What is The Vanilla Synthesizer? It's Ready, That's What

via the STG Soundlabs/muSonics Electronic Newsletter:

Is it The Vanilla Synthesizer or the muSonics TVS?

I started working on this project a year and a half ago.

Originally my thought process was to make a new American format synthesiser that could be sold as modules, kits, and bare boards. I was concerned about the future of the format, and I felt a new line of basic modules and infrastructure at a variety of price points was important. I still do.

STG Soundlabs was a failure because I made things that ultimately the eurorack market simply did not want. Yes, I sold some, and will continue to maintain the line as best as I can, but it's very hard to find photos of eurorack installations with STG Soundlabs modules in them, but rare to find a nice big man-sized synthesiser without my modules in it.

Another thing I wanted to do was teach myself how to do my own engineering. It didn't start that way, but it became that way. I'd been a hardware product developer since 2005 but never actually laid out a circuit board. That is no longer true, and I've done things beyond this project that I haven't even talked about.

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Oberheim Special Edition TVS-Pro

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via this auction

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How Many Tom Oberheim TVS PROs Were Released?

I was curious how many were released after this Special Edition Two Voice PRO listing, so I reached out to the man himself, Tom Oberheim.

So how many were produced?

According to Tom:

"I looked thru my records and this is the official count on the two versions of the TVS-PRO:

1. Regular production from early 2015 thru April 2018 - 365 units beige & black

2. Special Edition during spring of 2021 - 9 units sold thru a lottery system"

And there you have it.

That means there are only 374 TVS PRO models in existence. Just over 100 of the 365 are the all black model, making the beige count somewhere under 265 units.

The three pics here are from Tom Oberheim's Product History page.

Oberheim Special Edition Two Voice PRO 2021

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Up for grabs is a very rare special edition Oberheim TVP w/OG box. This is from the extremely limited lottery run Tom did in 2021 when he got the Oberheim brand name back. Only 4 units were made in the lottery."

According to this prior listing, from the same seller no less, 10 units were made. If anyone knows definitively, feel free to comment. Update: the number is officially 9 units total. See this post.

You can find demos including an unboxing video in previous posts here.

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Oberheim Two Voice Pro Semi-Modular Exploration

video upload by J3PO

"The Two-Voice Pro (this one is the Special Edition) is an incredible synthesizer, and concept. Coupled with a CV sequencer, it's amazing what you can create without even touching the keys. Here is an improvisation using the TVP, focusing on the sequencer and its modulation capabilities. While this type of music may not be for everyone, I hope you enjoy the sound of this marvelous instrument!

www.j3po.net

I have preset libraries available for the Oberheim OB-X8, Prophet 6, Prophet 5/10, Prophet Rev 2, OB-6, Spectrasonic's Omnisphere, Arturia OP-Xa, Softube's Model 72 & 84, XLN's Addictive Keys Mark One and a free bank of 50 sounds for the free VST synth “OB-Xd” — all available on my website. If you're a Nord Stage 3 or Wave 2 user, download my bank from the Nord Keyboards website."

Oberheim 2022 Two Voice Pro Special Edition #4/10

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Up for grabs a special edition TVP w/ all OG packaging. Signed by Tom Oberheim.

We were informed after listing that there were only 10 of these units made, with this unit being the 4th."

Update: There were actaully 9 units total according to Tom Oberheim. See this post.

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Oberheim TVS PRO 2021 Special Edition Two Voice Pro

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Mint condition Oberheim Two Voice Pro from the 2021 limited run, signed by Tom Oberheim."

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Worldwide Rights to Oberheim Trademark Returned to Tom Oberheim

You might remember Music Tribe lost the trademark dispute with Tom Oberheim over the Oberheim brand name in the US earlier this year. Tom Oberheim has now obtained worldwide rights to the brand name thanks to Uli, Behringer, and the Music Tribe team. Credit when credit is due. It's important to know it would have made business sense for Behringer to own the name, hence why they registered the trademark when it originally lapsed per the previous post. They eventually lost the trademark in the US when Tom contested it, however they held on to the rights outside of the US. They have now given those remaining rights back to Tom.

The press release follows:

August 3, 2021

Worldwide Rights to Oberheim Trademark Returned to its Founder

Synthesizer pioneer Tom Oberheim regains his name worldwide thanks to Music Tribe

Orinda, California— August 3, 2021 — Tom Oberheim announced today that after 36 years, the worldwide rights to the Oberheim trademark are now back with its founder.

Tom Oberheim started Oberheim Electronics in 1970 and through the ‘70s and ‘80s became one of the most revered and recorded makers of polyphonic analog synthesizers. After many years of success, Oberheim Electronics had to file bankruptcy in May of 1985 when its lender decided to no longer fund the company, and all of Oberheim’s trademarks and other assets were sold off by the bank. In 1988, Gibson acquired the rights to the Oberheim name, and for about twenty years produced Oberheim-brand products independent of Tom.

