OBERHEIM SYNTH

The OBX has an upper and lower voice tray, each of
which has space for 4 voice cards. This is also true
of the OBXa.
The two layers are interconnected by either a ribbon
or long darning needle type rods, I forgot which. 
I've owned  both of these instruments, but it's a
while since I looked inside.
The voices only sound if the switches allocating them
are in the correct position, and the auto-tune can
bring them into locally correct pitch.
The information on the insides of these oldies has
been posted before, but some of the scans are almost
unusable.

The voice cards are NOT interchangeable between these
two models, even if you could find them. 
The OBX had no voice card voltage regulation, and the
tuning is therefore so liable to step changes due to
poor contacts that it was a chore to play except in
unison, where the tuning wierdos fattened the voices
nicely, but somewhat randomly. 
The OBXa voice cards have an on-board voltage
regulator, which keeps the cards more stable, but not
really that closely matched with temperature
variation, so once again, the tuning isn't digitally
perfect and the voice thickening is a feature here
too. I generally put some mod on the pitch of osc2
anyway, so fatter chorus.

I also owned the OB8 which definitely has ribbons, and
a totally redesigned interior. Only the case is
similar.The OB8 has none of this, and sounds more like
the original Matrix 6.
Even though they put in a voice tuning scatter
parameter in page2 when that arrived, they still
didn't sound the same, bathwater gone, where's the
baby. For a time I had 2 OB8's but still didn't get a
sound like the OBX or OBXa.
The bigger box means there's room for Triggers and
gates, pedals in and pan pots on the outside of the
cse. They also upgraded the modulation section to
include externally clocked arpeggiation, at least from
the DMX or similar. The patches are storable via MIDI,
but the instrument had nowhere to store any names you
might have wanted, even though my patch librarian did.

Regarding the OBX repair, it's not easy, many parts
are long obsolete.
My remaining OBXa has been out of action for some
years now, so have been layering M6,M1000 and when I
can face the complexity of the beast, the Xpander.

Those who can't find the real thing may be interested
to know that there are to my ears, some very close
approximations of the Oberheim factory patches in the
Kurzweil K2500 factory patches, even without FX added.





      ___________________________________________________________ 
Yahoo! For Good helps you make a difference  

http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/

Man, the Xpander is one thing I wish I had in my rig.  Yeah, the polyphony
is limited, but the sounds are amazing and the depth of the beast is
unbelievable. 

-----Original Message-----
From: oberheim@yahoogroups.com [mailto:oberheim@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Les Lambert
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 9:28 PM
To: oberheim@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [oberheim] OBX voices

The OBX has an upper and lower voice tray, each of which has space for 4
voice cards. This is also true of the OBXa.
The two layers are interconnected by either a ribbon or long darning needle
type rods, I forgot which. 
I've owned both of these instruments, but it's a while since I looked
inside.
The voices only sound if the switches allocating them are in the correct
position, and the auto-tune can bring them into locally correct pitch.
The information on the insides of these oldies has been posted before, but
some of the scans are almost unusable.

The voice cards are NOT interchangeable between these two models, even if
you could find them. 
The OBX had no voice card voltage regulation, and the tuning is therefore so
liable to step changes due to poor contacts that it was a chore to play
except in unison, where the tuning wierdos fattened the voices nicely, but
somewhat randomly. 
The OBXa voice cards have an on-board voltage regulator, which keeps the
cards more stable, but not really that closely matched with temperature
variation, so once again, the tuning isn't digitally perfect and the voice
thickening is a feature here too. I generally put some mod on the pitch of
osc2 anyway, so fatter chorus.

I also owned the OB8 which definitely has ribbons, and a totally redesigned
interior. Only the case is similar.The OB8 has none of this, and sounds more
like the original Matrix 6.
Even though they put in a voice tuning scatter parameter in page2 when that
arrived, they still didn't sound the same, bathwater gone, where's the baby.
For a time I had 2 OB8's but still didn't get a sound like the OBX or OBXa.
The bigger box means there's room for Triggers and gates, pedals in and pan
pots on the outside of the cse. They also upgraded the modulation section to
include externally clocked arpeggiation, at least from the DMX or similar.
The patches are storable via MIDI, but the instrument had nowhere to store
any names you might have wanted, even though my patch librarian did.

Regarding the OBX repair, it's not easy, many parts are long obsolete.
My remaining OBXa has been out of action for some years now, so have been
layering M6,M1000 and when I can face the complexity of the beast, the
Xpander.

