the ob12 is a GREAT synth IMHO... maybe my favourite one!
I bought it new in 2005... my first synth... <3
at that time I wanted either it or the alesis andromeda: I was looking for a synth with a lot of knobs (and features)... the ob12 was a lot cheaper, so I went for it, and I have no regrets!
keep in mind that it was 2005: the one I bought already had the latest os ('cpu' and 'dsp' software revisions), so it was (almost...) bug-free compared to the ob12 of the year 2000...
frankly, I don't know why people bashed it for years and years...
maybe they cannot forgive viscount for using the oberheim name... well they're a bunch of assholes then, because it really is a fantastic synth, whatever its brand name... I judge a synth by its sound and versatility, not by its name or brand... one can also hate its sound of course, but I read countless reviews by people that obviuosly never spent more than 5 minutes with it and never touched a single knob while testing it... actually, most never played one, I'm sure!!! idiots!!!
http://jexus.id.uw.edu.pl/syntezatory_prv_pl/oberheim_ob12.htmI totally agree with jexus on this one! (watch his youtube videos, and you'll have a grasp...)
now, here's a (quite) long ob12 review...
each oscillator is a mix of saw AND triangle AND pulse, so you can have a complex waveshape with just a single osc... you can choose the level for each waveforms, so you can add more odd harmonics to a sawtooth, with a square or a tringle wave (less odd harmonics in this case) or add complex pulse wave harmonics (pulse waves have even and odd harmonics whose spectrum look like formant peaks...)
in osc 1, you can change the shape of the saw, and using osc 1 alone with just the sawtooth wave can sound like 2 osc beating; you can change the shape of the triangle as well, and you'll get very harsh tones, similar to some ring modulation... you can change the shape of the pulse... of course you also get pulse width modulation (in osc 1 AND 2)... in oscillator common you get ring modulation and noise generator too...
there's osc sync (half my patches use osc sync actually... very cool) and FM for adding more inharmonic and metallic sounds... but beware of the levels for the 'carrier' and 'modulator' when turning the FM knob!!! you get a LOT of volume, well beyond the headroom -> clipping <-
you have complex (not just AD) pitch envelopes (one env for each osc); envelopes for filter and amp are DADBSR, but on the front panel you have ADSR (AD for pitch) envelopes, so if you want to edit the other levels/rates you have to go through the menus... which is easy, since touching a knob/slider show you the revelant synth section in the display, and you then go through its menu; usually everything is one click away... brilliant, since most of the time you want ADSR, not complex envelopes!
you have 2 lfos with common waveshapes (saw, triangle, square, random), but... you can filter the lfo, so you can change the waveshape of the lfo waveforms! you can choose lfo amount for both lfos in the various sections: separate osc 1 pitch and pwm amounts (osc 2 has the same options as osc 1), filter lfo modulation, amp lfo mod... PWM can use lfo 1 or 2 or osc env. generator...
lfo 1 has fade and delay time too!
the ob12 filter section is actually 2 filters; for each one you can choose among LP, BP and HP; you can set them in serial, parallel or split configuration... with split and parallel mode you have many options (which synth section goes into filter 1 and what into filter 2; the % of filter 1 and filter 2; adjust the cutoff of the second filter so that's not the same of the first one.... etc)...
the filter is REALLY versatile, but watch out, anyway: max resonance and full cutoff -> digital distortion mayhem... the woofers and tweeters of your monitors are in danger! also, in amp section ("vca")you can use auto-pan sync'ed to lfo...
you then have the eq (5 band graphic or 3 band parametric) and 4 routable effects (overdrive, chorus, delay reverb)... some fx parameters (let's say delay rate) may be linked to ext midi clock or to internal arpeggio clock or phrase recorder (read: phrase sequencer)...
the arpeggiator is the classic up/down/up& down/random, but also has 7 irregular arps, octaves transposition etc... with the phrase recorder (phrase sequencer) you can record riffs, link them to a pilot key and have them playing back as a single sequencer track... you have 4 sets and each set has 49 pilot keys (the ob12 is a 4 octaves key, you know)... you can use only one track anyway, and you can't use both the arp and the phrase at the same time)...
