Behringer BMX Demo Reveals Hybrid Drum Machine Inspired by Oberheim DMX

Behringer dropped a hands-on performance demo of the BMX hybrid sampling drum machine, giving the gear community its clearest look yet at what the company calls an original design that "copies its look and some features from the Oberheim DMX, like its retro 8/12-bit sample rates." The BMX is now open for pre-order at $459/£349, with first units scheduled to ship in May.

The machine sits firmly in inspired-by rather than clone territory. It features the original DMX sounds alongside analogue filters and, as described in product coverage, "a 8/12-bit sound engine for vintage grit, while adding a handful of contemporary enhancements, including a LCD screen, MIDI support and digital effects." That combination of crusty lo-fi character and modern utility is precisely the pitch Behringer has been building toward since teasing the BMX on Facebook and at the NAMM show in January.

On the sequencer side, the BMX is genuinely well-specified. Its 64-step sequencer handles polymetric and probabilistic sequencing, swing, flams and randomization, and can store up to 256 patterns and 16 songs. Pattern Mode lets you arrange those patterns into full songs; Song Mode chains songs together for live performance sets.

The I/O list punches above the price point: MIDI In, Out and Thru over 5-pin DIN, USB MIDI, a 1/4" stereo output, headphone output, three trigger outputs, sync in/out, eight channel outputs, and a line input for sampling. Behringer does not list a US price on its own site, but several US vendors have the BMX up for pre-order at the same $459 figure seen internationally.

The Oberheim DMX that inspired all of this was no minor footnote. Released in 1980, it was the second digital drum machine to hit the commercial market, arriving just behind the Linn LM-1. Its snaps and claps turned up across early hip-hop productions, on New Order's "Blue Monday," and on The Police's "Every Breath You Take" — a résumé that explains why its sonic character remains worth chasing in 2026.

Community reaction to the demo has been characteristically blunt. One Synthtopia commenter summarized the design lineage with the observation: "So its the 8 voice version of their drum machine with a dmx skin instead of the lm skin… got it." Another commenter pushed back on the article's technical wording, writing "According to this clip at 3:12, what you wrote is not the case: [...] Right? Is this a budget version of a budget version?" The comparison to Behringer's LM Drum also came up repeatedly, with at least one reader preferring that unit's sliders and 12-sound layout over the BMX's pad-focused approach. The demo presenter's energy did win some converts: "I like the dude's infectious enthusiasm for the BMX and Wave," one commenter wrote. "[...] It actually sounds really nice. Does help that this dude is super talented."

The BMX arrives just days after Behringer unveiled the JN-80, its eight-voice Juno-60 clone, keeping the company on an aggressive release cadence through the first quarter of 2026. Whether the DMX's iconic grit translates faithfully through an 8/12-bit engine at this price will be tested properly when first units reach buyers in May.