In 2009, Tom was encouraged by many musicians to re-enter the synthesizer market, resulting in a new generation of the SEM (Synthesizer Expander Module) based on his original SEM design from 1974. This quickly evolved into a range of SEM-based products over the next several years.

In 2019 Tom was able to bring all of the Oberheim trademarks in the USA and several countries back into his name. In several other countries, Music Tribe Global Brands Ltd. owned registrations for the Oberheim trademarks.

“I was very happy after all these years to have regained ownership of some of the Oberheim trademarks,” said Tom Oberheim, Oberheim’s founder. “This led to the hope that someday I would be able to use my own name in all countries where the Oberheim trademark exists, so we contacted Music Tribe.”

“Tom Oberheim is a pioneer of analog synthesizers, and our whole industry owes him a debt of gratitude for his innovations,” said Uli Behringer, Founder of Music Tribe. “When we learned that Tom was still interested in making his own products with his original name, we knew the right thing to do was to transfer all of our Oberheim registrations back to him.”

“Thanks to Uli and the team at Music Tribe and Behringer, I own the worldwide rights to my name for the first time since 1985,” added Tom. “It is a wonderful homecoming, and it is a thrill to once again be able to have the Oberheim name and logo placed on my products.”

Tom recently shipped a small production run of a new TVS-Pro Special Edition model, which are the first synthesizers from Tom to carry the Oberheim brand in many decades."

Oberheim Two Voice Pro Special Edition unboxing and exploration with Julian "J3PO" Pollack

video upload by J3PO

"In this video, we unbox and explore the new 2021 special edition reissue of the famed Oberheim Two Voice Pro. You can count on two hands how many of these Two Voice Pro Special Editions have been manufactured by the master and legend, Tom Oberheim. I feel extremely lucky and grateful to have one of these gorgeous synthesizers.

Tom Oberheim's favorite synth from the original Oberheim era is the Two Voice (1975). Although the last TVS-Pro was manufactured in 2018, interest in this synth has continued. By popular demand, in May of 2021 Tom brought back the TVS-Pro as a Special Edition, with each unit now having the original 'Oberheim' logo badge, plus Tom Oberheim's personal signature. Despite there being no formal announcement, hundreds of musicians inquired on this website as to how they could purchase one. The demand was much higher than the small number of units that Tom was able to build. In just one day all the built units were spoken for, which unfortunately left many people disappointed. Tom is exploring if more parts can be secured and production started again, but it is not yet known if that will be possible.

00:00 Introduction
00:15 Unboxing
01:36 Sound Examples
04:28 Voice Panning
06:48 Various Sounds
12:40 Sequencer
14:28 Conclusion
15:13 End Credits

For further information, please visit www.tomoberheim.com."

Tom Oberheim TVS Pro Special Edition Coming This Year + XPANDER, DMX, & OB-XA Trademarks

via the Tom Oberheim website

"Although the last TVS-Pro was manufactured in 2018, interest in this synth has continued. By popular demand, in 2021 Tom is bringing back the TVS-Pro as a Special Edition, with each unit now having the original 'Oberheim' logo badge, plus Tom Oberheim's personal signature. These are currently available for pre-order, with more information on delivery scheduling to be announced later this year."

You might recall the OB-Xa trademark here. I missed the DMX and XPANDER trademarks in that post. Via USPTO:

DMX 88854478 2020-03-31
XPANDER 88854485 2020-03-31
OB-XA 88854470 2020-03-31

No mention of them coming yet but they were filed... The XPANDER is the big surprise though. That is one complicated synth. It's great that Tom Oberheim is still in the game making high quality synths.

Studio Electronics Omega 8 RED EYE Edition

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via this auction

"5 voice Studio Electronics Omega 8 with the Black Music Essentials patch bank (a $100 bank) loaded into ROM C. This version has the Minimoog and Oberheim filters.

It's in excellent condition, sounds incredible, has some typical rack rash. Has multiple options for outputs for the individual voices, as well as a dedicated mono output and stereo outputs.

The BME patchbank is like a trip into 70s-90s R&B and Funk. Incredibly well programmed."

I believe the RED EYE editions were Novamusik special editions. Novamusik is now Kraft Music.

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Oberheim MATRIX-12 synth dust cover (special edition)

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via this auction

See the seller's other items for more.

