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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Genre | Audio equipment |
| Founded | Germany (1989) |
| Founder | Uli Behringer |
| Headquarters | Monaco, Singapore |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Uli Behringer (Chairman), Michael Deeb (CEO), Stephen Fraser (COS), Nick Dekker (CFO) |
| Products | Audio and lighting equipment, musical instruments |
| Number of employees | 3500 |
| Website | www.behringer.com/ |
Behringer Holdings Ltd (Behringer) is an audio equipment company founded by Uli Behringer in 1989, in Willich, Germany. Today, Behringer is a multi-national group of companies, with its headquarters in Monaco, a direct marketing presence in 10 countries or territories and a sales network in over 130 countries around the world. The products are made in "Behringer City", a wholly-owned and vertically-integrated plant in China. Behringer was listed as the 14th largest manufacturer of music products in 2007.
History
1989–2001: Foundation and early development
Uli Behringer, company founder, was committed to music and technology from a very early age, and had constructed a synthesizer (the UB-1) by the age of 16.
While studying sound engineering and classical piano at the Robert Schumann conservatory in Duesseldorf, Behringer found the university had limited equipment for student use. In an effort to have his own recording studio, Behringer started to build his own products, as he could not afford commercially available equipment. His fellow students requested equipment from him too, and soon he was receiving more orders than he could handle himself, leading to the creation of Behringer Inc. In the early days, Behringer focused on studio audio processors such as noise reduction systems and compressors. The product line expanded from there and soon included guitar amps, PA amplifiers and loudspeakers, mixing boards, stompboxes, recording interfaces, microphones, digital pianos, guitars, lighting equipment, etc. The appeal of Behringer's products was the package of performance versus low price.
While Behringer products were manufactured in Willich, Germany, many of the individual components were imported from China. Manufacturing was relocated to China to further lower production costs. Uli Behringer’s first visits to China took place in 1989, and in 1990 he shifted production from Germany to China. Initially, subcontractors were engaged to produce the equipment. By 1997, Uli Behringer had relocated to Hong Kong in an effort to supervise manufacturing quality and to better understand Chinese culture.
Ear logo
Early in his musical education, Uli Behringer's piano teacher noted his sense of perfect pitch. Impressed, she nicknamed him "The Ear". This nickname would later serve as the inspiration for the Behringer Ear logo. The highlighted “ING” stands for "diploma engineer," or the German academic title "Dipl.-Ing," (Ingenieurwissenschaften) which he received upon his graduation from the Duesseldorf University.
CoolAudio acquisition
In May 2000, Behringer acquired the rights to the entire CoolAudio technology from Intersil Corporation, a US-based semi-conductor manufacturer. CoolAudio is a high-power Class-D digital amplification technology with power ratings up to 4,000 Watts and efficiencies up to 90% which has been rated high audio quality. The acquisition included an extensive intellectual property portfolio and licensees such as Alpine and Rowe, among others.
2002–2007: Behringer City
In 2002, Behringer completed its own factory, Behringer City, in Zhongshan of China's Guangdong province after it consolidated more than ten separate production locations into one vertically integrated plant. Comprising eight buildings that produces electronics, speakers, guitars and digital pianos and also hosts an onsite health clinic. This strategy was different than that taken by other musical instrument companies who used third party manufacturers. Choosing to run a self-contained plant allowed Behringer a greater level of quality control. The 1.2 million square-foot manufacturing complex in Zhongshan ships more than 2.5 million Behringer products per year to markets around the globe. The plant turns out over 50,000 mixers per month with a failure rate that is less than 0.1%. There is a waiting list of those wishing to be employed at Behringer City.
Present direction
"Double the features, half the price," served as Behringer's mantra for many years, but Behringer is now distancing itself from this approach. Current manufacturing priorities focus on ease of user interface and build quality. Today, Behringer has business presence in 10 countries and territories around the world. With these points of presence and an international network of distributors and dealers, Behringer products are sold in more than 130 countries.
Behringer University
Inspired by lean manufacturing, and driven by the Kaizen philosophy of continual improvement, Behringer makes efforts to help its employees to improve. "Behringer University" supplies employees with training resources and E-learning courses to hone their career skills within the company. This project includes classes for management, career planning, health, language, and general knowledge.
