Bad ass track Jeff !! Been wanting the hardware version for a while .. I just bought this without trying the demo.. arturia stuff is just so good !! No brainier for me !!
Really helpful and useful demo. I love Arturia's synthesisers too! The quantize function on the arpeggiator and the separate panning for the voices, plus the stereo spread buttons seem to be fairly novel here for the OB-Xa V :)
I really like how you explain things like LFO's, So not condescending just a sincere explanaion. Really cool dude. subbed and liked just for that! But now I have to buy this plugin, God Damnit!!!
I've actually played the original, in fact I used to own one. Wished I kept it. One of my only regrets in life. Best synth ever made. This emulation is quite good but however there are less expensive emulations out there that sounds just as good. IMO. Such as the OB-XD.
Your track at 2:29 pure Scarface - Tony & Manolo watching the money counting machines, slapping 5’s with cigars in their mouths ;) thanks for making this vid as always
The filter bite is what makes the original patch. Agreed. Kind of weird they would have a "Jump" patch that far off, but it's not like you couldn't figure out the filter settings and get there with a bit of tweaking. The new preset doesn't sound like the Jump patch at all.
Man, between this, the upcoming Synapse Audio OB-Xa vst, and Behringer's upcoming UB-Xa, this is a good time to be an OB-Xa fan. I've been crossing my fingers that maybe u-he is gonna get in on the fun here too, but maybe that's a bit too much to hope for.
Hi Jef, slightly off topic, but can I ask what software you use to capture your DAW’s audio for your videos? I’ve seen some people use something called soundflower but I’ve never tried it. Thanks!
Yes! I have used Soundflower, but the only way for me to get audio that is latency free is if I record into my Zoom H6 recorder. Everything else introduces a little bit of latency and makes it impossible for me to play anything in my videos. I also found sound flower would cause the audio to drift and I'd have to keep re-syncing it throughout the video.
See now THIS is how you demo an instrument/VST! Thanks Jef. I just watched the video again and maybe you could clear up a question I have. Up until now, I assumed The Prodigy (Liam) used portamento to obtain the famous sound on the track 'Charly says' - official video version.Having watched you play around with modulation though, I'm assuming now THAT is how he did it? Maybe he used both?
Thanks so much! Yeah, I’d say that’s modulation for sure. Just like in my video near the end, set the modulation to be 1/2 bar long, turn the loop off, and set the osc freq to slide down a P4th. I had to make 1 new point at the first 25% of the modulation, then one at the middle, then put one point in between those at -.4 level and play with the curve of the slope... I got something close, but to me it sounds like it might be a sample that gets slower as it gets lower... fun to try to recreate though!!
@@jefgibbons Awesome bit of info Jef. Much appreciated. I found out he used a Roland w-30 which is sample based. That fits in with your sample theory. You have given me the incentive to have a go at recreating it too .. Again.. thanks Jef. I look forward to enjoying more of your videos.
Spread is not only applicable to Unison... A great feature you missed is the ability to play polyphonically in unison so each note in a chord can have multiple voices.
yes if you have no computer "audio interface" then yes a simple usb to midi cable would work ..try to avoid the cheap ones on ebay.. half the time theyre not recognised by your p.c. .. roland do a great set .. in fact i have them in my studio and can vouch for their reliability...
I actually owned the original OBX before MIDI. Once MIDI hit, I couldn't find a viable MIDI chip to make it competitive with things like DX-7 (owned one of those ,too) so I had to let it go. Sad. It was clunky and unreliable, but sounded beautiful. I still have the rack-mount version of the follow-up, Matrix 6r. Haven't turned it on in twenty years. Should probably let it go, too. It was stupid expensive to be a keyboardist in the early eighties. Over the years, I spent tens of thousands on rigs. Now I have all that and more on a single computer which, a couple of DAWs, a few VTS's, all tolled, maybe 2K.
I can't imagine what it must have cost back then... comparatively SO expensive! I'm guessing you're nowhere near Vancouver... I'd love to buy an old synth or two from you!
Interesting...do you think you could tell difference in sound between hard and software versions? Would both have to be played though similar speaker cabs I guess.
