Synapse Audio OBSESSION is now available!

[BONES]

Clearly, given that it's taken several years for anyone to notice.

[Echoes in the Attic]

Clearly, given that it's taken several years for anyone to notice.

I noticed right away, so did others. It was brought up during beta testing. Just because you didn’t notice doesn’t mean nobody did. Remember, YOU is not the same as ANYONE. This is something that most learn in childhood. Better late than never though.

[BONES]

I may have noticed, what I'd never do is care. My thinking is a little broader than that.

[Echoes in the Attic]

I may have noticed, what I'd never do is care. My thinking is a little broader than that.

Nobody cares if you care. I guess everyone else thinks broadly too.

[kmonkey]

This thread became another episode of the Twilight Zone...creep..

[kmonkey]

Although Obsession is not in the current sale, Obsession Reason Rack is on sale ($75), and you can get a free VST crossgrade sending a copy of your receipt as proof of purchase.

Is this still active? I mean I have Reason Rack version for years. Might be able to ask them to depose VST license for me to use on the second computer.

[waltercruz]

Although Obsession is not in the current sale, Obsession Reason Rack is on sale ($75), and you can get a free VST crossgrade sending a copy of your receipt as proof of purchase.

Is this still active? I mean I have Reason Rack version for years. Might be able to ask them to depose VST license for me to use on the second computer.

You need to check with Richard, but I'm 99% sure that it's still valid

[waltercruz]

An example where Obsession parameter ranges seems to be different from OB-Xa (at least, from what is stated on the manual).

From the manual: F-Env - using the filter envelope to modulate the frequency (pitch) of the OSC 2 - when filter mod is at max and Filter Envelope Sustain is at the max level, OSC 2 should increase pitch in one octave. In the manual scan that I got from internet (OberheimOBXA-OwnersManual.pdf) this is on the page 15 of the pdf.

Appliying the same settings on Obsession results in something like 1 octave plus a fifth (in fact, a bit sharper than a fifth).

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I'm not trying to defend the authenticity of Obsession or anything (I have no idea how accurate it is), but that sounds like the kind of thing where the synth could've been taken in for service at one point and gotten a lower value cap or resistor than the schematic called for. Or something in the circuit needs replacing after 35 years and isn't working like it should. If it did less than an octave, I'd be worried, if it does more, just dial back the depth now that you know about it.

[waltercruz]

I'm not trying to defend the authenticity of Obsession or anything (I have no idea how accurate it is), but that sounds like the kind of thing where the synth could've been taken in for service at one point and gotten a lower value cap or resistor than the schematic called for. Or something in the circuit needs replacing after 35 years and isn't working like it should. If it did less than an octave, I'd be worried, if it does more, just dial back the depth now that you know about it.

sure, it's no an attack to Obsession itself, it's more a nitpicking that I found and think it's worthy being noticed in this topic

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Totally worth bringing up! I was just mentioning that to call out that's probably in line with what's to be expected on a 35 year old synth as the behavior is roughly the same, but the range is off and that could have a legit explanation. For all we know, the unit Richard used as a reference could've had that real difference.

I'm honestly a little disappointed no one like Starsky Carr has done a Synapse Obsession vs. OB-Xa (or even the X8) shoot-out vid yet. I'd really love to hear how close it is to an actual Oberheim.

Obsession has been a synth that I just struggle to gel with. I don't know if it's the on-board effects (which I don't care much for), or just all the flipping back and forth (front panel, per-voice tweaks panel, back panel), the weak resonance (in that it never gets near self-oscillating), or the overall Oberheim OB-X/Xa/8 sound, but every few months I'll try to get back into it and I end up using RePro-5, TAL J-8, or OB-E instead when I want an 80's polysynth thing in software. I just find those 3 get me the sounds I'm looking for faster than Obsession.

[Lbdunequest]

Totally worth bringing up! I was just mentioning that to call out that's probably in line with what's to be expected on a 35 year old synth as the behavior is roughly the same, but the range is off and that could have a legit explanation. For all we know, the unit Richard used as a reference could've had that real difference.

I'm honestly a little disappointed no one like Starsky Carr has done a Synapse Obsession vs. OB-Xa (or even the X8) shoot-out vid yet. I'd really love to hear how close it is to an actual Oberheim.

Obsession has been a synth that I just struggle to gel with. I don't know if it's the on-board effects (which I don't care much for), or just all the flipping back and forth (front panel, per-voice tweaks panel, back panel), the weak resonance (in that it never gets near self-oscillating), or the overall Oberheim OB-X/Xa/8 sound, but every few months I'll try to get back into it and I end up using RePro-5, TAL J-8, or OB-E instead when I want an 80's polysynth thing in software. I just find those 3 get me the sounds I'm looking for faster than Obsession.

