Oberheim OB-12

(CPU V1.52 / DSP 1.11 updated after a user-induced crash)
Ease of use? In this day of software synths how can one complain about any synth for #360 second hand, with a FULL compliment of knobs for every function not unlike a medium-sized modular? top notch. Presets are great to get one started and demonstrate it's capabilities. From them you have a full compliment of stuff to get started. Manual? who needs that.

Keyboard is sound. A good solid and relatively quiet action italian type found on many high quality units out there today. Velocity response good. The effects inbuilt are great if you need them. If you use this in the studio as just one of many, it's a geat addition.

The questions for these input boxes are funny. Is it good for Rock? Classical? Dance? A piano is an instrument used by the great symphonies of the world, as Elton John, and me. What you do with a synth is up to the task; This one will fit into any realm you want. Enough said.

It crashed after I uploaded a bad binary (sysex) file into it once. My error, and after some kind assistance from Viscount, and a couple of pre-release firmware updates, I was up in an hour. The display has just fliclered in a cold room, but other than that, it's as reliable as my fridge. (also italian.. actually.. hmnn.)

They were superb. Personal e-mails to my simple questions. I was sent debug OS files to get info for them, then a proper update, AND!! an actual explanation as to why I needed it. "You have a board with newer flash on it; the os in yours had a problem with it's speed; here's one from a new rev; you have this version. I hope it solves it!" -and it did. And with a confident answer, how can you complain. That is what one referrs to as real expertise.

I saw it in a second hand store. Immaculate shape, and it is heavy. All steel and wood casing, a real power cord, it is a proper synth. Some of these reviews look as if this unit is the user's only piece of kit; I added this to a vast collection and don't care if it hasn't a sequencer - buy a sequencer for that -(christ! what a lousy complaint!) and isn't like... something else. It is a unique synthesizer with some great sound-making capabilitles, and if you spend the time on it, it will do the trick. It has filled many a gap in songs all over the place from noise pish-poosh-reso pops to great stringey-voice pad sweeps; the arpegiator provides hours of twiddle fun for the accustomed old synth user.

Editing is amazing - not just easy but really, really fun. You get the same kick out of fiddling with all those sliders and buttons as you do on a real analogue synth. I've had mine for a little while now, perhaps as long as a year, and editing started out easy and it just seems to get easier and easier as I get more used to the synth.

I'm the kind of person who can't stand the digital method of programming - as soon as I get an idea for a voice, I want to get it down immediately before I lose it. The OB12 really lets you do that, especially as you become more experienced with it.

The PC editor software is a bit confusing though - there is no manual (despite the promise of its arrival on the ob12 site) and I don't expect there ever will be, so I'm a bit wary of using it the wrong way and messing up my sounds. Still, you can of course dump all your settings to a midi file and then mess with confidence.

The manual for the synth is generally very good, especially considering it's translated. There are very few grammatical errors and it's generally easy to understand. There are a few places, however, where you feel they've missed out an important point or two, assuming you know them already. This is probably not the best manual for a complete beginner, especially as far as midi goes.

People don't seem to like the effects much so far....I would agree that the overdrive is the hardest to use well, but the other effects (chorus, delay and reverb) are very good, feature-rich and dead easy to use. The overdrive just (in my experience) takes a bit of patience, but ends up with very useable sounds.

Of course, every single thing on the synth is MIDI compatible, no problems there.

Post-DSP update, the sequencer (phrase recorder) is very good, and the motion recorder was always great. The motion recorder can be used as extensively as your imagination allows.

I'll give it 9 just because of the slight difficulty of use of the overdrive.

Don't even consider this synth if you want realistic instrument sounds! But then, I don't want that, and it's not what I paid for. What it does do, it does very well in my opinion. I think it has a very wide range of possible uses, it's quite versatile. I've managed plenty of different voices ranging from 80's synth pop sounds to techno-ish sounds to subtle, mellow, ambient sounds for any sort of music from rock to new age.

The sound itself I think could stand to be a little bit more analogue, a little more punchy. However, it can be very thick indeed, although it just requires a bit more thought to produce than with a true analogue. The inbuilt graphic EQ is very useful in producing punchier sounds, and you've got plenty of waveforms to fiddle with to thicken it up.

Velocity and aftertouch are great, as is the ribbon controller. I love being able to apply literally any parameter, or even multiple parameters (I think the number is unlimited) to any or all of these! It allows you to have complete control over how the synth sounds when you're playing. When you add in the phrase and motion recorders, you've got some serious real-time sound control there.

Never had a problem yet. No crashes, no data loss, not breakdowns, nothing.

In actual fact, and this is absolutely true, I have SPILT HOT CANDLE WAX on this synth (it was too close to said candle while making a stupid spoof video with a friend) and no harm at all has been done to it!

The casing, as well as being incredibly cool-looking, is solid as...well, a big lump of blue metal!

Absolutely I would gig it without backup. Still worth carrying around in a flight case, but I can't imagine it getting damaged or breaking down on me.

Not had to deal with them.

I would definitely buy another wer it stolen etc, although maybe not immediately due to money concerns! It's definitely worth what I paid.

I love the ease of use, the look, the feel, the sound, everything. Like I say, it could sound just a touch more analogue, but I have analogue synths as well, and everything does something different in the end, and I love what the OB12 does.

I compared it to the Korg MS2000, the obvious competitor, but I decided upon the ob12 because for one thing I thought the 4-voice polyphony of the MS2000 would be a bit limiting, but also because of the greater programmability of the OB12.

It's pretty much my favourite synth at the moment, because it's so versatile. I might translate a patch I've made on the ob12 to another synth later because it sounds better on another, but I'll always try to get it down on the OB12 first since it's so easy to do, and it always ends up sounding great anyway (if you know what you're doing!).

Having said that about the MS2000, I am looking to get one soon, since I still like it a lot, and I'm also looking at possibly at some point getting a Roland jp-8000. I guess I'm a bit of a VA man...

It'd be nice if it had one more octave, but that's just me speaking as a pianist. The 4 octaves works fine, but the extra 5th would be the icing on the cake.

But amazing value all round, and even if it's not for absolute beginners, it's a fantastic synth.

