Behringer BX1 - The mashup synth you didn’t know you need

Behringer surprised the world at NAMM by announcing the Behringer BX1

In recent years Behringer have taken the stance of not attending NAMM or as it is more correctly titled Winter NAMM in California.  Instead choosing to launch new products using the social media outlets coupled with videos of the new products on this YouTube medium.

But this year after a 10 year absence they turned up in force.  A nice big stand with a number of new products on show.

There was the recently launched WING Rack, WING Compact and WING Black digital mixers.

The recently launched Behringer LMDrum drum machine, Behringer Wave and Behringer Eurorack synthesisers.

But we know about them.  But what was really interesting was the new stuff.  The stuff that Behringer has been teasing us about on the aforementioned social channels for the last few years.

Namely:

The Behringer Pro-16 which is modelled on the sequential Prophet 5/10.

The Behringer JT-16 which is modelled on the Roland JUPITER-8.

And the subject of the rest of this video the Behringer BX1 modelled on the Yamaha DX1 and C-80.

Behringer BX1 - Front

Why the mashup synth?

The Behringer BX1 is actually a combination of two synths that were made by Yamaha in the early 80’s.  They have take the FM synthesis engine developed for the DX range of synthesisers and combined that with the analogue filters from the Yamaha CS-80 to produce the sound that you are hearing.

The synthesiser that was on the stand was functional and allowed the potential capabilities of this new instrument to be demonstrated, about the team from Behringer did state that this is not the final firmware for the instrument and there are several areas of the machine that were not working for the show.  But we should give them credit for showing up with a working prototype to tempt the trade with.

What do we know about this instrument?

The new Behringer BX1 is visually modelled after the the original Yamaha DX1 synth.  However, for those that know the original it is dimensionally smaller and I am going to guess significantly lighter.  Those that have seen videos of one of the original 140 DX1’s will note that moving the original synthesiser was a 2 or more man moving operation.  In actually fact dimensionally I would say that the Behringer BX1 is closer to the dimensions of the Yamaha DX5.

The heart of the Behringer BX1’s synth engine is modelled on the FM generation of the original.  The original Yamaha DX1 was commonly referred to as a DX7 on steroids or 2 DX7’s in a box.  Behringer have used their cloning technology to replicate the way that Yamaha generate their FM tones.

To this the Behringer BX1 replicates the 2 FM engines with 6 FM operators per engine.  This generation process supports 32 voices again matching the original specification.

Once the tone has been generated the analogue signal is passed into the filters that have been modelled from the Yamaha CS80.  This is a multi-mode filter and can be used to further shape the sound being produced.  And because this synth is digitally controlled, all the settings for the FM generation and filter settings can be captured and re-called at the touch of a button.

The user interface has been designed so that at a glance you can visually understand which operators are engaged in the sound that is being produced.  If you have used one of the DX range of synthesisers you will know understanding how the operators are implemented involves multiple buttons clicks.  So this can only be good right!

Behringer BX1 Key bed

The key bed on the demonstration model was a 61-key version which does not mimic the original DX1 key bed which was 73-keys.  I have seen reference to the fact that the new Behringer BX1 key bed is the same as they have installed in the Behringer UB-Xa.  The UB-Xa key bed also has the polyphonic aftertouch, this also installed on the BX1.  We know that the firmware was still a work in progress and this feature was not demonstrable on the NAMM bench.  Although one of the videos appear to demonstrate some kind of aftertouch being executed.

Audio outputs

The Behringer BX1 has the option to operate in ‘CLEAN’ mode which uses 16-bit DAC and a ‘Vintage’ mode which mimics the 12-bit output of the original, which the associated noise that was also present.  Basically something for the purist that wants ambient and those that want a clean signal for their purposes.

Behringer BX1 - Back

The original DX-1 was actually a mono synthesiser.  Many people do not realise that because when you look that the rear of the original synth there were two balanced outputs.  But what these are is a balanced output for the two FM engines hence the A out for engine 1 and B out for engine 2.  Although this has not been explicitly stated in the literature the Behringer BX1 also has these 2 balanced outputs labeled A and B.  Now whether these are specified as separate mono feeds for the signal path routing or can be combined as a single stereo feed from each engine is not clear.

Interfaces

The demo unit has also been upgraded to incorporate both 5-pin DIN MIDI and the option to run this using USB.  Obviously the USB interface will also be how the firmware is updated together with integrating other functions like audio.  This is not unexpected from a modern synthesiser.

The demonstration unit also has sockets for foot controllers for modulation, volume, sustain and portmento.  There was also a socket for a breath controller. These were all present on the original Yamaha synthesiser.

There is also an SD card on the instrument, I am assuming that this is for backing up patch parameters.  But they also stated that you can use this interface to load DX7 SYSEX patches into the instrument natively.

The Yamaha CS80 filters

The videos produced by Behringer following the acquisition of the ‘Tear for Fears’ instrument haul a few years back told us that they had acquired and restored an original Yamaha DX1.  This was obviously the based of the Behringer BX1.  And followed the path for the LMDrum which was also in that instrument acquisition.

The Yamana CS80 filters were the surprise reveal.

These are multi-mode filters being able to operate on multiple parts for the spectrum.  The VCF (velocity control filters) and VCA (velocity control amplifiers) are modelled directly from the CS80.  Statements were made that the factory patches will contain the envelopes and LFO (low frequency oscillators) lifted from the CS80.

Behringer BX1 Compatibility

Behringer have stated that Yamaha DX7 SYSEX files can be loaded onto this synthesiser.  Basically all the classic DX7 FM sounds, in addition to the sounds Behringer will load in as the factory presents, can be loaded.

What does the BX1 sound like?

The NAMM demonstrator was very much a pre-production demonstrator and a number of the Behringer representatives made comments that the operating system for this synthesiser was not finished, specifically in the area of filters.

But what I heard demonstrated sound very much like if you were playing a DX7 on steroids. There were the classic FM E-Piano, Bells, Low frequency bass notes, spacey pad sounds and many combinations thereon.

I made the comments above about aftertouch and I saw one guy appear to demonstrate some kind of aftertouch.  There was also a series of combinations-sounds where it sounded like the 2 engine concept of the original DX1 were used to create the patches being played.

But because this was a pre-production demonstration model, I think there many things will be changed based back on the feedback that Behringer will get from the show and also from the ‘Beta’ testers that Behringer has employed on previous releases.  So my advice is watch this space.

Until next time....

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About the Author

Jon describes himself as a frustrated musician with a passion for the electronic instruments that help him and other musicians be creative. He started playing keyboards in his late teens and re-ignited his passion and built a new studio following his seperation.

About the Blog

The Music Tech Guy UK's Blog, Website and YouTube channel were started to share Jon's experiences and views on the industry at large and how these effect the small musician. Plus technical tips how to configure and maintain the equipment he owns.