Products
Behringer’s product line has over 450 products including:
- mixing consoles
- loudspeakers and studio monitors
- public address systems
- power amplifiers
- microphones
- preamplifiers and effects processors for live sound and studio applications
- DJ mixers and tools
- computer recording tools and accessories
- effects pedals and processors for musical instruments
- musical instrument amplifiers
- musical instruments such as guitars and digital pianos
- podcasting systems
- studio and DJ headphones
- event lighting systems
Awards and patents
Awards
In 2008, Uli Behringer was one of 60 finalists in “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst & Young of Germany.
Behringer products have received industry recognition as well. Products to receive industry recognition include:
- DSP110 Shark – Keyboard Magazine, "Key Buy" Award, 2001
- Mixers – Acoustic Guitar Magazine, "Player’s Award," 2002
- DDX3216 Digital Mixer – Nominee for Mix Foundation’s 18th annual TEC Awards in 2003
- BX1200 Bass Amp – Thomann customer's "Gear of the Year" Award, 2003
- B412DSP loudspeaker – Nominated for The Music & Sound Retailer "Best Speaker of 2008"
- BCD2000 – First Place Winner, "DJMAG.Com" Tech Awards, 2006
- BUGERA 6260 Amp and 412H-BK 4x12 Cabinet – Guitar World, "Gold Award for Quality and Design," 2008
- iAxe 624 and 629 Guitars - Amazona.de, "Hervorragend (Excellent)," 2009
Patent list
- U.S. patent 6,118,336 Start-up circuit for self oscillating Class D modulator, Inventor: Stuart W. Pullen et al
- S U.S. patent D444,493 S Electronic instrument package, Inventor: Uli Behringer
- S U.S. patent D444,169 S Multi-effects signal processor, Inventor: Uli Behringer
- U.S. patent 6,172,541 Driver circuit having load-independent slew rate, William R. Young et al
- B1 U.S. patent 6,229,389 B1 Class D modulator with peak current limit and load impedance sensing circuits, Inventor: Stuart W. Pullen et al
- U.S. patent 6,232,833 Low noise low distortion Class D amplifier, Inventor: Stuart W. Pullen
- U.S. patent 6,249,182 Class D amplifier with bandwidth independent of load impedance, Inventor: Stuart W. Pullen
- U.S. patent 6,297,693 Techniques for synchronizing a self oscillating variable frequency modulator to an external clock, Inventor: Stuart W. Pullen
- U.S. patent 6,304,137 Output stage for high power Class D amplifiers, Inventor: Stuart W. Pullen et al
- B2 U.S. patent 7,155,020 B2 Audio circuitry for dynamics reduction, Inventor: Uli Behringer et al
- U.S. patent 5,767,740 Switching amplifier closed loop dual comparator modulation technique, Inventor: John K. Fogg
- U.S. patent 5,805,020 Silent start Class D amplifier, Inventor: George Edward Danz et al
- German Patent DE197 22 702 A1 Digital signal processing circuit, Inventor: Uli Behringer
- German Patent DE100 15 833 Low frequency circuit for dynamic delimitation, Inventor: Uli Behringer and Jan Duwe
- German Patent DE196 31 892 Vacuum tube amplifier audio signal generation circuit, Inventor: Uli Behringer
- German Patent DE102 24 492 Audio multi-channel equalizer, Inventor: Thomas Zint
- Chinese Patent CN ZL 02 1 31484.5 Audio multi-channel equalizer, Inventor: Thomas Zint
- Chinese Patent CN ZL 02 1 42473.X Apparatus for detecting the number of beats, Inventor: Joerg K. Weissflog
- Taiwan Patent TW110905 (CA) Silent start Class D amplifier, Inventors: George E. Danz, Larry A. King and John K. Fogg
- German Patent DE3904425A1 Procedure and device for the sound preparation, Inventor: Uli Behringer
Notable users
FCC dispute
In February 2006, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Behringer $1M, issuing a Notice of Apparent Liability against Behringer, claiming that 50 of the company's products had not been tested for conducted and radiated emissions limits as required by US law, and noting that Behringer continued to sell the products for a year after being notified. Behringer had believed that since the units had passed stringent European CE standards, they would also comply with FCC verification requirements. According to Behringer, it had overlooked the differences in testing standards and procedures under FCC and European requirements and has since implemented a complete UL certified safety and EMC testing laboratory under the UL certified witness program, including an in-house audit and global regulatory review system.