Ver 1.52
DSP 1.11

These are the latest updates and strongly recommend you download these at www.ob12.com. Also on the website you are able to download 2 extra sound banks including the original. I strongly recommend you download the Virtual Analog 2 bank, the factory bank has to many sound effects and not enough synth patches. This bank definately emulate some great Moog and Sequential Circuits sounds and even the classic Oberheims. I give this a 9 due to the fact they shipped with shitty patches. But once again, the new banks are outstanding.

Polyphony is very good 12 voices. Unison mode doesn't seem to be as fat as you would think it should be, but decent. Action is great, I use this board for bass and lots of leads. Keys nice and springy, great aftertouch also. Built in effects are great, i don't use the overdrive much, its to loud. This synth sounds great even if you turn off the effects. Just remember, I only recommend this synth if you download the virtual analog 2 banks. On the OB12.com website, you can download a patch editor. But why should you, everything is laid out for you to tweak and save your work in up to 128 user locations. The motion recorder and phrase sampler come in handy. I use the phrase recorder quite a bit for my bass parts.

This is as close you can get to an analog synth. Some of these patches are amazing, and if you for example put the OB-8 and OB-12 next to each other using the same patch, you will not be able to tell the difference, well, until you start tweaking. That's when it become noticeable. You can hear the steps when turning for example the resonance. Onboard eq is definately a plus especially when shaping your sounds. They did good!

It is pretty damn reliable. It has never crashed on me and I plan on using this synth out on just a few gigs in the near future. The only problem I find with this synth is that it is to damn beautiful. I don't want to ruin her face out on gigs, so i think I might sample some of her sounds.

I have sent e-mails and they have always responded within 48 hours. I give them credit considering Customer Service reps are all in Italy, and are very helpful.

I will buy this again. It is definately one of the best synths I own, and for a virtual synth, this synth comes the closest when emulating vintage synthesizers. Better than the Korg MS2000 or Roland Jp8000.

OS 1.52

This board is extremely easy to use, very well layed out. the only reason i give it a 9 is because of the lack real-world parameter values. All the values on this synth are an arbitrary range of 1 to 100. for instance.. when you set the LFO speed, or the time of an envelope stage, you have no way of determining Hz or seconds. Other than that OS is pretty well layed out and the display is very descriptive.

The effects section of this board is not very musical, with overdrive being the worst. It's hard to get the overdrive to produce any kind of sound without clipping. It would be nice if this board had a modulation matrix like many other VAs.... the modulation routings are very limited. Also feels like the DSP is underpowered. it has 12 voice polyphony but when running in unison mode it often seems less than 6.. on the plus side, the numerous controls on the front panel are excellent and the ribbon controller is a great addition that i think should be on every synth. The onboard eq is another excellent idea seen on too few boards.

this is where my real disappointment came.. when i first bought it i was very impressed, but, as i got used to it and had the chance to compare to other gear, i realized how thin and digital it really is. i've had it for over a year now and i think i've gotten to know it pretty well. The high end of the frequency spectrum has audible digital anomalies on nearly every patch, and the oscillators really lack depth. in addition, the envelopes and LFOs are very slow...
One thing i've noticed that i havn't had the chance to compare to other gear is the unpredictable output level. On some patches i have to turn the amplifier almost down to zero to avoid clipping, and on others, i get weak output even with the amp all the way up. For a digital board this seems like it would be easy to work around in the OS.

it's never crashed on me, but, the backlight on the display has been giving me problems lately. sometimes it works fine, sometimes it flickers, sometimes it doesn't come on at all.. doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. i probably wouldn't gig with it for fear of not be able to see it :)

Website hasn't been updated in a -very- long time, and the unit is out of production, so, draw your own conclusions. i've never actually dealt with support personally

If it were lost i'd definately buy something else... i don't think it's worth what i paid for it. it sorta feels like a big midi controller and software synth in one box.

i like all the front panel controls and the display, but, this board lacks where it counts most.. the sound.

See my first review.

In addition to my previous review, I do think the unison mode needs more CPU power unless you play in mono mode. But, if you try to increase the filter attack time slightly, this latency time won't be so noticable.

Many VA oscillators cannot produce more than one waveform simultaneously without any loss of polyphony. OB-12 is in fact a 6 oscillator VA, because each of its two oscillators can give three waveforms at the same time (up to your choice of course). This gives the ultra thick character to its sound. By properly programming, it can sound as phat as a Jupiter 8. In fact, it can convincingly give most of the Jupiter-8 sounds in the ''Best of Go West'' album. When experimenting with new sounds, try also bypassing the filters and hear the pure oscillator sound which is better to my ears than filtered one in some cases. I am also processing its sound by an Akai MFC-42 analog filter bank (by bypassing,flattening its onboard filters). Result is very good in most cases.

See my first review.

See my first review.

See my first review.

I'd like to add something about Unison latency problem to my previous review. If you use unison in mono mode or in poly mode, but using only one note at a time, there is no latency. It only occurs when you play chords. You can even play polyphonic riffs and it will soun OK, but avoid chords! I even use 1 unison and 2 normal pathces in some performances and there's no problem. Well, maybe a click occurs every now and then... I have to mention the sound stealing problem I've noticed on some performances. It is especialy noticeable if you use arpegiated bass and a pad sound together, or when sequencing with external sequencer. the result is a terrible compression! Because of this I avoid using OB12 in a sequencer setup and multimode. 2 sound performance is maximum. I've read other reports of this problem. I hope they'll fix this in the upcoming CPU upgrade. It should be available soon.
I've also come acroos the LFO and Arpeggio sync problem. There's aparently no way to sync those to external midi clock!!! THIS SUCKS BIG TIME!!! No synced LFO sweeps presents a huge downside for me. I hope this too will be fixed in new CPU version.
It also happened that a certain patch that used FM sounded unusable after powering up the synth. What is this? A true analog emulation??? haha! It hapened 3 or 4 times, but everything was OK when I turned it off and then back on.
Phrase and motion recorder are both pretty useless. Morphing feature is usefull for sound creation, but not for performance as it has it's dissadvantages.

