Designers talk: OB-X8, and how it came to be.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Since it was introduced in May 2022, industry acclaim has been heaped upon OB-X8 as one of the most authentic recreations of a vintage synth ever engineered.
But what thought process is behind the million design decisions involved in a vintage recreation project like this? In this roundtable style discussion, Tom Oberheim (Founder, Oberheim Electronics), Marcus Ryle (OB-X8 Co-Designer, Oberheim Engineer 1980 - 85), Tony Karavidas (Lead Hardware Engineer Sequential/Oberheim) and the late, great Dave Smith (Founder, Sequential and OB-X8 co-designer), talk through trade-offs, design philosophies, and the overall approach that allowed them to produce this amazing instrument.
0:31 What is the OB-X8?
3:44 What gave each OB synth its sound?
6:12 How do you match to a vintage synth?
8:25 Why are Page 2 features important?
9:58 How does OB-X8 differ from the originals?
12:48 What's coming from Oberheim in the future?
Dave is sorely missed. I said it before but I find it poetic that one of his final acts on this planet was to aid and assist a former professional rival in rebuilding his company and making a new start. The world needs more people like him and Tom.
Thank you to the team for building this masterpiece. RIP Dave Smith
i agree dude
Thank you to the entire team for building this instrument. We love and appreciate you guys.
Breaks my heart that Dave Smith passed away. I wish that Sequential would collaborate with Roland on a faithful reissue of the Jupiter 8. Roland, unfortunately, is probably too arrogant for something like that though. I used to own Chick Corea's OBXA. It still had his stage notes taped to it. I have been lucky to own several actually and an OB8, long before vintage synth prices went through the roof. I will admit, the OBXa was a pain to maintain. Hopefully one day, the OBX8 will be in my future, but it's getting harder and harder to come up with this kind of money for a synthesizer these days. I am so grateful that these great men brought the OBX8 to the market for us. Thank you!
"we only look to the future" lol the future is looking at least partially analog now.
Korg could maybe do it.
@@ivanlozano2019 they only look to the future but yet they continue the attempt to copy their vintage sounds..lol
@@synthartist69 Milking the subscription crowd for iffy digital emulations is more lucrative than re-engineering old hardware and only getting to sell it once.
yeah Roland is terrible now. they don't want to make any more analogs as they want to "innovate" but their going in the wrong direction. everyone wants the analogs back but they refuse to. not only that, but all Rolands sound rubbish. I own a fantom 7 and a td11 drum kit and the sounds are barely useable in a mix and there is so much menu diving. May sell it for a montage in the future. such a shame as it was quite expensive.
All of Oberheim products are top notched just as Dave Smith's. Thank you Dave for helping Tom, you will be sorely missed by us keyboard players. Thank you for helping us create.
Pure Gold! Knowing that Dave Smith will die few weeks after... Incredible that his last project would have been this reunion of genius and legends working together! ❤
This is great, thanks for putting this out, absolute Legends...miss you Dave.
Dave was still so passionate. The downside of his passing is he still had so much life left but the upside is he was sharp right up until the end doing what he loved. He was a leader and visionary his entire adult life.
Rest in Peace, Dave Smith. Thank you for everything.
It's so sad when beautiful people pass away from this world. RIP Dave and thank you for all the beautiful instruments you brought into the world.
What a great video! Dave's passing was such a shock and really heart breaking. Still really can't believe it when a video pops up in the feed. You can tell there was so much he still wanted to tap into. So glad to have witnessed his genius and appreciated his creations.
I had an oberheim in the nineties. It was the most organic synthesizer I ever owned. When things turned digital, I sold it later. I have forever regretted that decision. The creator of this instrument, has made a significant contribution to music across the 🌎 world.
Proud owner of OB-X8, thank you Dave, Tom, Marcus and Tony.
This is a moment in history that will never come again. I would like to buy an OB-X8 one day not only because I would like to own a Oberheim synth (and one of the best, let alone "new"), but also because this is also a synth that represents one of Dave's last collaborative projects (or maybe it actually was the last) with Tom Oberheim. They worked together along with the rest of the Sequential team to build a masterpiece!!!
THANK YOU!!! for all of your passion, hard work, and dedicatication to make this instrument possible.
RIP, Dave Smith.
0:01 Just the sound of this instrument at the start is a miracle.❤
It's beautiful that they were able to capture Dave Smith in on this talking about the last thing he ever worked on (as far as I'm aware). He's sorrily missed in the synth community.
