OB-Xf by Surge Synth Team

[arturrembe]

Update on Page 16:

OB-Xf is ready to start beta testing!

To download the latest please visit this page.

OB-Xf is a continuation of the free and open source OB-Xd project. Surge Synth Team, expanded with a new group of team members, centralized several disparate efforts around the Web interested in improving this synth. We've undertaken a few months of work to continue, update, and improve the free and open source version of this classic virtual instrument with a variety of fixes, enhancements, and new features.

OB-Xf is and always will be free in all contexts and for all uses, with the source code available and modifiable, and the software usable in any context, free or commercial. The software is released under the GNU General Public License 3.0 or later.

It's not a small project though, and as we head towards the 1.0 release we are interested in having folks from the whole wide world to help us with beta testing and factory patch design.

Features we've added include (in no particular order of importance):

- Improved voice handling, updated the old VAM button to a menu that offers last/low/high note priority
- Unison Voices parameter specifies how many voices will be used when Unison button is enabled, which makes polyphonic unison possible!
- Separately adjustable pitch bend up/down ranges, Vibrato LFO can now switch between sine and unipolar square wave
- Ring modulator and noise colors (white/pink/red) added to the Mixer
- 4-pole filter now gained an additional Xpander mode, which contains the 15 filter types found on Oberheim Xpander!
- LFO gains waveform crossfaders instead of on-off waveform buttons, adjustable pulsewidth for square/saw waveforms, invertable targets (the target buttons have 3 states now) and Volume as additional target
- Second LFO is added which is functionally identical to the first LFO, except it is per voice instead of global for all voices
- Some parameters have extended or modified ranges, LFO Rate now goes to 250 Hz, Vibrato Rate range is now 2-12 Hz, scaling of Noise volume now matches scaling of oscillator volume parameters, the range of Crossmod parameter was doubled, etc.
- New Levels parameter in Voice Variation section, which mildly adjusts the output volumes of 8 voice blocks
- Programmer section at the bottom, containing patch number (click to list all patches in the bank) and name (click to rename), previous/next patch buttons, initialize and randomize patch buttons, and 16 direct access buttons that allow selecting 16 patches across 16 groups
- Awesome new GUI by satYatunes and arturrembe, and a simplified vectorized version of it by EvilDragon which is embedded into the binaries
- Fully accessible implementation with keyboard navigation and screen reader support on Windows and MacOS
- Loads of fixes and code quality improvements, infrastructure moved from Projucer to CMake, etc.
- Available on Windows, MacOS and Linux, through CLAP, VST3, Standalone, AU and LV2 formats

There's still a few things we are working on in the beta period:

- The MIDI Learn UI/UX is pending further improvements
- The default install has no patches, no banks (other than the initialized one ), no MIDI mappings. If you are interested in contributing patches, please join our Discord server!

We hope to get to a 1.0 release well before Halloween. Giving the synth a test and sharing bug reports on GitHub or our Discord server is the crucial last step to get there. When reporting bugs, please use the Copy Info to Clipboard function on About page, which you can get to by clicking the OB-Xf logo in top left corner!


Thank you!

Old Post:

Apparently, the Surge Synth Team is now also working on the OB-Xf synthesizer (an open-source version of OB-Xd, originally by 2dat, later taken over by DiscoDSP).
There seem to be a lot of unhappy users because DiscoDSP has been offering a paid version of OB-Xd with extra features for a while now, and the free version can no longer be used for commercial music projects.

Right now, there are nightly builds available, but I haven’t managed to get them running yet, some assets are still missing.

https://github.com/surge-synthesizer/OB ... ag/Nightly

https://github.com/surge-synthesizer/OB-Xf

[satYatunes]

Fantastic news!

Just tried, getting a blank screen. May be missing something.

[arturrembe]

As I understand it, OB-Xf has been merged with the Grec version. Everything is still very fresh/new. The installer isn't working yet. The CLAP and VST3 versions work, but the skin is missing. In principle, you could use an old skin. Or wait a few more days.

[EvilDragon]

Patience, please. There needs to be some infrastructure work done to get things to a workable state.

[baconpaul]

Sheesh that was indeed quick!

Basically we are consolidating the grec efforts and another modernization effort and using the infrastructure for surge (ci, code control, nighties, etc) but we literally started 18 hours ago! Very quick find!!

[EvilDragon]

BTW, OP could you rename the thread to properly spell out Surge Synth Team? Thanks!

[baconpaul]

And to be clear surge synth team is an expansive and flexible concept - both the grec author and the author of the other effort are now team members! (As can anyone else who wants to contribute code testing or assets can be)

[satYatunes]

@EvilDragon and @baconpaul - Is there a spot for a UI/UX designer in your team? I would like to participate and contribute. Let me know.

If you want to take a look at my work here is the link to my Portfolio

Here is my website for skins, themes, etc. - satyatunes.com

[baconpaul]

@EvilDragon and @baconpaul - Is there a spot for a UI/UX designer in your team? I would like to participate and contribute. Let me know.

If you want to take a look at my work here is the link to my Portfolio

Here is my website for skins, themes, etc. - satyatunes.com

Theres always room for folks who show up; the team really is just the set of people who choose to do things at a given moment. But to be clear, the team is also an entirely volunteer/hobby group with no money involved.

If you'd like to work on some skins for the synth though sure hop on our discord and chat with the group in the #ob-xf-development channel in the surge discord. https://discord.gg/JwsVgfe4

[arturrembe]

I’m really happy to see this synth getting a proper 'revival.'
Back in the day, I first discovered it through one of Unfa’s videos back when the synth still had the old light-blue skin.

@satYatunes:
Maybe you could draw some inspiration from that design? Or maybe my taste is just outdated.

[satYatunes]

@EvilDragon and @baconpaul - Is there a spot for a UI/UX designer in your team? I would like to participate and contribute. Let me know.

If you want to take a look at my work here is the link to my Portfolio

Here is my website for skins, themes, etc. - satyatunes.com

Theres always room for folks who show up; the team really is just the set of people who choose to do things at a given moment. But to be clear, the team is also an entirely volunteer/hobby group with no money involved.

If you'd like to work on some skins for the synth though sure hop on our discord and chat with the group in the #ob-xf-development channel in the surge discord. https://discord.gg/JwsVgfe4

Thank you. Joined.

@arturrembe - Let's see. No promises though

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Very cool. I always really liked that synth but recent developments have soured me to it. For a freebie, it was always damn good.

Thanks Surge Team! Looking forward to this.

[Ghostwave]

And I'd be happy to contribute to the factory patches if there are open spots.
I released a bank for OB-Xd years ago, Blueshift, (https://www.kvraudio.com/product/bluesh ... wave-audio) and I'd be happy to update it and add more presets.

[baconpaul]

Cool. I’m sure if and when we get it running we will want to have a proper factory set of patches. Appreciate it!

[Vortifex]

Please have a good preset browser, it's the worst thing about the DiscoDSP version