GForce OB-1

[Cuauhtli]

Yeah, the gui looks fine. Version number is still 1.0 in the about pop up though.

[vitocorleone123]

They ever update the UI so it wasn't annoying to look at? My eyes didn't like it - I know there were a few others that also had the same issue

(this is the only plugin I've ever had issues with looking at before, or since)

OB-1 looks fine to me. The one that's a bit blurry for me is OB-E.

Using the demo of TVS-Pro, the red destinations listed in the small boxes are pretty unreadable.

Wasn’t blurry so much as it eventually was something I just couldn’t look at.

OB-E is okay in that regard, but agree that the font could be more legible.

[vitocorleone123]

Yeah, the gui looks fine. Version number is still 1.0 in the about pop up though.

Yeah, no, it was unusable to some people (like me) due to the visual design. I was just wondering if they’d ever updated it.

I’d contacted them a bit after release but they weren’t interested in hearing about it (even with links to a few others reporting the same issue). Ah well. Not like I need another synth.

[BONES]

Why would they be? It looks fine, everyone's aesthetic take will be different. It looks like the hardware it's emulating, they aren't going to change it because it doesn't suit you.

[vitocorleone123]

Why would they be? It looks fine, everyone's aesthetic take will be different. It looks like the hardware it's emulating, they aren't going to change it because it doesn't suit you.

It’s not a matter of preference.

It’s a usability problem that’s substantial but doesn’t appear to be impacting everyone. Therefore, a mature company wouldn’t have prioritized it as something immediately to address, but would circle around to it. I was merely hoping they’d have done the circling at this point as I’d then go ahead and buy it.

I have more than 27 years of UX experience with 10s of millions of people having used products and features I’ve designed and researched. I’m not making stuff up.

[BONES]

I'm going to assume that your issue is with the black background and the silver/very light grey knobs. Do you use "dark" mode or "bright white, I can't "see a thing" mode on your computer? As a graphics professional, I've been using neutral colour schemes wherever possible for the past 20+ years, since I discovered the SMPTE standard for working with colour. Along with appropriate lighting, it's amazing what a difference it makes. Dark mode is a lot more neutral than light mode so try switching and see how it goes.

[vitocorleone123]

I'm going to assume that your issue is with the black background and the silver/very light grey knobs. Do you use "dark" mode or "bright white, I can't "see a thing" mode on your computer? As a graphics professional, I've been using neutral colour schemes wherever possible for the past 20+ years, since I discovered the SMPTE standard for working with colour. Along with appropriate lighting, it's amazing what a difference it makes. Dark mode is a lot more neutral than light mode so try switching and see how it goes.

I have to admit, this is one of the best posts from you that I've read I feel like I was a bit of an arse in my post before - apologies for that one.

I think it's a combo of what you said and the forced perspective of the interface. Something was just especially "off" for me. Some of their other synths, as others have noted, can be a touch blurry. But the OB-1 is wonky for some reason. That is, my eyes find it wonky. Never really had an issue before, though one early NoiseAsh UI of their Need533 was toeing the line until they reduced that forced perspective, but I was still able to use it.

Does OB-1 have a dark/light mode now? My PC is definitely set to be darker, plus I even use a lower blue light mode usually on my monitor.

[SebAV]

Their 3D renders look very good but it seems the 2D projection looses something and make their soft synths painful to look at. For me it’s too « shinny flat design ». I much prefer the renders of repro or model 77

[BONES]

I think it's a combo of what you said and the forced perspective of the interface. Something was just especially "off" for me. Some of their other synths, as others have noted, can be a touch blurry.

I find this particularly weird; if I had a criticism of GForce's GUIs in general, I'd say they are too sharp and could do with more/better anti-aliasing. They almost look like they are vector, not bitmaps, to me. They'd look better if they were a bit softer.

Does OB-1 have a dark/light mode now? My PC is definitely set to be darker, plus I even use a lower blue light mode usually on my monitor.

I don't do any of that blue light shit, it skews colour perception too much. AFAIK, OB-1 only has the one skin. I'll agree that it's ugly but that's what the original looked like, so I'm not blaming GForce for that. I also think the text labels are tracked in too tightly, they could be a bit smaller and given a bit of air to make them more legible. It's not too bad on OB-1 but it's terrible on the new TVS Pro.

[vitocorleone123]

I think it's a combo of what you said and the forced perspective of the interface. Something was just especially "off" for me. Some of their other synths, as others have noted, can be a touch blurry.

I find this particularly weird; if I had a criticism of GForce's GUIs in general, I'd say they are too sharp and could do with more/better anti-aliasing. They almost look like they are vector, not bitmaps, to me. They'd look better if they were a bit softer.

Does OB-1 have a dark/light mode now? My PC is definitely set to be darker, plus I even use a lower blue light mode usually on my monitor.

I don't do any of that blue light shit, it skews colour perception too much. AFAIK, OB-1 only has the one skin. I'll agree that it's ugly but that's what the original looked like, so I'm not blaming GForce for that. I also think the text labels are tracked in too tightly, they could be a bit smaller and given a bit of air to make them more legible. It's not too bad on OB-1 but it's terrible on the new TVS Pro.

I can see you not liking the low bluelight as you're into the UI and visuals. It helps me stare at the screen for longer during the day and into the night. It's a slight adjustment. If I'm doing anything where color really matters to me (rare these days as I'm more on the research side and UX and, thankfully for everyone, don't have to do any visual design), I bump it back to default.

[BONES]

I have very controlled lighting on the boat. It's not much different, day or night, and much easier for long sessions than the lighting at work, which is basically just an open-plan office with huge windows and way too much lighting.

[tumface]

Demoing this right now, for fun. Am I crazy or is the VCF envelope weird AF? The envelope +/- range and curve changes with the amount of keytracking. And if you have keytracking off and the cutoff frequency somewhere in the middle of the range, the envelope barely does anything at all. I guess the original must be like that? Is the filter env mapped using linear frequency response instead of proportional?

It's not necessarily bad, just really quirky feeling.

[Mr Arkadin]

I don't know if that's how the original worked - but it is a quirky synth. Remember the original came out when what we now take as standard working wasn't yet established.

[tumface]

It is kind of cool how it feels a bit primordial but also usable. The supposed MPE support doesn't work for me, though. Regular polyphonic aftertouch does, but MPE pitch doesn't work correctly at all.

[tumface]

Be careful when switching between presets on this thing while notes are still sounding. It can sometimes cause the delay FX unit to output a ton of DC. I reported it and they acknowledged it to be fixed in the next update.

Definitely having fun with the demo, though. I also reported another minor problem where the phase of each oscillator is randomized with each new note on, instead of contiguous like with their OB-E and most other analog modeling synths. Not a deal breaker, though.