Arturia OB-Xa V

[Examigan]

I just tried something with the default init preset from Template in the browser. See if you get the same result. I used the standalone version on a PC with Windows 10.

Switch Unison on, set to Stereo, play one note over and over.
maybe about 3 notes a second. I get a kind of stuttering sound that shouldn't happen if I am just playing just one note repeatedly, and even happens when I turn up the buffer size to 512 samples. Same issue even when Poly is set to 16.

I don't get that issue, but a single held note will take around 30% CPU on Studio One with this setup (more if I increase the dropout protection).

I reported the issue I mentioned. They said they know of it and are going to fix it in an update.

[LoveEnigma18]

Absolutely spot on and exactly what I thought yesterday. They took this different approach for the very reason.

Example: Buy OB-Xa V now for $49. Later, probably December 2020, when V Collection 8 is out, give $99 for upgrade from your previous V Collection since discounted upgrades are always minimum $99. So, a sales advantage of $49 per sale.

Instead, I would wait and give $99 in December if I were to upgrade to V Collection 8 and get all the new synths.

But as always, pay more-get early.

I may be mistaken, but I have a feeling that last year the price to upgrade from V6 to V7 was $199 and people (including myself) weren't happy about it as they were expecting the previous $99 upgrade price.

From a PR perspective, dropping the products individually gives more opportunities for promotion and social media engagement.

You are right, but it was $99 during Black Friday sale, which is when I picked it up. So, I assumed that in calculation, and probably Arturia has, too.

Indeed.

[wagtunes]

You really should take your medicine as prescribed!

He may be an obnoxious ass but he makes a good point.

As someone who has well over 100 VSTs, if Synapse doesn't come out with this thing before the Arturia deal lapses, I'm going to pick up the OB-Xa V. I watched the Arturia demos and it sounds fine.

At that point, I will have no need for another OB-Xa. And certainly not at the price Synapse is most likely going to charge. Plus for $149, I get V7 which gives me several other products that I don't have currently.

If I feel this way, someone who has bought way more synths than he needs, it can't be beyond the realm of reason that many other people will feel this way as well.

Mind you, I am an owner of Dune 2, Dune 3, Legend and Dune CM. I love Richard's stuff. But I don't need 2 OB-Xa synths.

There is no question Synapse will lose sales. How many? That remains to be seen.

Wait...you're the guy that said it sounded god-awful a few pages ago or did I miss a mea culpa somewhere? (yes I'm joking...I do realize you said you watched more videos).

Anyhow, the jackass who you're saying has a good point really doesn't. There will be differences between the two that will make people either wait for the Synapse version or buy both. And the end of the day does anyone REALLY need this plugin? Like Arturia doesn't have the sonic landscape covered already in the rest of V7. If I pony up the $49 for this it will be because my collector itch is going.

Anyhow, my opinion is Synapse doesn't have anything to worry about.

1. The demo that person posted sounded God awful. The Arturia demo sounded excellent. I was very impressed.

2. If Synapse, a company I fully support and love, is going to lose my sale if they wait too long, how can you say there won't be lost sales?

As I said, how many remains to be seen. But there will be. When there are options, there are always lost sales.

And as far as the sonic landscape being covered, to my ears anyway, nothing sounds like an Oberheim. With my 100 plus VSTs, I can't get that Oberheim sound. As I am not a tech person, I don't know why that is as far as how these synths are made. All I know is when I bring up my XILS Poly< or my Synapse Dune 3, they don't sound like Oberheims.

Now, does one NEED an Oberheim to make music? Of course not. And I can certainly live without even Arturia's version. But if you want THAT sound, there are very few "decent" options. All of which, to my ears anyway, do not do the Oberheim sound justice.

YMMV.

[wagtunes]

IMO, Arturia won't have much to worry about either. I don't see this much as a either/or thing for most of the people out there. People who have bought Arturia so far will buy this, people who bought Synapse will buy the Synapse one. I don't see much of a competition, apart for the usual black/white crowd.

Not everybody has unlimited disposable cash. I know I don't. For those people, it will be an either or thing or possibly neither if money is really tight.

All I know is this. If Synapse doesn't come out with their synth soon and I'm on the final day of Arturia's sale, I will be picking up Arturia's version (it's good enough) and I won't be picking up Synapse Audio's version because I don't need 2 OB-Xa synths.

I can't possibly be the only person on this planet who feels this way.

[AnX]

Synapse are not purposely waiting for anything, they are working to release the best product they can

sure, it may be bad timing with the Arturia release, but that's life. I don't think SA will rush anything at the risk of releasing something unfinished, for the sake of a few sales

[chk071]

I can't possibly be the only person on this planet who feels this way.

Surely not.

BTW, it's rather on the technical side, but, what this synth does better than any other synths I've played with so far is rendering the GUI. It's fast, it's resizable, it's not enlarging the GUI in a way that it gets cut off at the bottom when you open the upper panel, and it just looks good. I think Arturia have developed a really nice framework there. Wished other synths were like that as well.

