Gforce Oberheim OB-X

[MrJubbly]

I think I read somewhere that u-he's Repro has outsold all of their other synth plugins combined. (Or maybe Repro is "just" u-he's best selling synth plugin.)

Source?

I very much doubt that Repro outsells Diva and Zebra/Legacy, or perhaps even Hive?

[Bye Bye Love]

I think I read somewhere that u-he's Repro has outsold all of their other synth plugins combined. (Or maybe Repro is "just" u-he's best selling synth plugin.)

Source?

I very much doubt that Repro outsells Diva and Zebra/Legacy, or perhaps even Hive?

I believe the quote is from none other than Urs Heckman himself. But if you doubt my recollection, why not ask Urs? I believe u-he has a forum on KVR.

[BONES]

But don't you think users are often fooling themselves?

I know users are constantly fooling themselves.

Just because a synth plugins looks like a 30 to 40 year old classic hardware synth doesn't mean that it sounds like that synth.

What I don't understand is why it should or why it needs to. Back in the day, we abandoned all those shitful things willingly because they were, ultimately, not as good as newer, digital instruments. Honestly, you couldn't give me any of them.

Roland, for instance, keeps rehashing its revered synth brands and then fails to deliver on their most important quality, the sound.

I've never rated the sound of Roland synths. Even though my first synth was an SH-1000, they always felt like they were all about the bells and whistles, not the core sound. I was always more drawn to Korg's sound.

It all smacks of a cash grab to me, like a Fleetwood Mac revival tour.

A man's got to make a living.

At least GForce synth plugin emulations sound impressively close to the original hardware synths.

So what? Nobody is going to know, absolutely nobody.

[Synthbuilder]

Top tip for today. Don't save your an OB-X preset with the same name as another preset. It'll allow you to do it, but it won't show up in the preset browser. I've now learnt to put my initials at the start of any of my patch names.

[Odd Fella]

Because Gforce is having a sale, what be more appropriate for nice silky pads, Oddity3 or OB-X?

What does a silky pad sound like? Silky means different things to different people, just like warm or analog.

[Odd Fella]

It is not difficult to make funky bass sounds with a ladder filter.

It's a lot more difficult than it needs to be.

Softsynth developers add stuff all the time that goes beyond the original they emulate.

But only after they have filled it with all the shit from the original. OTOH, something like Tone 2's Saurus is freed from that restriction and is a much better synth for it. The need to slavishly emulate the original before you can improve on it holds many of these things back.

For instance 4-pole filters for Oberheims etc. Does that mean the 2-pole filter was inferior? No, it is just different and ads flexibility.

Actually, the OB-Xa and OB-8 had 2 or 4 pole options on their filters so that's why they put 'em into OB emulations.

Well, you have to use the amp envelope for something. Why not for achieving the sound you want?

Because I'd prefer to use it to create a bit of interplay with the filter, so I can choose to cut the sound off a bit earlier if that works better. Otherwise, you may as well only have one envelope.

What is the point of high resonance at 20Hz?!

Because if it's there are 20Hz, it's also there at 25Hz and 30Hz, all the way up to 20kHz. It's about creating a more holistic resonant sound for that "wet", squelchy effect, as opposed to the tendency of ladder filters to create a squeaky sound in the upper registers with a seemingly separate sound buried somewhere below it.

If a synth has a big sound and I were after a big sound, why would I care why it has a big sound? I.e. whether it is due to the oscillators or the filters or something else?

Imagine the possibilities with a synth that can create that big sound with either, or both at the same time! It's simply a better, more flexible set-up that broadens the sonic palette of the instrument and requires a lot less thought and effort to get the best from. Who wouldn't be interested in that? As onathanj said in the post after yours - you end up with "sweet spots all over the place".

Maybe you are just not a good sound designer

Well, who buys an emulation if it does not have everything the original had? If it has additional stuff, fine, but it should have everything the original had. Except battery leakage etc.

I don't want resonance at 20Hz or 30Hz. And if the ladder filter is done well, resonance sounds fine at higher frequencies and conversely, poor non-ladder filters can sound horrible.

That is what people say about Sylenth1 for instance, that it's hard to make it sound bad - and it has a ladder filter, and yet a big sound, if one wants it to. I prefer subtle sounds, frankly. Yesterday I was listening to Chris by Pat Metheny again, that is nice synth work.

[DashOfLime]

I think I read somewhere that u-he's Repro has outsold all of their other synth plugins combined. (Or maybe Repro is "just" u-he's best selling synth plugin.)