I am more and more satysfied by its sound. Like previous reviewer wrote, it doesn't sound mastered and I like that! Most VAs and softsynths sound compressed and mastered. Well, this could be a good or a bad thing, but I prefer raw sound. They all have smiley shaped EQ sound, and OB12 has lots of mids. I love mids! As for low end:
I managed to program fairly deep and also very punchy, percussive basses. It IS necessary to use EQ to boost up low-end, but EQ is there, isn't it? :) I've figured out, that making bass pathces requires lots of work and a bit different aproach than on other synths. But results are quite good. I still think this is one of the best synths for strings, brass and pads, so those are the main things I use it for. Oh, and I love it's unique leads more and more every day! Overdrive and reverb are a joke really. I couldn't use them in any musical context. Overdrive can be used as some sort of Lo-Fi effect, but its usability is low.

Pretty reliable so far, except some nasty FM stuff. I plan to gig with it in 2 months.

At this price it couldn't be much better. Although I'd like some things implemented like:
independent control over two filters (adsr, lfo, pan)
way more filter types
more envelope triggering modes (they always retrigger, which can be a pain)
more envelope curves - at least for attack (linear, exponential)
filter overdrive
syncable lfos and arp
mod matrix
step sequencer
panable delay
more usefull morphing function
motion recorder as a part of patch or at least performance

whoa!!! i've just build up a dream synth, haha!

This is one of the easiest and most pedagogical synths to use in the world. Sliders, buttons and knobs for all everyday parameters. Just a few parameters (ie advanced envelopes) is hidden, but easily accessed. Grab a knob, and the big lcd screen shows what you are doing.
The factory presets are the worst found on this planet. I erased the entire memory and started programming from scratch. But rest assured you'll do marvellous sounds of your own in no time.

It's only 12 note polyphony, and the allocation scheme should have been programmable. Polyphony is OK, since you don't want to use this synth as a workstation anyway.

There are four flexibly configurable and easy to use effects. The weird overdrive is mostly good for industrial effects. The chorus are one of the best I've heard. Sounds "analogue" in a great way. The delay is sadly not pannable, but makes a great flanger. The reverbs are barely useable (and I can't get enough volume from them), but you always want to use external high quality reverbs anyway. Everything sends midi data, so tweak away.

I wish it had another LFO (it has two), and two envelopes for the two filters. And a knob for the filter delta.

There is so much weird opinions about the sound of OB-12 it's unimaginable. I use loads of real analogue synths like Arp Odyssey, Korg Trident, Mono/Poly, MS-10, MS-20, PS-3100, Micro Preset, Oberheim Matrix-6, Matrix-1000, Studio Electronics ATC-1. I've been an analogue maniac since the 1981. I never thought I should buy a VA synth, and really hated all I tested, apart from Waldorf Q:series which I think is OK. Just for fun I tried Korg MS 2000, Novation Nova and OB-12 at a music store. I ended up buying the OB-12. This thing is even fairly alive when you switch off the effects and the filters sound "real". Other V/A sounds "already mastered and compressed techno hit" no matter how you tweak it. The OB-12 is "unmastered". It can sound weird, outright awful, and marvellous. Though resonance doesn't sound analogue when self oscillating, it sounds like real wild feedback. Not like a bland sinus oscillator placed at the cutoff frequency.

This sure isn't the synth for everything. It can do fairly good imitations of early 80's polysynths. It can sound like a DX-7 treted with a shotgun. It does a much much better "old PPG" than my Waldorf XT. The people complaining of limited bass and high ends are... well, what synth have they been trying? This thing competes with my Studio Electronics ATC-1 for bass on the upcoming Moulin Noir album. Hmmm... maybe they've used the filters in bandpass configuration. It's great for 80's synthpop. Van Halen rock is a piece of cake. All sorts of industrial and electronica too. For middle of the road hits and techno: Go buy something else. The same applies if you want to use one synth for your sounds. OB-12 is at it's best when it does one or two special sounds in the mix.

Built like a german tank. NEVER crashes.

They aren't answering emails... but the OS seems to be updated now and then though this synth flopped. I see I can update mine from 1.50 to 1.52. You need at least 1.50. Running update from Cubase always works.

This is the V/A for those who hate V/A. I havent tried Alesis ION which may be a stiff competitor for that title. But nowdays you can get an OB-12 extremely cheap.

OS 1.50 has some annoying issues, like the volume of the rectangular wave increasing when the wave becomes narrower. And why can't I modulate the amplifier negatively from the ribbon controller, since ring mod and oscillator FM can increase volume substancially. Unison modes have timing problems (but weirdly layering sounds works fine).

If you haven't got real analouge synthesisers... buy yourself some old analogues. If you already have a bunch of analogue synthesisers, and want "more" (but with a strange twist), or if you want a digital synth that is lightning fast and fun to tweak: Buy the OB-12. But try it first, it isn't a synth for everyone.

After making a detailed search on the net about VAs, I decided to buy an Oberheim OB-12 (latest version) and a Nord Lead 2X. Currently I am using both of them for my future 'new age' style of music plans. As far as the ease of use is concerned, I can't imagine a synth easier to use than this. Every control is easily accesible for playing, recording, sound design, etc. purposes compared to my Nord Lead. To be honest, preset sounds on Bank-A are average to good and those on Bank-B are terrible, except for the ''80sPolyGlide'' sound in B-02 position which is the sound I like the most on this synth. I solved the preset 'problem' partially as I mentioned below. Manual is really helpful and easy to understand except some grammer problems. In fact, one can use the OB-12 without a manual.

Well, it has 12 polyphony which is better than most of the synths in its price range. Keyboard action is fine to me, resembling a bit the DX7 of the 80's. All onboard effects are okey, but I like chorus and reverb more than the overdrive. (I really wonder what this overdrive is used for). I haven't used the phrase recorder yet, but it seems extremely easy to record patches. It has more features than my Nord Lead with just 2/3 of its price.

