Synapse Audio OBSESSION is now available!

[Ingonator]

I am currently doing a nice pad sound that uses the 2-pole LPF and due to the quite high low end the lower octaves were too loud compared to the higher octaves.
An obvious solution that i already used in some other synths was to add keytracking for that so i assigned "Keytrk (C0)" source to "Volume" and this solves the problem.
Now i can play both low and high notes at the same time without the low octaves being too dominant.

[e-crooner]

I am currently doing a nice pad sound that uses the 2-pole LPF and due to the quite high low end the lower octaves were too loud compared to the higher octaves.
An obvious solution that i already used in some other synths was to add keytracking for that so i assigned "Keytrk (C0)" source to "Volume" and this solves the problem.
Now i can play both low and high notes at the same time without the low octaves being too dominant.

Lower notes should be louder because usually one doesn't play pad chords there (would sound like a messy rumble), but only single bass notes along with chords higher up on the keyboard. So, a single bass note should be almost as loud as a 3-finger chord 3 or 4 octaves higher up

[e-crooner]

@electro: I love the Xils Lab synths and PolyM is awesome.

While OBSession currently is my most used one For "Oberheimish" sounds i got those plugins:
- Synapse Audio OBSession
- Arturia SEM V2
- Arturia Matrix-12 V2
- OB-Xd (freeware)
- U-He Diva (Uhbie filter)

While I know the Oberheim OB sound from a few records (Grover Washington Jr. etc.), I don't know what the Oberheim sound is supposed to be, if it has a signature sound so to speak. One can make all sorts of sounds with such a poly synth, just like with a Prophet or Jupiter. And with some skill, I doubt that the results are very different.

They're different. Moog, Sequential, Roland, Yamaha, Korg, Oberheim, etc. have different a different character to them. You can approximate some with another, yes. Usually it's hard to make them sound indistinguishable - for a reason. Emulations can stretch things further, draw from other sources, and further enable more cross-over than the hardware, which can blur the lines.

I am not sure they sound that different from each other. Some of those old polysynths even used the same components such as filters.
I could make all my sounds on any decent polysynth, be it a Polysix, a Jupiter 8, an OB-8 or whatever. Give any one of them to me and I am fine

[Ingonator]

I am currently doing a nice pad sound that uses the 2-pole LPF and due to the quite high low end the lower octaves were too loud compared to the higher octaves.
An obvious solution that i already used in some other synths was to add keytracking for that so i assigned "Keytrk (C0)" source to "Volume" and this solves the problem.
Now i can play both low and high notes at the same time without the low octaves being too dominant.

Lower notes should be louder because usually one doesn't play pad chords there (would sound like a messy rumble), but only single bass notes along with chords higher up on the keyboard. So, a single bass note should be almost as loud as a 3-finger chord 3 or 4 octaves higher up

Well i often like to play pads with both hands and also in lower octaves.
Using keytracking to lower the volume of lower octaves compared to the higher ones is not totally unusual. It is just not used by many people, especially in analog emulations.

You might have a look here:
https://quadrophone.com/synthesis/using-keytracking/

The highest notes are still a little too loud, so let’s use keytracking to lower the synth’s output level as the notes go up. Click the “Amp 1″ section, then look under “Level Mod.” Set the Level Mod Key control to around -0.50. This makes the synth’s volume go down as the notes go up the scale

It's the oposite of what i did but the same method.

Sometimes sound designers use an EQ or additional high pass filter (like e.g. that in the Jupiter 8 or other synths with dual filters) or even a Bandpass filter to remove some low end from pads and using keytracking for the volume is another option.

[e-crooner]

I am currently doing a nice pad sound that uses the 2-pole LPF and due to the quite high low end the lower octaves were too loud compared to the higher octaves.
An obvious solution that i already used in some other synths was to add keytracking for that so i assigned "Keytrk (C0)" source to "Volume" and this solves the problem.
Now i can play both low and high notes at the same time without the low octaves being too dominant.

Lower notes should be louder because usually one doesn't play pad chords there (would sound like a messy rumble), but only single bass notes along with chords higher up on the keyboard. So, a single bass note should be almost as loud as a 3-finger chord 3 or 4 octaves higher up

Well i often like to play pads with both hands and also in lower octaves.
Using keytracking to lower the volume of lower octaves compared to the higher ones is not totally unusual. It is just not used by many people, especially in analog emulations.

Sometimes sound designers use an EQ or additional high pass filter (like e.g. that in the Jupiter 8 or other synths with dual filters) or even a Bandpass filter to remove some low end from pads and using keytracking for the volume is another option.

