Obxd Synthesizer emulator

June 14, 2014 5:36 PM

Emulation of famous OB-X, OB-Xa and OB-8 synths. Available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, for Windows and Mac.
posted by Chocolate Pickle (21 comments total)

Oh, so downloaded. Haven't loaded up the patches yet, but the synth itself is fabulous.
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:48 PM on June 14, 2014

So this runs within Logic (or GB)?
posted by cjorgensen at 6:36 PM on June 14, 2014

Drag & drop into folders for Logic -- haven't launched Garage Band to see, yet. The presets are manifold and copious.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:07 PM on June 14, 2014

ooooh this will go well with the Arturia SEM-V emulator
posted by infinitewindow at 7:10 PM on June 14, 2014

the AU synth and the preset downloads are awesome.
posted by readyfreddy at 7:30 PM on June 14, 2014

I just tested this out quickly in Garage Band, and that is a damn fine sounding synth!
posted by Jimbob at 8:38 PM on June 14, 2014

For the less-synth-techie folks out there like myself, I found a dead-simple way to check this out on a Win PC without a DAW ...

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep13/articles/qanda-0913-4.htm

http://www.hermannseib.com/english/Savihost.htm


Now would someone please explain the Oberheim's internal signal routing? Not obvious from the GUI. A block diagram would be super-helpful right about now. Thanks.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:07 PM on June 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

OB-X Owner's Manual (1180 version)
OB-X Service Manual (full wiring block diagram)
OB-Xa User's Manual (this may have a useful block diagram)
posted by infinitewindow at 10:55 PM on June 14, 2014 [4 favorites]

Thanks, infinitewindow!
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:08 PM on June 14, 2014

Yes. Awesome find.
posted by Artful Codger at 7:59 AM on June 15, 2014

I may have just learned that GarageBand 10 does not support plug-ins. Ugh. Apple giveth, Apple taketh away.
posted by sourwookie at 8:15 AM on June 15, 2014

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:36 AM on June 15, 2014

I always figured the first plugin to hit MetaFilter would be MetaFilter.

(Personally I find Waves stuff almost laughably overpriced, given the great free and cheap stuff out there. But some people still associate quality with money spent.)
posted by Foosnark at 9:08 AM on June 15, 2014

It was a large room
Full of people
All kinds
And they had all arrived at the same building at, more or less, the same time
And they were all free
And they were all asking themselves the same question:
What is behind that curtain?

You were born
And so you're free
So happy birthday.
posted by sonascope at 9:11 AM on June 15, 2014

For those who prefer to drop some coin, this plugin is pretty much spot-on:

OP-X PRO-II by Sonic Projects
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:55 PM on June 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

oh my god thanks for posting this!!!!
posted by Annika Cicada at 1:24 PM on June 15, 2014

Linux people may wish to note that Qtractor claims to optionally "(opted-in at build time)" support VST.

No guarantee of success (IIRC there once existed VSTs that did not play on both Mac and Win), but maybe worthashot.
posted by Twang at 3:22 PM on June 15, 2014

Finally got around to installing this...it's pretty rad. Shockingly good for a free soft synth.

Now I'm off to make spacemusick ttyl
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:46 AM on June 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

sounds pretty good (i'm not an oberheim enthusiast in particular so I can't vouch for accurate) but seems to take some serious CPU time
posted by atoxyl at 10:00 AM on June 16, 2014

What would you expect? Emulating a tunable filter digitally involves a lot of math.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 1:21 PM on June 16, 2014

What would you expect? Emulating a tunable filter digitally involves a lot of math.

Implementing an IIR filter that approximates a certain response "directly" with traditional DSP techniques doesn't, at least compared to the amount of math a modern computer can handle. Emulating in full detail with circuit/component simulation, as the most sophisticated virtual analogue synths do now, does, if that's what you mean. This is really resource intensive compared to most synth plugins. Essentially I was wondering if it is one of said advanced emulations or just poorly coded.
posted by atoxyl at 3:40 PM on June 16, 2014 [1 favorite]