As I mentioned above, presets on Bank-B disappointed me at the beginning. ( This is not only the problem of OB-12s, but also Nord Lead 2X and even 3 models, Yamaha AN1X, etc.) Thanks to the free download sounds on www.ob12.com, I partially solved this problem. I strongly recommend the Virtual Analog-2 Sound Bank on their website, which actually reflects the power of the OB-12 much better than the factory presets. Don't forget to back-up your edited A-Bank sounds, because uploading the new sound banks writes the new sounds to B-Bank and overwrites the original A-Bank sounds again, so any change on A-Bank is lost after the uploading procedure. With this new analogish sounds, now it is comparable to my Nord Lead 2X. In fact, pads and some solo leads are better than that of the Nord in terms of smoothness and expresiveness. But Nord sounds better for brass and electric piano type of stuff and for that Prophet 5 emulations. If I can find enough time, I am planning to program some Nord sounds on my OB-12 since they have similar architecture except some sine wave type of stuff on the Nord. As a conclusion, I like the new sounds on my OB-12 which are of quite analog nature.

No problem so far, I hope I wouldn't face with any problems. Because I don't know the repair servicing level in my country ( I imported it from the UK supplier, turnkey).

Viscount guys are really helpful and they respond to any question within 1-2 days. So no problem in that department.

If it was lost or stolen, I would definitely buy another OB-12. It has nice features and a powerful sound engine for a reasonable price. It has a built quality comparable to German synths. It is so easy to make music on the OB-12. In my opinion, it has a place between the group Waldorf/Access/Clavia and Korg/Roland/Yamaha (VAs). I love it.

This synth is very tricked up. Great for proffesionals. The real time controls are phenominal too. One small problem that the synth does have is the access time to the memory seems to take a second or so.

Contol is idea. All the parameters are there and it simple. Probably the best example of analog emulation on the market.

As with everything, Once you've sat down for an hour or two it becomes very simple. I'm still elarning new things about it.

The synths playability regarding the keys is again spot on. The joint venture with viscount may have proved the influence for this. THere's nothing mch I can add to this that hasn't already been said previously.

The onboard presets aren't too bad. There are some amazing pads to be had but this syth should reallly be used as a design your own sound tool. Once the practice is done in programming this monster you can get any sounds imaginable

t has crashed once, but the firmwarm on it didn't seem to be damaged and hasn't happened again

Not requird

I bought this brand new for a rediculous price. And would buy it again without any hesitation. I've seen it for sale for $1000 on ebay and am in shock that it hasn't been snatched up.

If your considering buying an analog synth this is well worth a though. Jupiter 6 or 8 is nice, but because of there age and IC's noise does develope. THe OB-12 however has more versatility to it. By all means, I highly recomend analog synths but this does the trick. The sounds are fat, big and bold.

I've own a JP8000, Jupiter 6 & 8, MC 505, PC, Kawai K5, X5D, Dx7, XP 30, Hammond L110.

Now, the OB-12 wouldn't be used in every recording you'd make, however it can fill any gaps that may be needed, and it can do al the bass work you may need.

This synth is only good for the eletronic scene. I wouldn'bother if you were loking to use it for rock or jazz. If you want rock try the JP8080 (just for it's vocoder). If you want Jazz then the good old fasion piano and hammond are the answer. The scope is very narrow for the OB-12, but the quality it has and then name it holds makes it well worth purchasing. Very good for D&B and ambient house/techno

I have the latest software, so many bugs are gone. Nice. Manual is OK. Presets are just crap. How could they ever put out a product with such bad presets. Some sounds are just pure nonsense. Stupid. You really have to make your own. Well, that's what all the knobs and sliders are for, right? So, editing patches is dead easy, and so is program editing. The big display really helps. And you just twist a knob and display goes to that page. QL:) FX editing is a bit odd. Routing configuration is very confusing and limitin. Check this out before you buy this synth. You might hate it. I do. It's ok if you intend to use OBI as 1 or 2 part synth. Midi page is very nice and shows everything graphically. I love it.

Polyphony is 12, which can be limited if you use unison pathces which eat up 8 voices. Keyboard action is fine. I'm totally confortable with it. There are many velocity curves, from soft to hard and there is also aftertouch whith many curves. It has 4 FX processors: overdrive, chorus, delay and reverb. Overdrive eats low end a bit, but generaly sounds ok. I don't use it much, though. Chorus is the best one of all. It's quite important to use it, because OBI sounds much like mid 80's DCO synth. It reminds me of my ex Roland JX8P. Chorus really phatens the sound nicely. Delay is nice, too. It has also some modulation, so it can get really wacky. Reverb is ok, but certainly not great. Again, FX routing configuration sucks!!! But I can live with it ;) For me, the ribbon controler is the best tool for live performance. You can assign two parameters to it and in that way you are able to manipulate patches nicely with only one controler. I use it a lot. Pich and mod wheels work ok. There is also an onboard EQ, which can help you get some bass, as OBI lacks bottom end. EQ is wery musical and I recomend using it. Arpegiator is plain and simple, works great, but I don't like arpegiated stuff so much, so I don't use it a lot. I also don't use the stupid phrase recorder. Not intuitive at all. BUT, I do intent to use motion recorder. You can record live knob and slider tweeks and save them on one of only 2 memory locations. That's a shame! I can see myself playing with it all the time. It's like a mod matrix under your control. Great for long evolving pads. Film soundtracks? oh yeah!

This is a pure synthesizer, so here's no home for realistic stuff. Just pure synthetic sounds. And I love it this way. OBI sounds different. It lacks bottom end for sure, so It's not your ideal do it all dance synth. It has lots of character, thanx to its unique oscilator section. Each osc. can has saw, pulse and triangle waveforms. All can be played simultaneously, which results in totally new waveforms. OSC1 also has waveshaping for all three waveforms. Great!!! Triangle WRAP rules! You can read about other synthesis features in other reviews....I'll just say, that ring mod adds a lot to OBI's character. I think of OBI as a wonderful digital synth, capable of producing warm and phat analoguesque sounds as well. It can't do a bass like other VAs can, but can do it in it's own style. A bit FMish, hard, with lots of mid frequencies. Good, but not usefull all the time. Yesterday I created a good electric sitar sound. It reminds me a bit of DX7. Metallic, a bit of odd, digital noise,...QL. I LOVE the digital side of OBI. I would recoment this synth to someone looking for a different sound. It can be used in all styles of music, you just have to use its strong points not the weak ones ;)

So far no problems. I hope never. I would use it live without backup, and I also will. But not live in a midi setup. NO WAY.

Never dealt with them. Again, I hope I'll never have to.

