Oberheim OB-12

I'm not going to give a full review of the new Oberheim OB-12 as I don't
own one, but I just gave it a pretty good test drive at the music store
last night and I'm going to post my impressions.

Overall I was very impressed, but take that with a grain of salt. Most
new keyboards really impress you in the store, it's when you take it home that
it counts.

I'm not sure of the software rev, but the OB-12 has only been out for
a week or two, so it's the probably the initial release rev., hopefully
a post beta one!

Didn't check out a lot of presets, the ones I did sounded pretty good.
This is an physical modeling analog synth with a lot of knobs, sliders,
and buttons.

The point is not how the sounds are, but what a basis they are for
exploration/experimentation with the knobs and sliders.

When this synth was first announced, I was a little dissapointed that
it had a mix of knobs and sliders. I tend to like an all knob design,
as those are easier to tweak.

After playing with it last night though, I realize the beauty of having
some sliders in the design, as it give you a real good graphic representation
as to what you have tweaked the settings to in a given patch.

The sliders are not cheesy feeling either, I had assumed they might be.

Waldorf still has the best knobs (feel like they are milled from marble,
and are turning a 10 pound flywheel underneath the panel), but the
OB-12 has a GREAT tactile feel.

If you want to get grossed out, twiddle the knobs on the OB-12 or a
Waldorf for a bit and then go to a Nord Lead, yechhh!

The Nord Lead is a great sounding synth, but to me the user interface
is more appropriate on a $500 synth than a $1200 - $1500 one.

Editing patches seems to be a breeze, the display is a huge, pixel display,
which switches automatically to whatever you are editing. With all the
controls you don't have to look very hard.

The display is a very cool blue one, with crisp graphics. It looks very
much like the same one used on the K2500/K2600 Kurzweil series.

Extra points go out to dedicated knobs for portamento and effects.

These sections also have buttons (e.g. there is a separate button to
toggle on/off each of the four effect types, so you can do stuff like
start into something, then kick in the delay or reverb on demand).

Probably no patch editor yet, I doubt you would really need one, between
the front panel and the excellent display, programming an OB-12 would
be like taking a Caribbean vacation.

Didn't see the manual so I have no comment.

Obie manuals used to be pretty good, but this thing is built in Italy,
so there might be a problem with translation.

As far as ease of use, I think this thing is probably the easiest out
there. None of the other "virtual analogs" I've seen use such a big,
nice display.

The OB-12 gives you the best of both worlds, a "workstation type" display
and the knobs and sliders.

I don't hand out 10's very often, but I was up and going within a few
minutes of just standing there.

12 voice polyphony, I don't think it can be expanded.

For it's intended use (lead synth, F/X, techno-dance, etc.) that's
plenty. If you are after a "do it all machine", this isn't what you're
looking for.

Keyboard action is very good, and unlike many of the virtual analogs
(Roland JP-8000, Nord Lead) it HAS AFTERTOUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!

The keys are slightly shorter than the norm for most synths, this might
actually be a plus as you can do faster lead work.

The effects are built in, there is distortion, chorus, delay, and reverb
all of which have a dedicated button, and you run all at once.

There is also a slick level button, you press the effect you want, turn
the knob and it increase the level of the effect, then go to the next
effect you want and adjust it.

The reverb sounded a little grainy to me, not very good, but I didn't
really try any different reverb types.

At least it has reverb, many of the virtual analogs don't even have delay.

I don't think it has any expansion capabilities, one nice touch is an
S-PDIF digital stereo out. I believe it also has two sets of
stereo outputs.

You can also do multis with the OB-12, up to four. With only 12 voices
to work with, a four-way multi will only let you play 3 notes.

One REALLY nice feature the OB-12 has is that like the Waldorf stuff, the
OS can be updated via midi.

That's a real plus in case the OB-12 is shipping with some bugs and
non-implemented features like the Waldorf stuff when it first comes
out.

I assume new OS versions will be posted on the Oberheim website.

Hey it's a SYNTH, not a workstation, buy it for what it is.

No sequencer, it does have an arpeggiator, but this is really the weak point
of the synth. As far as I could tell (from the front panel) your choices
were up, down, up/down, and random.

Compared to the wide variety of choices that Yamaha and Roland give you
this is pretty lame. If you don't do techno kind of stuff, it's serviceable
but a weak point in an otherwise outstanding synth.