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Hyboid "Terrör of the Üniverse" Album Teaser #1 (Korg Mono/Poly + Arp Axxe) [HQ Audio]

Published on Dec 15, 2015 Hyboid a.k.a. Astro Chicken

"Teaser for Hyboid´s upcoming 2x12" Vinyl Album "Terrör of the Üniverse" on Astro Chicken Records.
Available on black vinyl (regular edition) and on purple vinyl (special edition with A2 poster and sticker), both editions with free MP3 download code.
Also available as digital release.

Instruments used:
Oberheim DMX
Roland TR-606
Roland CSQ-600
Roland Juno-60
Roland SH-09
Korg Polysix (Tubbutec ModyPoly Mod)
Korg Mono/Poly (Tubbutec ModyPoly Mod)
Arp Axxe
Octave Kitten"

Open Labs MiKo Synthesizer / Keyboard

via this auction

"500GB harddrive. Dressed in an all-new Arctic White Chassis color scheme, the Timbaland Special Edition MiKo will stand out in any crowd.

The Timbaland Special Edition MiKo features E-MU™'s new Proteus™ X2 Streaming Sound Module V2.5 with over 7,000 instruments, including the new Ensoniq™ Urban Legends™ Sound Library that contains the sounds from Ensoniq's ASR™/EPS™/MR™/ASR-X™/ZR™ instruments.

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NAMM & NOT NAMM - New Products on the Synth Front

Well, it's that time of year again. Keep an eye out on the NAMM label (added to top right menu) for everything NAMM and more. More in that anything new will get the label whether it's shown at NAMM or not. It's about new gear. Updates in this post will be preceded in red. Some already in below. See "The NAMM List!" link under the Twitter, Facebook, and RSS labels on top of the right to get back to this post later.

(A note on the top site menus: I removed the iPhone and iPad labels as they go up in posts every day now so you can find them there. eBay links are on the right, so I removed it as well.)

That said, the following are some of the things to look out for. If you have any NAMM info feel free to comment and/or send it in. If I missed anything, let me know! If you are going to NAMM, feel free to send pics and video in.

On the list:

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OBERHEIM MATRIX-6 - “AUDIOPHILE VERSION”

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via this auction

"Ever wonder what would happen if one applied the same upgrade principles we commonly use in high-end audio applications and apply it to ONE of our favorite vintage synths?

The result is what I am listing here as the Matrix 6 –“Audiophile Version” and the sonic results are amazing!!

I repair vintage synths on the side and acquired this Matrix 6 last year in non-working condition. We all know how awesome the classic Oberheim synth circuits are, there’s no questioning that! But many of us engineers know that a circuit is only as good as the quality of parts it is comprised of. Furthermore, many synth manufacturers cannot afford to use the very finest components in manufacturing due to cost constraints in efforts to try and keep the sales MSRP’s down as low as possible. But we don’t have to be limited to that thinking any longer in the 2nd hand market! Therefore, I decided to apply the “audiophile concept” to this Matrix 6 and see what we’d end up with. Below is an outline of the improvements:

* Power Supply Rebuild – pcb cleaned and all critical solder joints re-soldered with special audiophile-grade lead-free solder. Yes, the solder does make a difference folks in the timbre of the circuit! Next, High-end Nichicon Muse Gold series capacitors were used throughout the power supply. (See photo). This greatly enhances the resolution and clarity of the synth and also enhances the “smoothness” and reserve power of the Bass response of the synth since the power supply is responsible for powering all the circuits in the entire synth. Amazing smooth, Fat, rich, Bass now! Power supplies are a very critical component in any synth, just as they are in a tube preamp or any other electronic audio device. This really is no amazing breakthrough knowledge, just smart application of known wisdom.

* The main processor board had a dead battery. This was partly the cause of the original malfunctioning synth. Not only was a fresh battery installed, but a high-quality battery socket was soldered to the pcb so that future battery replacement is very easy if necessary.

* All chips on the processor board were removed and cleaned. Special, non oil-based socket enhancement fluid was used when replacing the IC’s.

* The Processor pcb was then re-loaded with a fresh data dump from the 1100 patch disc included.

* Audio processor pcb was removed and cleaned. All CEM VCO chips were removed and cleaned and replaced with socket enhancement fluid.

* The output pcb on these Matrix synths are very important to the overall sound quality output. The slider potentiometer was rebuilt with Alpha pot parts and re-assembled. Very nice, smooth, action and feel now. Much better than original. The output IC amp is tied to two 10uf caps, which were upgraded to Nichicon Muse Gold caps since this effects the timbre (tone) of the overall output. Small parts, Yes … but very important in the circuit! Again all Solder joints were improved on this pcb as well.

* Keyboard was removed from chassis and disassembled. Rubber boot pcb contact covers were removed and cleaned. This is where we commonly find dried Coke spilled on the keyboard from “who knows what gigs”. This has a tendancy to mess with the contact integrity of the keyboard action, causing misfires of keys etc. The fix is to clean and carefully re-assemble. Keys tops were then polished with plastic polish.