Those who can't find the real thing may be interested to know that there are
to my ears, some very close approximations of the Oberheim factory patches
in the Kurzweil K2500 factory patches, even without FX added.

__________________________________________________________
Yahoo! For Good helps you make a difference 

http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/
<http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/>

Aw, should have kept it in the family. How much did it sell for?

For Xpander type sounds, you need to look at virtual analog instruments. 

-----Original Message-----
From: oberheim@yahoogroups.com [mailto:oberheim@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Charles Massey
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 11:19 PM
To: oberheim@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [oberheim] OBX voices

I just sold my beloved Xpander. Found it a good home although it is not with
another Massey! :)

I'm having a problem getting the bass sound, that I had setup in the
Xpander, from my Logic 8 Virtual instruments. I thought I would be able to
find something that was close, given that I have so many choices........ So
far, no cigar..... :(

Nice read on the OBXa Les! I owned one of those beasts for several years and
it nearly drove me mad from the tuning drifting. I finally heard of a
repairman in San Francisco that knew what he was doing and I put it on a
Greyhound bus and shipped it to them from Florida......... It was gone for
quite awhile and when it came back, it was much more stable. He had
hardwired many of the connections that had been made with the flat computer
cable/plugs. I was able to live with it until I got a MIDI kit for it and
screwed it up royally. 
I ended up giving it and the DSX sequencer to another musician.

I was able to get good use out of "The System" as the OBXa/DSX/DMX were
called. Did a couple of albums and a lot of tracks for our duo. 
The Xpander worked well in this situation as it would do Control Voltage
(pre MIDI) with the DSX. Somewhere I still have the demo EP of "The System"
that I need to digitize.

Those were some fantastic engineers that Tom Oberheim assembled in his
company. I was able to keep making a living playing music, thanks to those
pioneers!

Charlie

On Mar 30, 2008, at 11:40 PM, Nicole Massey wrote:

> Man, the Xpander is one thing I wish I had in my rig. Yeah, the 
> polyphony is limited, but the sounds are amazing and the depth of the 
> beast is unbelievable.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: oberheim@yahoogroups.com <mailto:oberheim%40yahoogroups.com>  
> [mailto:oberheim@yahoogroups.com <mailto:oberheim%40yahoogroups.com> ] 
> On Behalf Of Les Lambert
> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 9:28 PM
> To: oberheim@yahoogroups.com <mailto:oberheim%40yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [oberheim] OBX voices
>
> The OBX has an upper and lower voice tray, each of which has space for 
> 4 voice cards. This is also true of the OBXa.
> The two layers are interconnected by either a ribbon or long darning 
> needle type rods, I forgot which.
> I've owned both of these instruments, but it's a while since I looked 
> inside.
> The voices only sound if the switches allocating them are in the 
> correct position, and the auto-tune can bring them into locally 
> correct pitch.
> The information on the insides of these oldies has been posted before, 
> but some of the scans are almost unusable.
>
> The voice cards are NOT interchangeable between these two models, even 
> if you could find them.
> The OBX had no voice card voltage regulation, and the tuning is 
> therefore so liable to step changes due to poor contacts that it was a 
> chore to play except in unison, where the tuning wierdos fattened the 
> voices nicely, but somewhat randomly.
> The OBXa voice cards have an on-board voltage regulator, which keeps 
> the cards more stable, but not really that closely matched with 
> temperature variation, so once again, the tuning isn't digitally 
> perfect and the voice thickening is a feature here too. I generally 
> put some mod on the pitch of
> osc2 anyway, so fatter chorus.
>
> I also owned the OB8 which definitely has ribbons, and a totally 
> redesigned interior. Only the case is similar.The OB8 has none of 
> this, and sounds more like the original Matrix 6.
> Even though they put in a voice tuning scatter parameter in page2 when 
> that arrived, they still didn't sound the same, bathwater gone, 
> where's the baby.
> For a time I had 2 OB8's but still didn't get a sound like the OBX or 
> OBXa.
> The bigger box means there's room for Triggers and gates, pedals in 
> and pan pots on the outside of the cse. They also upgraded the 
> modulation section to include externally clocked arpeggiation, at 
> least from the DMX or similar.
> The patches are storable via MIDI, but the instrument had nowhere to 
> store any names you might have wanted, even though my patch librarian 
> did.
>
> Regarding the OBX repair, it's not easy, many parts are long obsolete.
> My remaining OBXa has been out of action for some years now, so have 
> been layering M6,M1000 and when I can face the complexity of the 
> beast, the Xpander.
>
> Those who can't find the real thing may be interested to know that 
> there are to my ears, some very close approximations of the Oberheim 
> factory patches in the Kurzweil K2500 factory patches, even without FX 
> added.
>
> __________________________________________________________

