1989 founder uli behringer 1 area served worldwide key people uli behringer founder and ceo 2 products audio and lighting equipment musical instruments number of employees 3500 website www.behringer.com behringer is an audio equipment company founded by uli behringer in 1989 in willich germany . behringer was listed as the 14th largest manufacturer of music products in 2007 . 3 behringer is a multinational group of companies with direct marketing presence in 10 countries or territories and a sales network in over 130 countries around the world . though originally a german manufacturer the company now makes its products in china . the company is owned by music group a holding company chaired by uli behringer which also owns other audio companies such as midas klark teknik and bugera 4 as well as electronic manufacturing services company eurotec . in june 2012 music group also acquired turbosound company which designs and manufactures professional loudspeaker systems and was formerly owned by harman . 5 6 contents 1 history 1.1 1989 2001 foundation and early development 1.2 ear logo 1.3 coolaudio acquisition 1.4 2002 2007 behringer city 1.5 behringer university 2 awards 3 developments 3.1 fcc dispute 3.2 legal cases 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit 1989 2001 foundation and early development edit uli behringer the company s 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 . 1 the ub 1 synthesizer while studying sound engineering and classical piano at the robert schumann conservatory in d sseldorf behringer found the university had limited equipment for student use so he started to build his own products . 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. 1 in the early days behringer focused on studio audio processors such as noise reduction systems and compressors 1 but the product line 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 and low price . 7 while behringer products were manufactured in willich germany many of the individual components were imported from mainland china . in 1990 to lower production costs behringer shifted production from west germany to mainland 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 . 8 9 ear logo edit former behringer logo . according to uli behringer his piano teacher impressed with his sense of perfect pitch nicknamed him the ear the inspiration for the behringer ear logo . the highlighted ing stands for diploma engineer or the german academic title dipl . ing which he received upon his graduation from the fachhochschule d sseldorf . 10 11 the logo was updated to the current logo on september 2010 . 12 coolaudio acquisition edit 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 amplification technology with power ratings up to 4 000 watts and efficiencies up to 90 % which has been rated as high audio quality . the acquisition included an extensive intellectual property portfolio and licensees such as alpine and rowe among others . 13 2002 2007 behringer city edit 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 . 7 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 . 7 the 1 200 000 square foot 110 000 m2 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 % . 7 behringer university edit inspired by lean manufacturing and driven by the kaizen philosophy of continual improvement 9 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 . 1 9 awards edit in 2008 uli behringer was one of 60 finalists in entrepreneur of the year by ernst & young of germany . 14 in 2016 uli behringer received the award global audio industry leader in recognition of his visionary leadership in creating and strengthening the international music 15 behringer products have received industry recognition as well . products to receive industry recognition include 2001 keyboard magazine key buy award dsp110 shark 14 2002 acoustic guitar magazine player s award mixers 17 2003 nominee for mix foundation s 18th annual tec awards ddx3216 digital mixer 18 2003 thomann customer s gear of the year award bx1200 bass amp 19 2006 first place winner djmag.com tech awards bcd2000 20 2008 guitar world gold award for quality and design bugera 6260 amp and 412h bk 4x12 cabinet 21 2013 musikmesse international press awards mipa best mixing desk live x32 22 2013 mipa award musikmesse international press award category mixing desk live 2013 wfx award category best digital mixing console at worship facilities conference and expo 2013 pro sound web and live sound international readers choice award namm 2013 2013 namm tec award nominee small format console behringer x32 2014 german magazine tastenwelt best mixing console x32 23 2014 namm german magazine soundcheck reader s choice award x32 core 23 2014 pro sound web and live sound international x32 compact best small format console and mixer 2014 namm sound on sound award best live sound product 2014 tastenwalt german mag readers choice best mixing console at musikmesse 2014 soundcheck x32 core readers choice best in mixer category at musikmesse 2014 namm tec award nominee small format mixer behringer x32 compact 2015 namm sound on sound award best live sound product category 2016 namm sound on sound award best audio mixer category developments edit fcc dispute edit the certified emc testing facility in behringer city a behringer audio mixer in february 2006 the us federal communications commission fcc fined behringer 1m 15 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 16 and noting that behringer continued to sell the products for a year after being notified . 