OBERHEIM SYNTH

So the good news is that Marcus wrote me back!

But now the bad news - he had no recollection of the tape save format (understandable as it was some 30+ years ago!), and furthermore has no documentation of it either. He did manage to find a copy of the v2.0 assembler source code which he shared with me, but I already have a copy of a later version (3.04) of the source thanks to Paul White of Electrongate, and unfortunately my ability to interpret Z80 source code is well, not up to the job.

Back to reverse-engineering...

Dan

--- In oberheim@yahoogroups.com, wrote:

Ah ok, worth another shot, don't tell him all about it in your first email though make it a little cryptic to make him want to find out more from you.
Its easier to ignore you when you give him all the information in your first email ;)

Neil Hester

On 28 August 2013 02:19, Dan Nigrin <dan@...> wrote:

Thanks Neil \u2013 I tried that already with no response, which I was hoping for a direct email. But I suppose it couldn't hurt to try again!

Dan

From: Neil Hester <nhester@...>
Reply-To: <oberheim@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 9:15 PM
To: oberheim <oberheim@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [SPAM] Re: [oberheim] looking for Oberheim DSX users!

Dan, Try this:

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=2413540&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=0qXY&locale=en_US&srchid=1185709251377652495853&srchindex=1&srchtotal=6&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A1185709251377652495853%2CVSRPtargetId%3A2413540%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary

Neil Hester

On 28 August 2013 02:05, Dan Nigrin <dan@...> wrote:

Good idea, but unfortunately, Tom didn't have any knowledge of the details\u2026 He did tell me that the engineer who designed the DSX was a guy named Marcus Ryle who after he worked at Oberheim helped invent the ADAT and then later founded the company Line 6. I tried but couldn't find contact info for him there – does anyone happen to have an email address for Marcus?

Dan

From: 65 Lotus <Lotus@...>
Reply-To: <oberheim@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 6:10 PM
To: <oberheim@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [SPAM] Re: [oberheim] looking for Oberheim DSX users!

Have you tried asking Tom Oberheim for the secret sauce recipe?

----- Original Message -----

From: Dan Nigrin

To: oberheim@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 3:31 PM

Subject: [oberheim] looking for Oberheim DSX users!

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the group ? my name is Dan Nigrin, and in the past I've successfully developed software for the Roland MC-202 and MC-4 sequencers that interfaces with them via their cassette interfaces. This allows for converting MIDI sequences into the the tape "squelch" required to program their sequencers.

I'm now attempting to do the same thing for the Oberheim DSX. Doing so requires analyzing potentially hundreds of tape dumps of existing DSX sequences, in order to reverse engineer the DSX tape save format. I am not a DSX owner, so I am seeking out interested DSX owners to help with the cause. (I used the same approach to figure out the Roland MC-4 format, and it worked quite well ? in fact to this day, I have never seen nor touched an MC-4!).

If I'm successful, it will mean that you will be able to convert MIDI sequences to DSX format, and furthermore, you'll be able to use your DSX as an 8 channel CV sequencer, WITHOUT having to use it with an Oberheim keyboard.

If interested, please contact me privately, and I'll give you more details of what I need.

Thanks!

Dan

--

Dan Nigrin / Defective Records / http://defectiverecords.com

CycliC, M185 & Klee Sequencers / MC-4 & MC-202 Hack / Audio Plugin Player / General MIDI Player / Major Malfunction

Jack OS X / http://jackosx.com