]

No. They aren"t at this moment grabbing much more than low end fair from the big three in keyboards. They are however disruptive for synth makers - Sequential, Moog and others.

 

Mr. Pibb is a knock off of Dr. Pepper - developed by the Coca-Cola company to grab a share of Pepper"s market. But Dr. Pepper is the original created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, first served around 1885.

[mate stubb]

Mr. Pibb is a knock off of Dr. Pepper - developed by the Coca-Cola company to grab a share of Pepper"s market. But Dr. Pepper is the original created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, first served around 1885.

 

True story:

 

I'm a Pepper. Been addicted to the stuff since I was a sprout, and that's what I drink all day. About 15 years ago my company had a customer in Texas that was going to get a visit from one of our CS reps.

 

I tasked him with visiting the Dublin bottling plant (operating since the 1800s.) There one could obtain the original elixer, still made with cane sugar in the original glass bottles (VERY important for retaining the original flavor!)

 

He brought me back a case, but alas - the altitude of the plane trip sucked all the carbonation out and the bottles tasted flat. That plant is now closed, so I have forever lost my chance.

[ChazKeys]

A few years ago I would not even look at anything Bahringer. Now I own a Neutron and would recommend it to anyone wanting to break into modular while on a budget.

 

In my opinion the best thing that Behringer is doing is applying downward pressure on the price of vintage gear. I've always wanted an Arp Oddysey but refuse to pay the price for a 50 year old unit that may or may not work. Now I have options.

 

Yes same here. I bought a Neutron and a Model D and was very impressed with the quality and the sound. I then looked around for a better multi-channel audio interface and ended up with a Behringer UMC1820. I would not have even looked at Behringer if I hadn't been impressed with the synth stuff. I have now upgraded to the DM12, designed by the Midas team down the road from me in Manchester, and replaced my ageing Odyssey with a Behringer Odyssey which has MIDI, USB, FX and the 3 filter types.

 

These developments are a result of Uli's genuine interest in analogue synths. I would be like to know what share of Behringer's income is coming from synth sales though. I like the fact the company is fronted by the founder - like Dave Smith at DSi.

 

The current synth success at Behringer is a result of tapping into the Eurorack market for which there seems to be a lot of demand. So sadly, he may damage some of the small boutique companies. However, he isn't tooled up and probably not even interested in the workstation market. So he will not pose a threat to Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Nord etc.

 

Behringer are bigger in other areas like live sound and they have the effects market covered with TC and Klark Technic not to mention Midas who can provide all sorts of mixer/pre amp tech.

 

Something else I've noticed about Behringer is that they don't update or replace products very often. I remember the ADA800 ADAT interface that was really cheap ran for about 10 years. Same with the 1602 rack mixer - been around for years and has only recently been updated, great solution for keys BTW.

 

But it is taking a long time to release the UB-Xa - so I wonder how many people are working on this? Going back to 1982 how long did it take Dave Smith to get the Prophet 5 to market? He certainly didn't have the resources Behringer have and he had to use Emu's resources to get it finished. Oberheim were pretty quick too at transitioning from the FVS to OBX.

 

Anyway at the moment...

 

- no risk to the big three, although Roland must be miffed about the reissue stuff

- reckon they are taking market share from the Eurorack and modular crew

- don't think the price of vintage synths will come down much but loads of people who aren't collectors are going to be just as happy with a reliable clone for a fraction of the cost

- the release of classic 5 octave polysynths (Pro-600, UBX etc) could hurt sales of Prophet Rev2 at DSi and Prologue at Korg

- if Behringer's reputation improves are their prices going to go up - the asking price of the Poly D is already too high, some shops in UK are selling at £749 (DV247!!!)

 

If they release the UB-Xa and it's £1200 I'm not sure I'll be in the queue. Anything below the £1000 mark, well that would be a different story and Korg and DSi might be worried about losing sales of analogue polys.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Behringer is the Dr. Pepper to Dave Smith"s Mr. Pibb.

 

As a Dr. Pepper aficionado, I think I just got insulted. NOBODY but nobody willingly drinks Mr. Pibb.

 

 

Quite right, quite right. I was hoping that would stir the pot!

 

Behringer is in fact the Mr. Pibb to Dave Smith"s Dr. Pepper.

 

I like Pibb Xtra better than the regular Mr. Pibb, and better than Dr. Pepper. Though the new Dr. Pepper & Cream Soda is good.

[jazzpiano88]

This is a take a step back, look at the bigger picture question I have.

 

I like competition. Why ? Usually it results in lower prices for consumers.

 

You might recall I recently asserted that Roland, Korg, Yamaha is enjoying

very high profit margins on their $3000-$4000 keyboards, Montage, Kronos, Fantom, for example.

 

Is Behringer achieving a level of success and is the product quality holding up ?

 

Thank you.

To me it's Apples and Oranges.

 

Yamaha, Roland and Korg are developing new technologies and new products based on these technologies.

 

Behringer is the Sigma of Camera lenses. Cheap copies but can never come close to the real deal or do anything substantially new.

 

It's the reason I don't own a Berhinger or a Hyundai (bottom of the barrel)

[Al Quinn]

I'm not in favor of giving my money to the copy cats. I'd rather give it to the innovators -- the folks who are going to advance the technology -- even it costs more. I like supporting progress and understand that the innovators have R&D staff that adds to their costs.

 

I've only bought one Behringer product: a usb mixer with motorized faders called the BCF2000. As I recall there wasn't a direct competitor at the time so the decision was straightforward. It worked fine for a while and then it didn't, so I threw is out. It was inexpensive, but had a shorter than expected life. All in all, I'd say I got what I paid for.