Tech is cloned, ripped off, expanded upon, all the time. I think this instance is very personal for a lot of people as itâs related to art, nostalgia, and an exclusive collectorâs club ($$$). If Behringer had packaged these in original cases, colors, layouts, would people be this upset? Thereâs a lot of similar synths out there already.
I donât see people getting bent out of shape at:
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U-he for making Diva, which attempts to recreate MS-20, Juno 60, etc. D-16 for their 808/909 plugins? Do they pay a license fee perhaps?
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What about sample pack sellers? Surely they are scoundrels for selling sounds of all these old synths for dirt cheap? Again, maybe they pay a license fee?
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What about all the Fender and Gibson clones?
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What about all the recreations of things like SSL buss comps and Pultec EQâs?
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What about Acidlab 303, 606, 808? Or the Yocto and Nava kits?
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Eurorack recreations of classic filters, etc. tons of these. Doepfer Wasp and SEM filters, etc. (credit - @nightfade )
Flip through any Sweetwater catalogue and youâll see dozens of things like this. Why does Behringer get so much hate for doing this? Not sure. I get it if people want to hate on Behringer for things in the past like bad build quality, poor customer service, or other things, sure, I get that one. But cloning and recreating old designs is rampant in music tech. If youâre gonna hate one, hate 'em all. But maybe people do and Iâm just not aware of it?
I think they need a few of these 1:1 clones just to prove that they can make quality synths and then maybe theyâll start making more originals like the Neutron. I think most people would like to see more original fresh designs anyway.