Oberheim OB-X8 Review - Sonic LAB
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- čas přidán 27. 05. 2024
- #soniclab #oberheim #ob-x8
A loving recreation of the classic OB era poly synths, the OB-X8 is an 8-voice analogue poly synth with the core functionality of the OB-8, with two Oscillators per voice, CEM3320 based 2-pole filter (with OB-X, OB-8, OBXa and SEM configurations), X-Mod , two Envelopes and LFO.
Its intended to be a modern - eg useable without continual servicing required.
Its also the first return for Tom Oberheim to make an instrument under his own name, and in collaboration with Sequential was one of the last projects Dave Smith was involved in.
So it has a lot of legacy. We take a look....
Thanks to gpu.audio/sonicstate
For the support.
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00:00:00 Start
00:00:24 Intro
00:01:45 GPU Audio
00:02:33 Overview
00:03:23 Some sounds
00:05:20 Oscillators
00:06:42 Page 2
00:07:42 unison and sync
00:10:00 X Mod detune , stereo
00:11:43 Vintage mode
00:13:30 more sounds
00:15:58 LFO
00:20:42 Karplucks
00:21:23 Filter
00:24:30 Portamento
00:25:37 Performance controls and Arp
00:30:33 Split and Double
00:34:45 Memories
00:35:37 envelopes
00:37:24 final thoughts
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I just took delivery of mine and it's simply the best. Oberheims tag line used to be "Some things are better than others." and with the X8, I am a believer!
I bought an OB-X8 because of the legacy of Tom Oberheim, Dave Smith and Marcus Ryle. Cool to have something new made by that team with history.
As we all know, sad that Dave Smith is not here for the occasion and to see the Sonic Lab review of a historic music machine.
Looks well made and very responsive. RIP Dave
I just got mine and it's an absolute masterpiece! The limitations don't bug me as they breed creativity and the entire synth is one big sweet spot! My review is coming soon too :) great video Nick!
Have you had a chance to play the Sequential Take 5? That has a beautiful sound.
Sweet! I´m keeping my OB6 how about you? Keep both.. Guess you will discuss this in your review!
lucky boy
@@aquaticborealis4877 I have not yet but it’s definitely on my list to try and make a video / patches on !
How does it compare to software emulsions of the OB Xa by Arturia or Synapse audio? They sound the same to Me.
THIS IS A WONDERFUL review. These are the Oberheim sounds that people don't focus on. ..
Sound such as 15:44, 16:15, and 24:28. Beautiful emotive timbres with no Tom Sawyer or Jump that owners just can't seem to get beyond. Nick did a great job with the arpeggiator explanation. Sounded very musical and a happy-accident generator for those moments when your creative ideas are fleeting.
@ghost mall Nope. The synth should come with a sticker on the facia saying "no Jump or Tom Sawyer'. Just like my guitar shop had a sign in the window saying "No Stairway to Heaven or Smoke on the Water" :)
@@station2station544 ????
great job, nick! really comprehensive view of the features and the glorious sounds!
It's everything I wanted after selling my OB-Xa. Definitely a niche market, but it's a delight if you are in that market! I love it and have no regrets about my purchase.
You may when you have to answer for the decisions in your life. Beautiful synth and a sound I absolutely love. Then again, you were birthed with your very own, totally unique amongst 8 billion resonant peak/formant/duophonic synth.
50k kids die each day on the planet due to a lack of clean water and food. 50k a day. 350k a week... imagine the stack of bodies, how tall and wide it would be. 1,400,000 a month and you want to trip over Ukraine. 16,800,000 a year - 3 Jewish holocausts of brown kids every single year. In a decade, that's 168,000,000 kids lost to the dirt.
How many Einsteins, Oberheims, Chandrasekhars, were lost before they could even begin to expand human understanding, perhaps inventing over unity power sources, ftl engines, extra-dimensional communications, maybe a beautiful poem, or song.
But you've got a $5,000 synth. Congrats! I'd love to have one if I could.
@@alphanumeric1529 What the fuck are you talking about?
What do you have against dirt? @@alphanumeric1529
It's beautiful, and the "vintage" knob is a genius addition.
