Oberheim OB-X8 Analog Polyphonic Synthesizer
Last Update
03/12/2024
If you always wanted that vintage Oberheim sound without the
maintenance, the OB-X8 is your machine. If you wanted that
vintage sound without the expenses of restoration, the OB-X8 is your
machine. If you wanted that vintage sound without the periodic
calibration headaches, the OB-X8 is your machine. If you
wished
the MIDI retrofits for vintage Oberheims were more comprehensive,
the
OB-X8 is your machine. If you want every modern feature packed
into the ultimate synthesizer, expect to be disappointed - that
wasn't
the reason the OB-X8 was developed. I bought the OB-X8 because
it doesn't have features I'll never use. I have no need for internal
FX, internal sequencer, etc. I don't want to pay extra $$ for
features
I will never use. The OB-X8 was built for people who want that
authentic legacy Oberheim sound that no one else has been able to
faithfully replicate (I own three vintage Oberheims). It was built
with
shallow menu to keep the interface simple. I'm a competent player
and
have little use for an arpeggiator or syncable LFOs. There are other
modern features I wish it had, but the OB-X8 wasn't built to be a
modern synth it was built to appeal to players who want that vintage
sound and that big panel of knobs and buttons of the older synths
without the headaches and $$$$ of old components needing calibration
or
restoration.
Tom Oberheim had lost the ownership of his trademarks since 1985
after
the Oberheim company had fallen on hard times. The trademarks
had
changed hands, winding up with Gibson Guitars under the tyranny of
CEO
technohick Henry Juszkiewicz. Henry J was notorious for
acquiring
intellectual properties of famous brands with no relation to
guitars,
then forcing the original developers out and ultimately destroying
the
products. Henry proved to be completely inept at leveraging
his
IP into a
product that was successful (hence the term "technohick"). The
Oberheim OBMx suffered a difficult birth and short life thanks to
Henry
J's vindictive disposition (a sad saga reserved for another
time). Eventually Henry J was ousted from Gibson
Guitars.
Tom Oberheim had re-entered the analog synthesizer market building
reissues of his famous SEM modules and Two Voice synthesizers, and
partnering with Dave Smith of DSI/Sequential with their OB-6
polyphonic
synthesizer. Although Tom was unable to use his classic
trademarks on these devices, that changed after former Oberheim
engineer Marcus Ryle convinced the new owners of Gibson Guitars to
revert the Oberheim trademarks back to their rightful owner - Tom
Oberheim. It was a very gracious move from Gibson Guitars.
While the OB-6 was a successful product, Tom had desired to build
another "proper" Oberheim polyphonic synthesizer. The return
of
his IP allowed him to pursue that path. The OB-X8 was birthed
literally on the day that Tom got his IP back from Gibson, and a
year
later it was introduced to a very receptive market.
The key members of the OB-X8 team date back to the original
company. Tony Karavidas is the chief hardware
engineer/designer
of the OB-X8 and many DSI/Sequential products starting with the
Prophet
12
in 2010. Tony was the electronic engineer for Oberheim in the
mid-1980s. Marcus Ryle was the designer for Oberheim from 1980
to
late 1980s (ranging from the DSX to the Matrix-12); his chief role
in
the OB-X8 was identifying the behavior of the original models and
ensuring that the OB-X8 faithfully replicated those behaviors.
The late Dave Smith of DSI/Sequential was friendly with Tom and had
collaborated with Tom by sharing his development team and arranging
his
production system to build OB-X8s. The planets had aligned for
Tom to make a product that was destined to be a classic. top
Authentic Oberheim Sound?
I have been a happy owner of my vintage Oberheim polysynths - Four
Voice, OB-X,
and OB-SX
and am
intimately familiar with the sonority of each of them. I’ve
heard
the reissue SEM, plenty of clones/plugins, and have played the
OB-6. While all feature the state variable filter (SVF) of the
SEM, they didn’t sound as organic and bold as the originals.
While the vintage Oberheims are excellent sounding synths, they are
not
durable enough for gigging (the Four Voice is just too bulky and not
practical for stage use due to its rudimentary programmer). I
was
able to
program many Oberheim (and Memorymoog) sounds in my
Alesis
Andromeda,
but by 2022 it was starting to show its age as it would occasionally
crash in
the middle of a song on stage. So it was time to retire the
Andromeda from the stage. But replacing the Andromeda was a
problem - while it packed a lot of power and features in a small
package, it set a very high standard to measure up to and there was
no
comparable product available (yes the Moog One may have been a
contender but it was very expensive and its firmware was incomplete
when members of the development team left the company or had passed
away).