This is the prob the best we’re going to ever get from the old team OB retro analog wise; very thankful for the opportunity. So saddened with Dave’s passing, so happy he was at top of his game at departure❤
Darned glad they went the route on the development of this keyboard that they did. This is the synth I fantasized about, where the architecture of the three (four, as Dave points out) great synths were integrated into a one-stop shop. It is indeed pricey, the route that they took, but you can well imagine the great whinging and gnashing of teeth if they had half-assed it instead. They were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t. Better to be yelled at for being too good than too mediocre.
While I’m so sad for Dave and his family, seeing him enthusiastic and having fun up to the end truly is priceless. May we all experience the same ❤
R.I.P. Dave.
Loved your passion for your work.
I'm excited to see what happens next for Oberheim. Revisiting where you left off with the OB-X8 is like a recap of previous episodes of your favorite TV show. Now that the team is back and ready for more, we'll finally see an amazing evolution.
I too am eager to see what they come up with!
Small world off topic thing: I watched your Devil went down to Jupiter video the other day for the first time in over 10 years, still RIPS!
I could just sit in a room and chat with these guys for days! absolute legends. RIP Dave Smith an irreplaceable loss to so many all over the globe, but living on each time every musician plays even a single note on any of the amazing Sequential creations.
Wonderful to see Dave talk one last time. I'm sure he will remain with Sequential and Oberheim's future in spirit.. and long may this great collaboration continue
Makes me want to cry... and clap my hands in pure joy. Amazing people who do/did amazing things. Thank You!
I love my old OB-X and OBXa. I have both since many years. The imperfection is a kind of beauty. And the synth history. ✨
So bittersweet.....Still cannot believe Dave is no longer with us. The OBX8 is a masterpiece, and I will have one in my studio soon enough.
I only met Dave Smith once in 2018 at SuperBooth in Berlin. Really nice and approachable guy. He did so much for the world of music. I am sure he had a good fulfilling life.
Gutted that Dave isn’t around anymore but so glad that he gave us this masterpiece as a parting gift 💝
RIP Dave. We love you.
It’s great listening too these Gentlemen talking, a real treat. I recently purchased a nearly new Pro 3 that the Sound and Soul of Dave Smith will live on in all the noise I make. Thank you for posting
Maximum respect for these beautiful people.
RIP Dave Smith, what a legend!!
Fantastic. What a room full of legends. So grateful to on one of these legendary instruments, and support the team who brought it back!
These guys are synth gods....I designed synths back in the 80's using Curtis and SSMT MSI/LSI chips and have so much praise for both companies as they set the standard for turning silicon into music
Awesome historic conversation! Thank you for sharing this!
Beautiful video, thank you guys.
What a lovely video with absolute pioneers of the industry showing the passion they’ve had for decades to bring us superb instruments.
Absolute admiration for these legends
Dave is greatly missed, and I hope Sequential and Oberheim are able to continue well in his honor. I hope Marcus will stay involved, because it’s hard to imagine anyone more qualified.
To my ear, this instrument sounds lovely and musical. A slight cut above the other high end synths for the most part.
Thanks to everyone for coming together to create this modern day classic... Rest in Peace Dave
A work of art as well as craftsmanship.
Waw... we're just starting.... Thank you Dave!
Wow, what a truly wonderful discussion and result. This is like watching Greek Gods sat around and discussing the world. Truly awesome impact on the music industry.
Great analogy! It was like a peek into Synth Olympus!
Thanks so much to everyone who poured themselves into making this a reality.
simply wonderful, glad this roundtable was captured
What a wonderful conversation. It's like being in the room with the legends themselves
RIP Dave. What a legend! I saw him 2 weeks before his passing at the SuperBooth in Berlin. It feels so unreal.
Thank goodness you guys made the OB-X8 *module*. I wanted to buy the OBX8 but have no space left. When the module version came out I got it! It is not as if I *need* another analog synth, it is that I *want* this specific synth and I also have two OB6 modules. If you ever rebuild a Matrix-24 … oops, I mean a Matrix-12 rebuild, count me in. Cheers!
Really cool to see. RIP Dave.
Lovely conversation. To hear Dave say 'We're just starting' is really poignant.
Very unfortunate with Dave's passing. I'm glad he was able to see the completion of OB-X8 though. I'm very happy with mine and you can tell a lot of passion was poured into it. It's probably the only Synth I own that I'll never sell. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Oberheim crew comes up with next.
