Behringer UB-Xa - Beta Testing Concluded

video upload by Behringer

"After 3 long years of intense development, we have now finally completed the design of the UB-Xa.

What started as a mere recreation of the original OB-Xa, has grown into a monster synthesizer with many more features and sound palettes.

We have now started the manufacturing planning, which will still take some time due to the global component shortages.

We like to take the opportunity to thank all our 20 fabulous beta testers who tremendously helped us to fine tune and meticulously compare our UB-Xa with the sound and performance of the original OB-Xa. The beta testing process has taken more than one year.

We know you have been waiting for a long time but we promise that this synth will blow you away and exceed all your expectations."

Behringer's Music Tribe Global Brands Ltd Loses Oberheim Trademark to Tom Oberheim

It looks like Tom Oberheim will indeed get the Oberheim name back. The chain of events are a bit randomn, like a "sample n hold" actually...

I beleive Music Tribe filed for the Oberheim logo and trademarks back in December of 2016 after they expired. Gibson previously owned them, buy then turned them over to Wells Fargo prior to this, according to details in this previous post. What's odd is Gibson then "returned" the name back to Tom Oberheim in 2019 AFTER Music Tribe filed for it. Shortly after Behringer won the trademark back. Two years later it now goes back to Tom.
(pic above via Amazona.de) via the USPTO: "Registration is refused because the applied-for mark consists of or includes matter that may falsely suggest a connection with Tom Oberheim. Trademark Act Section 2(a), 15 U.S.C. §1052(a). Although the person is not connected with the goods provided by applicant under the applied-for mark, Tom Oberheim is so well-known that consumers would presume a connection."

They also apologize for the sample n hold loop: "The trademark examining attorney apologizes for any inconvenience caused by the delay in raising this issue(s)."

What's interesting, unless I'm reading it wrong, is the trademark appeared to have been for BEHRINGER OBERHEIM rather than just OBERHEIM?

Note this just means Behringer can't take over the Oberheim brand name. He can still come out with the Behringer UB-Xa branded OB-Xa.

What's up with Behringer's UB-Xa?

BEHRINGER

"Here's a little update from our engineers..."

First audio - R&D - UB-Xa Prototype

Published on May 8, 2019 BEHRINGER

"We promised to share progress and here it is!

Here in Manchester we've just got audio passing with the UB-Xa, obviously it's very early and we have a lot of work ahead of us - but we're very happy so far!"

New Behringer UB-Xa Pics

Follow-up to this post.

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First Behringer UB-Xa (OB-Xa clone) Case Pics

This one was spotted and sent in via Soviet Space Child.

"UB-Xa is coming alive!

Today we've started to build the very first prototype - what an amazing moment. Over the next few days we will assemble the complete unit and of course share pics with you.

Isn't it a beautiful synth?

Uli"

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New Behringer UB-Xa Design is Complete

An update via Uli Behringer spotted and sent in via Soviet Space Child.

"Here's another exciting update.

We have now completed the entire hardware design, which includes all PCB's and mechanical aspects.

The next step is to build our first working prototype and we hope to show a physical sample in around a month time.

Please bear in mind that we're now starting the most time consuming part, which is the firmware development, which will take considerable amount of time.

While we'll be able to reuse some of the DeepMind firmware, most will be new as we're moving to a high-performance ARM processor platform. This is especially useful as it allows for us to design upcoming synths in a very efficient manner.

Happy New Year everyone.

Uli"

The UB-Xa of course is Behringer's "clone" of the Oberheim OB-Xa.

Catch up on previous UB-Xa posts here.

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An Update on the Behringer UB-Xa - OB-Xa

And update from Uli Behringer on UB-Xa development, spotted and sent in via Soviet Space Child.

"Hello everyone,

I like to give you an update on the UB-Xa development.

When I announced the project some time ago, I mentioned that it would take at least a year as it is a "labor of love" and our Midas engineer would do this as a side project since their main priorities are with digital mixing consoles.

Because of their high workload, the development of the UB-Xa had unfortunately stalled for quite some time.

Good news is that the team is working on it again and we have just finished all schematics and the mechanical design while the team is now focusing on the board layout and firmware.
This is a major job and don't expect anything soon, however we are confident that we will deliver this project as promised and hopefully at a price which will make everyone happy.

In order to maintain the integrity of the original sound design, we've been using 3340 and 3320 VCO's and VCF's but replaced the outdated digital section with very powerful Arm Processors.

Thanks for your patience.

Uli"

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New Behringer UB-Xa Desktop Render & an Update

Note the differences from the previous desktop render here.

The image above with the following note from Uli Behringer was spotted and sent in via Soviet Space Child.

"I like to provide you with an update.

Please find attached a new front panel layout, which includes many of your suggestions. However we decided not to integrate effects in order to retain the authenticity of the original instrument. When it comes to effects, we might be able to surprise you with a very cool solution in the near future :-)

While the team is now working on the schematics and software architecture of the synth, we have not yet locked down the design and feature set, so there is still room for change.

