Behringer KICK: Can I Kick it? Yes You Can!
A Sampler Groovebox for Only $150?
3,0 / 5,0 | 
The Behringer KICK is an upcoming sampler groovebox with some surprising functionality like an AI camera. It will also be open-source and the code is already online. It sure looks familiar though…
Behringer KICK
Unless you’ve been vacationing off grid, you’re sure to have seen this open-source trend playing out. First, M-VAVE struck gold with the FM-1, with customers working up their own firmwares and custom synth engines for it. Rather than try to shut down the vibe-coding frenzy, M-VAVE has leaned into it, officially releasing an SDK and letting people run wild with the code. I mean, it makes good business sense. If someone bricks it, they’ll just have to buy it again, right? At last, synths are now disposable too.
Other companies have taken notice, with AKAI announcing not one but two community firmware-friendly products: the new Sample Key and an update to the existing MPC Sample. Erica Synths has also made its LXR-02 drum machine hackable.
Now, Behringer has jumped into the fray as well with the KICK, a “Professional Standalone Music Production Center” with a target price of $150. And open-source code.
Behringer KICK: Can You Kick it?
In a post on Facebook, Behringer announced the KICK with a story about Uli getting kicked out (hence the name?) of a music store because he couldn’t afford anything. Sounds like me getting side eye from the tired clerk at the Fashion Island RadioShack after I wouldn’t leave the Armatron alone. Anyway, Uli’s experience reportedly inspired him to start a company to democratize music technology, and the KICK is the latest iteration of that, with open-source code taking it “to another level.”
Says the post: “We’re opening up our hardware and software so anyone can create, modify and reinvent what an instrument can do. With AI, even people without programming experience can turn their ideas into new features and firmware. We build the hardware. YOU create the possibilities.”
Behringer KICK: Yes You Can
According to the GitHub page (yes, the code is already publicly available), KICK is a sampler with sample editing. It will run the Music Tribe JAM DAW, a new piece of software of which little is currently known but will likely be the KICK’s OS. Other functionality will include a step sequencer and looper, and over 300-built-in effects.
On the hardware side, the KICK is projected to offer a 7-inch touchscreen, a touch strip, 16 RGB pads with eight banks, four assignable knobs and a jog wheel. And then there’s the AI camera “for gesture control.” Hopefully there’s no one on the other end of that camera watching…
In terms of connectivity, it will feature five-pin DIN MIDI in and out, four CV/Gate jacks, stereo in and out, a headphone out, SD card slot, and USB-C and A.
Behringer KICK: Go on Then
If the KICK looks familiar to you, that’s because Behringer originally announced a very similar-looking product back in 2020 called Jam, a name that eventually went to its recent MIDI controller series.
And, of course, it also resembles the AKAI MPC One. It’s hard not to see AKAI’s recent announcements about going open source as a response to this.
Behringer KICK: Price and Availability
The Behringer KICK will no doubt sell bucketloads, especially with its target price of $150. How the whole open-source thing will work, though, remains to be seen. This is all very Wild Wild West. Hopefully your new KICK won’t turn into a BRICK.
“Imagine millions of creators innovating together instead of a handful of engineers behind closed doors,” says the Facebook post.
The music technology industry has suddenly gotten very interesting.
There’s no information about when KICK will be released. Of course, we’ll let you know as soon as we hear something.
The AKAI MPC One G2 is currently available from our affiliate partners Thomann* and Sweetwater*.
More Information
- Behringer KICK GitHub page
- More about Behringer
- More about synthesizers
- Buy synthesizers at Thomann*
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