[pixel85]

I never used hardware so my opinion is based on what I hear in demos and it sounds... ok? Seriously nothing special. I don't know where is this 'classic synth' magic here because for me it does nothing that other plugins can't already do.
Change name and GUI to something ugly (oh well OB-Xa is ugly ) and this synth wouldn't be even mentioned on this forum.
Is it just me or people are getting hyped because it's 'classic synth emulation' with GUI looking like original hardware?

[rezoneight]

1. The demo that person posted sounded God awful. The Arturia demo sounded excellent. I was very impressed.

2. If Synapse, a company I fully support and love, is going to lose my sale if they wait too long, how can you say there won't be lost sales?

As I said, how many remains to be seen. But there will be. When there are options, there are always lost sales.

And as far as the sonic landscape being covered, to my ears anyway, nothing sounds like an Oberheim. With my 100 plus VSTs, I can't get that Oberheim sound. As I am not a tech person, I don't know why that is as far as how these synths are made. All I know is when I bring up my XILS Poly< or my Synapse Dune 3, they don't sound like Oberheims.

Now, does one NEED an Oberheim to make music? Of course not. And I can certainly live without even Arturia's version. But if you want THAT sound, there are very few "decent" options. All of which, to my ears anyway, do not do the Oberheim sound justice.

YMMV.

I don't think there will be lost sales on the scale that jackass poster seems to think. And I think that Oberheim sound was covered pretty well like a decade ago by OP-X Pro-II, which even included the trim pots for each of the voice cards (plus other filter emulations, etc). And of course this isn't Arturia's first Oberheim plugin.

As to Synapse losing a sale to you time will tell Mr. "100 plus VSTs".

This is just the shiny new bauble that everyone will forget about when Synapse releases theirs.

On the other hand I could be totally wrong and Synapse will go out of business because of this one release. But I'm betting Richard will be just fine.

[rezoneight]

I never used hardware so my opinion is based on what I hear in demos and it sounds... ok? Seriously nothing special. I don't know where is this 'classic synth' magic here because for me it does nothing that other plugins can't already do.
Change name and GUI to something ugly (oh well OB-Xa is ugly ) and this synth wouldn't be even mentioned on this forum.
Is it just me or people are getting hyped because it's 'classic synth emulation' with GUI looking like original hardware?

It's not just you. Quite frankly most of this stuff doesn't sound that great without effects (I can hear the gasps from the audience as I type this), which is why almost all of these emulations have additional features, most notably effects.

wagtunes mentioned DUNE3. DUNE3 is a monster. My opinion is it sounds far cooler than any Oberheim ever did.

[wagtunes]

I never used hardware so my opinion is based on what I hear in demos and it sounds... ok? Seriously nothing special. I don't know where is this 'classic synth' magic here because for me it does nothing that other plugins can't already do.
Change name and GUI to something ugly (oh well OB-Xa is ugly ) and this synth wouldn't be even mentioned on this forum.
Is it just me or people are getting hyped because it's 'classic synth emulation' with GUI looking like original hardware?

Well, there are 2 things at play here.

1. Nothing Special - This is all subjective. I know there are lots of people who didn't like the Oberheim sound back in the day. I happened to love it and could tell an Oberheim synth a mile away. Nothing sounded exactly like them. Not to my ears.

2. Emulation Accuracy - Again, subjective. But those more familiar with the hardware will probably be better at finding flaws. I owned a Korg Wavestation and used it for years. The Korg VST is identical. There is absolutely no difference. Nobody can tel me there is. It is dead on.

So, those who think the synth isn't special to begin with won't care how accurate either version is either way. They are simply not prospective customers.

Those who DO think the original synth is special will probably go with the one they think is closer to the original. Of course price may be an issue here, as it is for me. If I can get a good deal on Arturia and Synapse Audio's isn't out yet, I will get Arturia's and will have no need to get Synapse Audio's. Sure, there will be people who will get both. Some people buy every synth made. But some of us aren't made of money and have to be choosy.

[wagtunes]

1. The demo that person posted sounded God awful. The Arturia demo sounded excellent. I was very impressed.

2. If Synapse, a company I fully support and love, is going to lose my sale if they wait too long, how can you say there won't be lost sales?

As I said, how many remains to be seen. But there will be. When there are options, there are always lost sales.

And as far as the sonic landscape being covered, to my ears anyway, nothing sounds like an Oberheim. With my 100 plus VSTs, I can't get that Oberheim sound. As I am not a tech person, I don't know why that is as far as how these synths are made. All I know is when I bring up my XILS Poly< or my Synapse Dune 3, they don't sound like Oberheims.

Now, does one NEED an Oberheim to make music? Of course not. And I can certainly live without even Arturia's version. But if you want THAT sound, there are very few "decent" options. All of which, to my ears anyway, do not do the Oberheim sound justice.

YMMV.

