Poll - Vote 4 yr Oberheim

[DCrown]

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!

[rasmusklump]

Maybe you should test bx oberhausen if you don't like bx oberhauser

[Lbdunequest]

If you are disappointed in OB emulations, im sure you would be in real deal. Keep in mind music has post processing on master and single channels meaning Prince music is also mixed and mastered and you are listening to musical track not just 1 key note of just 1 instrument without any processing.

Your problem if you can call that is more of ignorance and not understanding not because emus are bad or just really boring. One thing is certain your found problem is so ridiculously stupid its amusingly good, thanks for cheering me up

[Echoes in the Attic]

The best two are Synapse Obsession and Aly James OB-Xtreme for OB-X’s. Probably gforce OB-E for 8-voice sem. I like the cherry eight voice too but it seems like the gforce interface is better. Also diva has the sem filter which is giood.

[chagzuki]

I've found myself interested in this recently, but largely in terms of bass definition. Actually, the Arturia OP-xa fares well there, and I'm not sure Obsession does so well. But I have no experience with the original, so I'm judging things on what sounds good and similar to demos of the recent Behringer clones. I would imagine that the different emulations excel in different areas and people will prefer whichever works best for their typical use-case.

[wagtunes]

Synapse Obsession

[Matt67]

Since the question was which Oberheim emulation is best suited for “me,” the following is based solely on my personal opinion.

One thing in advance: with the exception of the OB-Xa, which I replaced with an OB-8 because of MIDI, I still own all of my Oberheim hardware synthesizers: OB-8, Matrix-12, Matrix-6, and two 6Rs.

When it comes to which emulation comes closest to the original, in my opinion it's the DSP OB-Xd. It comes extremely close to my OB-8. With the DSP, I can reproduce all the sounds of the OB-8 without any problems. This is also possible with the OP-X Pro, but it takes longer.
I haven't found a replacement for the Matrix models yet. Neither for the M12 nor for the M6. Arturia gave me some hope with the 12V. But in terms of warmth and richness, it's miles away.

But of all the emulations, I personally still prefer Obsession. Because it simply comes closest to my current requirements. I wouldn't call Obsession a really good Oberheim emulation, but the synthesizer has completely different qualities that, in my opinion, make it a very good plugin. Obsession is one of the plugins I use most often. And since I no longer make songs from the 80s, it simply better suits my current requirements.

[DCrown]

If you are disappointed in OB emulations, im sure you would be in real deal. Keep in mind music has post processing on master and single channels meaning Prince music is also mixed and mastered and you are listening to musical track not just 1 key note of just 1 instrument without any processing.

Your problem if you can call that is more of ignorance and not understanding not because emus are bad or just really boring. One thing is certain your found problem is so ridiculously stupid its amusingly good, thanks for cheering me up

Well, maybe Oberheim just isn't for me. Never played a real one. And the fact that I like Prince, doesn't automatically mean that I would enjoy the same instruments he used. So this is no problem, cuz there are lots of other synths, but won't change the fact that what the emus I experienced gave me: no inspiration and they were boring to me the opposite of what for instance HZ Zebra gives me.

[zvenx]

I am fortunate enough to beta test for Gforce... (isn't really a secret since they do thank their beta testers by name in their manuals). Take that as possible bias for what it may, though I also beta test for at least one other company who has made an Oberheim Emulation.
Also back in the day, the OB-8 was my favourite Analog synth. I was lucky enough to have uninterrupted access to one for 2 or so years.

What I do know and hope I am not giving away any of Gforce's secrets...
is they initially did the OB-E without any assistance or Blessings from Oberheim (v1), but after it was done it caught the attention of the Oberheim team and one in particular, a key one, worked with them in crafting OB-E v2, which is the OB-E that also bears the Oberheim name on it.
That Collaboration has continued with every Oberheim emulation Gforce has made since. And it doesn't get released until the Oberheim team says it is good to go.

I remember when the hardware OB-X8 was released, I put it in my radar and figured one day I would buy one....
Whilst beta testing the OB-X, (yes which technically is only 1/3rd or so of the OB-X8, in the sense that the OB-X8 is an combination that allows you to replicate the OB-X, XA and 8 ) I had the opportunity to go into a Guitar Center which had a OB-X8 in their showroom... I played it for about 3 hours....and concluded that the OB-X by Gforce was more than enough for me... and that day lost the desire to ever one day buy the OB-X8.

It's for these reasons why to me the best Oberheim emulations are the ones made by Gforce (though I have never played an OB-1 or TVS-Pro so can't personally vouch for how good an emulation of the real thing those are), but I have clocked countless hours playing the hardware: 4 voice, OB-X, OB-XA and as previously mentioned the OB-8 (in particular).


rsp

[Vortifex]

Never played an Oberheim IRL but the GForce SEM is my favourite Oberheim VST. It just sounds extremely good.

[Dirk Diggler]

Cherry Audio 8 voice. I have played a real hardware 4 voice and can say it's very close.
Also their freebie SEM module is very good for scratching that Obbie itch!

[Fannon]

If you like Zebra HZ more anyway, have you looked into Zebra 3 and it's SVF filters? If I'm not wrong, that's the type of filter that the Oberheims also use? Allthough there is no filter in Zebra 3 where you can morph between LP and HP. You can do that with Diva and it's Uhbie VCF, though.

In any case, I'd be more looking into what synths you like from sound and usability, not so much that they are a perfect replication of this or that synth.

[Examigan]

Even though OP-X Pro is a bit complex to program sounds, there are tons of great presets you can tweek to get close to what you may want. I really like it and have used it in many tracks.

[Cuauhtli]

The GForce OB-8.

[jobinho]

Gforce OB-E is pretty amazing, SEM and TVS are stripped down / tweaked versions of it