Behringer MS-5 – A Quirk From The Past Returns
4,5 / 5,0 | 
Behringer MS-5 · Source: Behringer
Behringer MS-5 · Source: Behringer
Behringer MS-5 Rear · Source: Behringer
Behringer MS-5 · Source: Behringer
Behringer MS-5 · Source: Behringer
Behringer MS-5 · Source: Behringer
Four years in the making, the Behringer MS-5 finally hits stores but will it be enough to sate the appetite of synth buffs and money-savers alike?
Things seem to have settled down at Behringer recently. Gone are the deluge of teaser posts on social media. There’s much less “should we make” and more of just keeping quiet and getting on with it. Which, in this correspondent’s opinion, is very welcome. Less snark, more synth. Nice.
The Behringer MS-5
And so to the focus of our attention today. The Behringer MS-5. A clone/copy/knock-off/inspired-by <delete as applicable> of the Roland SH-5. This 2x VCO, 2x VCF, 2x VCA, 2x LFO (I see a pattern emerging here) synth is one of Roland’s less popular and/or less common efforts.
Nevertheless, it has a fan base. Something Behringer clearly wants to tap into. There was quite a hub-bub when they first teased it so expect this one to sell as well as most of their efforts. Have they been faithful to the original or have they taken the opportunity to improve upon it?
What’s In The Box?
Well, that “two of everything” trait remains, and if you’re familiar with the SH-5 layout, you will feel very much at home with the Behringer MS-5. It is almost identical in every way. Unlike the original, the main panel can be angled in the same way as their Poly D or MonoPoly.
What does change is the degree of connectivity which is always a great boon. For MIDI, we have USB and traditional 5-pin DIN for IN, OUT and THRU. Keyboard CV & Gate ins and outs are present as you would expect. It’s also nice to see a Trigger input as well as an audio input.
A pair of balanced outs are present and a very healthy complement of expression inputs including one each for the VCO & VCA. There’s a discrete Auto-Tune button which is placed on the rear. The left sided panel gives you manual tuning control as well as portamento options and the Roland-esque bender.
In Conclusion
On the surface, it looks very much like a pretty faithful recreation of the SH-5 and only time will tell if it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with an original. At €598, Behringer continues to deliver a lot of synth for your money and it is very welcome to see this particular synth captured in such a way.
The Behringer MS-5 is available to order now and will commence shipping very soon.
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One response to “Behringer MS-5 – A Quirk From The Past Returns”
Looks good. A few years ago Roland released the System 1 plug-out synth that had the System 1 polyphonic ACB synth, and a choice of 4 old Roland monosynths as ACB plug-outs. It’s actually very good, so I suppose Behringer were a bit limited for something original to remake. Probably the right choice, it’ll sell, might take a bit of time, but it’ll sell well we think, a grower (if it sounds good)