Just yesterday, we reported that Behringer had issued a spirited response to critics that accused the brand of focusing its efforts on making "vaporware", due to its strategy of regularly teasing music-makers with products in the development stage that are years away from release.
In that statement, Behringer claimed that it was on track to "launch another 6 to 8 groundbreaking products before the end of the year". The company clearly meant business, as today it's announced the official release of Wave, a synthesizer based on the classic PPG Wave, an '80s instrument beloved by artists such as Depeche Mode and David Bowie.
Wave was first announced all the way back in 2020, but the brand seems to have ditched the original name of BBG Wave in favour of an only slightly less barefaced ripoff, Behringer Wave. Side note: Wave is not to be confused with Waves, a Eurorack module released by Behringer just a few weeks ago.
Wave is - you guessed it - a wavetable synthesizer that shares many similarities with the PPG Wave 2.2 and 2.3, while adding some modern bells and whistles. It's an 8-voice synth equipped with 16 digital oscillators, each of which can draw from a selection of 30 factory wavetables, themselves containing 64 waveforms, alongside 64 slots for importing your own via Behringer's SynthTribe app.
Wave is a multitimbral instrument, allowing up to eight different sounds to be layered or split across the keyboard. It's also capable of both 8-bit and 12-bit wavetable synthesis, so you can recreate the vintage charm of the OG Wave if you so wish. Wave's oscillators run through a 24db low-pass analogue filter, and can be sequenced using a polyphonic sequencer and multimode arpeggiator. A single LFO is joined by two ADSR envelopes - one more than the original PPG Wave.
As for the hardware, Wave features 49-key, velocity-sensitive keyboard equipped with velocity aftertouch. Though the synth is smaller, its front panel looks remarkably similar to its bright blue forebear, right down to the font and keypad-style buttons on the right-hand side.
Wave is well-equipped in the I/O department, with USB, CV/gate, sync and MIDI in, out and thru joined by a stereo main output, headphone output and eight mono outputs (one for each voice). Expression and sustain pedal inputs are also on board.
Behringer Wave is priced at $599, and the company says it's shipping now.
Find out more on Behringer's website or watch a demo video below.