Funny that something that sort of weirded me out when I owned a vintage OB-Xa ('the sound changes slightly each time I hit the same key!') is now a feature. I do like it, though - makes the synth feel really 'alive' and a little wild.
What a great sounding synth, just wow. Loved the review since this is as close I'll ever get to this, so thank you Nick!
thanks for the arp overview! it was the press and hold that i missed. fantastic deep dive. cheers nick! much obliged
Good that they kept it simple, a great synth does not need basic built in FX, looping envelopes, distortion. :D
I played with it at NAMM22. Tom O. was there too. This is an immensely good sounding beast, simple and intuitive. You'll find the features in other products, but not the sound. The tactile response of the UI and keys is finest quality. If the price were not so eye watering only... . Awesome video, Sonicstate
Glad there is a market for it. For Dave, this is a fitting goodbye.
Just before he passed, he mentioned something else new from Sequential coming very soon, so whatever that happens to be will likely be the last thing he ever worked on, unless there's more than 1 thing coming. RIP GOAT.
Hell yeah! Not a synth I’ll likely ever own (still paying off my Prophet 10 😅), but I love seeing you guys reviewing great gear.
this looks great! i'm so glad my friends made such an amazing synthesiser!
Great review, great balance between techy info and hearing actual sounds, had me glued to my screen.
Wonderful review. Maybe I am in a minority here but I really wish it came in the blue/stripe oberheim look.
I'd already have pre-ordered if it did.
Thank you Nick and SonicState. So refreshing internetwise to have explanations from a point of actual knowledge ;)
Gorgeous presentation, thank you so much.
Audacious piece of kit and it sounds pretty fantastic any recording I've heard, I gotta try it at a store some time! Doesn't hurt that it looks really cool.
'I'm glad this exists' is exactly what I've been saying about a few synths I'm unlikely to drop money on in the near future. This, new Prophet 5 and the 3rd Wave. It's nice to see 'proper' synths being made still rather than just the (still excellent and relevant) bargain basement stuff.
The problem Obrahim will have is that at 5k only a very small amount of people will be in the market to buy one, I have a very good OB Xa emulsion software sythersizor which to Me sounds just as good as this synth. I only have 10k in My back right now so no definitely not going to spend half of that on a single physical sythersizor.
@@HOLLASOUNDS It's not even close to being a 'problem' for Oberheim. They will sell every synth they can produce.
@@BluffMunkey I dont know about that, so We will wait and see.
@@HOLLASOUNDS honestly, that is probably a lot more then mostly people have that will buy this synth.. good on you for being so responsible.. most people don't have any savings at all and just keep adding debt.
Yes, I agree with you there. It is nice to know that a 'proper' synth, whatever that means, can be purchased if you can afford to splash the cash... but then for the same price as 1 Oberheim OB-X8 you could instead purchase 11 synths (picked at random); Behringer TD-3-AM, Korg Monologue, Arturia Microfreak, Teenage Engineering OP-Z, Korg Opsix, Behringer 2600 Blue Marvin, Elektron Digitone, Moog Etherwave Theremini, Arturia MiniBrute 2S, Polyend Tracker and a Soma laboratory Lyra-8. If I had a 'spare' £5000' and I felt the need to spend it all on synths I know I would not be buying an Oberheim but rather a selection of different synths.
Nice review, Nick. The joy of the Oberheim even got your hair modulating 😉.
Ah yes. The continuity officer has had the week off 😁
I was just listening to it dreamily and suddenly realized that something was wrong. A real shock, I thought is everything ok with me or have I just had a stroke or something? After skipping back and forth a few times, I was reassured to discover that the OB-X8 was also replacing a hairdresser :)
I think a pure analogue thoroughbred like this, is indeed best served to the customer without built-in effects (which, after all, are going to be digital). Sure - add them with external gear later on, but it was the right decision to leave effects processing out of this synth. Enjoy those pure electrons, raw!