@@jefgibbons Before synths, I went thru a couple of pianos (electric/acoustic/hybrid) and B3's (with actual Leslies). Then came Mr. Moog and the world was never the same. None of it cheap. The OBXa was $5100. My first personal loan. Then the DX7 was $2000. Did I mention the Vako Orchestron? Never went for anything modular though I did once enjoy putzing around on a ARP 2600. Anyway, I try not to get hung up on the outrageous expenditures of my past for sanity's sake. As to locale, here's a single-word hint that should pinpoint it - Graceland - nowhere near Vancouver. If you're truly interested in something from my remaining inventory (not much at all) feel free to PM me, however that is done.
@@jadonx If you could gather up a strictly analog setup; early analog synths, amplification and such; yeah, the difference when compared to digital is discernible. Is it worth it? Personal bias.
"It doesn't take long for me to come up with these ideas because the patches are pretty inspiring" Jeff! I can't afford to keep buying these products at the rate you're releasing these awesome videos!😆 I had to purchase this as soon as you mentioned Boards of Canada! Do you have any affiliate links we should be using to help you get credit? I am looking forward for your Pharlight deep dive, I'd like to see how the sampler/granular synth can be used to create custom "Boards of Canada" type vocal sounds
Thanks Sean! I don't have any affiliate links with Arturia, but I'm happy to help them out since they push my videos for me! LOVE Boards of Canada... I'll get to that deep dive if NI doesn't do the video!
Ha! That's awesome... I have the full costume from Halloween a few years back... I should pull it out for a future video. Though my costume for George McFly was even more convincing... not sure how I feel about that though!
I have been upgradibg ny collection faithfully and saw this come out and they gave me a $49 price and had to get it. How about doing some Arturia collections for old drum machines....... (brain explode)
I'm tempted to buy a defunct OB-Xa housing just to gut it and make it a midi controller JUST for this VST. Seems sacrilegious to play Oberheim osunds on anything but a Oberheim.
@@jefgibbons Looked immediately after that comment. No OB-Xas for parts, but plenty of working used ones for $5-$8k. I gotta have one!! But the OB-Xa will have to suffice in the meantime. Don't know why Arturia or Behringer haven't started making MIDI shell replicas. Probably not fea$ile 🤷🏽♂️
OPX Pro II emulates the OB-X, not the OB-Xa. Different synths with different voice architectures. BTW Synapse Audio is about to release their OB-Xa emulation. Talk about competition...
@@Boissinova thanks B!(oissinova) PWM is a modification of the square wave (which flips back and forth from up to down almost instantly) the change happens when you make the up longer or shorter than the down, and just changes the character of the sound... does that make sense?
Arturia does the most generic synth in VST land. They are in no way any better sounding as free avaible stuff. They sound so boring and stiff and this here is no exception. Good looking GUI and features but in the core mediocrity. I got their Minibrute and even in the hardware... The filter does sound unmusical when you sweep it down. In your examples, drowning everything into reverb doesn't make things any better. Very very disappointed. I banned the complete Arturia effects suite from the PC long time ago, as in this department I hear the same weaknesses. I don't know what those guys actually do and I'm speechless how people rave about their products.
I didn't even see the video but already clicked on Like :D that s how good all your videos are. Planning to see it on the big screen :D
Thanks dbk! Really appreciate the support!
Excellent run through Jeff! Will have to add this to the V collection. Takes me back to my analog days!
Thanks! Yeah, the V Collection is fantastic... Looking to build up my analog collection as well these days!
Bad ass track Jeff !! Been wanting the hardware version for a while .. I just bought this without trying the demo.. arturia stuff is just so good !! No brainier for me !!
It's true! Same here... let me know if you find one!
Awesome video again, Jef! Modulation can be a tricky thing to grasp, but you explained it really well. OB-Xa V sounds amazing indeed.
Thanks Kaitav, much appreciated!
Thank You for this review. Very informative.
Fantastic review. You make synthesis so much easier to understand. Much appreciated!
So glad to hear it, thanks!
