If you thought that Behringer’s forthcoming Pro VS was cheap, wait until you get a load of the JP-4000, a $49 hardware synth that pretty much everyone can afford.
Apparently, it’s always been company founder Uli Behringer’s dream to create a synth that’s cheap enough for kids to get their hands on so that they can start making music, and this is that synth.
The JP-4000 is a 4-voice hybrid paraphonic instrument with two analogue modelling oscillators per voice, a 2-operator FM engine, an analogue filter, two LFOs, an arpeggiator and an OLED display.
Of course, that name calls to mind Roland’s JP-8000 - an 8-voice analogue modelling synth that was released in 1996 - and the JP-4000 promises to recreate the sound engine from that instrument, complete with the famous Supersaw waveform.
You can power the JP-4000 from your phone or another USB source, and 16 touch-sensitive keys enable it to be played without a controller. That said, you can easily hook up a MIDI keyboard should you so wish.
$49 is just a target price at the moment - the JP-4000 won’t be shipping until June - but we’ve got no reason to suspect that Behringer won’t hit it.
