Gforce Oberheim OB-X

[cryophonik]

We have a time to write for half an hour but we don't have time to test the synth?

Nope. We’re all still demo’ing KVR.

[fisherKing]

We have a time to write for half an hour but we don't have time to test the synth?

Nope. We’re all still demo’ing KVR.

that explains the noise on the forum every 30 seconds....

[Uncle E]

Hey, I'm up for it.

Could the two be combined ~ with a pop up of 'Synthesizer Cat' displaying, whilst the cat "meeeeooows!?" ... or are the two mutually exclusive?

I draw the line at Rickrolls though. Unless, the audio playback is sped up, to sound like Kylie Minogue.

[bmanic]

Made a little tune using a single instance of OB-X. Enjoy.

OB-X Lost Dimension bM (Google Drive, 4.6mb mp3 1:59s)

[Uncle E]

Sounds great! You were able to do all that in the 60 second demo period? Impressive!

[EnGee]

We have a time to write for half an hour but we don't have time to test the synth?

Nope. We’re all still demo’ing KVR.

and we can never make our minds! We need more time to decide.

[bmanic]

Sounds great! You were able to do all that in the 60 second demo period? Impressive!

[BONES]

I bought it solely because I wanted an OB series emulation, that is the only reason I bought it.

My question is why? I honestly don't see the point. Look at something like a MiniMoog - it is deeply compromised by its filter. It's usable for some things but, overall, it's not a great synth and was never engineered to be anything but affordable. Why anyone would want something that sounds exactly like it makes absolutely no sense to me. That's where I think Diva is a bit clever because you can swap out the shit bits and put something better into the signal path. So you get the original vibe without too many of the downsides.

To me, Obsession sounds enough like an Oberheim to sound good and that's more than enough to make it worth having. It's got that Oberheim vibe and if you have to compare it side by side with a real one to spot the differences, then that's more than good enough in my view. I can go all the way back to before Fruityloops supported VSTi and you could get SimSynth, which ran inside FL (along with Rich's TS-404, of course). I loved the sound of that thing. It turns out it (supposedly) sounds like an Oberheim synth and that's what started my interest in the "Oberheim sound".

Indeed, seems to be the only reason to buy an emulation. Why else accept limitations when other, generic synths can do so much more?!

If you see limitations, they are only in your mind. I use emulations because they are generally well laid out, which makes them very easy to use so I can work more quickly/efficiently, they generally sound great and they are usually not too expensive. I find a lot more use for bx_oberhausen than I do for DUNE, Hive, PhasePlant or Spire. The idea that a more complex synth is automatically better is utterly ridiculous.

So we should only need 5 minutes now? Why even that much time? Maybe we should only get 1 minute? Don't you know from just auditioning 3 presets? Come on.

I could manage with that if I had to. You can listen to demos, then you only need a couple of patches to confirm that the demos are accurate enough. And if you buy something that turns out to be a bit of a dud, who cares? This stuff is cheap as chips, yet you seem to agonise over buying them like you would a new car or a house.

Maybe just different priorities? If an opportunity comes up to do something like go away for a weekend, spend time with others etc.

That's weird, I go away for the weekend to get away from "others". I just got back from a 10 day, 3500km driving holiday, all on my own, and it was pure bliss. I got to do exactly what I wanted to do, when I felt like doing it.

I don't really care either way. But the thing that isn't really clear to me, is what is the benefit to GForce of this policy? Greatly reducing the presets, does this help sales? Only allowing 6 hours to a week? Does this help sales? I would not think so.

Maybe it is effective at reducing piracy which, I imagine, might be very good for sales. You seem to think they are doing it specifically to annoy you. If that was the case, then you'd be right - it would be stupid - but the fact they do it anyway suggests it works for them.

What's wrong with feedback that could be better for sales?

So many things. Mostly, though, it would be because you are only looking at it from one side. You only see how it affects you, you clearly haven't spent one second thinking about what might drive them to do it and whether they may realise it will cost them some sales but they see it as worth doing anyway. Then there is the fact they have been around for a long time, so they probably know better than you how these kinds of things affect revenue. I own five of their products and I don't recall ever coming up against any demo limitations.

