Hardware Synths: Oberheim Ob-Xa or Prophet
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Hi everyone,
Quick question on hardware synths. I am going to buy my first hardware synth, and I was pretty set on the new Prophet, but then I read about the Oberhiem OB-XA and I don't know which to get.
I want to use it to play stuff live and also learn / use for sound design like with Syntorial. I was about to buy the Prophet,
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Prophet5--sequential-prophet-5-61-key-analog-synthesizer
in either 5 or 10 voice versions, but I actually think the new Oberheim might be better. It's used on more songs that I know.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/OBX8--oberheim-ob-x8-8-voice-polyphonic-analog-synthesizer
When reading the comments about it I saw:
This is a $5000 modern synth with only ONE lfo and two egs???? I get that it's based on the OBX but a lot has changed since then and some additional modern features sure would have been nice. Even the OB8 had three LFOs and they're claiming the OBX8 can also duplicate those sounds. I guess it can duplicate the more simple presets using only one lfo. Basically there are people that worship that Oberheim brass sound that think this is the greatest thing to be released. Then there are people that like making their own patches and like more complex and/or versatile synthesizers. I was so surprised by these primitive specs that I thought they had to be wrong and I have been looking for an update ever since. Nope.
But both only have one LFO and I am also surprised that neither has a sine wave oscillator, but maybe that is less common? I am also not sure of what the problem with only one LFO is, but I'd be interested in your opinions on which to get.
Thanks
willynolan
2 years ago
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I'm a year off from buying a flagship synth, but have already been trying to learn as much as I can about them, and doing research now, but one thing for sure, I will be auditioning them at my local music shop. If you are lucky like me to have shops that have units available to try, or will open the box for you to be able to play with it, then definitely try them out! I'm willing to spend at least an half an hour or more with each synth but unsure how much time I actually need since I have never shopped for one like this before, but for the amount of money I'll be spending, I figure it's worth it. TONS of people online selling synths after a short time owning it, only to discover they like something else, or prefer what they already had.
One negative I have heard about the OB-X8 is that it has page 2 menus. Here's what I wrote in my notes which is probably from Reddit or YouTube review...
"You either have to menu dive the 41 pages of page 2 or click page 2 button to access dual functionality of the knobs… seriously for $5k they should have put more knobs on it. Oh yeah the dual functionality isn’t labeled on the panel."
In this regard, I would say the Prophet is better, not so much for sound, but for ease of use and fewer issues with menus, if at all.
0 2 years ago Reply