Hi, any one out there had experience of using the Viscount/Oberheim OB12? The specifications are very good but there is little on line showing the range of sounds possible. Also, some seem to think it is unreliable and that the midi timing isn't all it should be.

M

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twas brillig and the slithy toves did run the country..

I had a brief play with one many moons ago...quite a unique sounding synth with a very nice clangy ring mod from what I can remember

You seen some of these demo's?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mQDx5iAgjg

There is a nice review on his site too...also SOS reviewed this ages ago

"If you're a player and wanna play classic & juicy sounds with just the index finger selecting "factory patches" and all the other fingers scratching your ass - you might want to choose some other gear. If you're writing sick movie score or love to spend time tweaking and getting unconventional freakazoid misty sound textures unheard before - welcome to the realm, OB12 opens the sesame door. It looks like a real badass synth design should look like. It gives the impression of being a mechanical part that broke off and fell from something big and gloomy and ominously hovering out there in the night.

Don't, like... out of habit, compare it to all the other [ ****** ]. It's UNIQUE. I don't really give a damn if this is a "rEaL" Oberheim or just a "Viscount", cause either way it's an uber-cool synth. The sounds it produces make me feel disturbed and uneasy. And I love sounds that make me feel disturbed and uneasy. This synth just begs you to tweak out twisted screaming inhumane horror patches. Lots of features, some of which are very advanced, make it stand out from the 'reasonably-priced' VA (virtual analogue synth) crowd. You can just sit for hours tweaking this thing, and through a single push of a single slider the sound changes drastically. Great LCD which displays everything in real time, even changes in wave shapes.

Fantastic overall tweaking experience. Did you happen, as a child, to dream about a device which is an amalgam of military, extraterrestrial, computer and music equipment? Well, when you play this synth that dream comes true and that mood comes around.

This synth would be PERFECT, 'cause its expressiveness reaches every sound-programmer's dream, but if I were the designer/engineer, I would pay more attention to the engine and improve things like Ring Mod and FM (what the [ ****** ] is wrong with this volume blare), Unison and Overdrive, even the behavior of oscillators at extreme frequencies (hissing). Multitimbral / layering gets limiting quite quickly with 12 voices of polyphony and longer >AMP Release< values (one of the bugs). But the overall sound is okay, lush, nice, fierce, whateva u want, even more analog-ish than other VAs. Just remember that this synth has its quirks. It's not polished and impeccable like, say, the revered AN1x. But hey, AN1x can't make sounds like OB-12 and its interface is a joke compared to OB. Nobody and nothing is perfect in this realm. Choose your destiny. Or live both. The OB-12 provides fantastic input into the history of VA synths and you should definitely try it before worms try you.

Update: After weeks spent with this synth, I can say it sounds very analog, gives you one of the best interfaces, and despite its shortcomings it is one of my top 5 beloved synths ever (I guess that's what love is all about, to love despite the shortcomings, right?). It provides me with all I ever wanted. If I get an idea in my head, or I want to rearrange the values in this way or that way - voila - it's feasible, it's all here! Why this synth has been so bashed and unhyped is beyond me. Maybe some blinded prick said it's not worthy because it doesn't sound like OB-XA and the flock of sheep for ever living in the [ ****** ] past followed that route of negativity.
"

I've owned 2 over the years and would happily own another again if I had the space available.

Lovely-sounding thing, with lots of immediate hands-on control and much deeper editability too. It was under-priced when it was launched, and if you can pick one up now for £350-£400 you're getting a bargain. The only thing it really lacked for me was a decent librarian/editor for a computer - there was one around but it was both crap and unreliable, and it didn't work on all Windows OSs never mind Mac! But you get 2 banks of 127 patches, which should be more than enough, and editing on the synth is really easy.

Most of the factory presets are OTT and/or cheesy, in an attempt to show off the machine's capabilities but a few are really nice. Beautiful string-synth sound, for example. Really comes into its own when you roll your own sounds, though.

Tried it a couple of times when it was out, wanted to love it (it had Oberheim on the front after all) but just didn't seem to bond with it. Heartbreaking really.

What's more, after a bit of a perusal of what people consider good ways to show off a synth, I feel hideously old! Lots of screeches and metallic farting noises.... eeehhh ... when I were lad, we 'ad proper synths....



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Veni, Vidi, Aesculi
(I came, I saw, I conkered)

Quote Dave B:

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Lots of screeches and metallic farting noises.... eeehhh ... when I were lad, we 'ad proper synths....

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Ang on a minute Dave, wasn't the whole purpose of the VCS-3 to make all them kinds of noises way before this was a trend lol



Edited by vinyl_junkie (18/04/11 10:53 PM)

Thanks for the feedback. I have watched every you tube video I can find and I guess they are all useful in their own way. I was considering the Roland Gaia but remembered the reviews of the OB12 so thought I would take another look.

There seems to be an issue with back light life on the display - something I encountered on my old Kawai K5 - but it can be fixed.

While I am here, does anyone know what a mint condition Waldorf XTK is selling for these days? I have decided to sell mine but can't see a recent price to reference against.

M

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twas brillig and the slithy toves did run the country..

The Waldorf XT/XTK's are lovely synths, I'd say the racks sell between £300-350 not sure about the keyboard but add a bit top of that and I'm sure it will sell, they are still quite desirable.

Recently on the bay, a mint (looking) Waldorf XTK including a substantial flight case was bid up to £690, failing to make the reserve. Going against the sale, the chap didn't want to quote for delivery - always a bad move!

Of course, we all know what the bay can be like, but I'd take that as some kind of indicator. Get a proper quote for delivery and transit insurance, package it properly, set your minimum price (not a reserve - SO irritating) and you could do just as well!

Steve

(you do know about completed listing searches?)

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arK music

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Just reading through the OB12 manual and came across this:

N.B.: the Ribbon Controller, the Velocity and the Aftertouch are controlling the assigned parameters according to the value of the parameter when assigning a parameter with 0 value, the concerning control will not have any sound variation.

So... that's all fairly simple then.



M

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twas brillig and the slithy toves did run the country..

Edited by Mark G (19/04/11 02:43 PM)