Another shortcoming for the vintage units was MIDI. When these
synths were new, MIDI did not exist. Retrofits can
be acquired but due to the design of the original units, only
rudimentary MIDI implementation is possible - the Four Voice and
OB-SX
could only receive note on/off, the OB-X could add program change,
patch sysex I/O but not much else. None of my vintage OBs have
programmable volume or MIDI volume control, meaning I had to use a
volume pedal for them. That was not sufficient for my stage
rig which operates heavily on MIDI, and I wanted to avoid
adding
keyboards as most stages where I live are not very big. The
ideal
solution is rackmount modules which can be remotely controlled and
placed where I do not need to access them.
Part of the solution arose when the OB-X8 keyboard was
available.
When introduced there were some YouTube demos and the results
sounded
very promising. I was one of the first customers to acquire
the
keyboard model; once it was in my hands I went to work comparing the
OB-X8 to the vintage models.
The
OB-X8 is an OB-X, OB-SX,
OB-Xa, and OB-8 all in one box which is meticulously voiced to
emulate
the sounds, features - and
imperfections - of the legacy models. It isn’t a complete
emulation of the FVS as it lacks some
of its modulation options and note assignment modes, but the OB-X8
does
include the state variable filter (SVF) of the SEM module and as a
bonus the SVF is completely
programmable. Achieving that raw organic bold legacy sound has
eluded clonemakers for decades. Nothing sounded like those
vintage machines until the OB-X8. The design team really
disected
the analog path that defined that classic sound. The VCOs are
the
classic discrete SEM/OBX design which was originally designed by
Dave
Rossum of Emu fame (who also designed the polyphonic keyboard that
launched the polyphonic synthesizer industry). Those VCOs are
very stable and stay in tune. Filters include the SEM SVF with
all modes (lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch), OB-X (which is just
the
SVF in low pass mode), an authentic CEM3320 VCF used in the OBXa
offering 12dB or 24dB response, and the same CEM3320 for the OB-8
but
wired differently (the original OB-Xa used a pair of CEM3320s to
achieve the two modes, the OB-8 used a single CEM3320 to accomplish
the
same feature using fewer parts). While all the legacy models
had
the modulation section and VCO/VCF feature sets, there were
miniscule
differences from model to model and they have been included.
The
OB-8's claim to fame was its "page 2" features under the hood that
added many features and the OB-X8 includes them. You can
configure the authentic legacy model if you wish, but the cool thing
about the OB-X8 is that you can select features between models - IE
while the barebones OB-X never had "page 2", the OB-X8 allows such a
configuration to happen. Another contributor to "that sound"
has
been the VCA and voice summing circuit that are comprised of the
classic-mildly-distorted-but not-high-fidelity CA3080 OTAs.
The
OTAs impart some mild distortion that is pleasant on the ears.
Today you can substitute the 13700 or NE5571 for the obsolete
CA3080;
while I don't see either of these ICs on the OB-X8 voicecards (yes I
peeked under the hood), that pleasant distortion is certainly
there. The initial OB-8 was released using CEM3360s for the
voice
VCA and voice summing circuit, but Tom later lamented they sounded
"too
clean"; yes the CEM3360 was a better fidelity device but had lacked
the
"dirt" of the original CA3080s. Later OB-8 models reverted
back
to the 3080 design for the voice VCA.
It's not enough to couple VCOs to VCF to VCA and call it a
"clone". The coupling between circuits and component
compositions
impacts the sonority. All the clones and softsynths/plugins
missed these small but crucial elements; Oberheim engineers knew
this
"secret sauce" and implemented them in the OB-X8.
Besides the sonority, the legacy models had some "imperfections"
that
gave them an organic quality. The OB-X was loaded with
them. Such "imperfections" were the product of the technology
of
the time - it was the best that was available. "Imperfections"
manifested themselves as variations in sound between voicecards - no
two voicecards sounded perfectly identical. Some may label them as
"faults" but Oberheim customers regarded them as "features".