We were using digital effects with these in the 80’s too, myself I used a Roland SDE1000 digital delay, and a Roland Digital Dimension pedal for chorus .. on both my Oberheim OB-Xa and later my Roland Jupiter 8, the effects today like the Strymon and Eventide pedals would have been highly coveted by us back then had they existed 😬👍
Great review, Nick. This is on my future purchase list, for sure. I'm really not bothered by the lack of effects, I find that a lot of synths really don't have that stellar of effects in the first place. Good reverb/delay pedals aren't too expensive.
Great comment - FX are things modern manufacturers throw in for 'demo dazzle'. They can make a weak synth sound powerful. Most of the classics didn't have FX you added that with outboard gear. I'd rather have a powerful synth with no FX and I'll pick my own FX with my own taste and experience, rather than something packed with FX that I may not even like. Give me more synth, not FX!
Yep .. in the 80’s my Jupiter 8 I ran through a Roland SDE1000 delay and Boss Digital Dimension pedal .. really big sound with those, but I would have welcomed on board FX for sure, I never ran it dry ever. I think a trio of Strymon’s would be cool for this .. or Eventide H9/900’s. Today if I was still playing clubs there is no way I’d use this OB-X8, the Sonic Projects OPX-Pro II VST is close enough .. two 5 octave Korg Micro Key’s and a laptop is what I’d be using today, lugging around a Jupiter 8 and Fender Dyno Rhodes was a pain .. literally. I’m really stoked Tom Oberheim released this even though the parts are manufactured overseas unlike the originals (its assembled here though) Very cool 😎👍
16:16 was for me, the goosebumps moment.
Nice and thorough overview, Nick.
I got mine 3 days ago already have an OB6 but this thing is a beast. If you've got the cash I highly recommend!
That was an awesome video & review!
Good review, love the sounds, this looks great. I am happy Oberheim is releasing new synths again. I hope this will also lead them to create new synths for other budgets. Something similar to the Take 5 would be great.
I just feel like they missed a huge opportunity to give us that classic OB-X sound with the joy of some modern conveniences... like built in modulatable digital effects, a big LCD screen with some nice endless encoders. We're still talking about a digitally controlled synth. We can do things with digital interfaces today that would be impossible with the limitations of 40 years ago... and not effect the sound.
I think they had a lower budget after fighting the lawsuit to get the Obrahim name back, fact is the sound of the OB Xa is widely available from many hardware and software sythersizors. Its actually not a unique sound at all to be honest as I have heard thousands apon thousands of presets from hundreds of sythersizors and this OB X8 has very little of anything that I haven't heard before.
None of that tacky stuff, please. Big LCD screen is a big no-no for me. Let Behringer do that along with the atrocious LED-sliders.
It has plenty of modern features. This synth is exactly what you are describing.
@@F0nkyNinja agreed.
Nick is always Honest and objective when he reviews synths.. I do agree that there should be pot for OSC MIX on the front panel, especially when its a 2 Osc synth.
It’s really not that big a deal.
Nice balanced review. Sums up my feelings about the synth when I tried it at Superbooth: lovely, but not quite enough to make me sell everything I own to fund it.
Great review Nick!
Those drum patches sound just like what Tomita used, presumably on the modular. Nice to know this has that kind of range.
I am glad they focused on top notch raw audio and no half assed digital effects like on Moog One. I plug all my instruments to Apollo racks anyhow.
A must have for me.
Why?
@@HOLLASOUNDS Because i am a big fan of Rush & Queen.
@@HOLLASOUNDS got one!! Love it.
Wow, ngl that truly sounds unique and beautiful!
I just got a new place to live yesterday. Today was not the day to see this review 😮😅😂 just gorgeous
Just ordered one. The Page 2 stuff does not bother me.
Sounds exactly like the originals, and has a better keybed, and less bulky chassis. 👍👍👍👍
Hope they let you keep it Nick! Would be good for Friday Fun's.
I'm really glad it exists too... My 1st and ONLY Oberheim!!
Great Arp demo man!
WOW! It sounds amazing!! Thank you for this review!! Did I mention how amazing it sounds? LOL WOW!
I think the summary is a very fair review. From the point of view of buying all four original units which this presents would cost you many more shillings!
