OSCar Rebirth due 2026

[grandmasterbird]

Don't think this has yet been mentioned here

https://www.gearnews.com/pwm-oscar-re-birth-synth/

[vurt]

Don't think this has yet been mentioned here

https://www.gearnews.com/pwm-oscar-re-birth-synth/

i saw this at the weekend! that picture may even be from the booth?
exciting news indeed, didnt get a chance to play, as it was quite a busy booth when i was there, understandably.

[grandmasterbird]

Don't think this has yet been mentioned here

https://www.gearnews.com/pwm-oscar-re-birth-synth/

i saw this at the weekend! that picture may even be from the booth?
exciting news indeed, didnt get a chance to play, as it was quite a busy booth when i was there, understandably.

Ah awesome, I wanted to go myself but couldnt unfortunately. But yeah, its very exciting.... a bit beyond my reach and looks like it'll be a limited run but still.... if I had the expendable cash I'd snap it up, and although I probably wont end up with it I'm glad to see it being re-made.

They seem like a cool quirky company PWM. Just been checking out their Mantis synth and wow, it sounds brilliant in a really unstable kind of way! It seems to use the filter design from the Oscar and builds on it. Makes sense that they would remake the Oscar as I think they acquired Oxford Synthesiser Company, although how soon before Behringer get in on it I wonder.....

[liquidsound]

I hope they will offer a trade-in with my Imposcar 3

[zerocrossing]

Too close to the original. It's 2025, let's get some extra voice and ditch the cassette memory, eh?

[kritikon]

My 2 cents worth...why? As an avowed OSCar fanboi I just don't see the point of it. Mantis is pretty well an OSCar for today already and it has all kinds of modern bells and whistles. It's more recently even become a 4 voice. I have money spare that I can afford the $5k for an OSCar remake...but I wouldn't dream of it. I haven't splashed out for a Mantis yet, partly because I'd have to get it from overseas, but I will at some point. I can see nostalgia being the only reason to buy a hw remake. A duophonic synth crippled by 30 year old limitations? With cassette loading? f**k right off. IMO OSCar was one of the best synths ever made and the best I ever personally had. Still, an exact replica remake at silly price is a head-scratcher. For the same price you could get 2 Mantises and have 8 OSCar voices.

It's odd because I should be applauding, but I think it's a silly idea.

[kritikon]

...and, I have to factor in that there is possibly a BOSCar in the pipeline, which might only be 90% of a proper OSCar, but at a fraction of the price the compromise is impossible to ignore.

[kritikon]

Ah awesome, I wanted to go myself but couldnt unfortunately. But yeah, its very exciting.... a bit beyond my reach and looks like it'll be a limited run but still.... if I had the expendable cash I'd snap it up, and although I probably wont end up with it I'm glad to see it being re-made.

They seem like a cool quirky company PWM. Just been checking out their Mantis synth and wow, it sounds brilliant in a really unstable kind of way! It seems to use the filter design from the Oscar and builds on it. Makes sense that they would remake the Oscar as I think they acquired Oxford Synthesiser Company, although how soon before Behringer get in on it I wonder.....

Behringer floated the idea of a BOSCar way back at the start of their analogue synth remake journey quite a few years ago. Mutterings surfaced again this year that they might actually be in the process still. It's entirely possible Behringer could already be way ahead of PWM. And the rumour is it's a polysynth as first envisaged, but we don't know 8-voice or 16-voice. If they do, I hope they ditch the additive part of it as IMO it was the weakest part of the OSCar and a waste of time and effort. They could even improve it and go for VCOs instead of DCOs hopefully, though OSCar's DCOs were very good admittedly.

[whyterabbyt]

. If they do, I hope they ditch the additive part of it as IMO it was the weakest part of the OSCar and a waste of time and effort. They could even improve it and go for VCOs instead of DCOs hopefully, though OSCar's DCOs were very good admittedly.

All good clones should drop the feature set of the original. I hope they also drop the filters, add the 18db one from the 303, and the 808 cowbell.

[grandmasterbird]

Ah awesome, I wanted to go myself but couldnt unfortunately. But yeah, its very exciting.... a bit beyond my reach and looks like it'll be a limited run but still.... if I had the expendable cash I'd snap it up, and although I probably wont end up with it I'm glad to see it being re-made.

