OB-X8: Oberheim. Welcome back

Best synth logo ever.

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i forgot which one(s), but didn’t Oberheim make a drum machine also?

nvm, just checked the site…yes the DMX, nice.

a remake would be super cool, even though it was digital.

it can…

compete with the syntakt :slight_smile:

Good question. I wonder if it is another colab, or if it is something bigger? You have to wonder if he gets on board with Sequential/Focusrite, allowing him to focus on designing new products, and maybe working with Dave’s team, but having Focusrite do the manufacturing and customer service end of it. He’s had some product ideas, like his eurorack modules, and other things like the four voice, that seemed limited by manufacturing. This could be a scenario that gets him back into the game regularly producing new instruments again.

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seems cool, but i hope it’s not just another reissue or rehashing of an old thing. sequential re-released the prophet 5. roland keeps reissuing their old stuff. let’s see these old nerds make something new.

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I’m holding out for the Xpander 2024…

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Maybe it’ll have (((((STEREO)))))) outs :joy:

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From a synth history standpoint, I’m super excited about this. But there’s no way I’ll ever be able to afford anything they make. I’ve only ever played on an oberheim once and it was a matrix 1000. I absolutely loved it and wish I could have purchased it.

I would be more than happy with SEM modules that you can polychain. Anyway, that’s great news!

in the past 20 years since he started making synths again, the only synth Dave has made that could be considered a straight-up reissue is the Prophet 5. Tom’s stuff was closer to what could be called reissues, but not entirely… the SEM circuit was the same, but he souped up everything else in those modules. the TVS Pro was based on the Two Voice, but he took it WAY beyond that. the OB6 is based on classic Oberheim circuits and sound, but isn’t a reissue any more than the Prophet 6 is a reissue of the Prophet 5.

anyway, these old nerds HAVE done plenty of new stuff. I’m stoked to see what they come up with. likely we’ll see some older stuff re-born, yes. and likely we’ll see some totally new stuff too. either is fine by me :+1:

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I mean…Sequential continues to put out properly new stuff at regular intervals to earn a pass at their reissues. The Pro 3 is an absolute beast.

[edit: see post above for better response]

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I wouldn’t mind a box full of Toms earlier effects, or anything new he could add to a synth friendly master fx rack.

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is this an overdrive circuit?

There was a first version of the video when the OB-6 was released:

I think that is a great idea.

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Looks like a basic op amp

haha.

Looks nice.

However, there’s a pub in my city that’s dated from about 1480 & another ‘young’ one that’s only from 1688… That’s some history. :grinning:

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The op amp is the big triangle at the bottom with the plus and minus.

There is a feedback. That is when the output of an op amp is connected back in some way to it’s input. But it’s not exactly an overdrive circuit.

Boring Stuff

Notice that positive input to the op amp is wired to ground, and the negative is connect to the input signal. So the op amp here is used as an inverter, with negative feedback.

I am a little confused by the blurry part at the top. Looks like an arrow pointing up so is this a second output ? I don’t see how that is any different to the output on the right though.

Most of this is a feed through. The signal comes in on the left and out on the right.

The two diodes are the things that make this a little different. The diode on the left is in the feedback. It is a clipping diode that cuts off the bottom half of the inverted signal. This will interfere with half of the input signal through the resistor.

The second diode on the right, i think, is there to bias the diode on the left for parts of the signal. This would then decrease the feedback for those parts of the signal. It also will feed through a part of the inverted signal.

I think a lot depends on the values for the things involved here, particularly the resistor in the feedback path. It’s some particular sort of distortion circuit. People think overdrive when they see the word distortion, but that’s not what this is about really. It’s a signal modifier of some sort.

I’d have to play with this some more to understand it better.

ADDED : Actually both diodes are involved with the feedback. My circuit analysis skills such as they were, are quite rusty. HELP !

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Yeh, oops. I think meant to say something like “gain” circuit. But honestly, I’m not a lawyer so not too good at reading squiggles :thinking:

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Dave Smith plonks a bottle of Tequila next to the Brown one after pouring. Then they go to drink and the bottle has mysteriously disappeared. I wonder how many takes it took to get this small parody :cowboy_hat_face:

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Haha as I wrote my comment about Tony Nik’s I actually had Steve Martin (as Harris K. Telemacher) in my head, saying “Some of these buildings are over 20 years old!” :slight_smile:

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haha! :slight_smile: