Is GForce OB-X a better emulation than Repro?

[D-Fusion]

I don't know how well they emulate their analog counterparts, but, the Gforce sounds like a soft synth to me. Sorry for that well-worn phrase, but, I really can't describe it better. I miss the stuff the better emulations do to model the "flaws", or rather the pleasant stuff in analogs. I don't hear a lot of drift, I don't hear a lot of voice variation, I don't hear a lot of saturation (which, I understand, is pretty variating in analogs too), I don't hear a lot of volume drift. It sounds too clean/clinical to my golden ears.

U-he's stuff on the other hand, it does all that, so it sounds more lively to me. If anything, then Urs somehow seems to have a bit of an affinity for less warm analog sound. What I always notice is that u-he's plugins sound a bit cold compared to the real warm stuff (Moog, Oberheim etc.). Even when they model an Oberheim filter, like in Diva, it sounds kinda cold to me.

I get what you are saying, but I was wondering if the real OB-X is like that. I have never touched a real Oberheim and YouTube is meh. Once I saw an 8 voice in a freaking wild animals museum (can you imagine, how random), enclosed in a display. My partner was having to pull me away after I while. I was just standing there screaming, making weird noises, couldn’t believe my eyes. Everyone was watching us. I was out of my mind. Probably she got scared and thought I was going to have an orgasm or something but I couldn’t help myself. We haven’t returned to that museum ever since then lol. To ad to it, the museum is called the Horniman Museum in London. Lol. Can you imagine . I get why they call it horniman. Put an 8 voice in for the men… There you go.

Seems like you are having a hard case of the "Nostalgia Flu"
What type of audio rate modulation sound is it that the Repro 5 can't do that your Rev 4 does better?

[Lbdunequest]

And how does Rev 4 hardware compare to Repro 5? have you tried different filters inside Repro? you can switch up to 4 filter characters and 4 oscillators

Yeah I know I know. I have no issues with the filters that much. Round is my favourite; prefer it to the default poly. Like I said it’s the extremes. Audio rate modulation sounds a bit meh. It obviously sounds gorgeous on the hardware. But like Massive X audio modulation sound eerie close to what I hear on hardware, so I know it’s possible to achieve better.

Then why not to use Massive X for oberheim sounds?

[audiouser720]

And how does Rev 4 hardware compare to Repro 5? have you tried different filters inside Repro? you can switch up to 4 filter characters and 4 oscillators

Yeah I know I know. I have no issues with the filters that much. Round is my favourite; prefer it to the default poly. Like I said it’s the extremes. Audio rate modulation sounds a bit meh. It obviously sounds gorgeous on the hardware. But like Massive X audio modulation sound eerie close to what I hear on hardware, so I know it’s possible to achieve better.

Then why not to use Massive X for oberheim sounds?

Good call good call! I actually try to use it for Prophet and Jupiter type of sounds with a lot of success I have to say. It’s got SVF filter for some Obi style sounds but no SEM. Plus I have not got much experience with Obi. I wish they updated Massive X with more filter types like Jupiter 8.

[briefcasemanx]

No.

OB-E is much nicer though and up there with U-He

[zvenx]

In my younger days, I spent way way more time with the Oberheim OB (OB-8) than I ever did with the Prophet 5. Also I was way more of an OB-8 fan than a Prophet 5 fan... (I am on record in saying the OB-8 was my all time favourite analog synth)... I know that we are talking about the OB-X not the OB-8.

The Repro-1, not the Repro-5 is imho one of the best synths I have ever heard, hardware or software...

But your question is which is a better emulation... I have of course never a/b'ed hardware and software in the same place at the same time..

What I will say though is I prefer the Softube Model 80 over the Repro-5, also the OB-X is one of my two favourite synths of 2023 AND I got a chance to play the OB-X8 during the months of testing the OB-X... it killed my burning desire to have an OB-X8....

(and I test for both companies so no obvious bias for one vs the other)
rsp

[chk071]

What I will say though is I prefer the Softube Model 80 over the Repro-5

I read a thread in a German forum (Sequencer.de) about the Model 80, and, the people there were very impressed. One compared the Model 80 to his Prophet-10, and said there isn't much between them.

With NI's Monark, it's my favorite of the analog emulations I own.

[zvenx]

Yeah, to me the softube model series are crazy good.
rsp

[jlgrimes11]

Hi and welcome to this very stupid thread. The question is for those who have hands on experience with the hardware synths these emulate.

I have P5 rev4 and also Repro so I can compare myself. I’m not blown away to be frank but I appreciate that Repro emulates an earlier revision which I have no experience with. What I am not blown away with in the plugin is the extremes like audio rate modulation.

So, would you say that OB-X is a better emulation to the original Oberheim than Repro to the Prophet rev3? I hope someone who has the hardware can chime in. I’m trying to decide if I should throw some cash away whilst OB-X is on sale.

From what I hear audio rate modulations are the hardest part to get right (with software VAs). You can check alot of Youtube reviews/comparisons against hardware and honestly most of the tests are usually pretty good until they get to that category and the whole comparison kind of falls apart.



I cant even remember if If Oberheims are acheivable of that. I have the GForce and while it sounds nice, I haven't got to compare it against the hardware but I have played an Ob6 at a store and from what I remember it sounded pretty close to the Arturia OPX (which honestly probably sounded the blandest out of all of the other Ob clones). GForce and Synapse sounds fatter to my ears.

As far as tone the the Repro sounds fatter than Oberheims instruments. Where as I'm more inclined to use Repro for harder sounds such as basses and leads and Oberheims for things like Brass and soft pads.