Source?

I very much doubt that Repro outsells Diva and Zebra/Legacy, or perhaps even Hive?

I believe the quote is from none other than Urs Heckman himself. But if you doubt my recollection, why not ask Urs? I believe u-he has a forum on KVR.

Making the claim one might want to back it up. Easily found I suspect if true.

[DashOfLime]

And Repro isn't even a 1:1 emulation of a Prophet 5 synth panel and includes some really colorful effects unlike Softube's Model 80 which is bone dry. (How is this possible when Softube are known for their great sounding FX plugins?)

How is it possible? Because that's how Softube do all of their synth emulations. None of them have effects (Model 84, 72, etc). How is it possible that Sequential released a new revision Prophet-5 that doesn't have effects? Doesn't need them. There are 5 billions effects options out there.

But don't you think users are often fooling themselves? Just because a synth plugins looks like a 30 to 40 year old classic hardware synth doesn't mean that it sounds like that synth. That's where I think the cynicism comes into play. Roland, for instance, keeps rehashing its revered synth brands and then fails to deliver on their most important quality, the sound. It all smacks of a cash grab to me, like a Fleetwood Mac revival tour.

At least GForce synth plugin emulations sound impressively close to the original hardware synths.

Which of the well-regarded emulations do you think don't sound like the originals (aside from Roland which I'll get to)? I have yet to see an emulation by one of the big names in that space that doesn't. The only developer I consistently see people noting that doesn't hit the mark is Cherry Audio. For instance Repro-1 is pretty much dead on with my Pro-One. Close enough nobody would be able to tell in a recording or live performance.

As to Roland I don't think you're listening very closely (or at all). Their emulations are very good. SH-2 emulation for instance is dead-on with the hardware unit I have. Given how good the SH-2 is I have little reason to expect that any of the others aren't just as close.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

As to Roland I don't think you're listening very closely (or at all). Their emulations are very good. SH-2 emulation for instance is dead-on with the hardware unit I have. Given how good the SH-2 is I have little reason to expect that any of the others aren't just as close.

I've long suspected their ACB mono synths dedicate the full processing of the "ACB chip" to a single voice. Whereas as the ACB poly synths have the same amount of processing power, but suddenly have to make it work with 8 voices so sound compromises get made. I have no proof of that. But to me, those early Roland mono synths (Pro-Mars, SH-2) sound terrific and the poly synths sound flat.

[Igro]

Because Gforce is having a sale, what be more appropriate for nice silky pads, Oddity3 or OB-X?

What does a silky pad sound like? Silky means different things to different people, just like warm or analog.

Right. Ok. When playing chords with open filter it wont hurt my ears.

[perpetual3]

Because Gforce is having a sale, what be more appropriate for nice silky pads, Oddity3 or OB-X?

What does a silky pad sound like? Silky means different things to different people, just like warm or analog.

Right. Ok. When playing chords with open filter it wont hurt my ears.

Demo them both.

[ericzang]

Has anyone had success with using the poly pitch bend option in a way that would allow microtuning, such as with MTS-ESP Midi Client? OB-E works with it (though OB-E allows MPE), but I have not been able to get OB-X to respond properly. Unfortunately my demo time has ran out before I could try again.

[electro]

Can you pick the ACB SH-01A from the Analog SH-101?

As to Roland I don't think you're listening very closely (or at all). Their emulations are very good. SH-2 emulation for instance is dead-on with the hardware unit I have. Given how good the SH-2 is I have little reason to expect that any of the others aren't just as close.

I've long suspected their ACB mono synths dedicate the full processing of the "ACB chip" to a single voice. Whereas as the ACB poly synths have the same amount of processing power, but suddenly have to make it work with 8 voices so sound compromises get made. I have no proof of that. But to me, those early Roland mono synths (Pro-Mars, SH-2) sound terrific and the poly synths sound flat.

[Uncle E]

Can you pick the ACB SH-01A from the Analog SH-101?

The SH-101 in the System-1 sounds excellent. Haven't played it side-by-side with a real one but it's every bit as good as analogs.

[Milos]

I think OB-E is the best synth from G-Force and quite usefull in modern productions (although it's not there in emulation department like for example Model 84 Softube for realism)
GForce OB-X sounds like thin VA engine doing approximation of later series OBX-a an OB-8 .
IMHO , SonicProjects OP-X PRO II is better...

Real OB-X (DRY without any FX) is real power and we will have to wait like 5 years for THAT level of emulation.