Poll - Vote 4 yr Oberheim
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Echoes in the Attic Echoes in the Attic https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=180417
- KVRAF
- 12064 posts since 12 May, 2008
I would say that Oberheims are the synths that have been emulated the best by so many different devs. I try not to have too many of the same emulation but with oberheims there are so many that I like.DCrown wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 7:31 am There was a request to add Arturia SEM, after I had added all the votes were gone, so please vote again!
We already had about 50 votes, c'mon let us have 100+ votes and then ask the winning dev to give it for free, he will get paid by fame anyway
What is the best Oberheim emu for you no matter what model (Obx, Obxa, SEM...)?, there are so many (boring) emus, I tested them all.
As a Prince fan I am pretty disappointed about so many uninspiring emus. Meanwhile I have experienced OB-E to be a great sound creating tool (1Oth of January).
Bx_Oberhauser , I fell asleep after 1 minute testing it, didn't like it - the opposite of funky
Arturia, well Arturia 's emus are not for me, they sound boring imo, their synths have a lack of vitality and warmth and a strange dynamic feel and unmusical playability even their flagshipsynth.
GForce - nice, but that's it, only nice
Dsp OB-Xd no!
Op-x II Pro, maybe the best sounding and funkiest emu with the classic sound, but there is something that made me very angry. I think there are thousands of presets, some of them five times, just in different banks and the good presets are very often too loud - +5dB or more, that's annoying. It is like you are selling stovetops that get too hot and you always burn your food.
The preset manager is a joke and bad for a fast and organized workflow. I know there is version 3 out now, but not interested, same synth in different clothes
and some more
Whenever a new Oberheim emu is released, the reactions of people don't show a lot of happiness and I think it is because there are so many less than mediocre emus, a real Oberheim Ob x..(different models) is one of the best sounding synths, though
I mean, a lot of emus of other synths are ok compared to hardware, but Oberheim...
The Poll let's you make two choices!
-OP-X Pro 3 (DE) sounds great and has the early OB-X modeling, but is very verstaile with the extra filter, the SEM state variable morphing liek the SEM (not just 2pole LP), all the extra modulations, putting into very much Matrix-12 territory, plus a great preset library of classics (note v3 is much better than v2 in terms of preset organization). Like a best of from SEM to Matrix-12.
-Synapse Obsession sounds great, more of a OB-Xa, also has additinoal modulation and MPE support.
-Aly James OB-Xtreme 3 sounds amazing but is a little more straight forward than the two above and has the extra circuit overdrive which is awesome. Sort of an OB-X, OB-Xa mix. I prefer the methods of spreading parameters between voices, much quicker than the synapse style of selecting each voice and adjusting offsets, which I find too cumersome to bother with.
I had a hard time picking between the three above.
-The GForce OB-X seems to sound great, really nice clear layout OB-X style (only 2 pole filter though I think) with the GForce per control lfo and envelope which I think is a great system. Don't 'own this one but wouldn't mind it. Also has per voice pitch bend and poly pressure, which only Obsession has otherwise.
-Arturia SEM 3 is quite good. Excellent MPE and some nice extras. A polyphonic SEM like this is basically an OB-X with more filter options.
-Cherry 8Voice is nice, I think it sounds great, but don't use it as much as I'm not that into the 8voice layout.
-GForce OB-E seems to sonud amazing, but as above not super interested in the layout though I think they implemented it a bit better than Cherry.
-The Arturia Matrix-12 is really cool, and does sound good, though I think they could get closer to the real thing.
Of course there are plenty more as the poll shows. And some like the free OB-Xf are quite capable.
But generally the only OB I'd like to see done more accurately is the Matrix-12 with MPE added. I think the OB-X series and SEMs are nailed multiple times over.