Mmmm. Looking forward to this!
Drool what a monster. I mean I like my P6, but this seems like next level stuff. I haven;t heard a bad sound from it :)
Great video. Can't work out whether this will be a future classic or not and therefore worth the investment. I might just have to settle for an OB6.
You're still my favorite, nick! Awesome
Your reviews are absolutely amazing. I agree with you that it has more than the OB6, but I must say that it's tough to justify the cost when I currently own an OB6 and a Hydrasynth. One thing that I was curious about, though, does this one have Poly AT?
It does not have a poly AT keybed. I could be mistaken, but I believe the keybed is a Fatar, who (last time I checked) no longer make a poly AT keybed.
No sadly not, that would have been really good to see
Poly AT is locked behind different patents unfortunately.
Glad is exists for those that want this and can afford it....well above my price range but we do need those more expensive synths on the market for the users who want that.
Ohhhhh .... can't wait Nick 😁👍🎹🎶
Sounds beautiful.
I'm surprised you didn't go into page 2 and invert the pulse width of osc 2 in the LFO, or use LFO keyboard tracking with PWM. I do it on my OB-8 and that makes some of the most beautiful pulse width patches on any synth, ever. Pulse width modulation going in/out of sync. You can also use the Key Trig Waveform LFO shape combined with the modulation delay/attack amount Inverted and fiddling with the LFO Trig Point to make it sound like the Pulse Width is being affected by an envelope, either once or a retriggering envelope.
Dang, had to move it on quickly, this review unit is in demand here in the UK.
What are the frequency and pulse width displays seen at the beginning?
What apps or programs are those??
@sonicstate, thank you for a great video.
Wow, sounds as good as expected! Shoutout to Creative Spiral for the ’Vintage Knob’!
Great review Nick! What's the reverb pedal though.. Particle..?
That is a good question!!!! What IS that "Particle Reverb" pedal???
So glad they chose NOT to build in effects.
This synth has its own limitations, but a lot of them are in contrast to the OB-6's limitations. Therefore, they each excel at different things and have their own Oberheim flavor. I love them both, but I give the edge to the X8. In terms of affordability, keep an eye out for long-term no interest financing deals and don't be afraid to contact your local store directly and inquire about a discount. You might be surprised by the deals you can get. My biggest complaint about page 2 is that I wish the parameters were in alphabetical order, lol.
I backed away from getting it (had it on pre-order for about six months) at the last moment when Sweetwater called me they got mine.
I'll wait until they have one on physical display, and then I'll decide if it's worth to pull the trigger.
I bought several pieces of equipment without having the opportunity to physically test them, and while I am mostly very happy with them, there were some I would have given second thought before purchasing them if I had a chance to play them in real world.
I'm really picky about he keybeds - not all are created equal even when made by Fatar.
It's still in my sights - just not now.
BTW, Nick, you're fabulous.
Ironically, I did the same (re: Sweetwater). I already have and OB-6 & Im going to use the 5k I saved to enhance the studio in areas I've been skimping on. That said, if I win the lottery any time soon, I will pull the trigger on the X8 in a heartbeat ;)
Yeah, demoing gear is critical. I don't buy anything I haven't jammed on.
I am pairing this up with my other synths because blending and layering different synths is so wonderous.
Well stated conclusion. From a modern stand point there are a lot of excuses in UI in the name of the tradition, which, if it was not for the name, would quickly drum up storms of ridicule, (how many times did you mention "page 2"?), but for the 60 year olds with some deep pockets, this is a great resurection of the classic and it sounds beautiful.
I just got one. The complaints about Page 2 are over the top. It’s quick, easy, and intuitive. And sounds FANTASTIC.
Nick Bates, you showed the steppy resolution on filter cut off of many synths , all Sequential synths have it, does the Ob-x8 have it when you do your favourite sing song harmonic singing with the filter cut off ?
A proper Polysynth! Did you pop out for a haircut at the end?
Ha yeah, needed to get one for a formal event during the review...
sounds awesome. can this ob8x firmware do synth layers (with assignable playable ranges)?