Lost or stolen. No way!!!! God have mercy on me. I had to borrow money to buy it. And it's my only synth now (well, beside Quasimidi Sirius which I'm going to sell soon). I used to have Korg Poly 800, Roland JX 8P, Kawai XD5 drum synth and Yamaha TG 77. I also played Roland Alpha Juno, Elektron Sidstation, Yamaha SY1, Roland JX 305, Yamaha DX7, Akai S3000 sampler, and some other unimportant stuff, too. I am very satysfied with it, and I think I'll keep it as long as it'll work. I hope for 20 or more years ;)

Hello to all musician world
I find this keyboard very easy to use, but I am sure that only a few men or women in the world (or in Mars) may know it at all. As I am using a lot of Analog Synths in my studio, I can say that any Bad Word for these kind of synths, is not a good thought. I am using version 1.5 and I haven't met something wrong (after 2 years). I find this synth very usable, as it is the best on Rock, Pomp and Mor music.
Presets are not the best, but with a little programming, the synth is great. The Manual is not needed a lot.

Build in Effects on a created sound with analog synths is something very complicated in a mix and for my personal opinion, two effects such as reverb and delay is quite enough. The other effects are helpfull in some cases and of course it is a positive thing in OB-12. Midi capabilities are a very nice point for the 2000's analog synths but not always usable. This synth has more fun in a live :-)
12 notes Polyphony is usable in some combinations for every kind of sound. I have tried a lot to discover them !!!

Sounds are better than every sample I have ever found in my AKAI CDs. Of course all these knobs bring the sound where you realy want. Velocity and Aftertouch work like every new synth, it's keyboard is hard playable.

For me, that synth bring me closer to the analog way of thinking, creating sounds that I never had. I do'nt use it on creating sountracks or spaceship sounds. This synth is always in my gig-synth-setup.

This is not a good story, but I like the site: www.ob2.com. Thanks all people that they support the synth with their own created sounds and songs. I will add some mp3s in www.ob2.com section with some parts of my job, after summer. Until then I have to say that EVERY ANALOG SYNTH HAS DIFFERENT BEAUTY.

Overall Rating ??? Hmmm... I like this synth

One of the best interface of the world! Very easy to use and to edit patches. The manual is italian/english, very easy to understand.

not very bad, but a little disappointing, in all sectors (polyphony, effects, no a real sequencer on board.)

Yes, the vote is 10. Why? Because I like all those strange sounds, very 70', if you use very well knobs, buttons and sliders. (the presets, with 10/20 exceptions, sounds very...orrible)

I like very much the complessive structure of this blue instrument, with the above mentioned limitations. I have 8 other synths, very much more strong (Roland JP8000, Novation Supernova II, Access Virus KC and others), but if you know how to use this "little Arp Odyssey" very well, You will be very happy of the result.

Its very easy to use and could well set the blueprint for future fake analogues.

lots of knobs and sliders, control over sound is always close at hand
this is a massive plus to those wanting to learn subtractive synthesis. 12 note poly, quite heavy and a good weapon for killing moths and unicorns. Oh you know the specs!!!

Whoops, here comes mr honesty. im dissapointed, this synth can make some excellent noises and pads, arps, etc, but it doesnt sound full but trapped in the midrange, thats its forte. Its the comparison between a Kawai K1, and a Korg M1. OB12 - Access Indigo. If only someone extended the bandwidth of the soundstage to something like the Access A rack, it would really shine but no. That said the thing that makes it that much more bearable is the control over the timbres of it. Not all the time but some of the time it sounds compressed. I want to love this blue beauty so much, but what can you expect for #360 second hand. for that reason alone bang for buck, Im giving it a 7

Mine seems to miss some notes in unison and i feel the operating software as far as the morphing facility is concerned doesnt quite have the finishing touch. If a sound is vastly different to the source sound, it doesnt quite make it to the second sound as in the memory banks, good idea, but mediocre in performance.

I hope that the sheer numbers of people who have bought one kicks them into action, on the whole they are a maker of high end Organs and controller keyboards, Tom Oberheims ethos has long left the building, and being the only synth in their ranks i hope, that if/when it goes wrong they will get out from fiddling with their Organs and answer the phone.

i hate to say this but i think the mentality of people that gush over whatever they buy, saying its the coolest thing in the world, or maybe, they havent listened to something really classy. I have had virtual fights with my grandad about how shit a dyson hoover is, we all know deep down its a fucking gimmick, but when your almighty judgement is challenged you will fight tooth and nail to defend your plasticky, cumbersome, overpriced, badly built overhyped barrel of shit.
That said i would most urge people, if youre thinking about buying any gear on here or user review sites elsewhere, listen for yourselves do not blindly buy something based on reviews, from sites like these. Email a professional user who has extensively used it in their rig for years and find out its limitations, idiosyncracies, and reliability. Because that is when its used to its maximum under pressure. Because like most things pushed into our faces these days, its all hyped up sales bullshit.
just because its old doesnt mean its Vintage, just because its Virtual Analogue doesnt mean its going to sound great. When alls said and done. When we want something so bad we want to believe its the greatest thing on earth. Like Jordan beautiful but not all there up top. BUT, capable of big surprises. and to those defenders that will argue that it just sounds different to other V.A.s, no...... my farts
sound different, doesnt make it better.

Very easy to use.

Many features and very analog.

It has some very orignal sounds. You wont believe how kool this machine is!. Un-real sounds amazing..I was blown away. The velocity & aftertouch are not bad but could be better.

Very good

Oberheim/Viscount have made an offical website for this synth. www.ob12.com

IF YOU WANT AN ARP 2600 YOU HAVE ONE!
IF YOU WANT A CMI FAIRLIGHT YOU HAVE ONE!
IF YOU WANT AN OBX YOU HAVE ONE!
AND ALSO IF YOU WANT TO SOUND LIKE J.M. JARRE YOU CAN WITH THIS!

I bought one and kept it for two weeks or so , thus i think that i managed to get a good idea about it.The ob12 is quite easy to operate
although the manual isn't really useful.I had version 1.47 or something and i got it for 800eu brand new.
I will disagree with a lot of the previous reviews concerning the patches since i think that they represent the capabilities of the synth quite accurately.

