Behringer’s Polyeight synth goes beyond the Korg Polysix with two more voices, but loses an octave of keys

Behringer is well known for its attempts to create faithful recreations of classic hardware synths, but with the Polyeight, it’s going beyond its inspiration - the Korg Polysix - to create an instrument that it says is more than just a “pure clone”.

As its name suggests, the Polyeight trumps the PolySix’s six-voice analogue architecture by offering an additional two voices. However, Behringer’s prototype photo indicates that its new synth loses something in comparison to the PolySix as well: it has a 4-octave keyboard rather than a 5-octave one. Swings and roundabouts, then.

As you’d expect, the Polyeight will have modern niceties such as MIDI and USB connectivity, as well as what Behringer is calling a “much improved” user interface.

As usual with Behringer, there’s no price or release date, but the company is saying that, because the firmware is based on its new ARM platform, development time will be speeded up and the synth should come to market sooner.

If you're looking for a pure Polysix emulation you can use right now, check out Korg's iPolysix for iPad or the Mac/PC plugin version that comes as part of the Korg Collection 2 bundle.