Click the auction link on top when you get there for additional listings.
VEMIA is Peter Forrest's auction house. He is the author of The A-Z of Analogue Synthesizer Books.
"Here is a very rare occasion to buy a RSF Kobol and this one is in full working condition. Internal battery has been replaced. Its worse cosmetic flaw being the crack in its right flank as shown in the pictures, which has not cracked further for the last 20 years. Feels totally solid. Otherwise the cosmetic condition is excellent. It comes (not in the pictures) with its original paper manual and in a very sturdy custom wooden box with foam inside that is also very heavy. So if you want to ship you will have to tell us if you want the box or not as since it weighs almost as much as the synth it will have a significant impact on the shipping cost. The RSF Kobol is one of the very best vintage monophonic synths ever designed with its distinctive powerful and precise sound and one of the sexiest User Interface ever designed. Plus it has 16 memory slots and the ability to sequence these slots making it one of the most powerful sequencers of its time. You can trigger it from any 5V clock. More information can be found here : https://www.vintagesynth.com/rsf/kobol-expander and here : http://rsf-synth-official.com/cadre.html"
"This is a video of Olivier Grall testing it's very rare polyphonic (4 voices) kobol rack (RSF) he purchased in the beginning of the eighties. Les than 10 of these were built by Ruben Fernandes. I had the chance to overhaul it and this is a video of the testing."
"Up for sale is an extremely nice clone of the RSF kobol expander 1 and an original RSF kobol expander 2. The clone is made with original SSM chips for the filter and envelopes and original ua726 for the oscillators. I was able to tune it up so that the knobs match my original expander exactly and it now sounds 100 percent identical. It also runs off of 18 volts and is even slimmer than the original. This expander alone would make a great travel synth.
I had plans to make new faceplates and build a travel case for these guys but I have too many projects going on right now. It’s a great oppurtunity to get these two for a bit cheaper than what they have gone for in the past.
The expander 1 is simply the best bass synth ever. Super snappy and great for leads as well. The behringer and moslab clone both missed the mark in my opinion. There’s something very special about the wave shaping of the original and I was amazed that I got the clone to imitate this behavior exactly. The ringmod on the expander 2 is really interesting/ dirty pairs well with the wave shaping. Be careful with purchasing kobols as there are clones out there. Always ask for inside shots of the units. I A dead give away is usually the switches.
The expander 1 is in perfect condition. The expander 2 has a slight dent on the corner that was not noricable when racked and the faceplate has a few scrapes. Both are in excellent working order with no scratchy pots or anything."
"For sale is a very rare RSF Kobol Expander. Made in limited quantities in the late 1970’s. Despite its age, it has been serviced and is fully functional.
However, there are two caveats, one knob is missing, and sometimes the tuning isn’t so stable. It is analog synth, modeled after a mini moog after all."
"Super rare RSF Kobol Expander 2. Approx Only +-200 units built. Not serviced, but fully functional, in good condition (just a few small aesthetic scraches). Powersuply is 220V.(Europe)
If you own a Kobol expander 1 The Expander2 gives you a full ADSR, S&H, an extra LFO, Lag & noise, ring mod, etc.
It can also be combined with other machines.
Comes with power chord
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The rsf's are powerfull synthesizers, built in France in the end of 70's begining 80's, with a HUGE and beautiful, super warm and wide sound.
The Kobol can be coupled with the Kobol Expander 2 and the programmer ( very very rare amazing sequencer ).
These beautiful machines are rare because they were produced by hand by two brothers for only a couple of years."
Note the above is a playlist featuring 4 videos. You can use the player controls to skip through them or just watch them all in order.
Details on Synth Anthology 4 follow:
The authentic sound of 200 synthesizers, from vintage to modern
4,000+ presets and layers deliver incredible sound with hardware soul
Feature-packed dual-layer engine with fx, arpeggiator and more
Rebuilt from the ground-up, Synth Anthology 4 now features the authentic hardware sound of 200 vintage and modern synthesizers, a fully redesigned engine with powerful features, fx, arpeggiator, smart sound suggestion engine, native MPE support, and more.
