Behringer, after what you might call a brief hiatus in releases from the brand, has shared the first prototype of its JT-16 synth, which bears a striking resemblance to the Roland Jupiter-8.

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In a post on social media last week, the German brand revealed a new early version of the JT-16, a polyphonic 16-voice synth. According to Behringer, the synth is in its “early stages” as they look to focus on “debugging and implementing the necessary software”.

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“After many years,” Behringer wrote on Thursday, “we have finally created the first prototype of our upcoming JT-16, a 16-voice polyphonic synth.

“Our product engineer, Gilles, who is also a synth enthusiast, couldn’t stop playing with it, but we managed to pry it away from him for a moment to capture it on camera.

“Currently, the synth is in its very early stages, and we are now focusing on debugging and implementing the necessary software. We kindly ask for your patience, but we assure you that this beauty will come to fruition.”

Although not specifically referred to as a replica, the synth does bear many resemblances of the legendary Roland Jupiter-8 synth, which was released in 1981 and can cost upwards of $25,000.

Side by side, the JT-16 and the Jupiter-8 share all the same features in the same layout: There are features dual oscillators per voice, the filter section includes high-pass, low-pass, and band-pass options, there are multiple LFOs and envelopes, and loads of modulation options. It also includes a programmable arpeggiator and sequencer with very Roland-esque buttons.

It’s not the only Roland replica to be shared by Behringer recently. On Sunday, it shared another photo to Facebook, this time of the Behringer RD-78, a clear clone of Roland’s 1978-launched RC-78.

With 14 tones and 10 knobs for control, the RD-78 looks to offer authentic sound shaping, accent, balance, tempo adjustments, and track selection. It also replicates the fade in/out function, offers variation options, and includes a complete sequencer with pattern memory.

Read more about more Behringer products in the works.

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