Upcoming Synapse OB-Xa: Obsession

[wagtunes]

I think $129-149 would be too steep for me at least. Not for a single synth emulation. Repro is $149 and includes two synths--one mono and one poly.

He making a Synth that sounds identical to a legendary hardware synth to an obsessive incredible level and costs $5,199.99, that he's spent years working on, But he's going to give it to you for 150$, only 3% of the Price you would have to Pay for the hardware Unit, oh and it has extra features, and you keep it forever with no risk of breaking it:

A lot of synths cost outrageous amounts of money on the used market. That doesn't mean there is any particular correlation between the used price, the list price back in the 80s, and what an emulation will fetch today. It is only worth as much as folks are willing to pay.

You're right. A synth will cost what people are willing to spend on it. I think Richard is smart enough to have done the necessary research to determine what price he should sell this synth at.

Trust me. He's not going to give this many years of work away for a song.

[tony10000]

You're right. A synth will cost what people are willing to spend on it. I think Richard is smart enough to have done the necessary research to determine what price he should sell this synth at.

Trust me. He's not going to give this many years of work away for a song.

Nor would I expect him to. I am a big admirer of his synths--I own Dune 3, Legend, and Antidote.

That said, the single legacy synth market is pretty compressed right now since we have so many alternatives such as Diva, Roland Cloud, Arturia V Collection/Analog Lab, Omnisphere, etc. I don't think Urs is even planning to do another legacy synth for that reason.

And, I have the option of using Analog Lab, Diva with the Uhbie filter, the freeware OB-Xd synth, or lots of sampled instruments when I need Oberheim sounds. Now, if he was doing a Matrix 12 emulation, my ears would definitely perk up.

[wagtunes]

You're right. A synth will cost what people are willing to spend on it. I think Richard is smart enough to have done the necessary research to determine what price he should sell this synth at.

Trust me. He's not going to give this many years of work away for a song.

Nor would I expect him to. I am a big admirer of his synths--I own Dune 3, Legend, and Antidote.

That said, the single legacy synth market is pretty compressed right now since we have so many alternatives such as Diva, Roland Cloud, Arturia V Collection/Analog Lab, Omnisphere, etc. I don't think Urs is even planning to do another legacy synth for that reason.

And, I have the option of using Analog Lab, Diva with the Uhbie filter, the freeware OB-Xd synth, or lots of sampled instruments when I need Oberheim sounds. Now, if he was doing a Matrix 12 emulation, my ears would definitely perk up.

Well then obviously you're not the target market for this synth. People who are, who don't think the OBXD cuts it or any of the other "close" emulations, WILL be the target market. For those folks, if Richard prices it too high, they'll vote with their wallets. And even then, some of the die hards may STILL buy it anyway.

Each person will have their own threshold. The key is finding a price point that will get the most buyers but also make the most amount of money for those buyers.

It's not something I'd ever even attempt to do but those with enough business experience who really know the market will know just what to do.

I'm not a betting man but I'll still go with $149. $99 would be a total shock to me. I just don't see it. And $129 would definitely be on the low end.

[Yorrrrrr]

Same price as Legend would be my guess, as it's equivalent.

[tony10000]

You're right. A synth will cost what people are willing to spend on it. I think Richard is smart enough to have done the necessary research to determine what price he should sell this synth at.

Trust me. He's not going to give this many years of work away for a song.

Nor would I expect him to. I am a big admirer of his synths--I own Dune 3, Legend, and Antidote.

That said, the single legacy synth market is pretty compressed right now since we have so many alternatives such as Diva, Roland Cloud, Arturia V Collection/Analog Lab, Omnisphere, etc. I don't think Urs is even planning to do another legacy synth for that reason.

And, I have the option of using Analog Lab, Diva with the Uhbie filter, the freeware OB-Xd synth, or lots of sampled instruments when I need Oberheim sounds. Now, if he was doing a Matrix 12 emulation, my ears would definitely perk up.

Well then obviously you're not the target market for this synth. People who are, who don't think the OBXD cuts it or any of the other "close" emulations, WILL be the target market. For those folks, if Richard prices it too high, they'll vote with their wallets. And even then, some of the die hards may STILL buy it anyway.

Each person will have their own threshold. The key is finding a price point that will get the most buyers but also make the most amount of money for those buyers.

It's not something I'd ever even attempt to do but those with enough business experience who really know the market will know just what to do.

I'm not a betting man but I'll still go with $149. $99 would be a total shock to me. I just don't see it. And $129 would definitely be on the low end.

$149 would definitely be too steep.

Diva is $179 and it can emulate a wide range of synths from Moog, Roland, Korg, and Oberheim with the added ability to mix and match, modulation options, and decent effects.

