Behringer MS-5 goes into beta testing and after that into production

SYNTH ANATOMY uses affiliation & partner programs (big red buttons) to finance a part of the activity. If you use these, you support the website. Thanks! 

Behringer has today released a teaser of its upcoming MS-5, a clone of the vintage Roland SH-5 monophonic analog Synthesizer from 1976.

Almost exactly a year ago, we got the last major update to the new MS-5, Behringer’s analog clone/replica of the legendary Roland SH-5. Since then, the social media department has been quiet.

Behringer released an update today. According to them, the MS-5 is finished in development. The devices will soon go to beta testers (people who have a Roland SH-5). Straight after this test period, it goes into production, says Behringer. They also published new pictures of it.

Behringer MS-5 beta

MS-5 is coming. We’re super excited having finalized another blast from the past. This beautiful synth is now going to the beta testers for final review and then straight into manufacturing. What do you think?

Behringer MS-5 beta

Looks pretty. I’m looking forward to the first sound demos.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Article From March 10th, 2022

A Behringer announcement/teaser on the button keeps the doctor away, or how should you call this therapy? There is a little news. In a post today, Behringer showed the current development progress of their Roland SH-5 clone/replica, the MS-5.

In July 2021 there were the first photos with woodwork. In the meantime it has gotten a much better keyboard look.

Behringer MS-5 new photos

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Article July 18th, 2021

In recent years, Behringer has released many new, affordable synthesizers and drum machines. Some new designs (Neutron…) and many vintage synth clones. If you look at the previous releases, a large part comes from Roland’s history. Among others are the TR-808, TR-909, TR-606, TB-303, SH-101, VP-330 vocoder, or the Roland 100 series as Eurorack modules.

According to the latest Behringer Facebook post, another Roland clone is in the works. More precisely, a clone of the Roland SH-5 from 1976.

Behringer MS-5

Roland SH-5

If Behringer takes over all the features of the original Roland SH-5, then it will feature two analog VCOs (triangle, ramp, square, and pulse), SH-type mixer with ring mod & external signal levels, two filters, two envelopes (AR/ADSR), two VCA’s, white & noise generators…

Highlights for me on the original SH-5 were the versatile signal path but also the unique sounding ring modulator. You can route each of the 5 signals through the VCA, the multi-mode filter, the band-filter, or both. A significantly higher sound complexity could be achieved through it. Another big plus was the stereo output with a panning option in the VCA section and portamento.  The sound was lovely brutal, fat, and rough.

Behringer MS-5

If Behringer manages to get the sound of this classic so precisely, you can look forward to it very much. The two photos of the prototype show the well-known workflow of the SH-5. But one thing is immediately noticeable, Behringer once again uses the same keyboard format as for Poly D or MonoPoly. But there is a reason for this.

As extra info: a FB user asked if they could use a different keyboard design. Behringer answers that they always want to offer the synth as affordable as possible, and so use a platform for them. Which one can also totally understand. I named it cost-effective development and production.

Like all Behringer vintage analog clones, the MS-5 will not have memory for patches. Here they want to be close to the original concept.

Behringer MS-5

Roland SH-5 Hands-On Demo

Behringer did a lot of right things with his vintage analog clones. The 2600 and Pro-1 are my favorites so far but I think they can revive this one very well too. Looking forward to the first sound demos and full details.

According to Behringer, the MS-5 is a prototype. So stay tuned for more information in the future.

More information here: Behringer 

Hardware Synthesizer News

13 Comments

  1. I can’t see any patch points at all. Looking closely, I can see a few rubber caps, presumably allowing access to trimmers as on the original.

    • Ah, these are rubber caps. They look like patch points, sorry rectified it. Thanks for the input.

  2. I fully understand Behringer – producing similar synthesizers (in more or less the same housing = 3 octave keyboard, a small controller panel on its left side, a well-organized main panel which can be folded up …) is much cheaper than developing individual cases close to the different originals. Mass production of the 3-octave keyboard including the wooden housing seem to be essential part of Uli’s concept ‘Production of affordable synthesizers’ – why not?
    Nevertheless a very beautiful machine … this ‘MiniMoog’-like basic design is timeless!
    But we already in the models PolyD and MonoPoly that the front panel will NOT have patch points – all of them are located on the rear side of the panel, so on its top side if the panel is in a higher position.

  3. flip-top case is a great design. I put foot pedals (H9’s) in the space behind the flip-top. great storage space too for cables too!

  4. I wonder why the little keyboard controller part is the “correct” color and the front panel is a SH 101 type of gray? Assuming the new pics are near-production models. They should go with the color that matches the original. I always liked the SH-5’s greenish gray color and the knobs with silver skirts.

  5. I sold my old SH5 years ago after breaking down all the time. The costs keeping it alive kept going up. I guess Behringer will make one,which will not breakdown (or at least will be working for 10 years). Looking forward!

  6. Looks great. I agree that the original color scheme would look nice, but it’s not really important. The sound is.

    • lol. i am psyched for Kobol. I hope they can do the expander and the polykobol too. I would get all three.

  7. AnalogFX SER-2020 Formant Synthesizer is available and is more modulable and sounds very good if you need a “similar” Synthesizer.

Comments are closed.