Behringer PRO-VS Hybrid Vector Synthesizer
4,6 / 5,0 | 
Behringer Pro VS · Source: Behringer
Behringer Pro VS · Source: Behringer
Behringer Pro VS · Source: Behringer
Behringer sets its sights on the Sequential Prophet VS with the Pro VS “Soul”. Let’s hope it sounds good because it sure is ugly.
Pro VS
My eyes! My eyes! Well, I guess they can’t all be a work of art but gee whiz is this thing ugly. It’s like one of those photoshop mashups that people do as “next synth” ideas and post them on Behringer facebook groups.
However, trying to look past the weirdness of it what we have here is, presumably, a take on the Sequential Prophet VS synthesizer squeezed into a Modal reject of a shell. It has 4 voices and is a hybrid Vector synthesizer where you use a joystick to mix waveforms and then route through an analogue filter section. The joystick in question looks like it came off an Xbox controller.
The front panel gives you control over the envelope, LFO, filter, oscillator and effects in a bank of 12 small knobs. Buttons provide access to different routings and for selecting the 4 waveforms. I imagine the little screen is going to come in handy.
Behringer Pro VS · Source: Behringer
The original Prophet VS cost around £1899 when released in the UK in 1986 although you did get 8 voices and a 61-note keyboard. This funky little thing is estimated to hit the shops, once they’ve found the chips, for $99.
I was quite excited to see that Behringer had decided to move on from the previous desktop format with the UB-Xa D but little did I know that released the designers into all sorts of flights of fancy. It appears to owe a lot to the Modal Skulpt but has none of that synths futuristic style. This is 80s futurism mixed with modern-day appropriation. Let’s hope it sounds nice.
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42 responses to “Behringer PRO-VS Hybrid Vector Synthesizer”
ya know, i come to gearnews often and enjoy learning about products like these. however, the lack of professionalism is starting to stink. you shouldn’t right out the gate call a product ugly (this device isn’t that bad at all) and sling around your personal bias against behringer (not defending behringer exclusively). funny thing is, alot of new products are ugly but that’s also very subjective. i think you should be dissappointed in yourself as a writer and communicator of industry knowledge and try to be a little better.
by the way, you say that this has none of the modal skulpt’s “futuristic style”… are you prepared to stand by your words? the modal skulpt had possibly the worst (confusing and ugly) panel layout of any device and didn’t come across as “futuristic”. this has a waveform screen, routing options, a joystick (your xbox comparison is kinda oddly low-effort).
Preach, brother.
I’m not sure I want to die on the hill of whether the Skulpt is stylish or not. I like to think that I’m always open to seeing things differently. Skulpt, and I have one in my hand here, has a style to it that’s pleasing to look upon whereas this box, as someone else remarked, does look like a birthday cake version of itself. This article is based on a bad photo from facebook with a 3 word description so we don’t have a lot to go on. All I can give you is my impression of it as I do with everything that comes across my desk.
“i think you should be dissappointed in yourself as a writer”
There is no need for faux-objectivity.
Let me clarify, my comment wasn’t a hit on the writer but a neutral observation. i know people’s distaste in behringer business practices etc. however this whole hate-on-behringer trend has become an industry fanboy bandwagon and robin- take notes from the Synthanatomy article which was written seemingly unbiased. This device doesn’t look nearly as ugly as a few of the Volcas, the skulpt, etc. actually it’s laid out very neatly and no-nonsense. what more were u expecting specifically? please provide information instead of “ugly” which is subjective. i’m not some pro-berhinger guy but you’re not making a tight case or being responsible as a news source, however you’re entitled to your opinion.
Wow did you design this monstrosity or something?
Thanks for your comments. If professionalism means being bland and unmoved by the design and function of gear then you can keep it. I think you’re mistaking Gearnews for a place that reprints press releases on behalf of manufacturers – that’s not what we’re about. At gearnews we value our writers’ opinions and expect them to write honestly about products and by definition that is an exercise in subjectivity. I have no personal Behringer bias – I call out their bad behaviour and celebrate their good behaviour and marvel at their products – which is what a news site should be doing in my view. As a writer I’m thrilled that my thoughts prompt discussion – what more could a writer want?
I can see why people find them ugly, what with all the text all over it. However, I’m interested to hear it, see how the functionality of it is, how flexible it is in use. I just wish we’d had these kinds of choices and price ranges back in the day, but here we are, a kind of technological paradise for creators of music and sound design.
Have you actually read the whole article? Nowhere is there any “sling(ing) around personal bias against behringer”. Absolutely nowhere. There is nothing negative about this article other than Robin’s opinion that it’s ugly, which yourself said is entirely subjective.
I don’t know why your do down and obviously angry about this.
sorry but are we reading the same article? plenty of disses throughout. main page headline says “Let’s hope it sounds good because it sure is ugly.” in the article says “squeezed into modal reject of a shell”, and “it appears to owe alot to the Modal Skulpt but has none of that futuristic style” (as if the writer has never seen a mini synth before). the photoshop mashup comment, the xbox comment, the ‘weirdness’ comment, the ‘appropriation’ bit (no bias, huh Robin. okay.)
you’re playing dumb, Robin is playing dumb, and it’s a slap in the face to Gearnews fans.
So, you’ve just basically agreed with me then.
All the criticism is about the look / aesthetics of this particular synth. Not “bias against behringer”.
Glad we could agree.
looks like you have your mind made up already, random internet stranger
i actually think this is pretty awesome- it’s like the volca that we needed 3 yrs ago! and full(er) sized keys
This is interesting. But the article is biased as f.