controls: you can route a lot of parameters to the aftertouch, velocity and ribbon controller... there's also morphing between 2 patches and motion recorder (2 recording slots) for tweakings' playback...
you also have a versatile unison mode, mono, legato playing... you can use a maximum of 4 part multi-timbrality etc...
and I'm sure I missed some of the countless features of the ob12...
believe me it is a really complex (read: versatile) synth and you can tweak out almost any sound you want... using the 4 multi-timbral parts, you can do wavetable like stuff (use different delay time in amp and filter envelopes for each part); of course you can have splits, layers etc...
with fm and ring modulator you can go very digital and wild ...
so it can be both 'analog' or digital or in between...
you'd be surprised by the vast palette of sounds you can obtain...
sure enough you have to love its sound, that's quite unique to it!
I'm 99% sure that the same may be said of the an1x anyway, but it really can't touch the obie interface...
anyway I think they're different enough sonically...
from what I can understand listening to an1x demos, the an1x is more 'polished' and 'nice' sounding... more 'fluid', 'liquid', while the OB12 is not so 'refined', it's more 'grainy' and lo-fi if you want...
I think they can complement each other very well in the end...
but I'd like to try that ultranova first :) I'll wait until it is availbale in shops, so I can have a test... not only the OB12 was my first synth, but it also was the only NEW synth I ever bought, and I think that having a synth that's not been messed up or abused by anyone is a pro definitely (I have much care of my synths)!!!
best regards,
Fabio
--- In AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com, Jeff <jf.serviere@...> wrote:
>
> Jerome St-Pierre a écrit :
> > Hi Fabio,
> >
> > After hearing everyone's advice based on their experience, would it be
> > possible to tell us about your OB12? Have you been satisfied of this synth
> > so far?
> >
> > I am curious because it is a synth I'd like to pick if I see one for cheap.
> >
> And me too, i missed to buy one of the last remaining on a well known
> online store, sold at half the price as a demo instrument. I've heard
> about a lot of reliability issues and countless software updates, but
> its look is awesome and the sounds seemed impressive. Not so common on
> the second hand market...
> > Thanks,
> >
> Thanks too !
> @+
> J.F.
> > On Sat, Sep 25, 2010 at 11:09 AM, Peter Korsten<peter@...>wrote:
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Op 25-9-2010 4:36, somethingkillingyou schreef:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> ...or maybe I'll wait for the new novation ultranova, which is compact,
> >>>
> >> has a vocoder, and being also an audio interface has 2 inputs so I could
> >> connect one of my synths in it (I have no more channels free in my mixer and
> >> audio interface)... its only real limitation is mono-timbrality... but I
> >> think that with 3 osc, 'self' sync that use only one osc (like the an1x...),
> >> great mod matrix, 3 lfos and 6 env I could get pretty complex stuff anyway
> >> without layers... also, no keyboard split won't be that much of a problem
> >> anyway, in a 37 keys synth...
> >>
> >> In the past, I was very interested in the Supernova, but a friend of
> >> mine mentioned that you can actually hear the aliasing in the algorithm.
> >>
> >> Now Novation may well have fixed this in the past 10 or so years, but
> >> beware: specifications aren't everything when it comes to VA synths.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> I think I'll wait for it, before buying an an1x (unless a super deal
> >>>
> >> occurs...)
> >>
> >> The AN1x is just a very capable synth for not a lot of money. It doesn't
> >> have dozens of polyphonic notes, but that's pretty useless anyway for a
> >> analogue (whether real or virtual) synthesiser. There's a certain sound
> >> to each synth, so to have four or five instances of that... it would
> >> make more sense to expand the number of voices by acquiring a different
> >> synth.
> >>
> >> My wish list currently contains two synths:
> >> ∗ Nord Wave
> >> ∗ Arturia Origin
> >>
> >> But since both cost about as much as I earn in a month after taxes, and
> >> there are these things like mortgage and food for my family, they will
> >> likely remain on that wish list for some time to come.
> >>
> >> - Peter
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
>