* Entire chassis was cleaned and repainted where possible. The Chassis end pieces were painted with high-quality metallic paint to put a spin on the fact that this synth is “Special Audiophile Edition” now.

* Modulation pots were cleaned and lubed and solder joints re-worked since the headphone output circuit is integrated into this assembly. Headphone output now has increased resolution and clarity.

That about sums it up in the upgrade department for this synth. There are more improvements one could make such as gold-plated female chassis IEC socket and Cryogenically-treated 12 guage power cord etc, but I’ll save that for a future listing or another upgrade project. Warning folks, while all these improvements are awesome and rewarding, they are very time-consuming, as any competent synth tech will tell you. I have about 25 to 30 hours in this one! Will this start a trend? Perhaps...depending upon demand, but your ears will "Hear the Difference"!" Note the side panels on this Matrix-6 are non-standard gray. inside a Matrix-6

Beginner's Book Of Electronic Music

images via this auction.



""The Beginner's Book Of Electronic Music" book by Delton T. Horn

Printed in 1983.
First Edition. First Printing.
376 Pages. Hardcover.

"Explore the exciting world of electronic music...discover the impact that new technology has made on the range and variety of synthesized sound...learn how you can create your own synthesized live or recorded sound using home-built circuitry or commercially available equipment! All this and more is included in this up-to-the-minute guide to synthesized music for both electronics and music hobbyists. Plus, it includes an extensive listing of available electronic music recordings and a complete buyer's guide to the commercial synthesizing equipment (modular, normalized, pre-set, and computerized).

Sound and acoustic principles are thoroughly reviewed and there's a detailed look at sound sources for electronic music- oscillators, noise generators, and recorded sounds. You'll learn how new sounds can be created by additive or subtractive synthesis, and the fundamentals of using filters, amplifiers, modulation, controllers, and other devices to manipulate musical sounds. There's also lots of practical advice on setting up your own electronic music studio.

Other topics covered: the basic of tape recording and editing; the ways modules can be interconnected to create sound s (patching); how-to's for combining electronic sounds into a unified musical work; how to manipulate natural sounds by electronic means (Musique Concrete); information on sonic environments, and a look at the special problems of live electronic music performance.

Packed with the kind of information you'll need to understand the fundamentals of synthesized music and the circuit data you'll need to start creating our own electronic music projects, this is a book that every electronic music enthusiast will want to refer to time and time again!"

Contains pictures of: The Maplin 5600S (Amazing color picture on the cover!), Korg VC-10, Korg X-911, Korg PS-3200, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 and 10, Sequential Circuits Poly-Sequencer, Oberheim OB-Xa, Moog Source, Moog Taurus, Moog MG-1, Korg Trident, Sequential Circuits Pro-One, Moog Prodigy, Moog Rogue, PolyMoog, Korg MS-10, Paia 2700 Modular, and many more!"

I added this to the Synth Books section.

Rack #1

flickr by rhodeschroma
(click for more)

"The list of stuff in the pictures is (with a few exceptions I couldn't fit in the frames:)

Rhodes [ARP] Chroma, Chroma Expander, 2 Chroma Polaris' and 1 Chroma Polaris II Sequential Circuits Prophet VS, Dave Smith Prophet-8 Special Edition and Poly Evolver Keyboard, Hartmann Neuron, Oberheim Xpander and OB-8, Anxiously Awaiting John Bowen Synth Design Hardware Solaris

I have a few enjoyable monophonics:
Moog Minimoog and Voyager Signature, and Crumar Spirit.

Other fun goodies
Yamaha Motif ES8, DX100, FS1r, TG33, S80, Alesis Andromeda, Elektron Sidstation, Korg Triton, Triton Extreme 76, 01WFD, 707, 01R/W, Wavestation SR and A/D, Ensoniq ESQm, Technics WSA1r, Roland JV5080, D550, S550, MKS 7; 10; 20; 30; 50; 70; 80 (all with programmers), D20, JD800, Juno 106 Kawai K5000s, SX210, SX240, K3m, K5m, Emu Carnival, Xtreme Lead, Audity 2000, Virtuoso 2000, Waldorf Q, two original Microwaves, Microwave 2, Pulse Plus, and Microwave XT, ARP Omni and Omni II Moog CDX, Akai VX-600 Clavia Nord Lead 3 and Nord Electro 73, Rhodes 54, Casio CZ-101 and various PT series yumyums...
TONS of MOTU MTP-AV's and regulated power supplies. Everything is housed in multiple Omnirax stations with Yamaha 01V's and 01v96V2 using lightpipe."