Gforce Software Oberheim SEM

[Teksonik]

I can see a bunch of people buying this, then really getting GAS and just upgrading to the full OB-E. I say, just cut to the chase.

I'm trying the OB-E and it's also great sounding but to be honest even at $120 on sale it's more than I could justify spending in this economy for yet another analog synth.

$40 is impulse buy territory. Just a polyphonic version of the SEM would be fine here (yea I know that's not how the SEM system works and it's not going to happen but I'd be an instant buyer at around $75).....

[hebex]

Some questions:

1. I tried the OB-E demo when it was fairly new, didn´t quite fall for it. Now I see I´ve missed that there has been a version 2 update in February. Is the v2 OB-E significantly better than v1?

2. I tried to download and install OB-E v2, but the demo didn´t show up in my sequencer after installation. I guess one isn´t allowed to demo v2 if you already tried v1. Is this correct?

3. I tried the demo of the Oberheim SEM and it sounds nice. Will the OB-E v2 sound exactly the same?

Thanks for answering

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

1. It's got some improvements, Vintage Knob and Tune knob. Some other stuff. Whether those are "significant" is up to you.

2. Not sure. Contact GForce support on that. It not showing up in your DAW at all seems odd.

3. Yes. My understanding is that that the OB-E will open SEM presets.

[hebex]

1. It's got some improvements, Vintage Knob and Tune knob. Some other stuff. Whether those are "significant" is up to you.

2. Not sure. Contact GForce support on that. It not showing up in your DAW at all seems odd.

3. Yes. My understanding is that that the OB-E will open SEM presets.

Ok. Thanks!

[felis]

Well.......that didn't take long. I got the GForce SEM, even though I have OB-E. While I was at it, I also picked up Oddity 2.
After 8 years or so, that one is overdue for an update - fingers crossed.

If anyone knows how you can transfer sounds between SEM and OB-E, could you post it up please.

When you press 'load' on either one, you can choose from 'factory' or 'user', but there is no 'browse' option,
where you can load stuff from files.
I also wouldn't know where to look for those either - nothing in 'program data'.
All I found was some .xml files in 'presets', but copying them over to the user bank, they show up, but don't change the sound.

[NikkiA]

'Load' and 'Save' on the rear panel of (each) SEM opens a browse window

[waltercruz]

GForce Software Oberheim SEM vs SEM Pro

[felis]

'Load' and 'Save' on the rear panel of (each) SEM opens a browse window

Yes, it does. Thanks. Do you have them both?
If so, would you happen to know if the SEM has patches stored in .sem format anywhere on a pc.

All I've been able to find for SEM are that the patches have an .xml suffix.
I tried changing one of them to .sem, storing it in the 'user' bank, and loading it from there.
It doesn't work.
I'll keep working on it, but am not sure if it can be worked out except by GForce.

[NikkiA]

No, I only have OB-E, I imagine you'd have to export them as .sem from the back panel of the SEM

Which I see isn't there, on the demo at least, perhaps it's a feature only on the full version, or perhaps they forgot it

[felis]

I contacted GForce. OB-E only saves/loads .sem files.
I tried to save a SEM patch in .sem format, but the only option available is to save it in .xml format.
Weekend is coming up, so it may be a bit before I get a reply, but there's really no big hurry.

[Teksonik]

Unfortunate file extension. Doesn't Synth Edit still use .sem and .sep files ? Or is that a thing of the past?

[gentleclockdivider]

It sounds abs. great , but what’s even better.
I loaded four instances in loomer architect , dividing incoming midi notes to each separate sem .
Now I have a fourvoice !

[morelia]

SEM will be a "gateway drug" to OB-E.

Those are the exact words playing over in my mind.

[BONES]

I can see a bunch of people buying this, then really getting GAS and just upgrading to the full OB-E. I say, just cut to the chase.

I doubt it. I can see people being impressed with this and trying Cherry's 8 Voice and/or bx_oberhausen but OB-E is way overpriced. I might be interested in OB-E if it ever got as cheap as $49 but that's really as much as I'd be willing to pay for it. That's not because it doesn't sound great, it's because I already have Obsession and bx_oberhausen, so there's not a lot OB-E has to offer that I can't already do to a high standard. When you're late to the party, you can't be charging 3 to 5 times more than everyone who got there before you. I wouldn't even pay full price for SEM and, if I'm honest, I probably wouldnt' ahve bought it if I'd had another half-hour to explore yesterday morning.

[felis]

One thing I noticed - if I put OB-E in unison mode (8 voices), it uses about half the cpu as Oberhausen with 8 voices.

I'll admit that part of the reason I got OB-E and SEM is because they have Tom Oberheim's endorsement. That means a lot to me.