Superbooth 2019: Behringer’s Oberheim OB-Xa synth clone is taking shape and making sounds

Superbooth 2019: While the rest of the synth world arrives in Berlin with products that have actual prices and release dates, Behringer continues to tease us with instruments that are either in development, or being considered for development.

In the past week alone the company has suggested that it would consider producing a Yamaha CS-80 clone, produced a mock-up of it, and floated the idea of a Solina String Ensemble revival.  

Now, though, all eyes and ears are back on the UB-Xa, the emulation of the Oberheim OB-Xa synth that’s been on the cards for a while.

The good news is that, this time, we can see an actual synth and hear it making a sound, but we’re told that the instrument is still in the very early stages of development.

The video was shot at Music Tribe’s Manchester facility and features one of the engineers playing just a few notes. These sound reassuringly authentic but, obviously, we’ll reserve judgement until the UB-Xa is finished and on our test bench. And let’s hope that, this time, Behringer makes sure that MIDI is working before the synth goes into production...