The features are not impressive or anything ,but a lot of va's are like that so i didn't expect more in that department , however i have to point to some , at least for me , significant omissions.
First of all the second lfo is tied to the modulation wheel which for my style of performing or using the modulation wheel this is irritating.I don't understand why someone would assume that they know best in which sound parameters i want to assign to the Modulation wheel , and seeing how carefull they were in having a huge amount of options in velocity configuration this is really pity.
One other problem that i encountered was that there was no way to control the triangle wave warp parameter and the filter balance parameter(while in paralel or split mode) with an envelope or an lfo.
Keytrack for the Amp envelope was also missing which i find quite basic as well as having different envelopes for the two filters.
A modulation matrix would be also welcome.
However since there are a lot of good synths around lacking also in the above department and concerning the price i guess that one could live without the above omissions.
The keyboard is really well built and the keyboard action is quite nice ,not as good though as the k5000's or the xtk's and virus.
The problem is that it's too heavy for a 4 octave keyboard so portability is not one of it's merits

This is where the problems begin
I've read from a previous review that it was only good for some special effect sounds and i totally agree with this.And even then this wouldn't be a problem if there was a wide sonic pallete concerning this ob12's capability but unfortunately all those sounds are in the same direction.
The filters aren't really interesting and the oscillators are really not comperable with the likes of clavia or waldorf products.The effects are welcome but mediocre with the exception of the chorus which is quite a good one , unfortunaly this is a effect i never liked
and it seems to be a very iportant ingredient of the ob12 sound because as i mentioned before it really needs fattening.
The lfo's not beeing able to go to the audio range are also not offering much to that direction.The fm is really a good one and the ringmodulation helps.The pads are mediocre the bass sounds almost non existent and the leads are o.k. however the general outcome is not that of "analog" synthesizer but more closely to a rompler.

I din't have any problems with it , so i would just assume that this thing is reliable for gig's e.t.c. There are some bugs there but since i wasn't using the latest software i just assume that those are now obsolete , since most of them weren't that serious

I've been into electronic music for the last 10 years and before that i was into rock jazz and fun stuff so i am a long time around and have used a lot of synths.Currently this is my gearlist:
microwave xtk , k5000s , waldorf pulse , Nl2 , emu ultraproteus , sherman filterbank2 , electron's machinedrum.
The ob12 isn't good enough to be in the 'big league' with the likes of waldorf and clavia ,it could be closer to acces or novation synthesizers if it had more and better effects and perhaps some of the ommision i mentioned adjusted(access and novation synths have alo weak oscillators but still their filters are way better than the ob12's)
Personally i see the ob12 as a synth with good intentions without them beeing fullfilled.I think that it still is more expensive than what it should be although the built of the synth indicates a high price the sound abillities don't.Something around 500-600 eu would be more appropriate.
I got this synth with the intention to use it mostly as a controller and perhaps an additional sound source to my computer programs so although i didn't have any high expectations i was dissapointed.
And the biggest reason for being dissapointed was the raving reviews overhere.Things about beeing a classic or a synth that can eat the nords and the virus e.t.c. are pure nonesence , so i felt tha i had to write a more accurate review for the product although i never post reviews.
To come to a conclusion this is a mediocre synth that a good plugin could easily replace it soundwise and although cheap i find it still expensive for what it offers.

I have ver 1.50 CPU and 1.14xxx DSP, witch is more current than the OS update offered on the Viscount Organs/Obie12 Official webpage.

I love (some of) the presets, mostly the sting/chime performances! I dont know why everyone say's it sounds horrible. I'd have to agree that many presets are unusable, but thats wher you come in to much it up! But if your using the presets in your your production, then you totally lost the point of the synth, shame on those of you that do.

Editing patches is so easy because all the parimaters are in your face!

The manual is written in both Italian and Italnglish! Chapletr 5.1 is titled 'How to be OB-12 is Organized', the manual is also full off idiotricies such as, "The OB-12 has maximum polyphonic of 12 notes, this means that it is able to produce a maximum of 12 notes ..." , "ARPEGGIO: By means of this function, the OB-12 allows you to perform arpeggios.", and "If you deleted the square waveform, you will not be able to hear any acoustic effect generated by this control" (Reffering to the pulce-width knob).

The arthor of the manual puts many idiocricies in these pages, yet it seems that we should know everything about it too

"The ring modulator and noise in accordance with a clearly defined logic." - uhh, really?!
The manual shows some Oscilator Harmonic examples, Filter slope examples, and Adsr examples, that about it. They describe RIng modulation as, well they dont describe what the ring modulator does, have they no shame....

Well anyway, some things might be misleading in the manual, "Turning the [Cutoff Freqenccy Knob] trimmer anti-clockwise increases the cut-off frequency. "[Osc 2 Pitch Keyb Track Switch] This function is widely used to control the filter, and the oscilator" - I dont recall oscilator 2 pitch being hardwired to the filter. [Thats what KB tracking is for.]

All in all, the manual needs to give more practical examples and a severe grammer check. But its an excelent source for learning Italio language.

You got 12 notes polyfonie, but when all four parts are active, you'll have a max of 9 notes on your currently selected part (because of voice reserve) I Typicly use a 2x2x2x6 Voice reserve setup for Misc/Bass/Lead/String tembres, or 1x1x1x9 using Unison Strings, witch is very beutiful!

Keyboard action of synth non weighed, altho is sez its weighed its not. How ever that dont mean its bad. Keyboar transmits velocity, and aftertoutch! You also have about a dozen velocity/aftertoutch curves to choose from, from Hard, Liniar to Soft, and some wacky curves. I like this feature alot, cuz most synths dont offer this kind of flexibilaty for keyboard action... Also there's a dedicated Velocity Switch and Aftertoutch Switch, whitch I also like, you can program something at flat velocity 10 settings, then hit the switch, then your back to Velocity 127(Velo off) settings, witch is a cool way to instantly switch between two sounds!

