Oberheim OB-X8 Desktop

As an OB-6 owner I was contemplating replacing it with this one, or even potentially keeping both. I had heard so many people gushing about how amazing it sounds, and how much better it is than the OB-6 (similar to the P5 Rev 4 vs. P6 which I agree does sound better).

So I powered on expecting to be blown away, but I wasn't. In fact I found this synth to be extremely boring. My Pro-800 can make strings that are more lush, and the OB-6 can do almost every sound I heard on this but much more! I returned the module as I could not justify the expense and believe I'd be better served by adding a P5/10 Rev 4 to my setup.

If you are considering this one, you've really got to love the old OB-Xa sound (I did not find such a strong difference between the OB-X, Xa, and 8 filters other than the Xa being overall brighter). I guess I prefer the OB-6's more unique SEM-based sound and marriage between Prophet and OB components.

I will say it's a good-looking module and extremely well made. It's a bit longer than I imagined so you'll need a wide desk, but the sound was just not for me.

Der direkte Sound - bereits ohne jegliche nachgeschalteten Effektgeräte - ist wirklich klasse. Ich bin begeistert.
Zum Schrauben liegen mir persönlich die Bedienelemente zu dicht zusammen. Das ist der einzige Grund, warum ich das Desktop-Gerät zurückgeben werde. Da ich den Platz habe, werde ich die Mehrkosten für die Tastaturversion in Kauf nehmen.
Wirklich ärgerlich finde ich, dass bei diesen Preislagen eine gedruckte Bedienungsanleitung nicht Bestandteil der Lieferung ist. Das ist arm. Da bin ich von Moog & Co anderes gewöhnt.

This synthesizer just sounds really good, I think it is fantastic that Oberheim brought all the capabilities and sounds back from their beloved synths from 80's. Combining them all in one, adding some and effectively creating new possibilities while retaining THAT signature sound. It's not cheap, but I was after the Oberheim sound and I was not disappointed.
Build quality feels excellent. I read comments about "menu diving" and to be honest I was slightly concerned too, but it's really only one list of additional functions, some of them are available on the front panel as well while the "page 2" is selected. I think they did a great job with that too and there's not much "menu diving" really.
The module is in fact quite large and the condensed layout does not feel crammed. It's certainly portable, and I wish there was a gig bag for it.