Then use those synths that get you there, why force yourself

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Then use those synths that get you there, why force yourself

I mean, I do! I literally said so. I just think it's worth trying to figure out what I'm not connecting to about it and if others have similar experience, some of which might be helpful for Richard or other potential purchasers. I also paid for the thing, see no point in selling it [seems like you used to be able to sell plugs for about 60% off regular price, nowadays I see things at 90% off sitting on the marketplace], and so would like to find ways to use it.

My suspicion is (and this is a discussion forum, so feel free to discuss and counter):

1. The workflow sucks - this is due to all the extra clicking with the per-voice tweaks pages (see the TAL-J8 tweaks page for how it can be done on one screen - though they have fewer params), then the mod-matrix and FX being on the back even though those are pretty darn important features. Can you even lock the tweaks once you find settings you like? I don't think you can. So that's something that could be an improvement.

A "Random" knob to control the depth for Tweak variations would be nice. Just to create a quick way to add some slight variation without having to enter 8 different pages to modify dozens of trimmers on each. A single knob like that could've avoided 8 pages with dozens of params. Or maybe a set of knobs like "Tuning Variation", "Envelope Variation", "Filter Variation" to set the depths of the slop across the various voices would've been a better way to do all the same basic stuff as all those Tweaks pages.

I think this boils down to, Synapse decided to make this a Reason Rack and therefore it had to be square, then they awkwardly tried to make all the pieces fit in the square. IMO, the better way to do it would've been to use a different UI for the VST version that actually suits the plugin. Other things, like locking tweaks and a global randomization control, I think just weren't fully thought out.

2. I really think the FX are lackluster. The chorus isn't particularly good. The reverb isn't to my liking at all. Same for the delay. Do others agree? Is it just me?

3. The resonance sounds pretty light even when maxed out. I'm sure the original voice cards could be tweaked to go into self-oscillation but the resonance trimmers on the Tweaks pages don't even allow for this. This is an area where I'd say, "that's not really emulating the original if that's the case".

4. The UI is really drab looking. I would name the color "deep depression blue".

5. Even the layout itself of the elements looks awkward with the vertical stacking of elements. We talked about that to death when this was released but it's still true.

As I think about this all, this feels like a product built in isolation by a programmer. Something where the user experience was not taken into account and that's probably my biggest beef with it. The resonance and FX probably wouldn't bug me so much if not for all my other issues with it.

I hope Richard or other devs see this and this type of discussion gives them something to think about for future products. If you're building products for others to use, then the user experience should be a top priority IMO. Anyway, these are but one man's opinions. I feel like this was really close to being a great product for me, but just fell short for those reasons.

[waltercruz]

I'm honestly a little disappointed no one like Starsky Carr has done a Synapse Obsession vs. OB-Xa (or even the X8) shoot-out vid yet. I'd really love to hear how close it is to an actual Oberheim.

There's a comparison with OB-X8 and OB-Xa from Oberheim that is really nice, but I bet you already saw it. But I will leave a link to the video anyway.

Obsession has been a synth that I just struggle to gel with.

I feel the same.

[waltercruz]

I like a lot of the points you raised, even not agreeing with them all.

1. The workflow sucks - this is due to all the extra clicking with the per-voice tweaks pages (see the TAL-J8 tweaks page for how it can be done on one screen - though they have fewer params), then the mod-matrix and FX being on the back even though those are pretty darn important features.

(...)

i don't think the square layout is a problem, but maybe the way to adjust the voices it's a bit overkill? J-8 presents a nice balance between tweakability and ergonomy.

3. The resonance sounds pretty light even when maxed out. I'm sure the original voice cards could be tweaked to go into self-oscillation but the resonance trimmers on the Tweaks pages don't even allow for this. This is an area where I'd say, "that's not really emulating the original if that's the case".

I don't think OB-Xa filter can self-oscillate, but need to search better about it.

4. The UI is really drab looking. I would name the color "deep depression blue".

neutral about this: don't love it, but don't hate it too.

Another point that you don't talked about but was already discussed here on past: the envelopes are... peculiar.

As I think about this all, this feels like a product built in isolation by a programmer. Something where the user experience was not taken into account and that's probably my biggest beef with it. The resonance and FX probably wouldn't bug me so much if not for all my other issues with it.

Yes, I feel that it can be enhanced by improving the UX but it seems that the emulation itself can be improved too.