There are four effects, four effects knobs, and four effects switches. You can assign each of the four knobs for every performace mode, but its not that handy while your playing. Like when you assign it to delay time and you move the delay time knob, the delay block will go off until you move it to another set value. Only when you assign it to volume, will it not do this, but oh well... There are 12 Overdrive types, Mostly variant Overdrive/Distortion curves with differnt hpf damping. Chorus is very nice, works just like the Super Chorus Boss pedal, you'll get almost the same results if you A-B them (I did). Next in line is your standard delay, with LPF Damping and a Tri LFO! Very unusual for a delay block, but you can get some nifty ness out of it, you can use the delay block as a second Phazor/Flangr or Chorus if you like, then your reverb. I wish there were effect sends to each block for each patch, but their aint any. The effects are eather Inserted on or off, none of witch have a WET DRY Parimater, just level gain witch is twisty from the WET/DRY Parimaters. But you'll like this, you can rought any of the four effects it any of the four outputs, utilizing differnt connections :)
Expansions? are you kidding? the only expantion this thing needs are two switch pedals and two motion pedals. I use Sw1 for unison SW and SW2 for Distortion effects SW., I find this handy for playing keyboard and sequencing, when Im using both hands, but cant push those buttons in time. I use CV pedal1 for filter Cutoff for your Wah Wahs, and CV2 for Oscilator 2 pitch for nastyness to your sync sounds and vabritos. Be sure to get these bedals, the Yamaha PD-1's are perfect!!!

This unit is so midi friendly. You can assign all knobs sliders and buttions to its own Midi CC Value, I mean all of them, from Oscilator Sawtootch Switch to Auto Pan Depth. Kudos to Viscount for puting this on there!, theres also an elaborate midi filter transmission/Rx settings! and special SysX modes, me like the implementation on this baby!

Theres a motion sequencer, and Keyboard Phrase Sequenceing, witch Viscount ripped off the Roland JP-8000. They both do exactly the same thing, but the key sync feature on this is better because you can assign certain key triggers in all your performances. Plus you have 196 Patterns, not 49 like the JP8000. The motion sequencer is useless beuase you can only save 4 sets in the while synth, and there will never ever be an occurance you'd use the same sweeps on more than but mayby 3 or 4 sounds. If they had motion sequencer per patch, then it would be more useful, like the Korg MS2000, witch lets you do that.

Badass sounds, very very nice I might say, and also very very sick sounds on top of that.

Lets see you have Two Oscilators with up to six wavforms avaible simutaniously. You can make some very exotic waves from osc 1 by using Sawtooth Spread + Triangle Distortion Wrap + Square PWM, and sum their differnt output levels to the mixer, you can make it more spicer by modulating it via FM. Osc two you can sync to osc 1 and Create Strilly sounds n stuff. and combine the two, then you can add as much of the ring modulated signal as you like to the origonal signal, then a toutch of white noise, then you have two filters.

You can rought say Osc 1 to Filter 1 and Osc two to Filter 2 in Searies/Parallell/ and Complex Filter combo modes. You have many combonations :) You got 3 EG's Pitch EG Filter EG AMp EG and You can set Osc 1 and Osc 2 independantly, and you can spread filetr 2's freqeuency in par with Filter 1.
Then you got two LFO's using standard waveforms, you know the drill.

I decided to open this baby up and I see 2 boards ontop each other, they are very very sturdy, and will hold its place if you droped this thing on its back or side, but its the front tham Im worried about. The Trimmers and buttons, when pressed hard or pulled hard, can easily tear or disorient the contacts, but they can be easily fixed or cleaned., the top board has mainly the contact on it, but there are some big gaps in there where dirt n stuff easily fly in. So dont eat your doghnuts arround this thing. I use it on some gigs without hesitation, this thing is made of sturdy medal! And it has Real wooden pannels side panels! You can Drill your Banner on the side of the unit!

Never had to counsult them...

If someone stole this, I would hunt him down, gouge out his left eye and skull fuck the bastard.

I'v ben playing for a few years now, self taght, but then again watching and observing other piano/keyboardist playing, I found myself realizing, 'Holy shitballs, I'm the best keyboard player in the world!' ok mayby not the best yet, but getting there. I have developed techniqes witch allow me to do triple octave jump 1/16 notes and make some badass keyboard riffs and melodies. I have 2 years compsition too, and that helped alot. All it takes is practice. My technique allows me to create some badass two or three octave scales for some badass melodic motions and transformations. By using these custom scales I can instantly jump to any key to whatever anyne elce is playing. Just practice your own techniqe.
I'll post another review later about some badass synth tips.

I am using software version 1.50. Probably, there will be no more software updates for this one. Production is halted and Viscount has somewhat abandoned it. Factory presets show off just a fraction of the synth's potential but are OK. Editing patches - 100% easy. Lots of knobs and good sliders. A patch editor exists but you don't need it.

Poly is not this synth's good bit - 12 notes, can be a little low at times, especially if you do multisounds. It should be mentioned that the UNISON mode makes the key response flaky and slow, so avoid it unless you are making mono basses and such.

The keyboard action is great - one of the best set ok keys that I've played, the keys are "semi-semi weighted". Aftertouch feels great.

It has reverb, chorus, delay and overdrive. The effects add a lot of depth to the synth's sound but it sounds good without them still. Adding effects is as easy as everything else on this synth - push a button, select level with knob.

No hardware expansion capabilities at all. Not a drawback in my opinion.

It has a lot of midi capabilities - arp sync... every knob you touch on the board is sent over MIDI (unless you chose to filter it out). And lots more. Bulk dump, yeah yeah you get the picture. Midi in/out/thru.

No onboard "Note" sequencer but it has a motion recorder which I never tried.

Now about the EXTRAS on this synth that I really like:
You can do REAL morphing between sounds.
You can use FOUR PEDALS.
It has a RIBBON CONTROLLER.

The only real "minus" I see is not being able to use the mod wheel for whatever parameter(s) you want like on a Nord (the only choices you get to modulate are filter, amp, osc1, osc2).

No VA sounds "realistic". It isn't meant to do.
It works well for mostly dance/techno sounds. Fat, gritty. The biggest pad/atmosphere synth of them all. I love the sound... would really have liked to see SINE in the osc section though. It has two oscillators but they can ALL contain three MIXED waveforms! Ring modulation, stretching, white noise is also available. You can do some disted guitars for cheap rock pieces too. Chorus sounds excellent, Reverb so-so, Overdrive is great but makes the sound mono. Delay is fine. All effects are nicely configurable.

It reacts finely to your playing if you have set it to do so!
Velocity measures it does are great, Aftertouch a little steppy.

