Behringer's Pro VS Mini synth – based on the 1986 Sequential Circuits Prophet VS – was announced well over a year ago and we've even heard the diminutive desktop module in action. Now we've finally got another couple of video demos – and a pretty good ones at that – but there are still mixed reports as to whether you can actually buy it.
It's been well over a year since we reported on Behringer's Pro VS Mini synth – a tiny desktop unit with a similar sound engine to the 1986 Sequential Circuits Prophet VS. At the time, chip shortages were warned of, so we expected a delay, but a sound demo gave us all the proof we needed that the new synth actually existed.
The Pro VS Mini was announced as a 4-voice hybrid vector instrument with 127 wavetables, 32 presets, a sequencer, an arpeggiator, a touch-style keyboard and a cool but small display with an oscilloscope. A Eurorack version of the synth was also teased. As ever with Behringer, the retail price was the most astonishing detail – just $99 was reported at the time.
The lack of chips worldwide obviously had an impact – as it did with a lot of other music gear – and we haven't heard a peep out of Behringer on the Pro VS Mini until earlier today when a new sound demo emerged.
Opening with a Hans Zimmer style riser, the demo takes in an inevitable Jump lead before taking on other assorted basses, leads and arpeggiations. Here t'is.
There's been a frenzied response to the video with one commenter saying, "I’ll be purchasing all the synths in this range" – let's just hope they have a house big enough. This has been further fuelled by the fact that Behringer has actually created a product page on its website for the Pro VS Mini which also features another, pretty well-hidden demo video.
This one gives us more details of the new synth and a bit of history on the original Sequential Circuits Prophet VS, once dubbed 'the Hollywood synth', such was its wide use on film scores of the time.
However, clicking through to actually buy the synth didn't yield any results for us at either Amazon or Thomann, although we're sure that the synth must be imminent as that's a lot of trouble to go to to announce something that's, er, not.
The best news is that while there have been a few cosmetic updates to the front panel since we first reported on it, the price remains the same at $99, so we'll be first in line for when it actually does become available.