15 behringer had believed that since the units had passed stringent european ce standards they would also comply with fcc verification requirements . 15 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 . 17 legal cases edit in june 1997 mackie accused behringer of trademark and trade dress infringement and brought suit seeking 327m in damages 14 18 but such claims were later rejected by the court . in their suit mackie said that behringer had a history of copying products by other manufacturers and selling them as their own . 19 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 mark . 19 the mackie suit also mentioned similar cases filed by bbe dbx and drawmer . 19 on 30 november 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 schematics are not covered by copyright laws . 20 21 22 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 . 23 the two companies came to a confidential settlement in 2006 after behringer changed their designs . 24 in 2009 peavey electronics corp. filed two lawsuits against various companies under behringer music group umbrella for patent infringement federal and common law trademark infringement false designation of origin trademark dilution and unfair competition . 25 in 2011 the music group filed a lawsuit against peavey for false advertising false patent marking and unfair competition . 26 see also edit list of microphone manufacturers references edit a b c d e the behringer story . behringer . retrieved 29 december 2009 . behringer movers and shakers . behringer.com . retrieved 3 october 2010 . the music trades december 2008 prown pete february 2012 . hail able the bugera 212v bk . vintage guitar . music group http www.music group.com . music group.com . retrieved 20 september 2010 . external link in title help behringer s music group acquires midas and klark teknik . pro music news.com . retrieved 20 september 2010 . a b c d behringer turns 20 aggressive music & audio manufacturer marks two decades of growth with a vertically integrated manufacturing . the music trades . april 2009 . retrieved 29 december 2009 . music trades jan 2004 a b c the music trades nov 2008 a musicians life mr. behringer . amazona.de . retrieved 23 october 2015 . the music trades 1 december 1992 sherry lipp 24 september 2010 . new logo new style . behringer.com . archived from the original on 8 october 2010 . retrieved 5 october 2010 . behringer acquires coolaudio press release . behringer . 1 may 200 . retrieved 29 december 2009 . check date values in date help a b loud technologies inc. ltec quarterly report 10 q item 1 . legal proceedings a b c gearwire.com . 14 june 2007 . behringer fined one million dollars by fcc . retrieved on 4 october 2009 . radio currents online 20 26 february 2006 behringer resolved fcc compliance issues before recent ruling . musiciansnews.com . retrieved 29 december 2009 . mackie designs inc. files lawsuit to stop knockoff products ; company seeks damages of 327 million business wire find articles at bnet.com a b c verna paul . billboard 5 july 1997 . mackie sues over knockoffs behringer sam ash are defendants . retrieved 27 october 2009 . mackie behringer lawsuit . the music trades find articles at bnet.com dead link the music trades february 1999 . archived at entrepreneur.com as mackie behringer lawsuit . dead link retrieved on 8 september 2009 . mackie designs inc v. behringer specialised studio equipment uk ltd ulrich bernhard behringer & behringer spezielle studiotechnik gmbh 1999 ewhc ch 252 22nd february 1999 . bailii.org . 23 april 1999 . retrieved 2011 12 30 . anonymous 8 march 2005 . roland sues behringer . tom s hardware forum . retrieved 29 december 2009 . unreliable source behringer and roland settle lawsuit . 10 april 2006 . retrieved 29 december 2009 . peavey files lawsuits against behringer intellectual property issues cited . sonicstate.com . retrieved 2011 12 30 . cooper gary . behringer s music group files us suit against peavey . musical instrument industry news . mi pro . retrieved 2011 12 30 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to behringer . company website fcc notice of apparent liability against behringer february 2006 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title behringer & oldid 743860385 categories audio