Anyone who has played a unison patch on the OB-X with glide time set
to
medium/long times will notice that the glide times vary between
voicecards, they would all glide out of tune until the final pitch
was
reached. With longer glide rates the variance was exaggerated
but
it was a cool effect. When Oberheim advanced to later models,
they made it a point to emulate this quirk in glide times - even in
their digital glide. VCOs weren't perfectly in tune between
voices, and the pulse waves weren't the same shape either. The
VCF really introduced "imperfections" - the cutoff frequency, the
modulation depth of the EG, the EG rates all varied between
voices. The differences could range from subtle to extreme,
but
in the end they gave the legacy Oberheims an organic quality where
playing notes didn't all sound the same. In fact the reason
the
"Tom Sawyer" rezz effects sounds the way it does is a direct result
of
these imperfections.
Luckily for us, Oberheim included the VINTAGE knob that emulates the
imperfections of the older machines. You can vary it anywhere
from none to subtle to "what's-wrong-with-this-thing". Other
products call this control "Slop" (snicker). If you desire high
"slop"
settings but not the tuning, there's a separate control under Page 2
to
adjust tuning separately.
There will be owners who complain that their OB-X8 doesn't sound
like
their vintage machine(s). More often than not this is due to
calibration or even a malfunction on the vintage machine (new users
may
not even know their vintage machine has a malfunction). My
units
are correctly calibrated.
This thing is the ultimate in authenticity and my hat goes off to
the
team for such an accomplishment. This is a very well thought
out
machine. top
Features
This is written as of firmware v1.1.1.0 (July 2023).
The first thing to state is that the OB-X8 modulation features are
basic - there's no voice modulation features like the P-5 "polymod"
or
Memorymoog voice modulation. It isn't quite a FVS/EVS - no way
to
invert EG
to VCF, only one master LFO (2nd one for vibrato only), can't route
EG
to PW, missing continuous sweep between LP and HP. Most (not
all)
of those gaps are covered by my Trigon-6
- in fact these two machines cover each other's gaps! While
that
does limit its palette of sounds, the legacy organic girth makes up
for
it. Frankly it's hard to make a bad sound on this thing.
The audio path is pure 100% analog from the discrete SEM-design VCOs
to
the VCFs to the VCAs to the outputs. While the modulation LFO
is
digital (it has to be with the page 2 options), the vibrato LFO is
very
likely analog. A full featured arpeggiator similar to the OB-8
is
available (and it transmits MIDI note messages!). There is no
sequencer and no onboard effects.
The OB-X8 has the discrete VCOs of the SEM/OB-X, and
includes six filter options - the four modes of the discrete
12dB/oct
SVF (highpass, bandpass, notch, and lowpass which is also OB-X), the
CEM3320 VCF in 12dB/oct and 24dB/oct modes in the OB-SX (12dB only),
OB-Xa, and OB-8. The OB-8 wiring is different from the OB-Xa
and
to my ears sounds the most "polite" of the lot. The OB-X8 does
have a genuine CEM3320 for each
voice, not a clone. The SEM SVF is a neat addition
that opens up new sounds, and it is one of the better sounding
multimode filters I have heard. Ramp and pulse waveforms on
each
VCO can be simultaneous (but not triangle waveforms).
The OB-X8 ships from the factory with all the factory patches that
came
with the legacy models. I can only account for the factory
patches for my OB-X and OB-SX but I can attest that they are dead on
accurate. The OB-X8 can load your backup tapes of your
personal
patches from your old
Oberheim, but watch the VCO levels they can be a little hot.
The primary front panel controls will be familiar to any OB
owner. There are dedicated controls for VCO pitch, waveforms
(triangle, ramp, and variable pulse), pulse width (shared with both
VCOs on the front panel, but separate pulse width controls are
available under Page 2), VCO2 detune, modulation rate, waveshape,
destinations and depth, glide rate, mixer levels (variable under
Page
2), VCF cutoff/resonance/EG depth/slope, VCF EG and VCA EG
Attack/Decay/Sustain/Release, and programmable volume. The
front
panel pays homage to the "grey block" decor of the OB-X, although
third
party "overlays" can be purchased for owners who prefer the "blue
stripe" decor. Many buttons like mix levels and VCF keyboard
tracking were fixed amounts on legacy models, and are now
variable under Page 2. All the front panel pots are damped,
meaning you can't rapidly sweep the filter although there's a rear
panel FILTER jack to use the filter control of your choice (CV
pedal,
external pot assembly, etc).
The OB-X8 is bi-timbral - split or double (layer) modes are
available. The only minus is the eight voices are divided for
each and polyphony is now limited to four. I did not see a
chaining option in the user manual and there does not appear to be
any
facility to expand more voices beyond eight in the OB-X8.
