"Behringer PRO-800 1.2.6 firmware update available. We are thrilled to unveil the highly anticipated 1.2.6 update for the PRO-800. As always, we carefully listen to your feedback and immediately implemented several noteworthy improvements.

Improvements:
- Enhanced and “snappier” envelope speed
- Implemented a Soft Thru On/Off setting, accessible through the Settings Menu Button 1. This allows users to control the Soft Thru functionality, enabling or disabling as needed.
- Added a Local Oon/Off setting to the Settings Menu Button 1. This feature enables users to determine whether the device responds to local MIDI input or not.

Fixes:
- Fixed issue with failure to recognize VR maximum position during power up.
- Resolved USB/MIDI synchronization issue, PPQN (Pulses Per Quarter Note) is set to 24.
- Addressed problem with notes getting stuck during envelope (ENV) shape changes.

We are delighted to share with you an exciting video created by SynthKing below.

We truly value your continuous support, which has been instrumental in driving these updates. Your passion for music and dedication to the PRO-800 community, motivates us to continually push the boundaries of excellence.

Please stay tuned for further announcements and updates as we remain committed to refining and expanding the capabilities of the PRO-800 synthesizer.

Together, let's embark on an exciting musical journey filled with endless sonic possibilities. Thank you."- Behringer via FB

 

Behringer will never make anything over $500 price range when it comes to their clones .. so just get ready for 35 mono synths all with just a slight variation.. honestly at this point I'd rather save my money and just get something I really want like a moog matriarch or a real prophet ..

 

Moog is no longer Moog since they were bought lock, stock and barrel by InMusic and no longer partially owned by the employees. I only had recently bought a Subharmonicon and DFAM just before the sale which I wasn't aware of being in the works. The vibe has changed completely for me and I probably won't be getting that Moog Grandmother.

 

Moog is not Moog since beginning of the 80s

 

What happened?

 

1953–1967: R. A. Moog Co.
Robert Moog founded R. A. Moog Co. with his father in 1953 at the age of 19 in Trumansburg, New York, selling theremin kits to finance his education. In 1963, Moog met experimental composer Herbert Deutsch at a music education conference in Rochester, New York, after Deutsch had built a theremin following Moog's design. With assistance and suggestions from Deutsch and other musicians, Moog built the Moog synthesizer, the first voltage-controlled synthesizer utilizing a keyboard.

1967–1971: R. A. Moog, Inc. and Moog synthesizer
By 1967, R. A. Moog, Co. had become a larger enterprise, continuing to sell theremin kits but with sales mainly focused on the commercial Moog synthesizer. Though the Moog synthesizer's sound had rapidly become iconic with the success of Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach, the instrument nonetheless did not sell well due to its size and impracticality. The company ran deep into debt, turning a profit only one year of its existence – 1969, following the 'Switched-On' sensation ignited by Carlos.

1971–1977: Moog Musonics, Moog Music, Inc., changes of management, and financial duress
In November 1971, rival company muSonics bought R. A. Moog, Inc. and relocated the company to Williamsville, New York. An old factory at the north end of Academy Street was purchased. The company was renamed Moog Musonics, then Moog Music, Inc.

In 1972, former televangelist and successful salesman David VanKouvering joined the company as VP of Marketing, creating a network of retail stores throughout the United States and then the entire world. Despite the increased commercial success the company saw with the introduction of the Minimoog than with previous products, competition with contemporary manufacturers such as ARP Instruments, Oberheim Electronics, and Electronic Music Studios drove the company steadily deeper into debt. Moog Music, Inc. was ultimately sold to Norlin Industries in 1973. At this point, rival companies such as the aforementioned ARP Instruments were producing both monophonic and polyphonic synthesizers that rapidly outpaced the Moog in popularity. By 1975, ARP owned 40% of the synthesizer market share, effectively boxing out Moog Music, Inc.

In 1976, Norlin moved the company to a facility on Walden Avenue in Cheektowaga. In 1977, once his contract with Norlin expired, Robert Moog officially left the company to pursue his own ventures, founding the firm Big Briar.