Trademark claims
In June 1997, Mackie accused Behringer of trademark and trade dress infringement, and brought suit seeking $327M in damages. In their suit, Mackie said that Behringer had a history of copying products by other manufacturers and selling them as their own. The Mackie suit detailed an instance in which Behringer was sued by Aphex Systems for copying the Aural Exciter Type F—in that case Aphex Systems won 690,000 Deutsche Marks. The Mackie suit also mentioned similar cases filed by BBE, dbx and Drawmer. On November 30, 1999, the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington, dismissed Mackie claims that Behringer had infringed on Mackie copyrights with its MX 8000 mixer, noting that circuit board layout was not covered by U.S. copyright laws.
In 2005, Roland Corporation sued to enforce Roland's trade dress, trademark, and other intellectual property rights with regard to Behringer's recently released guitar pedals. The two companies came to a confidential settlement in 2006 after Behringer changed their designs.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.behringer.com/EN/Our-Story/The-BEHRINGER-Story.aspx
- Music Trades, December 2008
- http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/
- ^ http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/197492837.html
- Music Trades, Jan 2004
- ^ Music Trades, Nov 2008
- Music Trades, December 1, 1992
- http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BEHRINGER+ACQUIRES+COOLAUDIO.-a062703215
- http://www.behringer.com/EN/Our-Story/BEHRINGER-City.aspx
- AudioTechnology Magazine, April 2009
- http://www.behringer.com/EN/Learn-More/BEHRINGER/BEHRINGER-Company-Profile.aspx
- http://www.ey.com/global/Content.nsf/Germany_EoY/Sieger_und_Finalisten_-_Die_Finalisten
- Keyboard Magazine, Feb. 2001
- http://www.acguitar.com/pca/BrowseWinners.aspx
- http://mixfoundation.org/tec/2002.html
- http://www.behringerdownload.de/News/Press-Releases/2003_06_01_archive.html
- http://www.msretailer.com/html/2008/12/coverA1.htm
- http://createdigitalmotion.com/2006/10/22/resolume-and-behringer-bcd2000-winners-in-djmags-tech-awards-2006/
- http://www.guitarworld.com/article/bugera_6260_head_amp_412hbk_4x12_cabinet
- http://www.amazona.de/index.php?page=26&file=2&article_id=2520&page_num=4
- http://www.behringer.com/EN/Power-Users/Alice-Cooper.aspx
- http://www.behringer.com/EN/Power-Users/Buster-Williams.aspx
- http://www.behringer.com/EN/Power-Users/Ann-Peebles.aspx
- http://www.behringer.com/EN/Power-Users/Peter-Wolf.aspx
- http://www.behringer.com/EN/Power-Users/DJ-Lucca.aspx
- http://www.robtognoni.com/
- ^ Gearwire.com. June 14, 2007. "Behringer Fined One Million Dollars By FCC." Retrieved on October 4, 2009.
- Radio Currents Online, February 20–26, 2006
- http://www.behringer.com/_fcc/Behringer_FCC_Testing_Program.pdf
- http://www.musiciansnews.com/be/behringer/behringer_resolved_fcc_compliance_issues_before_recent_rulin.shtml
- Loud Technologies Inc. LTec Quarterly Report (10-Q) Item 1. Legal Proceedings
- Mackie Designs Inc. files lawsuit to stop "knockoff" products; Company seeks damages of $327 million | Business Wire | Find Articles at Bnet.com
- ^ Verna, Paul. Billboard, July 5, 1997. "Mackie Sues Over Knockoffs: Behringer, Sam Ash Are Defendants." Retrieved on October 27, 2009.
- Mackie/Behringer lawsuit. | Music Trades | Find Articles at Bnet.com
- Music Trades, February 1999. Archived at Entrepreneur.com as "Mackie/Behringer Lawsuit." Retrieved on September 8, 2009.
- http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-45960_32_0.html
- http://mixonline.com/news/headline/behringer-roland-lawsuit-041006/
External links
- Company website
- Behringer factory tour pt1
- Behringer factory tour pt2
- FCC Notice of Apparent Liability against Behringer, February 2006