The Sound Board

Quite a surprising release this, a standalone new analog era synth not part of the existing V Collection or a new one. That said, I have an offer of 149 euros for an upgrade from v5 to v7 + this new OB-Xa.



https://www.arturia.com/products/analog ... v/overview

Not a great intro video imo, if you're going to go for iconic presets they better sound right, and those are handled better in my OP-X Pro-ii.

Intro price 99 euros, 199 euros after.

I have the Arturia V Collection 6, I'm not a fan of their VST synths. They have nice GUI's but sound plastic, and flat whenever I play them.

I'm actually looking forward to the Synapse Audio OBX-a VST Synth release, it's still in beta testing phase. I'm sure their version will be much better sounding than Arturia's version.

Muziksculp wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 1:26 pm I'm actually looking forward to the Synapse Audio OBX-a VST Synth release, it's still in beta testing phase. I'm sure their version will be much better sounding than Arturia's version.

The OP-X Pro-ii sounds fantastic - is it really going to be a big step up from that?

The downside of it is that it's the worst non-modular analogue synth to program I ever met. Its the one appealing apart of the Arturia versions is it looks way easier to work with.

Guy Rowland wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 1:30 pm

Muziksculp wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 1:26 pm I'm actually looking forward to the Synapse Audio OBX-a VST Synth release, it's still in beta testing phase. I'm sure their version will be much better sounding than Arturia's version.

The OP-X Pro-ii sounds fantastic - is it really going to be a big step up from that?

The downside of it is that it's the worst non-modular analogue synth to program I ever met. Its the one appealing apart of the Arturia versions is it looks way easier to work with.

I don't have the OP-X Pro-ii, but I am very confident that Synapse Audio will deliver a very accurate emulation of the good old OBX-a, and their GUI will be very enjoyable to use.

I think the OB-Xa is definitely one that needs a better UI than copying the original synth.

Sigh, I miss my old OB-Xa...

Thomas Mavian wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 2:35 pm Sigh, I miss my old OB-Xa...

I don’t miss mine because it was in and out of the shop a few times, but it was the first synth I owned that had digital memory-128 presets!

It was also the synth that opened the most doors for me in terms of gigs.

Muziksculp wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 1:26 pm I have the Arturia V Collection 6, I'm not a fan of their VST synths. They have nice GUI's but sound plastic, and flat whenever I play them.

This! And I thought it‘s just me. Some people are raving about the V collection and pigments, but the sound is leagues below the usual suspects (U-he, RevealSound, NI, SynapseAudio),

Lawrence wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 3:54 pm

Thomas Mavian wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 2:35 pm Sigh, I miss my old OB-Xa...

I don’t miss mine because it was in and out of the shop a few times, but it was the first synth I owned that had digital memory-128 presets!

It was also the synth that opened the most doors for me in terms of gigs.

I was in a band at the time. Heavy Rock! Since the drummer had double bass drums and a cage(!) and a full set of synth drums (Simmons) as well we had one rule. Each member carries his own equipment. Since the OB in its heavy duty flight case weighed somewhere around 35 kg I simply couldn't keep it. Sold it for €50. It broke down two weeks after I sold it. But I miss the sounds and the tweaking the knobs invited one to.

I have the free OB-Xd and while it doesn't have presets, it sounds like what I remember the OB-X sounding like.

mickeyl wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 4:00 pm

Muziksculp wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 1:26 pm I have the Arturia V Collection 6, I'm not a fan of their VST synths. They have nice GUI's but sound plastic, and flat whenever I play them.

This! And I thought it‘s just me. Some people are raving about the V collection and pigments, but the sound is leagues below the usual suspects (U-he, RevealSound, NI, SynapseAudio),

Thanks for confirming that it's not just me thinking Arturia VST Synths sound nothing like what they are attempting to emulate.

Thomas Mavian wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 6:02 pm

Lawrence wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 3:54 pm

Thomas Mavian wrote: ↑May 19, 2020 2:35 pm Sigh, I miss my old OB-Xa...

I don’t miss mine because it was in and out of the shop a few times, but it was the first synth I owned that had digital memory-128 presets!

It was also the synth that opened the most doors for me in terms of gigs.

I was in a band at the time. Heavy Rock! Since the drummer had double bass drums and a cage(!) and a full set of synth drums (Simmons) as well we had one rule. Each member carries his own equipment. Since the OB in its heavy duty flight case weighed somewhere around 35 kg I simply couldn't keep it. Sold it for €50. It broke down two weeks after I sold it. But I miss the sounds and the tweaking the knobs invited one to.

I had an Anvil flight case on casters. It was pretty easy to get around.

As far as the analogue simulations, I always play the riff from Van Halen’s “Jump”, and they all do an ok job, but never sound thick enough.

Some of their synths are great and some are...meh. They don't do a good job with Oberheim and the CS80 as you can't really dial in the same sounds but some of the others are spot on.

I had an OB-8 in an Anvil case. It wasn't light, but it was a step up from my Fender Rhodes.

By the way, if you've already got Diva, this OB-8 sounds and skins collection from Swan Audio is worth a look:



Best,

Geoff

What's interesting to me about that Swan Diva set, Geoff is that when he goes through his presets we see he uses all manner of Oscillator / Filter / Envelope combinations to get an authentic OB-Xa sound. I notice he says its the tweaks and settings that can make the difference between something authentic sounding and not. Curious that the big stuff - the oscillators, the filters - can seemingly be swapped out, while the minutiae is where its all at.



Then the blue stripes are the psychological icing on the cake...

I don't think this is one of Arturia's finest hours. They've got a good deal of acclaim for some of their recent synths. I just have a sneaking suspicion that something is afoot here, a rushed released not part of their usual pattern, to perhaps head off the Synapse challenge?

For those that don't like the offering from Arturia, it might be worth waiting for Synapse emulation. Even Behringer is doing one.
So there'll be *soon* be other options.

None of them have release dates yet though, and the Behringer one appears to have been in development for 2 years, so who knows when it will surface.

Another option for an OB sounding synth is the Plugin-Alliance Oberhausen. It is not a straight up emulation, but it absolutely captures the character, and adds some interesting twists. It has replaced emulations of the OB family, and even the Prophet family in a couple of projects.