Behringer is taking on a monument. The brand has announced the SP1200X, a clone of the E-mu SP-1200, the sampler and drum machine designed by Dave Rossum that marked late-1980s hip-hop. The stated goal: two hundred dollars and open-source firmware. The unit is still in development, but the first pictures already set the tone.
An open tribute to the SP-1200
The SP1200X keeps the original’s layout, with its eight sliders, its pads, its numeric keypad and its general arrangement. The big visible difference is the screen, now larger and in full colour, far from the minimal display of the era. Behringer makes no secret of the lineage: the aim is to put a machine that has become rare and expensive on the used market back within reach of the many.
The E-mu SP-1200 owes its legend to its grain. Its twelve-bit sampling and its rhythm engine gave producers a recognisable, gritty texture that many still chase today. Behringer promises to recapture that spirit, without yet detailing the sampling bit depth or the analog filter of its version: caution, then, on the sonic specs until the brand confirms them.
Generous connectivity
The rear panel is already well documented. It carries a stereo mix output, stereo inputs for sampling, phono sockets, eight individual outputs, a sync in and out, full five-pin DIN MIDI with IN, OUT and THRU, USB-C ports and the power socket. The eight separate outputs matter for anyone who wants to process each sound in a console or interface, a flexibility the original did not offer so widely.
The open-source bet is the other standout. By opening the firmware, Behringer lets the community extend the machine, add features and fix things, an approach already seen on its recent prototypes. The timing question remains: availability and final price are not set, with the brand talking of a release “soon”.
In the line of Behringer clones
The SP1200X fits a busy series of low-cost reissues. In recent weeks, the brand has shown the RD-765, which blends several Roland drum machines and a sampler, and the Kick, an MPC One clone also running open firmware. The SP1200X rounds out that push on classic sampling ground. To hear what grain and swing bring to a groove, our article on groove, swing and quantization covers the subject, and the recent move of Koala Sampler to a plugin shows today’s appetite for pocket sampling.
My take
A brand-new SP-1200 at two hundred dollars is an idea that could win over a whole generation of beatmakers who only ever knew the machine on video or in a plugin. The modern I/O and the eight separate outputs make it a credible studio tool, not just a nostalgic curiosity. The real decider will be the grain: the whole point of the SP-1200 is its texture, and that is where Behringer is expected to deliver. The open firmware is a smart promise, provided the community follows. Mostly, we are waiting on a date.