Please let us know your thoughts.

Thanks!

Uli"

You can find previous posts featuring the Behringer clone of the Oberheim OB-Xa here.

New Behringer UB-Xa Update & Renders

And update from Uli Behringer on Gearslutz:

"Allow me to provide you with a quick update.

Aside from the earlier desktop version, many of you requested for a keyboard version of the UB-Xa synth and hence we thought we'd share some designs with you. We have asked our engineers to render a 5-octave keyboard version and use this opportunity to show you some of the insights how such a product is developed.

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Behringer: Inside R&D Episode 1 w/ the UBXa

Published on Jan 19, 2018 BEHRINGER

"Inside Midas R&D UBXa development"

Follow-up to Behringer Announces the UB-Xa - Oberheim OB-Xa Desktop Clone

Update:

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Behringer Announces the UB-Xa - Oberheim OB-Xa Desktop Clone

Note this is likely more than a year out.

Per Uli Behringer:

"As many of you know, synths have been my passion for the past 40 years. Sometime ago I have set the goal for Behringer to bring back some of the loved analog synth jewels from the past.

Please allow me to share some thoughts with you and apologies if this is a longer thread.

Does this make any commercial sense?

Every company has to earn money in order to survive, and so do we. However, since we are privately owned, we don’t really care about the next quarter’s result or 'shareholder value' since it is our philosophy to reinvest everything we earn.

This gives us the tremendous freedom to work on projects that can only be described as 'labor of love' as they might not yield any financial gains. This is why we embark on these synth projects; some of them might not sell in high quantities and frankly to us it doesn’t really matter.

Many of our competitors spend all of their effort on marketing to make you believe in analog synth emulation simply because it’s much easier and cheaper to assemble a DSP chip on a PCB board rather than building products with thousands of analog components and deal with the manufacturing complexity plus expensive manual calibration processes.

However we at Behringer and Midas believe in the passion to revive these analog jewels and the fun these projects create for our team - which to us is worth everything.

Why we believe in analog?

We at Behringer do not believe in 'virtual analog', VST’s or other creative names for digital sound emulations as we are of the firm opinion that you cannot replicate true analog sound through digital technology, and there are many technical reasons for this. To be very clear, this doesn’t mean digital synths or VST’s can't sound great, but it is just something we don’t believe in.

Our passion and emotions are with true analog synths and our goal is to bring back the authentic sound of original designs from the period of the 60’s to the 80’s. In order to achieve the exact same sound, we will use the same circuitry and where possible the same components, however we will apply modern manufacturing technologies to make these instruments affordable, mass producible and reliable for the long-term use.

In many cases we will also remanufacture obsolete components if we feel they are relevant to the sound. In short we will not spare any effort in order to capture the spirit of these synths as it is all about authenticity.

Why do we make this announcement?

For the first time in our 30 year history, we have decided to completely open up our company and share every step of the development process with you so you can ask questions while we will be seeking your opinions.

In fact we want you to participate in this end-to-end process so we can learn from you, but also for you to fully understand how such a synth is developed and manufactured.

What is the UB-Xa synthesizer?

Over the past years we have done a lot of research both on forums but also through interviews with professional musicians in order to understand what the most sought after synths and drum machines are, but also what people feel the sound signatures of these synths are and why people feel so strongly about them.

When it comes to poly-synths the overwhelming request is a rebirth of the Oberheim OB-Xa.

Today I officially announce that we have decided that we will develop and produce an authentic OB-Xa clone which we call the UB-Xa. As you can imagine, this is a very complex and time-consuming project and at this stage we won’t be able to tell you when the instrument will be available in the market or what it will cost.

Since this is more a labor of love than a commercially viable project, our engineers can’t work fulltime on this synth and will use some of their free time, hence the project will likely take more than 12 months.

Most importantly, our goal is to make it an absolute authentic sounding instrument and offer it at a truly affordable price - but you know this already.

Because of its high complexity, we have assigned this project to our most experienced team which is the Midas team in Manchester, UK. These synth nuts and super-smart engineers - under the leadership of Pete and Rob - were also the ones who developed the successful DeepMind12.

So what’s next?

In around one week from now, Pete and Rob will post our first video and share some thoughts with you. Our intention is to not only post videos on a regular basis but also write articles and publish them on our social media pages so you can follow this project.

Now that we have decided on the project, next is the discussion around the basic concept, the feature set and also the building blocks including potential component choices. In the near future we will be able to show you the first 'bread boards' of the sound engine and hopefully let you hear some sound samples.

Next will be PCB and mechanical designs, followed by hand- and tool made samples. And then of course we will be sharing the exciting mass production where we will be showing the production setup and testing plus quality control processes. And if you’re not yet bored by then, we can also show you the packaging and shipping process.

The team in Manchester and I are very excited about this project and we hope that many of you will chime in and participate.

And one more thing - once we’re nearing shipping, we will be raffling off some free units among you as a token of appreciation.

May the fun begin☺

Uli"