Behringer Chorus Symphony

The Behringer Chorus Symphony is a chorus pedal from Behringer that recreates the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, the 1976 pedal widely credited as the first chorus pedal. It offers analog BBD chorus and vibrato modes, a preamp section with the kind of harmonic saturation heard on the Roland Jazz Chorus amplifier the CE-1 was originally drawn from, and stereo outputs from a mono input¹.

Behringer announced the pedal in 2022 as a clone of the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, and after a wait of nearly three years it was released in January 2025 at $79². MusicRadar noted the original CE-1 became famous through players including Andy Summers of The Police, Joe Satriani, Johnny Marr and Nirvana³.

What it does: a CE-1-style chorus and vibrato

The CE-1 story starts with the Jazz Chorus amplifier. Behringer describes the original circuitry as one of the first of its kind to use a BBD circuit, and says the Symphony was built to have the same thick, syrupy and multidimensional sound found in that amplifier, later placed in a pedal¹. TONEHOME's page on the CE-1 notes it was a mains powered unit featuring both chorus and vibrato modes, and that both modes share the same BBD circuit, so they cannot be used at the same time⁵. Guitar World's Trevor Curwen described the CE-1 as having provided "luxurious chorus and vibrato"⁶.

The Symphony follows that layout: you select between chorus and vibrato with a footswitch, just as CE-1 players did³. Behringer says the all-analog BBD circuit gives it a rich and warm sound, and the pedal also has a variable input range and what the maker calls a wide 3D stereo effect¹. Like the original, it takes mono in and gives stereo out, which gearnews' Julian Schmauch noted was almost unheard of at the time the CE-1 appeared⁴.

The preamp section is part of the CE-1 character too. Behringer says the high/low switch in the preamp can add a lot of body to your sound or push the preamp into overdrive territory, and turning the level control adds even more crunch and drive¹. MusicRadar pointed out you can also simply use it as a preamp to produce the harmonic saturation heard on the original Jazz Chorus amps³.

The controls and footswitches

The Symphony carries over the CE-1's control set. When Behringer revealed the pedal in 2022, Guitar World reported it employed the same Chorus Intensity, Vibrato Depth and Rate, and Level controls as the original, along with the high and low preamp slider⁷. There are two footswitches, matching the CE-1's arrangement: one bypasses the effect, the other switches between chorus and vibrato⁴.

Behringer also lists the pedal's vibrato mode with depth and rate knobs, and says its rugged and reliable metal construction stands up to the rigors of the road and the heaviest of stomps¹.

Where it came from

At launch, the pedal was priced at $79 in the US and £69 in the UK³, with gearnews reporting it available to order from Thomann at 79 Euros⁴.

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