Metal casing - solid quality - weighs 12 kgs - wooden sides. A real beast. But:

One week ago the backlight in the display started to go nervous. It flickered for a few days (it was nothing that decreased the display's excellent readability though). Now the flickering has almost stopped, so I decided to keep it this way, as I would not be happy to send it in to service (read below for why). I have also heard that the problem is documented and can be fixed as easily as re-seating a connector inside.

OS locked up one time but the synth was happy again upon reboot.

I would strongly avoid sending this synth in for service. Where do you send it? There are no repair centers. The customer support via e-mail is excellent though - all people on the FriendsOfOb12 group I regularly visit get replies real fast from Viscount. Still, not a happy object in customer support issues.

This is a great synth. It wasn't made for doing great FM Trumpets as for example the nords can do. This is a SYNTH, a great ANALOG EMULATOR. For equal to $800 (and remember, Swedish VAT is 25%) this thing is a straight STEAL. I would buy it again but if I had to, but I don't think the opportunity will come up again, this one is already to be classified VINTAGE GEAR. I do not know how many units left the factory but I believe it was well below 1000. I have not been playing the keys for long, intermediate beginner so to say.

Love: Almost everything. Hate: Small display reliability issues, not very good assignable capabilities.

I was planning to get a Nord Lead 2 but then this came up for only 2/3 of the price - what a gem.

I wish it had more poly, though.

Overall, a great synth. Just as the reviewer below says, the sound will EAT most other synths. Fat, gritty, complex. Crank it up with some basic waveforms, esp. the pulse wave is very sexy, and do some basic modulation... in a few you will come up with killer pads, atmospheres etc. Add some effects and, oh boy, your heart will pound towards an attack and you might just pass out. It sounds exactly that fat. Add some bass through the equalizer, use a couple of good headphones or monitors, and you might just die from excitement.

THIS IS A PIECE OF ART, VISCOUNT! Why did you stop producing it? In ten years this thing just might cost a fortune used because it will be so rare.

Simplicity itself... knobs for EVERYTHING. I have version 1.50 I bought it at a Guitar Center clearance.. most likely the LAST one to be sold from a store as Viscount/Oberheim are no longer producing them. The Presets are beautiful and unique... although there are some that sound like something else.. it isn't really meant to sound like anything besides an Oberheim. I have an Oberheim Matrix 1000 and the OB12 has a very similar sound. There is a patch editor downloadable from the oberheim site.. who knows how long it will be up there. The manual is just a reference.. it doesn't go into depth about programming the synth. One thing I was shocked to find out is that the FX can be assigned to different outputs and put in different orders.

12 voice polyphony. 4 voice multitimbral. Overdrive, Chorus, Delay, and Reverb (all of which have knobs and are very very almost too simple to use). This synth is not expandable unfortunately it wasn't a comercial success. The keyboard has solid synth action. What is expected from a synth.. no it doesn't feel like a cheap personal keyboard. Midi Sync for the LFO is a nice touch, as well as the arpegiator and the phrase recorder. The morphing function is very interesting and the morph feature is what sets this synth apart from any other synth in exsistance. Lets say you have two completely different sounds... then you put them together and you morph from one sound to the next and then back... This isn't cross-fading like in many cheap imitations this is every single parameter!! HOLY !@#$...

This is a synth that people buy because of the SOUND and the versatility, not because of the polyphony.

This is the Minimoog of the future. This is the synthesizer that should have made it big. It will eat Nord Lead 1's, 2's, and 3's for breakfast. It makes a Virus look disinfected. It will tear a Q a new bung hole. Like an elephant the Memorymoog will be forgotten. The sound is that good. It does have it's quirks though.. the envelope is soooo damn fast that it was clicking and I couldn't figure out where the clicking was coming from.. I eased back on the AMP envelope and the click went away... holy fudgge...

This synth is the closest to Analog that I have ever seen.. it even has quirks, and a mind of it's own at times...

I've brought this synth to a few gigs.. I'm afraid to bring it anywhere because it's my baby. Also they stopped making them and I would be flabergasted if I lost it. Still it is built rock solid. It overheated an amp and nearly blew it up and it still works fine... shweeew.

I would NEVER update the operating system or the CPU as I've had bad experiences updating OS systems on a couple synths.. it always leads to problems on any synth. Support is limited because this is such a unique synth. Customer support is almost non-exsistant.

If I could buy it again I would. I've owned and operated just about every synth possible. I've even constructed my own synths from electronic parts.

I love the fact that this synth is so unique. It's really sad that it never really was a big success due to problems with Gibson... then again that makes it even more unique, this synth after all was built by Viscount... not Gibson. Now if only Tom Oberheim could have his name back so he could sell his own synths again..... well I will take this synth any day.

This synth is one of the most inspirational pieces of gear I own.. if not the most. It is so easy to use, it has the best synth sounds ever, It can do almost any sound needed and then some.

It really puts even a Roland JP-6000 to shame. Did I mention the HUGE backlit blue display???? and the side panels are REAL grey wood.

Also the fact that I picked it up for 700 bux makes it an absoulte STEAL!!

If you see one of these blue monsters, grab it before it gets away...

On Ease of Use: Fantastic. The panel is better laid out than an arp
2600 or E-II. You can grab alomost every function with a knob and get
instant "analog" control.

It's a remake of an analog synth that never was. Take the functional
design ideas from Oberheim brains, and couple it with a firm that has
money and experience in "burning" it into gate arrays. I thought it
used wave-tables and then.. HOLY! it's just well-modulated analog
routing (in dsp of course.. ahem.)

Hey! it works, midi timing is good, all the rest are fine. The sounds
are a framework or demonstration for those that want a synth. If you
just buy sunths for the presets, go to hell. You can erase EVERYTHING
in it - which is a pre-requisite in my opinion. If you like synths for
the original beauty of them - this is one of the best I've seen/heard.

Oh. You had to ask. I got mine with CPUv1.47 / DSPv1.11. I popped in
the newer CPUv1.50 and... whups. Mod wheels gone. Internal clocks gone
no midi changes (crashes it upon entering the page) and I'm very
angry after spending 6 hours over a couple of days trying to get it
back. There is definately some software shortcomings in it. GRRR!