I don't think there will be lost sales on the scale that jackass poster seems to think. And I think that Oberheim sound was covered pretty well like a decade ago by OP-X Pro-II, which even included the trim pots for each of the voice cards (plus other filter emulations, etc). And of course this isn't Arturia's first Oberheim plugin.

As to Synapse losing a sale to you time will tell Mr. "100 plus VSTs".

This is just the shiny new bauble that everyone will forget about when Synapse releases theirs.

On the other hand I could be totally wrong and Synapse will go out of business because of this one release. But I'm betting Richard will be just fine.

Yes, Richard will be fine. Richard will be fine even if he didn't make this synth at all. That isn't my point. My point is simply that sales will be lost. How many? No way to know.

But at least one.

[AnX]

2. Emulation Accuracy - Again, subjective.

how?

either its accurate, or it isnt

[fmr]

I never used hardware so my opinion is based on what I hear in demos and it sounds... ok? Seriously nothing special. I don't know where is this 'classic synth' magic here because for me it does nothing that other plugins can't already do.
.../...
Is it just me or people are getting hyped because it's 'classic synth emulation' with GUI looking like original hardware?

Well... I heard people I respect calling the harpsichord a "typewriter". And I keep hearing people saying that the pipe organ (IMO the most beautiful instrument on the planet) is just for the mass (or for gothic movies).

I accept you don't hear anything special in this synth. For example I don't hear anything special in a Minimoog. I find it a rather basic and primitive synth, yet there are tons of emulations, and people keep revering it

[pixel85]

I never used hardware so my opinion is based on what I hear in demos and it sounds... ok? Seriously nothing special. I don't know where is this 'classic synth' magic here because for me it does nothing that other plugins can't already do.
Change name and GUI to something ugly (oh well OB-Xa is ugly ) and this synth wouldn't be even mentioned on this forum.
Is it just me or people are getting hyped because it's 'classic synth emulation' with GUI looking like original hardware?

Well, there are 2 things at play here.

1. Nothing Special - This is all subjective. I know there are lots of people who didn't like the Oberheim sound back in the day. I happened to love it and could tell an Oberheim synth a mile away. Nothing sounded exactly like them. Not to my ears.

2. Emulation Accuracy - Again, subjective. But those more familiar with the hardware will probably be better at finding flaws. I owned a Korg Wavestation and used it for years. The Korg VST is identical. There is absolutely no difference. Nobody can tel me there is. It is dead on.

So, those who think the synth isn't special to begin with won't care how accurate either version is either way. They are simply not prospective customers.

Those who DO think the original synth is special will probably go with the one they think is closer to the original. Of course price may be an issue here, as it is for me. If I can get a good deal on Arturia and Synapse Audio's isn't out yet, I will get Arturia's and will have no need to get Synapse Audio's. Sure, there will be people who will get both. Some people buy every synth made. But some of us aren't made of money and have to be choosy.

For me "nothing special" means that sound is 2D, there's no depth, meat in low end. In 2020 I expect from synth to sound great even without effects (and then awesome with effects).
I may be deaf but this emulation sounds to me like a free vst.

I'm probably asking to be sentenced to death for such blasphemy

About emulation accuracy I can't say anything here as I never touched original synth. Bah I still think that my JV1080 sounds better than Roland Cloud plugin and it's either my imagination or AD converters in my audio interface. So I'm probably the last person to talk about emulation accuracy
I'll wait for the one from Synapse Audio to see how their version will sound just for curiosity. Tbh I'm not fan of Arturia plugin synths. There's something that I don't like in the sound.
I'm quite like you. I have all the synths that I need and more so I can be very picky now

[wagtunes]

I never used hardware so my opinion is based on what I hear in demos and it sounds... ok? Seriously nothing special. I don't know where is this 'classic synth' magic here because for me it does nothing that other plugins can't already do.
Change name and GUI to something ugly (oh well OB-Xa is ugly ) and this synth wouldn't be even mentioned on this forum.
Is it just me or people are getting hyped because it's 'classic synth emulation' with GUI looking like original hardware?

It's not just you. Quite frankly most of this stuff doesn't sound that great without effects (I can hear the gasps from the audience as I type this), which is why almost all of these emulations have additional features, most notably effects.

wagtunes mentioned DUNE3. DUNE3 is a monster. My opinion is it sounds far cooler than any Oberheim ever did.

Dune 3 is one of my favorite synths. I use it almost all the time. Same with Zebra 2.

In fact, these are the synths I use constantly.

Dune 3
Legend
Zebra 2
Omnisphere 2

If I want a Polymoog sound, I will turn to XILS PolyM. There is literally no competition unless you include SynthMagic or whatever the company is. And those are all samples.

And I have a few synths like that where nothing else duplicates their sound even if I only use them for special cases.

PolyM
Buchla Easel
Infinite Pro
M1
Wavestation
M-Tron Pro
Phonem
Wavemapper

Most synths, to be honest, are pretty generic. My collection has been more for my business than or making music as I probably only use about 20 VSTs tops for everything I do.