“The Vintage VST has not been officially launched”: Behringer explains what happened to its missing free synth plugin

Behringer’s marketing strategy can be unconventional at times, so we were left bemused but not completely surprised when it appeared to launch a free synth plugin, Vintage, and then remove any trace of it from its website.

A week on, the company has offered an explanation for the ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ availability of the synth in a comment on our sister magazine Computer Music’s Facebook page. 

“The Vintage VST has not been officially launched and the Weblink for our testers has accidentally leaked,” says Behringer. “We’re in the process of finalising the plugin and launching it soon.”

It seems that some people managed to get hold of Vintage by signing up to receive it on the Behringer website, but the registration page was quickly removed. 

In another comment on MusicRadar’s Facebook page, meanwhile, Behringer has also confirmed that Vintage wasn’t created in collaboration with Tone2 Audiosoftware, which issued its own clarification on this last week.

After some commenters noted the similarities between Vintage and Tone2’s Saurus synth, the company said: “The look and feel of the recently released Behringer Vintage has caused confusion among our customers. Behringer Vintage is NOT a new version of Tone2 Saurus. Both products have a different synthesis architecture and sound different. We are not involved in the development of Behringer Vintage.”

In response to our reporting on this statement, Behringer says: “You are absolutely correct and this VST was designed by a famous designer who creates sound engines for many leading VST brands.”

The company hasn’t said which designer they’re referring to, but adds: “We’re very proud of this partnership and will introduce many more VSTs for free or a minimal fee to empower musicians that ‘have not and cannot’. We’re closely working with Playing For Change Foundation and encourage you to donate whatever you can. We will match any donation up to 1 million USD. Thank you so much.”

A new release date for Vintage hasn’t been confirmed.