Styx synths

[tomg]

Tom I gotta agree that I am not even all that interested in "analog style" synths and I really have taken a liking to this one. Top stuff man. BTW, do you have a store front here in houston?

Thanks dude! No. I've got a garage out back. I do almost everything over the net and ship out of my mailbox. It's great! I used to own a tv/stereo shop in Atlanta. This is so much better.

[eduardo_b]

I have pretty nice one named OB-80 that's not available right now but the Micromodular also sounds very OB like.

Are you thinking of adding it to your site at some point? I'd be curious to try it.

[papatomany]

I know they used ARP Omnis and Odysseys too. I think you can get pretty Styxish with only Pentagon, if you think of being in the same vein rather than trying to duplicate the exact sounds.

[tomg]

I have pretty nice one named OB-80 that's not available right now but the Micromodular also sounds very OB like.

Are you thinking of adding it to your site at some point? I'd be curious to try it.

It needs to be updated for note priority. I'm kinda waiting for SE v1.1 before I update anymore of my emulators. Jeff is hinting that v1.1 will support sysex and I would love to be able to import patch banks. If is really happens I suspect I'll be hot to update all of them.

[tomg]

I know they used ARP Omnis and Odysseys too. I think you can get pretty Styxish with only Pentagon, if you think of being in the same vein rather than trying to duplicate the exact sounds.

This is news to me. AFAIK it was all OB-8 and piano. I caught them live twice and the only synth I ever saw on stage was the Oberheim.

[susiwong]

Problem is, for me their best (and only relevant)work was pre-Cornerstone (1979), ymmv.
The OB-X came out in 1979 afaik and the OB-8 came in 1983 - so the original question is still standing.
I sure would like to know what synths were used on the Equinox / Crystal Ball / Grand Illusion / Pieces Of Eight albums.
As far as Oberheim emulations go - I absolutely enjoy my OP-X (and Stringer, too) by sonicprojects - those two just nail lots of classic '70s and '80s sounds and sit so well in the mix, it's almost like cheating !

Cheers, susiwong

[eduardo_b]

I know they used ARP Omnis and Odysseys too. I think you can get pretty Styxish with only Pentagon, if you think of being in the same vein rather than trying to duplicate the exact sounds.

This is news to me. AFAIK it was all OB-8 and piano. I caught them live twice and the only synth I ever saw on stage was the Oberheim.

That's what I also read -- only OB-8 and then OB-8A.

[tomg]

Problem is, for me their best (and only relevant)work was pre-Cornerstone (1979), ymmv.
The OB-X came out in 1979 afaik and the OB-8 came in 1983 - so the original question is still standing.
I sure would like to know what synths were used on the Equinox / Crystal Ball / Grand Illusion / Pieces Of Eight albums.
As far as Oberheim emulations go - I absolutely enjoy my OP-X (and Stringer, too) by sonicprojects - those two just nail lots of classic '70s and '80s sounds and sit so well in the mix, it's almost like cheating !

Cheers, susiwong

Now that you've said that I seem to remember some photos of Dennis with a OB 4-Voice or maybe it was a 8-Voice. That would explain all those OB sounds on Cryatal Ball and Grand Illusion.

[eduardo_b]

Problem is, for me their best (and only relevant)work was pre-Cornerstone (1979), ymmv.
The OB-X came out in 1979 afaik and the OB-8 came in 1983 - so the original question is still standing.
I sure would like to know what synths were used on the Equinox / Crystal Ball / Grand Illusion / Pieces Of Eight albums.
As far as Oberheim emulations go - I absolutely enjoy my OP-X (and Stringer, too) by sonicprojects - those two just nail lots of classic '70s and '80s sounds and sit so well in the mix, it's almost like cheating !

Cheers, susiwong

Now that you've said that I seem to remember some photos of Dennis with a OB 4-Voice or maybe it was a 8-Voice. That would explain all those OB sounds on Cryatal Ball and Grand Illusion.

From looking at photos of all these, they certainly couldn't be confused -- the 4 and 8 Voice looking nothing like the OB-8.

[vista]

...
Unfortunately my Oberheim OB12 is not a real Oberheim .

Oberheim Matrix
-> SimSynth 2.7 (1.3 Free)
-> Jon Rutledge Matrix-12 Expander 1.0

Oberheim OB-Xa
-> Andreas Ersson PolyIblit !
-> MikkoHyyryläinen (aka LOCockaigne) OBERON POLY8
-> REAKTOR4 ZooTooK OB-Xb v1.0

Oberheim OB-8
-> Andreas Ersson PolyIblit !
-> MikkoHyyryläinen (aka LOCockaigne) OBERON POLY8
-> ele4music/EFM OB-80 (C)

OBERHEIM OB-4
-> MikkoHyyryläinen (aka LOCockaigne) OBERON POLY8

Oberheim Xpander
-> Greenoak Crystal (Korg WaveStation / XPhrase)

Oberheim 2-voice SEM
-> REAKTOR4 Me2SalEM (NI-PremiumLib)!

Oberheim 4-voice SEM
-> REAKTOR4 ...

... but the OB-12 is a very nice one and the most oberheimish
new hardsynth available.

[ew]

Oberheim Xpander
-> Greenoak Crystal (Korg WaveStation / XPhrase)

?

I don't see that one at all. The Xpander was a six voice, two oscillator synth with excellent mod capabilities (five LFOs, five envelopes, ramps, a tracking generator, etc.) and a great multimode filter. PolyIblit comes much closer to the vibe (and sound) of an Xpander than any of your choices.

ew

[tomg]

From looking at photos of all these, they certainly couldn't be confused -- the 4 and 8 Voice looking nothing like the OB-8.

Both times I saw them live they had the OB-8. I'm talking about maybe seeing a magazine photo. I really don't remember.

[papatomany]

I know they used ARP Omnis and Odysseys too. I think you can get pretty Styxish with only Pentagon, if you think of being in the same vein rather than trying to duplicate the exact sounds.

This is news to me. AFAIK it was all OB-8 and piano. I caught them live twice and the only synth I ever saw on stage was the Oberheim.

The Odyssey is listed in album credits (I think the Omni is too). I remember specifically JY being credited with the Odyssey on "Come Sail Away" and seeing him standing at one on one of the concert shows (Don Kirshner's Rock Concert or Night Flight).

A quick web search says in numerous places that they "popularized" the Odyssey which I think is way overstating it. I could see crediting them with "popularizing" the Oberheim (or at least that not being too much of a stretch).

And of course there's organ work on the albums. (e.g. the pipe organ on I'm OK.)

[tomg]

The Odyssey is listed in album credits (I think the Omni is too). I remember specifically JY being credited with the Odyssey on "Come Sail Away" and seeing him standing at one on one of the concert shows (Don Kirshner's Rock Concert or Night Flight).

A quick web search says in numerous places that they "popularized" the Odyssey which I think is way overstating it. I could see crediting them with "popularizing" the Oberheim (or at least that not being too much of a stretch).

And of course there's organ work on the albums. (e.g. the pipe organ on I'm OK.)

For Sure on the Hammond! Too bad I gave all my LPs away or I could go look.. Hey! I just remembered, I've got Caught In The Act somewhere. I should dig it out. I think Shaw does some extra keyboards (don't remember what) on that.

[Har]

I vaguely remember at some point in the 80's getting a Roland User Group magazine that stated that Dennis DeYoung was going onstage with Styx with so many Jupiter 8's that he was being referred to as something like "The Duke of Jupiters" or something goofy like that...