Two other really cool features, these have been done before, but still
nice to have:

1. Small ribbon controller underneath the pitch/mod wheels. You can use
this to generate all sorts of debauchery.

2. Motion recorder (first seen I believe on the Roland JP-8000). You can
record up to three mintues of knob twists, ribbon movements, etc.
and play them back at the push of a button. Very cool.

A lot of the features (arp, motion recorder) will synch to midi clock.

Compared to much of the competition, I think the OB-12 is VERY feature
laden.

Given the intended market though (Dance/Techno) i've got to take a few
points off for the arpeggiator. come on Oberheim, it's not 1981 anymore.

There are some nice string sounds, more like "string machine" sounds.

You don't buy something like this to get piano sounds, or anything
imitative, unless you're trying to emulate an OB-8 with it.

Great for rock and prog rock, designed really for dance/techno, although
the arpeggiator is the limiting factor there. Obviously not an appropriate
synth for doing classical.

My initial impression of the on board reverb was not very good, but
again I had a limited exposure to it. Could be made better with some
F/X tweaking.

The distortion and delays were pretty cool and the chorus was rich.

Very nice response to aftertouch and velocity.

The OB-12 has a pretty big, rich sound, but does not sound as "fake" as
a sample playback synth. The filter response is incredible, very thick
and tweezy, you can really make them howl if you want.

One real nice feature with the filters is that they have Moog
(24 dB/octave) style and Oberheim style (12 Db/octave) switches, along
with the choice of low pass, high pass, and band pass settings.

You could set up the filter section to pretty much sound like an ARP,
Moog, Oberheim, Roland Jupiter, or whatever.

I'd really like to get a bit more seat time with it, to check out the
sound quality more, but the overall package is really great.

This is a synth you would probably buy and never sell, it just has a
very cool vibe.

I have to qualify this with the fact that I've always loved Oberheims
and I have a Matrix 1000 (digitally controlled 6 voice analog module,
from the 1980's) that I really love.

Rather than being a cheesy recreation of the classic Oberheims, the
OB-12 seems to be very close to the real deal, with the advantage of
also being able to sound like a Moog or an ARP.

It's not an SEM based four or eight voice, but for what it is and what
it costs, it kicks some serious ass.

I'm glad I didn't bring my credit card last night...

I don't know, it's brand new, probably has software bugs.

Also, it's made in Italy, and I remember how Crumars, Siels, etc. were.

Probably not too bad, but also probably not as reliable as a japanese
synth.

I will say the build quality is EXCELLENT. The only better built synth
I've seen recently are the Waldorf Q, and XT-K. A nord lead is a cheap
toy in comparison (build quality wise) and the JP-8000 too plasticky.

The OB-12 has a solid metal front panel, the knobs and sliders are very
solid, the thing just exudes quality.

The pitch and mod wheels are very solid and very chunky, nice throw
weight to them.

Don't know.

The OB-12 is built by Viscount in Italy. Viscount also makes organs,
they were making the organs badged as Oberheims for Gibson.

Apparently Gibson bought Oberheim, did nothing with it, and now Viscount
has taken over the brand name.

I get the feeling that the OB-12 was one of those projects in the works
and some corporate goober at Gibson probably said, "what, there's NO MARKET
for a digital recreation of a classic analog synth. Who the hell would
buy such a thing?"

Oberheims are distibuted in the US by Armadillo Enterprises, who are
the same people that made the Nord Lead so popular.

They seem to be doing a great job marketing eurosynths, let's hope they
have the same success with Oberheim.

I think this thing will command $1500 for a while (I was quoted $1499 by
a store that has very good pricing), then maybe eventually
come down to $1200 or so after couple of years. List is $1999.

Considering the build quality and the limited production of the thing,
I think the price is reasonable. I was seriously considering the
Microwave XT-K (which has a totally different sound, but exudes the same
kind of offbeat vibe), which costs about the same, but now I'm really
keen on the OB-12.

I can't really comment on most of this stuff, as this was just a music
store test drive, but if you are considering a JP-8000 (now below a
grand) or a Nord Lead, or a Super Nova, Access Virus, etc., you REALLY\
need to check the OB-12 out.

Sound and build quality-wise, I think it puts the Nord Lead on the trailer,
the only synth I think that is built as well (better actually) is the
Waldorf XT-K and the Q.

The Q is a very nice piece, but still very much a work in progress,
(then again, the OB-12 may also be that), but costs $1000 MORE than
the OB-12.

That's a lot of jack for another octave of keys, a better arpeggiator,
and more knobs.

Keep watching this synth, I predict big things for it...