Awesome! Arturia has been making some great stuff.
The best synthesis teacher ever! You have cleared up a lot of questions and murky areas of the art for me. Thank you so much! :-)
Means a lot to me Robin, thanks for taking the time to comment!
Fantastic! Really clearly explained and I can’t wait to dive into it after watching this. You’ve got a new subscriber! Keep up the great work!
Really helpful and useful demo. I love Arturia's synthesisers too! The quantize function on the arpeggiator and the separate panning for the voices, plus the stereo spread buttons seem to be fairly novel here for the OB-Xa V :)
It’s true! Interesting additions!
I really like how you explain things like LFO's, So not condescending just a sincere explanaion. Really cool dude. subbed and liked just for that! But now I have to buy this plugin, God Damnit!!!
Ha! TH-cam hazards hey!
Glad it helped... they’re complex things, and I always try not to be a brain flexer... that stuff drives me nuts!
I've actually played the original, in fact I used to own one. Wished I kept it. One of my only regrets in life. Best synth ever made. This emulation is quite good but however there are less expensive emulations out there that sounds just as good. IMO. Such as the OB-XD.
your house is so nifty , love it -
Thanks Justin! I work at it...
Jeff, this is fantastic!!!
Jeff your input on plugins is sooo thorough!! Could you possibly review Fabfilters new plugin Saturn 2?
Thanks for all the great content!
Thanks man! I'll have to check it out, don't have any of their stuff yet!
I just stumbled upon this channel loving all things 80's and synth and low and behold when you guessed I'd laugh at "crackbot" I subbed.
Ha! Thanks Creeke!
This helps me so much!
Damn so much 80s nostalgia in this synth :D
Your track at 2:29 pure Scarface - Tony & Manolo watching the money counting machines, slapping 5’s with cigars in their mouths ;) thanks for making this vid as always
Ha! Nice... thanks!
Really enjoy your videos! How do you like using Cubase on the 4k TV? I assume you're still running 2560x1440 60hz?
Is that what it is? I tried using a 4k TV but found it lagged quite a bit. Any tips to solve that? 👍
Shaun M You need your video card to operate at 60hz. If your video card only supports 4K 30hz that is why you experience lag which is unusable.
The "Jump patch" has a filter attack that's not present in the original - which sounds pretty much zero-attack.
So should he delete the entire video? SMFH
@@jayfoster Where did I ever imply that he should do that? Chill out...
The filter bite is what makes the original patch. Agreed. Kind of weird they would have a "Jump" patch that far off, but it's not like you couldn't figure out the filter settings and get there with a bit of tweaking. The new preset doesn't sound like the Jump patch at all.
Some of those sounds are really nice for people into synthwave. A bit pricey, but I like the broad range of timbres. It sounds good!
Indeed! Love your YT name by the way... just about finished another Fawlty rewatch!!
Man, between this, the upcoming Synapse Audio OB-Xa vst, and Behringer's upcoming UB-Xa, this is a good time to be an OB-Xa fan. I've been crossing my fingers that maybe u-he is gonna get in on the fun here too, but maybe that's a bit too much to hope for.
Competition is a good thing for sure!
Hi Jef, slightly off topic, but can I ask what software you use to capture your DAW’s audio for your videos? I’ve seen some people use something called soundflower but I’ve never tried it. Thanks!
Yes! I have used Soundflower, but the only way for me to get audio that is latency free is if I record into my Zoom H6 recorder. Everything else introduces a little bit of latency and makes it impossible for me to play anything in my videos. I also found sound flower would cause the audio to drift and I'd have to keep re-syncing it throughout the video.
Jef Gibbons thanks Jef, food for thought!
See now THIS is how you demo an instrument/VST! Thanks Jef. I just watched the video again and maybe you could clear up a question I have. Up until now, I assumed The Prodigy (Liam) used portamento to obtain the famous sound on the track 'Charly says' - official video version.Having watched you play around with modulation though, I'm assuming now THAT is how he did it? Maybe he used both?