Yes. One split 4 voices each
Exactly how I felt about it. It’s brilliant, ‘important’ synthesizer. I loved playing on it and it really is a classic. It’s a Stradivarius…. And yes I’m glad it exists. The men behind this are legends. But, I don’t need it and can’t afford it.
Can you do a side by side comparison of the new GForce OB-X VST officially endorsed by Oberheim vs the OB-X8 keyboard? I think that is the comparison a lot of people are waiting to see. Ideally, matching the best of the OB-X8 presets, many of which came from the OB-X, Xa & 8.
i have a P10. i bought it way before the OB-X8 was even announced. had i not bought the P10 way back when, and the choice was there between the two, still would've chosen the P10. the X8 sounds like a fine synth though. however, the synth that really has my attention right now is the 3rd Wave.
I've got a Prophet 10 rev 4 too... (and an OB-6) I'm more than happy with them and wouldn't buy the X8 over the Prophet 10. P10's sound is top of the heap! And both of the synths I have have a knob-per-function interface which is a big part of the joy of good analog. I don't like some of the design choices on the X8 (inc the paddles instead of wheels)
12:03 “Tickety-Boom” - I’m stealing this.
Truly an Iconic Synth Sound
UB-XA aint going to happen for a long time so.... looks at my Moog subsequent 37 and prophet rev2 and think will i sell them to have this machine, i could only possibly afford one synth so would i be mad?
36:05 “The snappiness of those videos“ - by Nick is in fact breathtaking. 😉
I bought a Prophet-6 after it had been out almost a year, and got a serial number in the 600s. I pre-ordered the X8, and got one again in the 600s. I’ve now seen people who have ones in the 1200s. So they are flying off the shelves, relative to past DSI/Sequential poly synths.
What does that have to do with anything?
I do not think they sent out the devices sequentially … (see what I did there? ;)
@@Am6-9 People getting them earlier have had lower numbers, and people getting them later have had higher numbers.
26:52 didn't realize Nick was secretly a Dr.Dre aficionado
Pretty much sounds like one gigantic sweet spot.
I like the envelope disappearing side hair mode at 00:35:37 . Final thoughts, side hair is back
Yeah, thought I was done, had hair cut. School boy error
Hair we go again!
Bleedin nice synth, innit.
The OB-X8 should have portamento modulating the synced VCO in Page-2. That way it would be possible to make the classic Elka Synthex Laser Harp sound :D
This is not a Synthex.
@@SPAZZOID100 I know but the sound you can do with portamento modulating the synced VCO is great. Why not make a great synth even greater :D
I'm glad they didn't add effects. It's just a drain on the budget and anyone can add a reverb post for cheap or a really expensive one if that's your bag.
I'm wondering which effects were added on the original machines back in days while being used by professional artists. Roland Space Echo? Lexicon 224? Ursa Major Space Station SST-282? Quantec QRS? AMS RMX16?
Lovely synth, really! I am considering this one to replace my Rev2-16, even if it comes w/o FX on it. But come on Nick, did you really route this analogue marvel through an MS CDR70??? How dare you! 😆
I'm sure he'd use an Eventide H9000 if he had one.
The sound of this is superior to every other synth. But I would like it like the Ob6; one knob/function. Then my kidneys would be in trouble.
It sounds lovely, but something messes with my head for the price. For me there were just too many 'yeah buts' in the review, having to excuse questionable design choices or missing features . For what it does I’ll stick with my Peak, which does have beautiful effects.
Yes I also have a Peak and I also have very good emulsion plugin of the OB Xa and I have compered both side by side in terms of sound and they are very similar the peak is capable of replicating the OB X8 sounds very well and I think some of the presets are actually bassed on the OB Xa. Novation often copy patches from vintage synths for presets.
9:20 WoW 😮 I’m happy with my matrix 6 😅
dreamy intro
holding out for the boutique..
Lovely old school
a dream synthesizer but... as a sound designer PARAMETER MONITORING is something that needs to be possible. Hopefully Oberheim updates this in the future.
????
@@SPAZZOID100 ?