Anyone
who has owned a Four Voice or P5 won’t find this too limiting.
If
its
61 note keyboard is not enough for a split mode, you can use an
external 88 note MIDI controller.
They really went to work on authenticity of the legacy models, all
the
way to different quirks of modulation LFO and EG shapes between
models. EG shape between OB-8 and other legacy models were
different, and both have their uses. Likewise with modulation
LFO
- legacy models differed, and they're all available here. Also
there's an OB-8 feature with the VCOs that few users have understood
-
in OB-8 mode, the ramp and pulse waves are set at different levels
than
the other OB modes. What the OB-8 mode offers is a VCO
detuning
effect using a single VCO. It's a trick that started with the Rhodes
Chroma which frees the other VCO for other uses. Clonk for more details.
I have MIDI retrofits installed in my vintage Oberheims; but due to
circuit limitations they will never have MIDI volume, velocity,
pitch
bend, mod wheel, monoAT, polyAT, and many other MIDI features that
the
X8 has. MIDI adds another dimension to the OB-X8.
Besides
responding to MIDI notes 0 to 127 with note on velocity, PB, MW,
breath, brightness (VCF cutoff), volume, sustain pedal, NRPNs (or
CCs)
for all front panel controls, sysex, the X8 responds to polyphonic
pressure from an external MIDI controller (it currently does not
implement MPE). I’ve been WAITING for a polyphonic analog
synth
that could respond to polyphonic pressure - with the OB-X8 I can
vary
the pressure of each key on my MIDI controller and make the VCF
cutoffs
change for each key - lovely expressive tool. With velocity
sensing, I prefer the response from my Kurzweil MIDIBoard
better
than the OB-X8 keyboard.
You can only set the OB-X8 to a single MIDI channel. Splits
operate over the same MIDI channel and both halves share the same
controllers IE pitch bend and mod wheel. The good news is that
you can use an external 88 note MIDI controller to extend the note
range of each split. The OB-X8 responds to MIDI note range 0
through 127, but at the really high notes the VCOs are in dog
whistle
territory and the CV tracking starts to fall off. While the
OB-X8
receives MIDI control pedal and breath control, the user guide
doesn't
tell you how to route them. It doesn't currently respond to
MIDI
Tune Request (VERY important when controlling them remotely over
MIDI)
but the firmware team decided it is a worthwhile feature to add (no
upgrade yet as of this webpage date).
Stereo left/right and mono outputs are available on the rear
panel. There is also a headphone output but don't use 600ohm
headphone with it, the driver circuit can't provide enough power and
the sound will be distorted (to test headphones, use the OB-SX
preset
C4). 8ohm headphones sound much clearer. While the OB-X8
does not have effects, it does have panning options for stereo
sound. The legacy models
had stereo outputs (except the OB-SX) which had to be manually set
under the hood (the OB-8 made them accessible at a cutout in the
right
hand cheek) and was global for the instrument. The OB-X8 does
it
all in firmware and the stereo panning is programmable per
patch.
Panning options include PingPong, Spread, Splayed with variable
depth. A patch can also be mono, or there's an option under
Globals to fix all patches to mono or stereo or per patch.. A
4L4R panning mode can be
used to direct four voices each hard left and right for separate
outputs in split and double mode I’m a diehard digital
effect user for getting stereo imaging, but the more I used the
panning
modes in the X8 the more I liked it. It is an effective tool.
The patch library holds 768 patches, in 6 banks of 128 memory slots
each. Shipped from the factory the OB-X8 has banks labeled
OB-X8,
OB-8, OB-Xa, OB-SX, OB-X, and "User". The legacy instrument
bank
has the factory patches of the original models, and the OB-X8 has
128
brand new patches. All memory slots can be
overwritten, Everybody has their favorite Oberheim sounds made
famous by artists,
and I had no trouble dialing them up. Thankfully Oberheim uses
the same Schadow momentary button switches found on their classic OB
synths. These have a far longer life
than the minuscule tactile momentary buttons (placed under panel
mounted actuators) used on too much gear, which have a history of
wearing out and cannot be restored.
In addition to the patch memory, there is also memory for splits and
doubles - 128 of each.