Thanks so much! Yeah, I’d say that’s modulation for sure. Just like in my video near the end, set the modulation to be 1/2 bar long, turn the loop off, and set the osc freq to slide down a P4th. I had to make 1 new point at the first 25% of the modulation, then one at the middle, then put one point in between those at -.4 level and play with the curve of the slope... I got something close, but to me it sounds like it might be a sample that gets slower as it gets lower... fun to try to recreate though!!
@@jefgibbons Awesome bit of info Jef. Much appreciated. I found out he used a Roland w-30 which is sample based. That fits in with your sample theory. You have given me the incentive to have a go at recreating it too .. Again.. thanks Jef. I look forward to enjoying more of your videos.
Spread is not only applicable to Unison...
A great feature you missed is the ability to play polyphonically in unison so each note in a chord can have multiple voices.
That monitor is just really nice. Is that a 49"? 4K?
It’s a 65” Costco special! Samsung 7100
How would I connect this from my computer to keyboard (via USB to MIDI)? I have a kurzweil pc88mx. Help?
yes if you have no computer "audio interface" then yes a simple usb to midi cable would work ..try to avoid the cheap ones on ebay.. half the time theyre not recognised by your p.c. .. roland do a great set .. in fact i have them in my studio and can vouch for their reliability...
nice setup....name of the monitor and size. great videos thanks
Thanks Billy, it’s a Samsung 7100 65” Costco special!
thx
I actually owned the original OBX before MIDI. Once MIDI hit, I couldn't find a viable MIDI chip to make it competitive with things like DX-7 (owned one of those ,too) so I had to let it go. Sad. It was clunky and unreliable, but sounded beautiful. I still have the rack-mount version of the follow-up, Matrix 6r. Haven't turned it on in twenty years. Should probably let it go, too. It was stupid expensive to be a keyboardist in the early eighties. Over the years, I spent tens of thousands on rigs. Now I have all that and more on a single computer which, a couple of DAWs, a few VTS's, all tolled, maybe 2K.
I can't imagine what it must have cost back then... comparatively SO expensive! I'm guessing you're nowhere near Vancouver... I'd love to buy an old synth or two from you!
Interesting...do you think you could tell difference in sound between hard and software versions? Would both have to be played though similar speaker cabs I guess.
@@jefgibbons Before synths, I went thru a couple of pianos (electric/acoustic/hybrid) and B3's (with actual Leslies). Then came Mr. Moog and the world was never the same. None of it cheap. The OBXa was $5100. My first personal loan. Then the DX7 was $2000. Did I mention the Vako Orchestron? Never went for anything modular though I did once enjoy putzing around on a ARP 2600. Anyway, I try not to get hung up on the outrageous expenditures of my past for sanity's sake. As to locale, here's a single-word hint that should pinpoint it - Graceland - nowhere near Vancouver. If you're truly interested in something from my remaining inventory (not much at all) feel free to PM me, however that is done.
@@jadonx If you could gather up a strictly analog setup; early analog synths, amplification and such; yeah, the difference when compared to digital is discernible. Is it worth it? Personal bias.
"It doesn't take long for me to come up with these ideas because the patches are pretty inspiring"
Jeff! I can't afford to keep buying these products at the rate you're releasing these awesome videos!😆
I had to purchase this as soon as you mentioned Boards of Canada! Do you have any affiliate links we should be using to help you get credit?
I am looking forward for your Pharlight deep dive, I'd like to see how the sampler/granular synth can be used to create custom "Boards of Canada" type vocal sounds
Thanks Sean! I don't have any affiliate links with Arturia, but I'm happy to help them out since they push my videos for me! LOVE Boards of Canada... I'll get to that deep dive if NI doesn't do the video!
I hear you, my wallet gets lighter every time I watch a new Jef video 🤣
@@robertshamansky1912 Its Jeff's new slim fast plan 👀
Great vid again Jef
Thanks so much Si!
That shirt, bruh... luv it!
Yes! This is a re-do by redbubble, but I recently found a legit expo shirt, unworn in the original "souvenir" bag at a local thrift store for $7!
@@jefgibbons wow, what a fab find!
Very nice, rich fat sounds!!
