Behringer has finally shown the SP1200X, its long-rumored tribute to the E-mu SP-1200, the 12-bit sampling drum machine designed by Dave Rossum that shaped the sound of late-1980s and '90s hip-hop. In a social media post on October 29, the company said it is "still developing" the unit, is aiming for a price of just $200, and plans to make it open source.
What we know so far
Behringer hasn't published a spec sheet or product page yet, but the photos show a machine that follows the original's layout closely while modernizing it:
- Eight faders and eight pads arranged like the SP-1200, plus a numeric keypad and transport buttons.
- A larger full-color display in place of the original's tiny screen.
- Stereo inputs for sampling and a stereo mix output.
- Eight individual outputs, sync in and out, and full 5-pin MIDI In, Out, and Thru.
- USB-C, for both a computer connection and USB host.
Open-source firmware
The headline detail is the firmware. Behringer says the SP1200X will be open source, following the same approach as its recently announced KICK groovebox and IGNITE sequencer. No code repository, license, or release date has been published yet, so it's not clear how much will work out of the box and how much the company expects the community to build.
Price and availability
Behringer is targeting $200. Availability and final pricing are TBA; the company says only that it is "pushing hard" to ship soon. The project has been in the works since 2019, and Behringer first asked users for feature requests in early 2025.
Why it matters
Original SP-1200s are rare and expensive on the used market, and modern recreations like the Rossum SP-1200 reissue and Isla Instruments S2400 cost far more than $200. The big question is sound: much of the SP-1200's character comes from its gritty 12-bit, 26.04 kHz sampling and its filters, and it remains to be seen how faithfully Behringer captures that at this price. Open firmware could also make the SP1200X a flexible sampler platform rather than a fixed clone.
Image in this article is from Behringer.