Many functions of the legacy models have been expanded in the
OB-X8. IE keyboard tracking of the VCF is now variable instead
of
off/full, mixer levels of VCOs and noise are now variable instead of
off/half/full, etc. You can now set number of voices for a
unison
patch and select priority and trigger modes.
Menu diving through the OLED is minimal. There's a
"screensaver"
that shuts off the OLED when the OB-X8 is inactive, which is good
for
prolonging the life of the OLED display. The user interface is
a
generous front panel full of single-function knobs
and buttons for most common functions. There's a page 2 mode
like
the OB-8 that changes the function of certain front panel pots and
buttons. If you're an experienced OB-8 programmer, you'll find
these familiar. The Page 2 menu has an option to disable
changing
the front panel knobs/buttons and allows you to set the legacy "page
2"
functions in the OB-X8 Page 2 menu.
"Page 2" of OB-8 vintage adds some modulators and interesting
features. Two ramp generators (MOD1, MOD2) with inversion and
variable delay/attack can be used to "fade in" the mod depth in the
Modulation section, or to modulate the modulation LFO rate, or as a
transient pitch modulation to either/both VCOs. Glide can be
changed to portamento and the rates can be set to matched, to
exponential shape, to fixed rate, and legato allows glide to occur
only
in legato playing. The modulation LFO for voices 5-8 can be
phase
offset either 90 or 180 degrees - useful for double modes for more
complex modulation. I initially got excited seeing "LFO
Keyboard
Track" and thought "oh cool I can use the Memorymoog trick of using
VCO3 in LFO mode to track the keyboard for each voice!!!"
Alas,
that's not how this works - the OB-X8 has only two modulation LFOs
for
splits and doubles, but not one for each voice. This is
because
voices 1-4 and 5-8 need independent modulation LFOs in split or
double
mode.
Velocity sensing and mono aftertouch are great
additions with the top of the line semi-weighted Fatar TP9
keybed. Aftertouch can be routed to Vibrato depth and/or VCF
cutoff (opens the filter). That keybed feels great and as a
player I would gladly pay extra money for it. 64 tuning tables
are included.
These are features that were valuable enough for me to acquire the
OB-X8.
The desktop module is identical feature-wise (and it's REALLY
lightweight!). Some front panel buttons were omitted on the
module and their controls were moved under Page 2. The knobs
and
buttons are smaller, but the interface is not crowded. The
primary front panel controls are the same arrangement, while other
controls have changed locations on the module so it takes a little
getting used to if you also own the keyboard. The desktop
module
is a few inches too wide to fit in a 19" rack. As much as I
wished for a rackmount package, I am told it will not happen -
DARN! top
Sound Design Tips
Detuned VCO effect using a single VCO: Turn on VCO1 and enable both
ramp and pulse waveforms. Go to Page 2
OSC SQUARE MODE & set it to "OB-8". This sets the level of
the
pulse wave, crucial for the effect to work. Experiment with
Page
2 LFO
TYPE “OB-X/Xa” or "OB-8". Select the SINE waveshape in the
modulation
section. In “OB-8” type this is actually triangle waveshape,
which
makes the PWM sound smooth for subtle detuning effect.
“OB-X/Xa”
type
seems more effective for wider detuning effect. Apply PWM,
adjust
modulation rate, PWM depth, and VCO1 pulse width to taste. Now
you
should hear the effect of two detuned VCOs. Since it only uses
a
single VCO, the other VCO is free for such effects like hard sync.
If you wish to maintain better tuning, set the VINTAGE knob then
decrease the VOICE DETUNE under page 2 (changing VINTAGE setting
also
changes VOICE DETUNE).
The OB-X filter (SEM LP) is sensitive to signal levels. For
patches with high filter resonance, if the OB-X8 VCO levels are too
high it will degrade the resonance. The filter sounds more
authentic with VCO levels at about 95 and lower.
If you wish to have the EG transitions exactly the same in an OB-X
patch while using VINTAGE, set ENVELOPE TYPE under page 2 to
“OB-8”. The VINTAGE control has no effect on "OB-8" EGs.
The difference between "glide" and "portamento" is that "glide" is a
smooth transition between two notes while "portamento" progresses to
the new note in half steps. Some polysynths like the Yamaha
CS-80/60/50 feature portamento, which is featured on the Loverboy
hit
single "Turn Me Loose".
If using the rear panel MONO output jack, make sure the setting
under
GLOBAL STEREO/MONO OUT is not set to STEREO. If a program has
panning active with STEREO mode active, the level of the voices out
of
the MONO jack may not be equal due to the panning operation.