A dreamlike collection!
Almost everything!
We've rebuilt the engine from the ground-up, added more synths, more presets, more effects, more filters, more modulation, a dedicated browser, a second fully-customizable layer for creating hybrid and blended timbres, an all-new smart suggestion engine that helps you quickly find similar sounds, a more powerful arpeggiator/phraser, bus effects, native MPE support, and more!
Real Hardware Sounds
There is something unmistakable about the sound of a real hardware synth, from subtle differences between voice circuits and drift to the varied way filters bite into the sound; there's a distinct character and energy. Synth Anthology 4 delivers the authentic and uncompromising hardware sound with all the conveniences of a modern software instrument.
Every piece of hardware represents a unique creative vision, sonic character, innovations, and strengths. Whatever you're looking for, from analog to digital, vintage classic to future classic, you will find it here. Synth Anthology 4 delivers an incredible collection of hardware, every major manufacturer, every type of synthesis, every era, 200 synthesizers in all.
You won't find a more complete collection anywhere else."
"A stunning recreation of the RFS Kobol Expander synth, made by the genius company MOS-LAB. Everyone who used this along the original RSF Kobol side by side says they sound absolutely spot on. There's on Kobol Expander being sold at 10K on Reverb right now... This one is even more rare, as only about 30 were ever made.
Super snappy, big bass and morphable waveforms. Since the waveform morphing is made with a discrete waveshaper, the volume isn't consistent during the sweep. The original responds like this, too, but it got me by surprise so I'm mentioning it, so that you don't have to do your research ;-) The filter is super smooth and liquidy.
The synth comes in a Moon Modular rack, with a standard PSU."
"Here's an AS250-Seq expander driving a vintage synth (RSF Kobol Expander I). The AS250-Seq fits seamlessly into your analogue synth studio and works well with most vintage and current analogue synthesizers that accept CV control.
Tom Carpenter is excited to introduce Colossus Quartz, an exciting new range of add-on synth expanders, part of the Colossus range.
Colossus Quartz is the Colossus Slim split into quarters. This allows you to build the whole system one quarter at a time, spreading the cost, or, to just have single sections to use as expanders alongside your existing modular synthesizers.
Several benefits:
It enables you to buy one quarter at a time, so you can spread the cost eventually building up a complete Colossus System.
They can be used as expanders for Colossus.
And they can be used as expanders and used with other modular set-ups (Eurorack, 5U, etc).
Each quarter has a specific range of general features:
AS250-VCO This has a bank of 12 vernier VCOs, plus 2 Noise Generators, Random Voltage, Sample and Hold, Matrix Panel.
AS250-Mod This features 4 VCAs, 4 Envelopes, 2 LFOs, LCD Dual Channel Oscilloscope (can be upgraded to single channel CRT), Touch Keyboard / Sequencer.
AS250-VCF This has 8 Filters (4x SEM type, 4x Moog type), 8 VCAs, 2 real Spring Reverbs, 2 Ring Mods, 2 Slew Generators, Matrix Panel.
AS250-Seq This features a 64-step analogue sequencer, 4 Moving Coil Meters, Stereo Mixer, 2 Joysticks, 2 Multiples, 2 Sub-mixers.
All systems feature a full set of 3.5mm jack sockets for patching.
All the voice and modulation circuits are of course 100% analogue. We purposely steered away from digital, it doesn’t even have MIDI or USB (there are plenty of MIDI converter boxes out there should you need that facility). There are of course digital elements to the sequencer control - that is unavoidable - even classic analogue sequencers like the ARP sequencer used digital logic chips. In fact the EMS Synthi 100 features a digital sequencer.
Colossus is large scale, featuring large knobs that control metal shaft potentiometers. VCOs have multi-turn verniers. The two enormous pin matrix panels dominate the panels - these are incredibly expensive Swiss-made broadcast-quality signal routers.