Good review!
Thanks!
Hey Jef! I love your videos! can you make a videos for all v collection instruments? Forte abraço desde São Paulo Brasil!
Glad I found this video ... the Marty McFly watch sold me .. "subscribed" ..LOL
Ha! That's awesome... I have the full costume from Halloween a few years back... I should pull it out for a future video. Though my costume for George McFly was even more convincing... not sure how I feel about that though!
Awesome video! I have been drooling over your BIG monitor, what size is that monitor and who makes it? If you don't mind me asking.
It's a 65" 4k TV. Just buy the nicest one you can :). I use a Samsung and keep it on "game mode" to keep cursor latency at a minimum.
@@ezrashanti Indeed! Costco special ;)
I have been upgradibg ny collection faithfully and saw this come out and they gave me a $49 price and had to get it. How about doing some Arturia collections for old drum machines....... (brain explode)
I'm tempted to buy a defunct OB-Xa housing just to gut it and make it a midi controller JUST for this VST. Seems sacrilegious to play Oberheim osunds on anything but a Oberheim.
Ooh, that would be sweet! Post back if you do... where would you find the shell?
@@jefgibbons Looked immediately after that comment. No OB-Xas for parts, but plenty of working used ones for $5-$8k. I gotta have one!! But the OB-Xa will have to suffice in the meantime.
Don't know why Arturia or Behringer haven't started making MIDI shell replicas. Probably not fea$ile 🤷🏽♂️
That Jump patch is definitely different from the sound on the recording. Just saying.
I have to agree with you there, needs a little tweak!
The original was OB-X I believe. I probably have a better Jump patch on my DW8000, lol. Their preset is missing the filter bite of the original.
FawltyTenor I’ve also heard it was done on an OBX.
I'm just here to comment on the Tony crackbot 😂😭 that's some funny stuff 🥴
Dude... seriously... different times!
@@jefgibbons Well I was also here for the video of course 🙌🏽 great stuff! Brought it immediately yesterday
@@djtyson435 Thanks! (and by my comment, I meant the 80's were different times of course!)
@@jefgibbons ohh no you're fine lol I didn't think you were upset after I read it twice 😂 definitely a different time indeed 🥴
That Casio watch! :)
I've got a bunch of the Casios!
@@jefgibbons Me too :)
it will have to compete against OP-X PRO-II ..lol
That would be a good comparison video...
No comparison, IMO...OP-X wins.
Was wondering too I have that..
@@jptaylor Without a proper comparison, that statement is meaningless. Show, don't tell.
OPX Pro II emulates the OB-X, not the OB-Xa. Different synths with different voice architectures. BTW Synapse Audio is about to release their OB-Xa emulation. Talk about competition...
you can remake the theme son of Escape from New Yourk with this haha.
Not a legend, Ed used an OBXa on the record but he toured with OB8's because they were easier to keep the oscillators in tune.
There are better OB emulators out there
Miami Vice Jef 🤣coooool
Indeed!!
0:49 😂🤖
3:27 was sick!
17:34 Is Pulse Width Modulation essentially a random sawtooth wave before they knew what synth designers would were called?
@@Boissinova thanks B!(oissinova) PWM is a modification of the square wave (which flips back and forth from up to down almost instantly) the change happens when you make the up longer or shorter than the down, and just changes the character of the sound... does that make sense?
Jef Gibbons Yeah! I’ll have to look into it! Thanks for sharing! Such a beautiful synth - was definitely sleeing on it!
Lush!
Thanks Rob!
Jef Gibbons You’re welcome! Nice job on the video 👍
Arturia does the most generic synth in VST land. They are in no way any better sounding as free avaible stuff. They sound so boring and stiff and this here is no exception. Good looking GUI and features but in the core mediocrity.
I got their Minibrute and even in the hardware... The filter does sound unmusical when you sweep it down.
In your examples, drowning everything into reverb doesn't make things any better. Very very disappointed. I banned the complete Arturia effects suite from the PC long time ago, as in this department I hear the same weaknesses. I don't know what those guys actually do and I'm speechless how people rave about their products.