Note assignment is cyclic only, no other options.
OB-8 users - don’t pull on the knobs in the X8 lever box.
Vibrato
waveshape is selected under Page 2.
LFO can track the keyboard but only two software LFOs (one per set
of
four voices) and fixed 1/4 tracking (LFO rate doubles every four
octaves). Can’t do the Memorymoog trick of LFO per voice using
VCO3 in LFO mode.
You can load your backup tapes of your patches from your OB-X/Xa/8
into
the OB-X8 using the rear panel ARP jack (including OB-SX which never
had cassette I/O jacks….?)
First, make a sysex backup of each of the banks in the OB-X8.
Restored patches from tape backup overwrites the ones in the
OB-X8. Then configure your playback system to restore patches
from your backup tape. Plug the audio output of your playback
device into the rear panel ARP jack.
You may need some adjustments - the detection system for tape
restore
is sensitive to level and tape speed. Computers, laptops, and
mobile devices may produce a signal that is too low and needs to be
boosted with a mixer. Tape players vary in playback speed,
which
changes the pitch of the signals on the tape - the X8 may not be
able
to detect data if the playback pitch is too far off.
Cassette tapes are notorious for dropouts which causes data loss,
especially as the tapes age. They used to sell data cassette
tapes for computers which were less vulnerable to dropouts.
Press the Write button to initiate the Globals cassette load
routine,
then start the playback. Backups have several seconds of
carrier
tone before modem sounds kick in with all the data. The OB-X8
screen will show a message indicating whether the audio level is too
low, too high, or just right. You may have to repeat the
load routine while adjusting level/playback speed to get the
reception
to work.
The X8 detects which model the backup data is and loads your patches
into the appropriate model (bank) into the first (n) groups
(n=varies
according to memory capacity of your legacy model). Once the
optimal setup is found, the OB-X8 stores the data in some buffer
memory
as it is reading the backup tape. When the backup tape load is
complete, the OB-X8 will flash a bunch of lights for several seconds
as
it transfers the buffer memory info into the OB-X8 patch
memory.
All patches restored from backup tape have the generic patch name
“<model> Cassette” in the <model> bank. top
Fixes
If you ever encounter a button that doesn't work, Sequential support
shared an easy fix. The buttons actually have a self-cleaning
action -
repeatedly pressing the button ~50 times, or twisting it
side-to-side
while holding it down, or applying extra pressure on the button can
resolve the problem. It does work!
Epilogue
How about new sounds? I’ve been experimenting and have dialed
up
patches that the legacy models could never do. The SVF sounds
really good, and its bandpass filter has produced some of the best
brass/reed patches I have made to date. Oberheim included the
classic
XMOD cross modulation for clangorous sounds, and added another cross
modulation option using VCO2 triangle waveshape and made it variable
depth (the classic XMOD was fixed depth). The triangle cross
modulation depth is matched from voice to voice which is great for
playing clangorous chords in tune. With that new feature and
the
notch mode of the SVF, I came up with the sound of a monster movie
grandfather clock chime, and it sounds scary. The vampire
lurks...
When the desktop module became available, I purchased two of them
(their serial numbers are consecutive). The intention of the
two
modules - along with my Trigon-6
module - was to replace my aging Andromeda, which has occasionally
crashed on stage in the middle of a song. Between the three
modules I get the Oberheim voice and the Memorymoog voice which have
always co-existed nicely in a keyboard rig. Besides
wanting a compact desktop package, I wanted to reduce the number of
keyboards
in my stage
rig. MIDI is heavily utilized in my stage system and
I wanted to control as much as my gear remotely over MIDI as
possible. So with these modules, my stage system is reduced to
just two keyboards - my Kurzweil MIDIBoard
(the
master MIDI controller) and my Hammond XK3, which can also
function as a second MIDI controller. I
also have a Moog
Taurus
II Controller with MIDI retrofitted for those
songs where I need to play parts with my feet.
Does the OB-X8 have matrix modulation like the Xpander and modern
synths? No it does not. While I love my Andromeda with
the
deep modulation options it offers, the OB-X8 has other tricks the
Andromeda cannot do. The Oberheim team put the focus on
capturing
the vintage Oberheim sound/features in a modern synth, and it does
it
so well that I can live with its limited modulation options.
The
OB-X8 has no onboard effects like the OB-6, but I prefer my own
outboard effects anyway. My goal with two desktop modules in
my
stage rig is to dedicate one of them to split/double mode. In
split mode, each half is panned hard left/right to external effects
processors, which is how I used the Andromeda's AUX 1/2
outputs.
The other module will be dedicated to non-split/double mode where
all
eight voices can be used in a patch. This mimics my usual MIX
convention on the Andromeda, from which I got a lot of mileage.
Am I selling the old models? Nah - they're useful for
extending
the polyphony and multitimbrality of the 8 voice limit of the X8.
Why get an OB-X8 and not vintage?
- Warranty
- vintage Oberheim sound in a modern product, best authenticity to
legacy model features (and quirks)
- Velocity sensitive keyboard with mono aftertouch.
- Receives polyphonic aftertouch from external MIDI controller.
- Case of OB-X8 keyboard model is shallower than legacy models.
- Minimal maintenance - no trimpots!
- Legacy models can be retrofitted with MIDI, but won’t have the
deeper
MIDI functions of the X8
- Arpeggiator can be clocked externally from rear panel jack or from
MIDI/USB
- Your cassette tape patch backups can be loaded into the X8
- Vintage only has fixed VCO/Noise levels - full, half, or
off.
X8 adds variable VCO levels which allows some sound design
tricks. Page 2 VCO/Noise Level=49 is the equivalent of the
HALF
button on legacy models.
- OB-X/Xa/SX: each VCO could select saw or pulse not both. X8
can
set both, triangle also available. Combined with page 2 VCO
Square Mode this permits some sound design tricks.
- OB-X/SX were only models that offered crossmod (XMOD) using VCO2
ramp
waveform to modulate VCO1 at fixed depth. X8 not only
duplicates
XMOD but it adds another crossmod using VCO2 triangle waveform with
variable modulation depth. Both can be used on the X8.
- all the legacy VCF types (including SEM HP/BP/Notch modes),
envelope
shapes, LFO quirks
- Legacy models had VCF Keyboard tracking but fixed to 1V/oct.
X8
allows variable keyboard tracking, AND the tracking follows the
TRANSPOSE buttons in the lever box.
- Transpose/Mod/Arp buttons in lever box can be stored with each
program.
- VINTAGE knob on front panel emulates voice-to-voice imperfections
of
tuning, envelope times, VCF cutoff, VCF EG depth, etc.
- X8 has programmable volume per patch - OB-X/Xa did not.
- X8 unison mode can use (x) number of voices from 1 to 8.
Legacy
models were all voices.
- X8 adds note priority modes (low, high, last, single/multiple
trigger) in unison mode. Originals were only low note single
trigger.
- X8 is quieter. When no voices are firing, the OB-X produced
background noise that got worse with increasing number of installed
voices.
- Original OB-X/Xa/SX did not have OB-8 Page 2 functions of
OB-8.
In the X8, Page 2 functions can be used on ANY model.
- LFO can be analog (OB-X/Xa) or digital (OB-8)
- Alternate keyboard scales (64)
- “case candy” - bumper stickers and an Oberheim coaster!
- solves an annoying problem with MIDI-retrofited vintage Oberheims:
with increasing filter resonance (12dB mode) the voices get louder
and
there’s no programmable volume on OB-X/OB-SX to compensate and the
MIDI
retrofits can’t control volume. Since I use inline effects,
the
drastic change in volume was a problem. The OB-X8 has
programmable volume which solves this.
- UNISON mode on the legacy models sound great but eight voices
firing
at once was a little much and there was a drastic increase in
volume. See previous point. OB-X8 offers an option to
set
UNISON mode to fire anywhere from one to all eight voices - single
voice is better for monophonic solo patches
- While I love my vintage OB-X, it tends to lose patches between
power
cycles. This is due to an inferior power down reset
circuit. Too risky to gig.
- Market value US$ as of 2023: OB-X8=$5K FVS=$20K OB-X=$15K
OB-Xa=$10K
OB-8=$8K
OB-SX=$4K
Why get vintage and not X8?
- only if you must have the real deal (and all the
maintenance/restoration headaches that come with it)
- Long out of warranty through hole components can still be repaired
The best thing about the OB-X8... no calibration or tuning foibles
(anyone who owns/owned a vintage Oberheim knows this too
well).
Calibration is
painless using the firmware
In a nutshell, the OB-X8 is destined to be a classic. Hard to
make a bad sound on this thing. top
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