[audiouser720]

In my younger days, I spent way way more time with the Oberheim OB (OB-8) than I ever did with the Prophet 5. Also I was way more of an OB-8 fan than a Prophet 5 fan... (I am on record in saying the OB-8 was my all time favourite analog synth)... I know that we are talking about the OB-X not the OB-8.

The Repro-1, not the Repro-5 is imho one of the best synths I have ever heard, hardware or software...

But your question is which is a better emulation... I have of course never a/b'ed hardware and software in the same place at the same time..

What I will say though is I prefer the Softube Model 80 over the Repro-5, also the OB-X is one of my two favourite synths of 2023 AND I got a chance to play the OB-X8 during the months of testing the OB-X... it killed my burning desire to have an OB-X8....

(and I test for both companies so no obvious bias for one vs the other)
rsp

This is interesting to read from someone who has experience with an OB-8 (even though it’s not the same). Just out of curiosity, would you still say that you are rather an Obi guy rather than a Prophet guy (hardware only, not counting emulations) or are you saying the obvious?… both…

[zvenx]

Well...for sure since software is so relatively inexpensive, O have both, use both and would encourage everyone to get both... But for sure if I was buying hardware, I am still very much an Oberheim guy ahead of a Sequential Circuits guy.
rsp

[audiouser720]

I don't know how well they emulate their analog counterparts, but, the Gforce sounds like a soft synth to me. Sorry for that well-worn phrase, but, I really can't describe it better. I miss the stuff the better emulations do to model the "flaws", or rather the pleasant stuff in analogs. I don't hear a lot of drift, I don't hear a lot of voice variation, I don't hear a lot of saturation (which, I understand, is pretty variating in analogs too), I don't hear a lot of volume drift. It sounds too clean/clinical to my golden ears.

U-he's stuff on the other hand, it does all that, so it sounds more lively to me. If anything, then Urs somehow seems to have a bit of an affinity for less warm analog sound. What I always notice is that u-he's plugins sound a bit cold compared to the real warm stuff (Moog, Oberheim etc.). Even when they model an Oberheim filter, like in Diva, it sounds kinda cold to me.

I get what you are saying, but I was wondering if the real OB-X is like that. I have never touched a real Oberheim and YouTube is meh. Once I saw an 8 voice in a freaking wild animals museum (can you imagine, how random), enclosed in a display. My partner was having to pull me away after I while. I was just standing there screaming, making weird noises, couldn’t believe my eyes. Everyone was watching us. I was out of my mind. Probably she got scared and thought I was going to have an orgasm or something but I couldn’t help myself. We haven’t returned to that museum ever since then lol. To ad to it, the museum is called the Horniman Museum in London. Lol. Can you imagine . I get why they call it horniman. Put an 8 voice in for the men… There you go.

Seems like you are having a hard case of the "Nostalgia Flu"
What type of audio rate modulation sound is it that the Repro 5 can't do that your Rev 4 does better?

Filter polymod (modulating filter cut off with OSC B)

[D-Fusion]

Works fine here for Filter FM Yaj Yajs if you use The Triangle waveform and Disable the KYBD and set the Frequency to +12 and the Octave to 3 on osillator 2 and then set the filter resonance to around 45.
Also disable filter keyboard tracking and play with the Envelope settings.

[zerocrossing]

There is nothing wrong with Repro’s audio rate modulation quality.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

There is nothing wrong with Repro’s audio rate modulation quality.

Indeed there is not. I recall SC increased the Polymod depth on the Rev 4. There was a video someone linked to or posted in the big Gearspace thread for the Rev 4 comparing a hardware Rev 3 to a Rev 4 and that was one of the conclusions. Also, never match settings based on knob positions.

RePro is also way less sloppy than my Rev 4 with way tighter tuning. You really have to minimize the Vintage knob on the Rev 4 to get into RePro territory, and even then I think the Rev 4 has more variations in the voices. To get RePro in the ballpark, turn the "Detune" knob up near 35-40. That will add some detuning to the voices and get you in the ballpark of the chorusing sound the Rev 4 excels at.

Softube Model 80 sounds a LOT like RePro once you dial them in. It just has some added noise (which I find pleasant but unnecessary) and has a bunch of other limitations that RePro-5 does not (fewer voices, no FX, no Pro-1 emulation included ) . Both are excellent emulations IMO. I didn't feel the urge to buy Model 80 because I already had RePro-5, but I wouldn't begrudge anyone for prefering it. They're both great.

[zerocrossing]

There is nothing wrong with Repro’s audio rate modulation quality.

Indeed there is not. I recall SC increased the Polymod depth on the Rev 4. There was a video someone linked to or posted in the big Gearspace thread for the Rev 4 comparing a hardware Rev 3 to a Rev 4 and that was one of the conclusions. Also, never match settings based on knob positions.

RePro is also way less sloppy than my Rev 4 with way tighter tuning. You really have to minimize the Vintage knob on the Rev 4 to get into RePro territory, and even then I think the Rev 4 has more variations in the voices. To get RePro in the ballpark, turn the "Detune" knob up near 35-40. That will add some detuning to the voices and get you in the ballpark of the chorusing sound the Rev 4 excels at.

Softube Model 80 sounds a LOT like RePro once you dial them in. It just has some added noise (which I find pleasant but unnecessary) and has a bunch of other limitations that RePro-5 does not (fewer voices, no FX, no Pro-1 emulation included ) . Both are excellent emulations IMO. I didn't feel the urge to buy Model 80 because I already had RePro-5, but I wouldn't begrudge anyone for prefering it. They're both great.

Yeah, Repro is a tighter sound, more “calibrated,” but that can also be a good thing, especially for some sorts of audio rate modulation sounds, like bass when you don’t want to have some crazy phase issues.