They seem like a cool quirky company PWM. Just been checking out their Mantis synth and wow, it sounds brilliant in a really unstable kind of way! It seems to use the filter design from the Oscar and builds on it. Makes sense that they would remake the Oscar as I think they acquired Oxford Synthesiser Company, although how soon before Behringer get in on it I wonder.....

Behringer floated the idea of a BOSCar way back at the start of their analogue synth remake journey quite a few years ago. Mutterings surfaced again this year that they might actually be in the process still. It's entirely possible Behringer could already be way ahead of PWM. And the rumour is it's a polysynth as first envisaged, but we don't know 8-voice or 16-voice. If they do, I hope they ditch the additive part of it as IMO it was the weakest part of the OSCar and a waste of time and effort. They could even improve it and go for VCOs instead of DCOs hopefully, though OSCar's DCOs were very good admittedly.

Its unfortunate because if Behringer did bring one out it would most likely make life more difficult for PWM. How on earth can they compete with a juggernaut like Behringer!? In any case I wish them luck and hope it's a success.

As for why.... I can only speak from my own perspective in that I don't own an Oscar and there's a good chance I never will. But if I could then I would, because I think it's one of the all time greats. And if I had the hypothetical money to buy an original (and probably quite rare) vintage or a newly made 1:1 clone I would personally opt for the cheaper and newer version because it negates lots of potential problems. But if I already had a good condition original then I doubt I'd buy a new version.

I have to say their Mantis is intriguing me more and more. As you say it seems to be a modern Oscar in disguise. And it's now polyphonic! The funny thing is on their website if you listen to the pad patch by Daniel Miller in their promo video (about 3 mins in), to me it sounded very, very similar to Imposcar3, or vice versa!

[seafire]

My 2 cents worth...why? As an avowed OSCar fanboi I just don't see the point of it. Mantis is pretty well an OSCar for today already and it has all kinds of modern bells and whistles. It's more recently even become a 4 voice. I have money spare that I can afford the $5k for an OSCar remake...but I wouldn't dream of it. I haven't splashed out for a Mantis yet, partly because I'd have to get it from overseas, but I will at some point. I can see nostalgia being the only reason to buy a hw remake. A duophonic synth crippled by 30 year old limitations? With cassette loading? f**k right off. IMO OSCar was one of the best synths ever made and the best I ever personally had. Still, an exact replica remake at silly price is a head-scratcher. For the same price you could get 2 Mantises and have 8 OSCar voices.

It's odd because I should be applauding, but I think it's a silly idea.

Agree mostly. I'm sure they will easily sell out the limited run tho. The Mantis is close enough, but even that isn't on my radar. Sold my OSCar last Xmas. It was OK, but too big and not special enough to me for a mono synth.

Hoping Behringer do the right thing, get close as possible in a desktop unit for under 300. I'd be tempted by that.

[Constructed Identity]

Ah awesome, I wanted to go myself but couldnt unfortunately. But yeah, its very exciting.... a bit beyond my reach and looks like it'll be a limited run but still.... if I had the expendable cash I'd snap it up, and although I probably wont end up with it I'm glad to see it being re-made.

They seem like a cool quirky company PWM. Just been checking out their Mantis synth and wow, it sounds brilliant in a really unstable kind of way! It seems to use the filter design from the Oscar and builds on it. Makes sense that they would remake the Oscar as I think they acquired Oxford Synthesiser Company, although how soon before Behringer get in on it I wonder.....

Behringer floated the idea of a BOSCar way back at the start of their analogue synth remake journey quite a few years ago. Mutterings surfaced again this year that they might actually be in the process still. It's entirely possible Behringer could already be way ahead of PWM. And the rumour is it's a polysynth as first envisaged, but we don't know 8-voice or 16-voice. If they do, I hope they ditch the additive part of it as IMO it was the weakest part of the OSCar and a waste of time and effort. They could even improve it and go for VCOs instead of DCOs hopefully, though OSCar's DCOs were very good admittedly.

Its unfortunate because if Behringer did bring one out it would most likely make life more difficult for PWM. How on earth can they compete with a juggernaut like Behringer!? In any case I wish them luck and hope it's a success.