Analog die-hards will want the real thing. And Behringer has delayed their UB-Xa project which may indicate a weakness in the market for an Oberheim clone. (The first prototype was finished around 16 months ago).

https://www.synthanatomy.com/2020/01/be ... o-uli.html

https://www.gearnews.com/behringer-ease ... -xa-photo/

At $99, I see a decent market for it. Above that, I am not so sure. It really depends on bells and whistles like modulation options and effects.

[mholloway]

Same price as Legend would be my guess, as it's equivalent.

How did you compute that they are 'equivalent'? What makes them equal?

[BONES]

My take is that $99 was a fair price for The Legend, given what it has to offer, a few years ago. But the game has moved on and a lot of synths that were $129 a few years ago are now $149 and $149 synths are now $169-$179. The cost of living hasn't gone down, neither have wages, so it is almost inevitable that the new synth will be more expensive than The Legend. If I had to guess, I'd say $119-$129.

The thing with it is, unlike straight emulations, you don't have to give a flying f**k about the Oberheim sound, or accurate emulation thereof, to see the value of this instrument. I honestly couldn't care less how much like an OB-Xa it is, I would buy it because it sounds amazing, despite being stupidly simple. It is exactly the kind of synth I have been begging for someone to make for 15 years - stellar sound without having to wade through 12 envelopes and 40 LFOs and every other thing that opens and shuts that 99% of users will never find any use for to get the sound you want. Rich thought I might appreciate The Legend for that, but he apparently hadn't noticed how bad the Minimoog sounds. No such issue this time around though, he's nailed it.

[tony10000]

My take is that $99 was a fair price for The Legend, given what it ha sot offer, a few years ago. But the game has moved on and a lot of synths that were $128 a few years ago are now $149 and $149 synths are now $169-$179. The cost of living hasn't gone down, neither have wages, so it is almost inevitable that the new synth will be more expensive than The Legend. If I had to guess, I'd say $119-$129.

The thing with it is, unlike straight emulations, you don't have to give a flying f**k about the Oberheim sound, or accurate emulation thereof, to see the value of this instrument. I honestly couldn't care less how much like an OB-Xa it is, I would buy it because it sounds amazing, despite being stupidly simple. It is exactly the kind of synth I have been begging for someone to make for 15 years - stellar sound without having to wade through 12 envelopes and 40 LFOs and every other thing that opens and shuts that 99% of users will never find any use for to get the sound you want. Rich thought I might appreciate The Legend for that, but he apparently hadn't noticed how bad the Minimoog sounds. No such issue this time around though, he's nailed it.

It all depends on what you have, what you need, and what you want. Personally, I don't find synths like Dune that hard to get around on if you are looking to create simple sounds. And there are certainly plenty of waveforms and filter options.

[BONES]

That's what I mean - why do you need all those options, why not just pick one good one and offer that? Of course, the commercial answer to that question is because different users want different things and having lots of options broadens the instrument's appeal. But I don't see why I should have to wade through 25 options just to keep somebody's marketing dept happy when I only ever use the same one or two. At least with an emulation, you have restrictions on that kind of over-indulgence. That said, I did ask Rich if he could put the SEM filter in as an option but he ignored me, as he is entitled to do. He probably didn't have a SEM to model the filter from anyway.

[tony10000]

That's what I mean - why do you need all those options, why not just pick one good one and offer that? Of course, the commercial answer to that question is because different users want different things and having lots of options broadens the instrument's appeal. But I don't see why I should have to wade through 25 options just to keep somebody's marketing dept happy when I only ever use the same one or two. At least with an emulation, you have restrictions on that kind of over-indulgence. That said, I did ask Rich if he could put the SEM filter in as an option but he ignored me, as he is entitled to do. He probably didn't have a SEM to model the filter from anyway.

The market demands more and more. Look at the most popular synths out there right now: All kinds of sound sources including waveforms, wavetables, FM, samples, etc. A wide range of filter designs and slopes. All kinds of envelopes, modulation sources and options, arps, sequencers, etc. And a complete effects suite. That is what sells in 2020.

[revvy]

but he apparently hadn't noticed how bad the Minimoog sounds.

How could he have missed it..?

[tony10000]

MiniMoog sounds bad? Tell that to Amin Bhatia:

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2012/ ... lar-suite/

[AnX]

to be precise, he doesn't like the filter behavior at high res settings

personally I never use high res unless I'm doing acid type sounds, but I use a dedicated unit for that

[Aliens]

to be precise, he doesn't like the filter behavior at high res settings

personally I never use high res unless I'm doing acid type sounds, but I use a dedicated unit for that

First rule is always right tool for the job. Second is never blame your tools because you suck.

[revvy]

Yeah, I know, cuts out the low end.

Well, my Pulse 2 does that too and it doesn't bother me as I also typically don't use high res for basses and the filter sounds lovely for the uses I do need. Acceptable trade-off maybe.