So is your post 🙂
Yet another non-working prototype 6 years away, that isn’t even about to be produced unless it gets an overwhelmingly positive response from the “leak”.
I’d love a VS but I can’t get excited about another Behringer product they have little interest in or capability of producing right now.
Also yeah, it’s ugly as sin.
Looks cool, but what a biast article. I really hope whoever whote this article finds help.
I’m not biased, it’s just ugly – that’s not my fault 😀
IN YOUR OPINION it’s ugly. Always helps to add that to personal commentary; otherwise it’s unprofessional.
Also helps to fact check articles before going to print. The VS was/is an 8 voice synth, not 16.
Personally, can’t wait for this: looks great imho, good form factor and hopefully sounds like the original.
Weird, i referenced a Sound On Sound review for the polyphony which said 16, but nope, everywhere else says 8-voice, so 8 it is or at least in my opinion 😀
I daresay you folks aren’t familiar with Robin Vincent, if you’ve got a problem with his “lack of professionalism”. 🙂
(I find it refreshing. It’s just @#$*ing synths, man, this isn’t the NYT.)
you’re right, forgive me for expecting a little integrity.
“Integrity”, he says, regarding a blurb about a behringer toy clone.
A kind of integrity such as ripping off recent released products from other companies? Behringer can help you with that.
whatever opinion you have towards the company should not invade the focus of the news article, as in this case. the issue of behringer “ripping off” etc. is a topic for another thread. also, demonizing the company has become a trend. my point still stands
Are you actually Uli?
Are you now going to make a pretend product render with an offensive reference to Robin Vincent’s ethnicity because he said something mean against Behringer on the internet?
It is simply his opinion, and it’s alright to disagree with it. What’s not ethical is implying that Mr. Vincent is somehow “biased,” which has nothing to do with his work on here and the context of it all. They are some of the messengers, it’s good to have opinions to have as at least a point of reference, and we can all decide for ourselves. No one’s being coercive here.
I do enjoy some of the articles on here which can occasionally poke at the product a bit, although I’ve never found it biased against Behringer, if anything far less than another well known sonic site which hardly ever mentions Behringer products anymore and one of the regulars on their weekly podcast even came out on air and stated he hated everything Behringer stands for. Anyway this thing is a bit unconventional in terms of the keyboard position relative to the size of the panel, but if they’d have kept it at the same level as the panel you’d all be complaining that its a blatant rip of a Volca, which it sort of is form factor wise, but how far can you go arranging many buttons into a small panel without it looking like something else and being impractical to use?
That thing looks like a birthday cake rendetion of a VS. But only it’s a bad grocery store birthday cake made by the rookie employee, lol
It really does
Nailed it then 😛
Let them eat cake!
Seriously just LOOK at that synth! It made me laugh out loud even BEFORE I read Robin’s fabulous and hysterical article. Behringer makes plenty of good looking gear, so maybe they were intentionally going for the campy, highly memorable, “so bad it’s good” strategy. If so, it worked! I am now really curious to hear some demos.
Love it. Uli for President.
What i see whatever Behringer does it is always a negative comment from your side . I’m curious who and what you are .
Oh my I am really confused. Arturia they made software for the longest time. Then they surprised everyone and they released their first Analog Mono synthesizer.
From the inception date of the hardware synthesizer to when the MatrixBrute came out and then the PolyBrute came out, we will establish this as a reference point on the timeline.
Behringer music tribe, compared to Arturia (analogously) has an abundant amount of resources, R&D, manufacturing city…
And their inception date of making hardware synthesizers the model D/Deep mind 12..
They should have already come out with their flag ship signature iconic Synthesizer by now.
They have hired all of these experts from the industry, people who used to build ‘commercial’ synthesizers people who used to build modulars, people who designed drum machines… They have an exquisite and diverse crew of so-called experts in this field.
Punchline: I think they beaten this horse to death already.
If they had a little better quality control and design aesthetic‘s to the synthesizers they already have right now, they would be looking at reviews with Critical Acclaim instead of a non-stop treasure trove of critical punchlines.
Uli: it might be Time to change some key people and executives in your synthesizer division. Fire some people.
>These people are there for a paycheck.
They care nothing about your legacy, they care nothing about making an award-winning musical instrument. While they were good in the beginning, well they got you to where you are today. It’s time to ‘evolve’ yourself, ascend to the next level.
I’m saying this very respectfully.
@ Robin Vincent:
Today is a day when I feel for you, sometimes they throw roses sometimes they throw rotten tomatoes.
You’re there in the spotlight only attempting to share information and enlighten everybody about all the wonderful new products, some of them a little bit more wonderful than the other… It’s tough you have to sort of be positive in the article but then you have to keep it real at the same time. It’s a very tough line to toe.
Thank you for your time.
I’d say it looks more like a PS2 joystick than an Xbox. My concern is that it’s probably spring-loaded to return to the centre. I’m pretty sure the original VS joystick stayed where you left it like a mod wheel, right?
The other shots there show it tilted so probably not spring loaded. I’d imagine as they are mass produced everywhere there would be ones available without springs also.
I played around with the original Prophet VS in 1987 and loved it, so this is a no-brainer, even if it’s only got a fraction of the functions. Seeing these come out so affordable is heartening, the children will be able to do their thing with them. I’m hoping Behringer does all the major Prophet models.
Want!
Me too! I put this on pre-order!
I’ve got this on pre-order on Thomann. I don’t think it’s ugly other than the PS joystick – that was my first thought (definitely not Xbox) but anyway. You got sound samples on YouTube to comment on, you’re approaching this as if all the information available is a picture. Also the title should have been: A hardware synth cheaper than the VST
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