If you are only playing in lower or high octaves with that specific patch you might remove the keytracking modulation.

Yes, the Roland HP filter is nice.

By the way, to me the 4-pole LP filter sounds as if it has more bass and volume in general than the 2-pole LP filter. Or are you talking about a pad with high resonance? There the 4-pole LP filter seems to lose a lot of volume.
Either way, the resonance sounds very nice and musical to me, none of the usual annoying whistle and distortion shit

[nirm123]

can you explain what do you mean by "the resonance is musical" ? what does it mean ? (besides "it sounds nice").

[urosh]

can you explain what do you mean by "the resonance is musical" ? what does it mean ? (besides "it sounds nice").

Probably "none of the usual annoying whistle and distortion shit".
There might be a technical explanation, resonance on OB-Xa is a bit peculiar, one of those bug-but-it-is-actually-a-great-feature, and it is well modeled on Obsession.

[nirm123]

Thanks ! I'd be really interested in the technical explanation (same goes for the filter, "musical filter", I hear it a lot but I have no idea what does it mean).

[e-crooner]

I don't have a technical explanation, I just describe how it sounds to me


Anyway, I don't know whether this is normal, even emulated, or a bug:

I initialize the patch, then I play, say, 5 very low notes, then transpose my midi keyboard up a couple of octaves and play 8 very high notes, then the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th note of those 8 notes I play have a rather hard, ugly attack bump, from the 9th note on the bump is gone. It also happens the same the other way round, i.e. first high notes then low notes.

[Buckster]

I was all for buying and I do sorta like the sound and I think fantastic value - but not enough to buy

I own Repro and Oberhausen and also love but not purchased yet Diva - but am finding Obsession dunno a bit polite ? Maybe the OB sound - almost sounds a bit plasticky. Some of the patches remind me of the lovely fantastic sound I got out of Dune 2 which I used to own but not what I was expecting here

I think I prefer Oberhausen but as it is modelling different original instrument then could just be personal choice - Oberhausen feels alive and gritty

[Yorrrrrr]

Different flavors, I guess. OB-Xa or SEM? Both nice.

[gentleclockdivider]

Never had a real oberheim so can’t really compare but isn’t the resonance in obsession a bit weak at max value ?
To turn it beyond it’s max value we need a constant — to resonance in the mod . matrix

[Yorrrrrr]

It's the resonance that matches the OB-Xa unit modeled by Richard.

[revvy]

Never had a real oberheim so can’t really compare but isn’t the resonance in obsession a bit weak at max value ?
To turn it beyond it’s max value we need a constant — to resonance in the mod . matrix

Yeah Rich probably missed that while modeling. Well spotted...

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

The only person who posted in this thread that owns an OB-Xa mentioned that the calibration procedure for each voice is supposed to involve tweaking the resonance up to self-resonance, then backing it off, and that he intentionally keeps his own OB-Xa a little more rezzy than the Service Manual recommends. He said, compared to his, OBsession is a less rezzy (which is expected), but does a great job capturing the OB-Xa vibe overall.

So yeah, Richard may have modeled the resonance on his particular unit, but it does sound like you can tweak the hardware to be even more resonant than OBsession can get with the trimmers. Not a big deal for me. It sounds great.

Here's the post I'm referencing...

Yeah, I immediately found it strange that there was no Saw waveform on LFO2. I own an OB-Xa and almost alway have the LFO on the mod wheel section set to Saw. I was able to draw one in using the step LFO, but this just seems like an odd omission to me. Why go through the trouble of adding things like the Triangle OSC from the OB-8 and Cross-Mod from an OB-X and leave off something that is on the actual synth? Maybe they could at least make it easier to allow saving and recalling of different step patterns but why not just add more shapes? Triangle, Ramp and Saw would be very welcome additions to the LFO section. Model the triangle from the OB-8, model the Saw from the OB-Xa and reverse it for the Ramp.

For anyone who has never calibrated an OB-Xa, one can easily modify each voice card to have more resonance. The calibration guide suggests to turn up resonance (this is only for the 12db filter) until it self oscillates, then back it off until it no longer does. Most people I know who have one and my tech suggest to turn it up to let it self oscillate. This gives a more aggressive, varied and fun OB-Xa experience in my opinion. Even with the resonance turned up all the way on each voice in Obsession, it didn't feel as resonant as my OB-Xa. Was hoping for just a tiny bit more oomph there.

All that being said, it sounds very good! Closest thing I've heard ITB to my OB-Xa (or frankly any Oberheim at this point).