There are two spring reverbs, touch keyboard, step sequencer, moving coil meters, joysticks and so much more. An immense expanse of jack sockets for additional patching within or without the system.
There are no gimmicks - this is pure synthesiser. A huge sound enclosed in a solid metal case wrapped in wood. No expense has been spared to bring this incredible machine to life.
Synthesisers like this only come around once in a decade, or possibly a generation."
"The Kobol synthesizer is a true legendary synthesizer, designed by the long extinct company RSF. It's so addictive that you'll never want to put it down. It has amazing morphing features, but also full patch memory.
Get ready to rock out with the Kobol and unleash your inner musician!
The Kobol is now fully developed and scheduled for production. We’re super excited 🙂 "
"This unit works 100 percent and is in a very good condition. The RSF Kobol was the French synth company's first compact keyboard synthesizer. It is a monophonic analog synthesizer with traditional controls, knobs, switches and two oscillators for a good solid analog synth sound. Unique are the 16 memory slots for saving your sounds and the built in sequencer.
Although it is mostly a traditional analog synth with stable oscillators and lots of knobs that allow you to control the ADS envelope, the filter section and the nice LFO, it did offer some unique features for its time. Most notably, the oscillator waveforms can be continuously swept across for a very cool morph from square to saw to pulse, etc. This, as well as note on/off and other parameters can be controlled via CV/gate. External sounds can be processed through the delicious SSM Kobol filter and envelope sections too."
"Extremely rare italian string machine, built by Elex (ELettronica EXcelsior), also sold by Hohner at some point.
Very close in sound to the Crumar Performer or Elka Rhapsody.
It offers Strings and Brass section, with independent volume for each instruments, a very nice filter in the brass section, as well as vibrato, and the string section has long crescendo and sustain settings.
Unit was serviced and is in very good working order except for the attack in the Brass section that doesn't work.
This synth use a very rare SSM2050 chipset as the enveloppe generator on the brass section. This is the same chip used in the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 and the RSF Kobol for instance. It simply can't be found anywhere. But if you are lucky to own one you can most probably fix the attack on the brass section ;-)
Apart from that everything is working. Capacitor in the power supply were replaced and synth was calibrated.
It uses the typical "ensemble" effect based on a triple BBD chorus, with the same TCA350 chipsets you have in the Eminent Solina, Crumar Performer, Logan String Melody and so many more classic string synths.
Cosmetic wise the synth is in good condition, especially considering the rather cheap build quality. But of course it has some scuffs here and there."
"Another rarity from the halls of EMEAPP, here we have the ultra-rare RSF Blackbox from the late 70s. While it doesn't look like much on the outside, it is capable of a pretty amazing task: it can turn a monosynth into a polysynth by using it's CV/gate output. Intended as a peripheral device for the RSF Kobol monosynth, the Blackbox is compatible with a plethora of other vintage monosynths. In this video, electronic music pioneer Don Slepian will demonstrate the Blackbox's capabilities as a stand-alone instrument.
You can find us at www.emeapp.org where we invite you to join us as a FREE member."
"Here is a very rare occasion to buy a RSF Kobol and this one is in full working condition. Internal battery has been replaced. Its worse cosmetic flaw being the crack in its right flank as shown in the pictures, which has not cracked further for the last 20 years. Feels totally solid. Otherwise the cosmetic condition is excellent. It comes (not in the pictures) with its original paper manual and in a very sturdy custom wooden box with foam inside that is also very heavy. So if you want to ship you will have to tell us if you want the box or not as since it weighs almost as much as the synth it will have a significant impact on the shipping cost. The RSF Kobol is one of the very best vintage monophonic synths ever designed with its distinctive powerful and precise sound and one of the sexiest User Interface ever designed. Plus it has 16 memory slots and the ability to sequence these slots making it one of the most powerful sequencers of its time. You can trigger it from any 5V clock. More information can be found here : https://www.vintagesynth.com/rsf/kobol-expander and here : http://rsf-synth-official.com/cadre.html"
