Product: Oberheim OB-Xa
Price Paid: trade used
Submitted
04/05/1998
at
08:37am
by
Brent Haeseker
Ease of Use
:
8
A fairly easy to use synth, it's analog so it's got all the knobs and buttons. A little unusual geting used to the flapper levers that Oberheim uses instead of the good old pitch and mod wheels that most other manufactuers have stardardized.
Features
:
7
8 voice polyphony on mine (they came in 4, 6 and 8 voice models). 120 programs (eariler ones only had like 32). The action on the OB-Xa is not so hot, it will slow you down and it doesn't seem to like alot of chordal comping (it will fight you) - Roland and Yamaha had much better keyboard actions. No midi (built around 1980 originally). No extra goodies like sequencer or after touch or appreggiator.
Sound wise it's pretty meaty, as it's got that classic Oberheim beef. But it lacks alot of flexibility, sure it's got sample and hold and some nice modulation capabilities, but it's pretty one dimensional. Turn a knob on a Minimoog and you will get ALOT of change in the sound from start to finish. Do the same on the OB-Xa and you only get small changes. I haven't side by side compared all my synths (I only have enough space to have half of them set up at a time), but it seems my Jupiter-6 outshines the OB-Xa as a analog polysynth. I still rate the OB-Xa pretty high because that Oberheim beef (no matter how limited) still is alot of fun to play.
Expressiveness/Sounds
:
8
Beefy leads are the best. Not as bassy as a Roland or Moog. Pads aren't bad. Cool modulation for weird stuff (sample and hold). I hate to rate sounds because it's all in how you use them and it's such an opinionated thing but I guess if you twist my arm I give it an 8, it would rate higher if it was more flexible.
Reliability
:
5
I got mine with faults - bad battery had wiped out presets, one button did not work, bad voice card that needed calibration. Not as sturdy as my Roland fleet. Holding it's tune is sometimes a problem. I would not gig with it only because I value my vintage gear to much to put it thru that kind of abuse. If you do, get a good case for it, and give it some warm up time before the first set starts.
Might also be hard to find parts for as it's been a long time since these synths were made.
Overall Rating
:
7
I like my OB-Xa alot. It's a great synth and has alot of historical and sentimental value, as I went many many years waiting to finally get one. It has it's place in my setup, but I will still be using my Jupiter-6 and Minimoog analogs to a greater degree, as well as my Junos. But when a little old lady approaches me and asks Where's the Beef? I will direct her to the OB-Xa.
