The Oberheim OB series: dominating the airwaves since '79

While the uninitiated may not have played or experienced an Oberheim in person, anyone who has flipped through radio stations over the last four decades is sure to have heard one of these unmistakable instruments in action. As the first offering in the series, the OB-X polyphonic analog synth only sold approximately 800 units from 1979–1981. However, a selection of these synths ended up in the hands of some of the era's most beloved music makers, including Rush on their Moving Pictures and Signals albums, Dennis DeYoung from Styx, Madonna, and even Prince. Replacing the OB-X in only two short years was the OB-Xa, which optimized the OB-X with welcome upgrades and streamlined its setup for ease of use. This synthesizer is responsible for the intro to Van Halen's timeless track "Jump," as well as gracing releases by New Order, Queen, The Police, and others. As the OB-8 replaced the OB-Xa in 1983, Oberheim's influence on music expanded into the stratosphere as artists like Alice Coltrane, Boyz Noise, Depeche Mode, Kool & The Gang, and many more adopted synthesizers as a core component of their sound.

Easy to control and impossible to put away

At first glance, the OB-X8's expansive control set may seem daunting. That said, Oberheim designed the OB-X8 with new and veteran users in mind, ensuring everyone can experience its sonic magic with minimal effort. Everything is labeled in function-specific sections with tactile knobs and buttons for effortless navigation across the board. The Master section controls volume and balance for dialing in splits and doubles as well as chord memory, tuning, and note hold functions. Turn to the Control section, and you're given options for Oscillator 2 detuning alongside a unique Vintage knob, affecting the voice-to-voice variability of envelopes, oscillators, and filters like the behavior of vintage instruments.

Modulation offers six different waveforms and allows you to route the LFO to a wide range of destinations, channeling everything from filter sweeps to vibrato, tremolo, and other creative effects. Oscillators dials in the base sound of the OB-X8, with two SEM/OB-X-lineage oscillators per voice and sawtooth, pulse, and triangle waveform options. The Keyboard section handles bi-timbral capability, one of the OB-X8's most impressive playing features that boasts upper and lower presets assignable to different areas of the keyboard and a wealth of controls to balance everything to taste. The Filter section is where the Oberheim sound gets its time to shine, with three unique analog configurations taken from the original OB-X, OB-Xa, and OB-8 models. Envelopes' 4-stage filter and volume envelopes further shape your sound by focusing on the harmonics and loudness, taking you from hushed sounds to "Hallelujah Chorus" jubilance with only a handful of knobs.

For those who like to save their favorite sounds for instant recall, Programmer is your soon-to-be secret weapon, allowing you to save and select presets and access global settings for even deeper tonal tweakability. A set of programmable Levers offer vibrato and other modulation options, with a bend box providing a second LFO dedicated to the mod lever. Sweeping arpeggios and complex passages are a breeze thanks to the OB-X8's Arpeggiator section, with an ultra-visible OLED screen displaying program information and accessing the synth's "Page 2" functions. The OB-X8 delivers the sonic versatility and sound-shaping options musicians of all stripes crave — best of luck putting it away once you dive in!

Spearheaded by a living synth legend

Tom Oberheim's mark on the music industry is objectively undeniable. Before designing and developing some of the most iconic instruments and recognizable sounds of the 1980s, Tom's love of jazz led him to Los Angeles in 1956 with only a mere $10 in his pocket. After studying computer engineering, physics, and music at UCLA — not to mention a stint in the US Army — the Chicago Musical Instruments Company expressed an interest in Tom's groundbreaking ring modulator design. The impact of his ingenuity and electronics mastery quickly rippled through the industry, and in 1969, Oberheim Electronics was born. Several influential pieces of gear would soon follow, including a handy modification to the ARP 2600 for playing two notes simultaneously and the DS-2 music sequencer, before Tom's next game-changing idea: the Synthesizer Expansion Module (SEM). Co-designed with E-MU Systems founder Dave Rossum, SEMs solve the problem of sequencers controlling synths in a way that disallowed players to perform alongside the sequences by combining live playing and sequenced playback. Fast-forward to 1981, and a collaboration with Roland's Ikutaro Kakehashi and Sequential's Dave Smith would result in the MIDI spec, forever altering the course of modern music. The OB-X8 marks 35 years since the last authentic Oberheim, ushering in a new era of synthesis perfection for today's players and encapsulating an unforgettable career in music innovation.