Did you see what just happened with Minimal Audio and Current?

A relatively new company, delving into a market they have not been in before. Not quite the same as GForce.

It took me 10 minutes to realize that I don't need this.

I only had to look at the price, which took all of 10 seconds. I haven't even bothered with the demo/trial.

[Echoes in the Attic]

What's wrong with feedback that could be better for sales?

So many things. Mostly, though, it would be because you are only looking at it from one side. You only see how it affects you, you clearly haven't spent one second thinking about what might drive them to do it and whether they may realise it will cost them some sales but they see it as worth doing anyway. Then there is the fact they have been around for a long time, so they probably know better than you how these kinds of things affect revenue.

Cool, that's why I asked. I'm sure many of us would to understand better. Sounds like you might have insights. Please educate us.

[zvenx]

.....
My question is why? I honestly don't see the point. Look at something like a MiniMoog - it is deeply compromised by its filter. It's usable for some things but, overall, it's not a great synth and was never engineered to be anything but affordable. Why anyone would want something that sounds exactly like it makes absolutely no sense to me.
.....

The minimoog filter again..
that thousands loved but the great Bones doesn't..
Anyway as you said:

makes absolutely no sense to me

That it makes no sense to you in no way impacts how much sense it makes to anyone else.
Apparently that is incomprehensible to you.
rsp

[Frantz]

A pop up that periodically reminds you to feed your cat and changes the synth to cat sounds while the pop up is present would be epic.

Agreed! Here's the graphics for the popup.

OBX_demo_popup1.png

[BONES]

Cool, that's why I asked. I'm sure many of us would to understand better. Sounds like you might have insights. Please educate us.

I have no specific insights, I just assume that a company with a good reputation, that's been around for 15 years or more, probably knows their market better than any of us. It just seems like a reasonable assumption to me but it requires you to at least think about both sides of the situation.

This sense of entitlement, where people think that because they are the customer, everything should be about them, is what drives developers away. We've seen this most recently with Markus winding up Tone 2 development. Ohmforce have had some interesting insights to share on the Fromager thread, too. If you want all this stuff to continue and keep improving, the relationship between developers and customers has to be supportive in both directions. There are obviously some hugely talented people working in this field and if we piss them off they will have no trouble getting well paid jobs elsewhere, so it is in our own best interests to look after them.

The minimoog filter again..
that thousands loved but the great Bones doesn't..

You can like the synth and still acknowledge it's limitations. Bob Moog understood, that so many others don't beggars belief. It would be easy to model the aspects people like, whilst also getting rid of the limitations that hold it back, except everyone would complain that it's not an accurate emulation. The fact it might be 10 times better and usable in twice as many situations would never even cross their minds and that's why it makes no sense to me.

That it makes no sense to you in no way impacts how much sense it makes to anyone else.
Apparently that is incomprehensible to you.

The thing is, I've been asking the question for decades and no-one has ever provided any kind of answer that makes even the tiniest bit of sense. In fact, the most common response is flat-out denial that the behaviour is even present, despite the fact it is the easiest thing in the world to confirm. So yes, in the face of that level of ignorance and/or stupidity, it is utterly incomprehensible to me. But I am always open to enlightenment.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

My question is why? I honestly don't see the point. Look at something like a MiniMoog - it is deeply compromised by its filter. It's usable for some things but, overall, it's not a great synth and was never engineered to be anything but affordable. Why anyone would want something that sounds exactly like it makes absolutely no sense to me.

I can explain why someone would like something that sounds like a Minimoog. Just read the quoted post below for your answer:

I use emulations because they are generally well laid out, which makes them very easy to use so I can work more quickly/efficiently, they generally sound great...

[carrieres]

That's weird, I go away for the weekend to get away from "others". I just got back from a 10 day, 3500km driving holiday, all on my own, and it was pure bliss. I got to do exactly what I wanted to do, when I felt like doing it.

Wonderful, what is the price of gazoline ?

[Aloysius]

Gazoline is a Canadian rock band. Maybe they use Gforce Oberheim OB-X?