Oberheim OB-Mx Sample

Title link takes you to an amazing sample of the Oberheim OB-Mx sent my way via Brian Kehew of The Moog Cookbook. I've heard some samples of the OB-Mx in the past that were good, but nothing like this. There is a bit of controversy over the OB-Mx. Don Buchla helped design the synth. There was an early prototype version said to sound much better than the final release. It's rumored that the final release was rushed to market by Gibson (owner of Oberheim at the time). The synth was buggy, voice boards were prone to failure and tuning problems, it was very expensive, and it was said that it was lackluster in the sound department. After listening to these samples, I'm not so sure. It sounds amazing to me - very unique, heavy and full. This thing has balls. Big stinky, rubber, balls (something rubbery about the sound). Put a plug in it Butt Probe, this is refined nastiness.

OB-Mx Prototype (shot via teknobo)


OB-Mx Final (shot via VSE)


Thanks for the sample Brian. Here are a few older posts on the OB-Mx: 1, 2, 3 (samples), 4 (pics and samples), 5 (samples).

A Misunderstood Synth...

http://www.tapeop.com/magazine/bonus/fizmo.html

There is a thread on the-gas-station.com, on the Voyager which evolved to comparisons to the soft synth Minis (Arturia's Minimoog V and GMedia's Minimonsta) as being even better. The thread like most goes off into tangents and the notorious OB-Mx comes up. But the theme is all the same. Synths that disappoint, which the OB-Mx is notorious for. So far I've only heard neutral to negative comments on the synth. Neutral is bad when something as anticipated as an uber all analog Oberheim with Don Buchla on helm comes out. But this particular post was *not* another bad one, it was an actual "hands off to Don Buchla." I remember being in awe when the OB-Mx came out (heck, matrixsynth and matrix comes from my first synth the Matrix-6 and my love for it and my "ultimate" synth, the Matrix-12). As the saying goes, there's nothing like the first... : )

I am curious as to what the poster, Giant Robot, has discovered that so few if anyone else has with the OB-Mx. What is the hidden treasure in there? Does it exist? This reminded me of another little flop in the synth world. A little magical synth that was killed before it was ever allowed to shine, the FIZMO. See the link above to read the interview. It's worth reading.

From my post:
"I remember being intrigued by the FIZMO when it came out. Not on the synth legend level but pretty intrigued nonetheless. Then it got horrid reviews and I finally got my hands on one. I wasn't too impressed, but again... only a "2 second" trial and I was in the VA mode digging the Nord Lead and JP8000; so like everyone else, when it couldn't make "those sounds," I dismissed it. Just recently I was more intrigued and out of my everything analog and VA stage. So many beautiful synths out there and just a few methods of synthesis. Transwave being something missing in my gear I thought I'd try it again. One came up locally pretty cheap. I read up on it again and found an article by the maker who stated how sad the whole thing was. The FIZMO was supposed to be anything but VA. It was supposed to be a new take on transwave synthesis with more motion and immediate control. It was supposed to be a beautiful evolving synth, and a synthesist's synth not some sample playback preset synth. And sadly it flopped because of the power supply issue and people just couldn't see past the knobs, thinking knobs = analog/VA.

I picked it up and man... I was and still am blown away. It's an ethereal synth. Just beautiful; in motion. It actually reminds me of a softer version of the Evolver. It kind of sounds like the FS1R, but different - almost more delicate for lack of a better description. It's a beautiful synth that was misunderstood and mistakenly given a bad wrap. I think all synths have something to offer. I keep wondering what the OB-Mx has. Even if Oberheim cut it short, it did have some of that Buchla magic didn't it?"

More OB-Mx Samples Via Brian Kehew

Click here for another sample of the OB-Mx sent my way via Brian Kehew of The Moog Cookbook. It's the 4M mp3. The other is the sample he previously sent in.

"Here are some of my sounds, they kinda show off what the synth does well. It's aggressive without losing the "muscle" of the sound; a real DIRTY sound when you want it. It has nice complexity and definitely sounds analog. I think it's unfairly treated by some people, although there are others like me that are in love with it. The filters sound great, and the complexity - from the Matrix-style routings - gives it a lot of options if you're a programming nut.

I think it got too much attention for being connected to Don Buchla - he did very little on the synth, and it's NOT like a Buchla really. But you have to give them credit - at the time this came out NOBODY was making analog synths. I thought it was such a bold (and commercially ahead-of-it's time, or behind-it's-time!) idea. Sure was expensive though. For a short time, about three years ago, unused voice cards were turning up - they all sold fast as people stacked up their synth. Mine now has all twelve voices."

