Oberheim TVS-PRO (2-voice SEM)

The Lounge Other Gear
#21

Yes, but not this …

But after having severe issues with the attack and decay timing of the envelopes, Marion Systems informed me that my synth had a serial number of affected instruments, which had been manufactured with wrong parts. It had to go back for a repair … no problems since :smiley: … knock on wood …

Maybe it was bad luck, but all hardware issues I had, were on US manufactured instruments only. Dave Smith, Moog, Oberheim. All deliverd brand new, but with hardware issues, which had to be repaired.

#22

It’s back.

Oberheim is releasing it later this year under his own brand again.

From the Oberheim website:

TVS Pro Special Edition
Although the last TVS-Pro was manufactured in 2018, interest in this synth has continued. By popular demand, in 2021 Tom is bringing back the TVS-Pro as a Special Edition, with each unit now having the original “Oberheim” logo badge, plus Tom Oberheim’s personal signature. These are currently available for pre-order, with more information on delivery scheduling to be announced later this year.

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Therevox ET-5
OB-X8: Oberheim. Welcome back
#23

:exploding_head:

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#24

Awesome!

#25

I can’t see anything about preorder or price… Does anyone?

#26

This is a special edition kind of thing, from what I see i think for now you contact Tom Oberheim, and tell him you’re interested.

As far as price, it’s going to be higher than what you’d pay for something similar from a production volume oriented synth maker. The article in GearNews speculates the price will be about the same as the 2018 version — £3299.

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#27

Just as a motivation to consider this instrument seriously. I’m a happy owner of one of those black beauties and the TVS-Pro is a joy to play as a live player, because it’s made exactly for this. And it’s this Oberheim sound of the 70-ties … :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: :smiley:

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#28

That synth… so beautiful sounding.

I’ll be happy with 2 individual SEMs (or even just one!) but I can’t find them. I’m so mad I didn’t buy one back then.

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#29

I’d never heard of this til now! Sounds awesome.

#30

I had reached out to Oberheim, and got a response back. To summarize, the price is estimated to be around $4,995. They have received a lot of interest, and are not sure if there will be enough for everyone, or if they will be available after the first run.

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#31

It will help them a lot that they’ve produced this, or something very similar to it so recently. Of course there will be the issues like maybe an obsolete part or two to rework and replace and that sort of thing. If they’re lucky they will just be able to reorder the custom fabricated metal parts, from the same supplier, and the painting, etc. Also good if your banker is still around. I imagine the keybed is stock Fatar.

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#32

I think it is great that Tom Oberheim is still making synths. One thing in the email that I forgot to mention, is that these are handmade, so yeah, cost is going to be cost. For me, it puts it out of my price range. Regardless, I am really happy that these synths are being made. I know they will find good homes, and this is a very cool thing. And maybe there are more upcoming products coming from Tom, and that would be welcomed by all.

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#33

Well there is good demand, and the price seems very reasonable for what this is. It will definitely make a lot of people very happy.

I was just thinking what a headache this sort of thing is to build —going down your bill of materials, with the electronic parts maybe coming from three different suppliers, and then somebody runs short of a part and you’re scrambling to find a replacement. And then likely a whole set of custom cables to be made to connect between boards. And boxing up all the parts and bare boards and sending it off to be assembled, and there is always something coming up you have to deal with. Hopefully Tom has some good people experienced with this sort of thing.
How good was the software part of the last production, hopefully it’s fairly good and won’t need much rework. They also might have some of the unit test pieces still available, trouble-shooting fully assembled keyboard analog synths, and adjusting them is not the way to do this. But Tom knows this part of the business well no doubt.

ADDED: It just occurred to me, another headache with this project. Certification. And likely there are some changes there too.

#34

I recently bought a 2018 TVS Pro. It had sat in the box since purchased so it’s effectively brand new. It was not cheap. This was before the re-release was announced.

The sound, it can be smooth, creamy, aggressive, dreamy. Best filters in the game. Half the time I get so much out of the first SEM I don’t even turn on the second. Really sounds great and I lose time when I jam on it. Still haven’t even gotten deep into the sequencer, I’m going to be using it a ton.

Build quality is not as nice as my Minimoog or vermona. Pots are not panel mounted. Key bed is quite nice though. The envelopes are nice and sharp (my pet peeve with some synths like the Vermona perfourmer). My TVS pro has a small issue with the Env getting “stuck” when the gate goes low that I’m chatting with Tom about for fixing it.

If I were in a budget constrained situation I would get a small eurorack setup and a doepfer SEM filter. They are dirt cheap, widely available, and have a great sound.

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#35

I was thinking of doing just that @th0mas

I am still considering buying the 2021 TVS Pro, but the things I’ve read online about some of the build quality concerns, and some buggy MIDI and sequencer behavior… I dunno. For 5k, I would hope for perfection. For that money I could build a eurorack system and buy a new electric guitar and still have a lot of money left over. Only reason I am still considering the TVS Pro is as a future investment. These things will never go down in resale value.

#36

Another option might be buying used.

This Reverb listing is sold, but there might be others around this price range ($2800 USD delivered):

#37

Depends on the eurorack system! :smile:

Yeah this is too expensive for me as well, just like the Oberheim Expander that was available locally this week for 3500€… :grimacing: I’ll probably get back to the Oberheim world with an OB-6 at some point.

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#38

A bit off topic but I’d appreciate your thoughts on this:
I’m about to order the OB-6 module. There are rumors about a new OB-X coming this year from Sequential. Do you think it will happen and if so would it replace the OB-6 or be a very different synth?

#39

Someone put it well in the recent Prophet 12 thread: Whenever Sequential has discontinued a synth, they have never really made it a straight up successor. So the potential OB-8 would probably be a very different synth compared to the OB-6. Then again, I always wonder how Sequential can manage so many, partly overlapping analog synths in their catalog without them cannibalising each other. So obviously there’d be similarities in the two OB synths.

Rumours are rumours but even if there was a new OB synth from Sequential at some point, you’d probably be looking at a pretty significant difference in price. I’m actually starting to think an OB-6 desktop in the second hand market is pretty reasonably priced (around 1500€ here in Finland).

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#40

It will most likely happen. It will be similar in the same way the P6 is to the P5. Bigger physical size, knobs. No effects. I do not remember if the OB-X used CEM chips for the oscillators, but if it did, they will be in the new one.

Edit: the OB-X only used CEM chips for the EGs, and Sequential does all of its modulation digitally.

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