MATRIXSYNTH: Oberheim OB-Mx 6-voice analog synth


Saturday, August 15, 2009

Oberheim OB-Mx 6-voice analog synth


via this auction

"This is the most mis-understood analog synthesizer. While the software may have never reached its full potential, this synth is capable of nearly any sound you can imagine, and the filters sound great despite what you may have read. The key is: TURN THE FILTER INPUTS DOWN! The oscillator outputs are "hot" just like the memorymoog and will clip the filters for a desirable distortion if set at max. I don't even think the original programmers of the OB-Mx quite understood this! If you are looking for that clean "barberpole" filter sweep, it is here and sounds incredible.

Designed by Don Buchla, with fully discrete voltage controlled filters(!) engineered exactly like both the moog "ladder" filter and the SEM abound on every voice, self-resonating moog and SEM too! The original SEM would not self-resonate, however. (again, turn it down!) The encoders are very sensitve and you must dial them in with precision to get what you want. Spend some time with this asynth and you will love it forever.

The versatility of the OBmx ranks up with the best of them: xpander, etc. but actually sounds warmer than the xpander, and the discrete filters are a welcome design versus the CEM3372 which is another story.
If you believe what you may have read online about this amazing synthesizer, you are missing out! Most who bash it probably never had- or even used one! Also one of the rarest polyphonics ever produced. Quantities are said to be fewer than 300. New battery installed and loaded with factory programs."

You can find more posts including video, audio and the controversial history of this synth by searching on OB-Mx on the top left of this site. Here's a link.





2 comments:

  1. "but actually sounds warmer than the xpander"...-no it does not

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've played with both extensively and the OB-Mx filters sounded warmer and the it had a more organic quality to than the Expander. The Expander/Matrix 12 are wonders of synth engineering but they sound too perfect for me.

    ReplyDelete

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