OB-Mx shot via Sequencer.de.

Oberheim OB-Mx

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Note the knobs are different.
Details:
Inside view(1 two voice card included)
Specifications:
Polyphony - 2 voice (expandable to 12)
Oscillators - 2 per voice; Triangle,
Sawtooth, Pulse Width waveforms
LFO - 3 LFOs (triangle, sawtooth, sample/hold)
Filter - 2 filters per voice; Resonant 12 dB/oct
Oberheim type filter with low, band,
hi pass and a 24 dB/oct Minimoog low-pass filter section
VCA - 4 multistage envelopes per voice
Keyboard - None
Memory - 256 patches, 256 performances
Control - MIDI (12 parts)
Date Produced - 1994

Oberheim OB-Mx

via this auction
"Specifications
•Polyphony - 2 voice (expandable to 12)
•Oscillators - 2 per voice; Triangle, Sawtooth, Pulse Width waveforms
•LFO - 3 LFOs (triangle, sawtooth, sample/hold)
•Filter - 2 filters per voice; Resonant 12 dB/oct Oberheim type filter with low, band, hi pass and a 24 dB/oct Minimoog low-pass filter section
•VCA - 4 multistage envelopes per voice
•Keyboard - None
•Memory - 256 patches, 256 performances
•Control - MIDI (12 parts)
•Date Produced - 1994
•Est. Value - $1,000 - $3,000"

Oberheim OB-MX Analog Synth 8 voice

via this auction
* Polyphony - 2 voice (expandable to 12)
* Oscillators - 2 per voice; Triangle, Sawtooth, Pulse Width waveforms
* LFO - 3 LFOs (triangle, sawtooth, sample/hold)
* Filter - 2 filters per voice; Resonant 12 dB/oct Oberheim type filter with low, band, hi pass and a 24 dB/oct Minimoog low-pass filter section
* VCA - 4 multistage envelopes per voice
* Keyboard - None
* Memory - 256 patches, 256 performances
* Control - MIDI (12 parts)
* Date Produced - 1994
* Est. Value - $1,000 - $3,000

OBERHEIM OB-Mx 2 Voice Expansion Card

via this auction

Close up shot of the board. Note the CEM 5508H Octal Sample & Hold. It is also used in the Waldorf Waveslave, mentioned on Till Kopper's site here.

Update via Qwave (Till) in the comments: "This CEM 5508H is used in all versions of the Waldorf MicroWave too: [link]

Spot it in the close up pictures.

The Waldorf WAVE uses 1 CEM PD508 as multiplexer for the analog voltages that feed the analog filter and VCA chips. The CEM 5508H is used for the very same purpose in the MicroWave and WaveSlave."

Oberheim OB-Mx Demo

OBM-X_impro_without_any_effects.mp3

download here
via sequencer.de
sample

Oberheim OB-MX 12 Voice Cross Section

via this auction.
"Rich, warm, swirlling textures are created with 32 knobs, 47 buttons, and many many MIDI controllable cross modulations(pan, pulse width, osc sync, even "analog" FM. Bright, M1 size green display, with a simple user interface. 3 LFO's(triangle, forward and reverse sawtooth, and random, with a sample and hold feature for generating "computeresque" LFO sounds or a square LFO) Up to 6 oscillators (Triangle, Sawtooth, Pulse Width) per voice. Oberheim Filter(with adjustable resonance, hipass, lowpass, and bandpass), plus a "Mini-Moog" style 24 Db resonant low-pass filter. Signal to Noise ratio is EXCELLENT(better than some "super-clean" digital synths), around 88-92 db for most patches."

via brian comnes. Note brian is not the one selling this, so as always be careful.

Synamiitti 2015

Published on Sep 6, 2015 Petri Kauppi

"Turun syntetisaattoriseuran Synamiitti 2015"

Video from this year's Synamiitti synth event in Finland.

Some details on the event via http://synamiitti.com for the archives:

"12:00-18:00 Synamiitti, Loads of synths on display
The Daytime event is free of charge and the bar is open.
Päivätapahtuma on ilmainen ja Dynamossa on A-oikeudet.
AFTERPARTY
21:00-02:00 Live performances by:
RONSKIBIITTI (21:30)
MR VELCRO FASTENER (22:30)
visuals by:
VJ TURU SANOMA
Ovet/doors 21.00, liput/tickets 6e, ennakot/advance 8raita & Ticted
The Afterparty is presented by: TELMU & Turun Syntetisaattoriseura

ON DISPLAY / PETTING ZOO

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