@@anthonyrothercom Back in the day, thousands of great records were made on synths that did not have parameter monitoring.
@@SPAZZOID100 That's true but today this should not be a problem.
@@anthonyrothercom not a deal breaker either IMO.
the portamento is next level
The more serious the synth, the less likely it will have a/d in the audio path
great!!!!😍😍
Looks good sounds great but I have the Synapse Obsession Emulsion of the OB Xa and to Me it is capable of what sounds to Me to be identical, so I'll just stick with that and a midi keyboard.
Have you had a chance to compare that plugin with Geforce OB-E? Tom Oberheim reportedly worked with Geforce on development and said it’s the closest software he’s ever heard to real analog.
I’m sure Synapse is astounding too - I love their Model D emulation, though haven’t tried anything else of theirs.
It’s not.
@@SPAZZOID100 Yes it is.
Always loved watching sonicstate demos and lusting for gear i will never buy...
"Get that in Unison..." HOUSE SHAKER
Really happy to see a new Oberheim and it looks and sounds very nice but it is definitely not worth 5k to me. I've had an OB8 and yeah, it sounds nice but definitely didn't blow my mind and I was happy to sell it. For 5K I would expect a few more lfos, deep mod matrix, etc. "Raw tone" isn't enough for me. This really just seems to be for the people that worship that Oberheim brass Van Halen sound which is definitely not my thing. To me it seems like this price is based on what people are trying to get for used original Oberheims and not for what the synth actually is or does.
@ghost mall I know all that. I don't touch VSTs and I've had over a hundred synths from the 70s to modern flagship synths. Like I said, the OBX8 is a great synth but probably only for a certain person that loves that particular Oberheim sound. I didn't find my OB8 to be worth the money and it was upgraded with a Fatar keybed and midi mod kit and that's with vintage value factored in. This demo video was great and actually showed me it does more than I thought but still.... it's barely a 2K synth to me. You're right, an instrument is definitely not just about the specs. Sound, look, feel are all absolutely important. Although I do like the odd character of Oberheims, I'm not that floored by it and honestly, I kind of find the OBX8 to be pretty dull and ugly looking. Different strokes for different folks. I'm sure some people will be thrilled. I'm also pretty sure there's a lot more people that will find it overpriced for what it is and does.
@ghost mall Yeah, if you love the sound, go for it. The Prophet 10 definitely has a look that draws me in a lot more. I'm a sucker for wood and knobs.
This is not meant to be a modulation monster. It IS about raw tone.
Not every synth needs to have every feature under the sun IMO.
Nick, sorry for harrassing you from the stage last night in Bath ha ha (it WAS you wasn't it!?). I did try heroically to fit "pulse width modulation" and "sing song harmonics" into the lyrics of my warped folk tunes... I deserve a prize surely...
Ha, that was fine! I missed those couplets, as I only popped in for a quick drink!
@@sonicstate aw. Bugger. I'd have loved to actually been able to chat but.. Well... Job and all that!
I mainly use mine as a MIDI controller for my OP-1
...jk 🤣
Found a few ob-xa on reverb for about 10.000$
But this relaunched digital sounds a bit more budget friendly
Imagine a 16-voice version with poly-aftertouch, and costing under $1500!
Behringer, anyone? :-)
Or plug one together in vcv rack for free…
Keep dreaming.
imagine a 128 voice version with effects and costing e.g. $99 , i.e. a softsynth. All this expensive analog fetishism.. nobody seems to be doing simple blind A/B test "which one is an analog hardware synth, which one is a softsynth". I am skeptical most people could tell the difference reliably nowadays. Moreso.. on all these demos I don't hear a single patch that is sonically unique or even much different to the same old same old. IDK there's a lot of gear fetishism nowadays...
@@DrTune Many people do blind tests of softsynths versus hardware on CZcams. Usually nobody can tell the difference, not even supposed experts. Yet still, I prefer hardware analog synth to anything digital. Glitch of the brain I guess.
Great sound, but with a bit of effort you can make a vst synth sound almost the same, I think it's more of a collectible or something to show off (or you have too much money) :)
You're the last but not the least. Great review.