As for why.... I can only speak from my own perspective in that I don't own an Oscar and there's a good chance I never will. But if I could then I would, because I think it's one of the all time greats. And if I had the hypothetical money to buy an original (and probably quite rare) vintage or a newly made 1:1 clone I would personally opt for the cheaper and newer version because it negates lots of potential problems. But if I already had a good condition original then I doubt I'd buy a new version.

I have to say their Mantis is intriguing me more and more. As you say it seems to be a modern Oscar in disguise. And it's now polyphonic! The funny thing is on their website if you listen to the pad patch by Daniel Miller in their promo video (about 3 mins in), to me it sounded very, very similar to Imposcar3, or vice versa!

If you get a Mantis you’ll be amazed at how small the buttons are. Fingertip-sized buttons and having to press a combination for presets put me off at Knobcon last year. The keyboard is great though, especially for the size.

[grandmasterbird]

Ah awesome, I wanted to go myself but couldnt unfortunately. But yeah, its very exciting.... a bit beyond my reach and looks like it'll be a limited run but still.... if I had the expendable cash I'd snap it up, and although I probably wont end up with it I'm glad to see it being re-made.

They seem like a cool quirky company PWM. Just been checking out their Mantis synth and wow, it sounds brilliant in a really unstable kind of way! It seems to use the filter design from the Oscar and builds on it. Makes sense that they would remake the Oscar as I think they acquired Oxford Synthesiser Company, although how soon before Behringer get in on it I wonder.....

Behringer floated the idea of a BOSCar way back at the start of their analogue synth remake journey quite a few years ago. Mutterings surfaced again this year that they might actually be in the process still. It's entirely possible Behringer could already be way ahead of PWM. And the rumour is it's a polysynth as first envisaged, but we don't know 8-voice or 16-voice. If they do, I hope they ditch the additive part of it as IMO it was the weakest part of the OSCar and a waste of time and effort. They could even improve it and go for VCOs instead of DCOs hopefully, though OSCar's DCOs were very good admittedly.

Its unfortunate because if Behringer did bring one out it would most likely make life more difficult for PWM. How on earth can they compete with a juggernaut like Behringer!? In any case I wish them luck and hope it's a success.

As for why.... I can only speak from my own perspective in that I don't own an Oscar and there's a good chance I never will. But if I could then I would, because I think it's one of the all time greats. And if I had the hypothetical money to buy an original (and probably quite rare) vintage or a newly made 1:1 clone I would personally opt for the cheaper and newer version because it negates lots of potential problems. But if I already had a good condition original then I doubt I'd buy a new version.

I have to say their Mantis is intriguing me more and more. As you say it seems to be a modern Oscar in disguise. And it's now polyphonic! The funny thing is on their website if you listen to the pad patch by Daniel Miller in their promo video (about 3 mins in), to me it sounded very, very similar to Imposcar3, or vice versa!

If you get a Mantis you’ll be amazed at how small the buttons are. Fingertip-sized buttons and having to press a combination for presets put me off at Knobcon last year. The keyboard is great though, especially for the size.

Ok thanks I have fat digits so that's good to know! And herein lies the problem- YouTube videos only go so far. Without actually sitting down in front of a synth how are you ever going to know if it's the right one!? I think I remember seeing in one of the interviews with Paul that his job previously was to basically source the best keyboards for the stuff at m-audio and Novation so that makes sense. What was your impression of the sound? I've been enjoying what I'm hearing (again in YouTube videos )

[seafire]

Fat fingers here. Had no trouble with the buttons or knobs when I tried one at Synth East this year. ( spoke to Paul for a while, nice bloke)

Most of the time was spent with him taking about the super/poly oscar they were trying to rebuild....

[grandmasterbird]

Fat fingers here. Had no trouble with the buttons or knobs when I tried one at Synth East this year. ( spoke to Paul for a while, nice bloke)

Most of the time was spent with him taking about the super/poly oscar they were trying to rebuild....

Ah was this the prototype that was planned but never quite came to be? I remember hearing something about it in one of the Gforce videos somewhere. Thanks for the info re the buttons and knobs. Did the build quality feel ok to you?