1978–1987: Contract manufacturing, digital synthesis, and bankruptcy
By 1978, Moog Music, Inc. had released a number of products after the success of the Minimoog, including the Vocoder, the Multimoog, the Polymoog, and a series of Taurus bass pedals. Despite numerous artists taking up these products, none of these synthesizers ever achieved the same success. Moog's problems were compounded by competition from Japanese manufacturers such as Roland, Korg and Yamaha, who by the late 1970s, were producing analog synthesizers of comparable ability but at a lower price point.

The company began contract manufacturing in 1981 in various other industries, including subway system repairs and air conditioning systems.

Around the same time, digital synthesis was becoming a viable alternative to analog synthesizers. The Fairlight CMI, released 1979, was an expensive though fully formed digital synthesizer and sampler; in 1983, the introduction of the MIDI interface allowed rival Yamaha to release the world's first commercially successful digital synthesizer, the DX7. Moog Music attempted to pivot to produce digital synthesizers, but declared bankruptcy in 1987.

2000–2005: Legal battle, return to Robert Moog and analog revival
As digital synthesizers rapidly became ubiquitous, the 1990s saw a rise in nostalgia for the iconic analog sound of Moog and Minimoog synthesizers, with musicians like David Foster continuing to use them. Minimoogs began fetching high prices as collector's items. In 1994, the Moog Music trademark expired and was purchased by Don Martin; a legal battle ensued in 2000 over ownership of the name, and it was returned to Robert Moog in 2002.

Moog Music moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and continued its development of products created under Robert Moog's former company Big Briar, such as the Moogerfooger pedals and theremins, as well as introducing numerous new products such as the Minimoog Voyager, Little Phatty, Sub 37, and Mother 32 some of which continue to be produced and sold today. The company has seen fiscal growth and increased interest due in part to the analog revival, evidenced by the introduction of so many new analog synthesizers being released by companies such as Moog, Korg, Arturia, and Dave Smith Instruments, that has continued climbing to reach a high point in the 2010s.

2005–present: Death of Robert Moog and transition to employee ownership
After Robert Moog died in 2005 due to complications arising from brain cancer, his collaborator Michael Adams took over the company as president. The company has since shifted to being largely employee owned, with its 62 employees owning 49% of the company's shares in 2015. The company has in recent years seen the results of a strong incentive to introduce new products to meet the demands generated by today's market and have also produced limited edition reissues of historic Moog synthesizers as well as reaching out into the emerging Eurorack synthesizer market with instruments such as semi-modular synthesizers, the Mother 32, DFAM, Grandmother, Matriarch, and Subharmonicon.

On 1 June 2022, the employees, as "Moog Workers Unite", launched a union drive with IBEW.

In June 2023, inMusic acquired Moog Music.

 

The Behringer UB-XA module is priced currently at a grand and the keyboard version is $1500 (US).
They even have onboard power supplies .
I like that and their VCS3 clone.
Just hope to live long enough to buy...

 

Ohhh!!!

 

As promised, PRO-800 firmware update 1.27 is now live on SynthTribe.

As we always stated, this is just the beginning of our super-exciting PRO-800 journey, and we hope this shows our commitment to make this a truly amazing instrument.

The PRO-800 is the world's first and only 8-voice, dual VCO synthesizer for under US$ 400, in line with Uli's vision to make synthesizers accessible for everyone.

Thank you for helping us improve this beautiful instrument. More to come

Improvements:
- Increased VCF ENV AMOUNT range
- Increased LFO to VCF modulation range
- Poly AT reimplemented and improved
- Increased range on POLY MODE - FIL ENV
- Added a LPF to the Aftertouch function to smoothen the response and make it more musical
Fixes:
- Reduced Settings save timer from 47 to 3 sec. which solves all issues related to settings not being stored after a power cycling
- Resolved ARP UP-DN issue when only one key is pressed
- Improved LFO target: resolved Ab, A and b settings
- Resolved CC=59, LFO target for Ab, A and b which was related to an issue where LFO target was not working when connected to a DAW
- Resolved voice assign issue to the same note, related to some Yamaha piano instruments