After all the teasing, and the early speculation that it had yet another synth clone on the way, Behringer has gone in a different direction with its latest release and announced that Wing, as the product is known, is a digital mixing console
Said to have been been 30 years in the making - the same length of time that Behringer has been operating - this slim, futuristic-looking console offers eight Midas Pro mic preamps and eight Midas pro outputs. There are 24 motorised 100mm faders that are divided into three separate and configurable sections, as well as ‘plug and play’ remote I/O connectivity for up to 144 input and output signals over three AES50 ports.
You’ll also notice the large capacitive touchscreen display, while further control comes via the touch-sensitive channel editing section that offers 11 rotaries and dedicated colour TFT. You can add an optional module that adds 64 x 64 channels of audio over Ethernet, with support for Waves’ SoundGrid or Dante/AES67 technology.
Wing can operate as a 48 x 48 USB 2.0 audio interface and a DAW remote controller with support for HUI emulation and the Mackie Control standard. You can use it as a live recorder, too - there’s space for two SD cards and you can capture up to 64 tracks, with markers for identifying song positions.
Other features include an additional four-channel control section, a Premium FX rack that offers eight true-stereo processors and includes TC algorithms and Lexicon, Quantec and EMT emulations, and a standard FX rack that contains a further eight true stereo processors that take care of workhorse effects. You can blend outboard effects into the mix, too.
You also have five variable plug-in processing slots for all 40 stereo input channels, as well as an insert FX slot and 4-band parametric EQ for all eight stereo aux channels. A further custom control section features more buttons and rotaries, and you get four main, eight matrix and 16 aux stereo buses that feature dual inserts, 8-parametric EQs, stereo imager and full dynamics processing.
Throw in some expansion slots and a StageCONNECT 32-channel low-latency interface and you’ve got a pretty ambitious product. Behringer says that Wing will go into production in December, but there’s no confirmed price, and nor is there any mention of it on the Behringer website.