This is so great. Thank you for these videos, and to the Oberheim team for making this dream synth come true (even if I can never afford it lol). RIP Dave
I just ordered mine this morning!
Great characters, sadly one no longer with us, and wonderful insight. So now to the future.
Legends unite, no wonder the result is sublime - Thank you ❤
80s legends! Grateful GenX forever
What a legendary panel. Very exciting to hear you're working on new instruments as well as building on the past. Thank you for all you've done and continue to do for the music community!
Standing by for the module. Thank you for doing this. RIP Dave Smith.
So what will it be? Oberential or Seqenhiem? LOL On the one hand I can't wait to see what they've got coming out next! And on the other it's still hard to watch after Dave's passing.
I have always wanted one these but can only afford one. I can’t decide…which keyboard prophet or Oberheim. It is so cool they are making these things again.
Those men are part of music history.
Great documentary and I love the sound of the OB-X8! Maybe in the future, will release a new Matrix synth and Oberheim's new digital sample-based subtractive synth. Good job, team!
This was fantastic. I know it's not the most popular of Oberheims, but i think a modern Matrix-6 would be pretty cool!!
Prophet 08 is pretty much the same thing.
Awesome watch. I feel like I'm watching a ghost. So enjoyable to see this.
The Mount Rushmore of Analogue !!
This was great to see, thanks! I continue to feel a few more dedicated knobs could have made it onto the panel without impacting the aesthetic or ergonomics getting things closer to the interface/workflow perfection of the P5/P10. ( For me the P10 is as close to "essentials only analog poly" perfection as it gets though it is a somewhat different animal) A second pair of outs at this price is the other thing which I think is the other TINY drawback. It is wonderful this synth exists.
I would invest in a spiritual successor/remake of the Xpander.
excellent video
Thanks for the video
Please make an SE version with blue stripes. A growing number of people are begging for it.
As soon as our pedals start shipping here at Tronographic again, I plan to order one of these. I own and love my OB-8, with my DSX and my DMX and DX drum machines... I always loved the workflow of the DSX and MMT-8 sequencers (designed by Marcus) and would love to see a modern DSX that can interface with both my vintage OBs as well as modern synths... And obviously, I think we would all love a modern DMX that has the same beloved crunchy low-bit-rate samples, simple filtering, simple interface and tactile feel as well as expanding on these things like the X8 does... with things like programable tuning, filter and sample settings that were only accessible by turning trim pots, or modifying the jumpers and components on the voice cards... It's always refreshing to get away from using the computer or tablet to make music and revisiting these hardware-based instruments really excites me.
Such a nice piece.
❤
Amazing piece of kit wish I could afford it 😢
This, is great!
Love my OB-X8 and I’m ready for that DMX!
日本語字幕をありがとうございます。本当にDaveの急逝は残念なことです。
X8のDesktop versionの発売を期待しています。大きくても構いません。Xpanderも大きかった。
RIP Dave 🙏🏻
I'd love to buy this synth. Too bad it's 9,000 + dollars in my currency (NZD).
R.I.P Dave Smith
If you’re in your 60’s, make your doctor schedule a stress test on a treadmill in the hospital. It can save your life.
Dreaming about one day I could have one...
RIP Dave Smith
So, what are the oscillators in the OB-X8 … ?! Are they proprietary chips, or do they employ ‘off-the-shelf’ components?
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Still hard to accept Dave won’t be here…
Will we see a rack mount version of the X8??
I believe there is now a module although not a "rack mount" per se.
13:00 Matrix-12? Just dreaming …
12:51
matrix 12?
keep the 12 outputs!
SEM is my favourite ...
I am willing to sell most of my stuff for an OB-X8, because OB-8&X were always was my dream synths, but for 5600€ you could have added some additional knobs to the panel. This Menu diving "page two" stuff is annoying.
I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Man!
Oberheim todo meu carinho respeito criador do maior Sintetizador de todos os tempos um grande abraço , Sou Wagner Gomes sempre divulgarei a marca na América do sul Brasil sou Rio de Janeiro meus sentimentos ao Dave Smith Sequential P , com maior carinho Gratidão mesmo não tendo um , para mim é um sonho ter um Oberheim . breve vou postar vídeos de todos os proprietários de Oberheim no mundo meu canal mostrando a sua criatividade experiência em ter um Oberheim peço permissão . tenho também email OBX OB-X8 um grande abraço .
Knobed xpander!