I just sold my beloved Xpander.  Found it a good home although it is  
not with another Massey! :)

I'm having a problem getting the bass sound, that I had setup in the  
Xpander, from my Logic 8 Virtual instruments.  I thought I would be  
able to find something that was close, given that I have so many  
choices........ So far, no cigar..... :(

Nice read on the OBXa Les!  I owned one of those beasts for several  
years and it nearly drove me mad from the tuning drifting.  I finally  
heard of a repairman in San Francisco that knew what he was doing and  
I put it on a Greyhound bus and shipped it to them from  
Florida.........  It was gone for quite awhile and when it came back,  
it was much more stable.  He had hardwired many of the connections  
that had been made with the flat computer cable/plugs.  I was able to  
live with it until I got a MIDI kit for it and screwed it up royally.   
I ended up giving it and the DSX sequencer to another musician.

I was able to get good use out of "The System" as the OBXa/DSX/DMX  
were called.  Did a couple of albums and a lot of tracks for our duo.   
The Xpander worked well in this situation as it would do Control  
Voltage (pre MIDI) with the DSX.  Somewhere I still have the demo EP  
of "The System" that I need to digitize.

Those were some fantastic engineers that Tom Oberheim assembled in his  
company.  I was able to keep making a living playing music, thanks to  
those pioneers!

Charlie

On Mar 30, 2008, at 11:40 PM, Nicole Massey wrote:

> Man, the Xpander is one thing I wish I had in my rig.  Yeah, the  
> polyphony
> is limited, but the sounds are amazing and the depth of the beast is
> unbelievable.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: oberheim@yahoogroups.com [mailto:oberheim@yahoogroups.com] On  
> Behalf
> Of Les Lambert
> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 9:28 PM
> To: oberheim@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [oberheim] OBX voices
>
> The OBX has an upper and lower voice tray, each of which has space  
> for 4
> voice cards. This is also true of the OBXa.
> The two layers are interconnected by either a ribbon or long darning  
> needle
> type rods, I forgot which.
> I've owned both of these instruments, but it's a while since I looked
> inside.
> The voices only sound if the switches allocating them are in the  
> correct
> position, and the auto-tune can bring them into locally correct pitch.
> The information on the insides of these oldies has been posted  
> before, but
> some of the scans are almost unusable.
>
> The voice cards are NOT interchangeable between these two models,  
> even if
> you could find them.
> The OBX had no voice card voltage regulation, and the tuning is  
> therefore so
> liable to step changes due to poor contacts that it was a chore to  
> play
> except in unison, where the tuning wierdos fattened the voices  
> nicely, but
> somewhat randomly.
> The OBXa voice cards have an on-board voltage regulator, which keeps  
> the
> cards more stable, but not really that closely matched with  
> temperature
> variation, so once again, the tuning isn't digitally perfect and the  
> voice
> thickening is a feature here too. I generally put some mod on the  
> pitch of
> osc2 anyway, so fatter chorus.
>
> I also owned the OB8 which definitely has ribbons, and a totally  
> redesigned
> interior. Only the case is similar.The OB8 has none of this, and  
> sounds more
> like the original Matrix 6.
> Even though they put in a voice tuning scatter parameter in page2  
> when that
> arrived, they still didn't sound the same, bathwater gone, where's  
> the baby.
> For a time I had 2 OB8's but still didn't get a sound like the OBX  
> or OBXa.
> The bigger box means there's room for Triggers and gates, pedals in  
> and pan
> pots on the outside of the cse. They also upgraded the modulation  
> section to
> include externally clocked arpeggiation, at least from the DMX or  
> similar.
> The patches are storable via MIDI, but the instrument had nowhere to  
> store
> any names you might have wanted, even though my patch librarian did.
>
> Regarding the OBX repair, it's not easy, many parts are long obsolete.
> My remaining OBXa has been out of action for some years now, so have  
> been
> layering M6,M1000 and when I can face the complexity of the beast, the
> Xpander.
>
> Those who can't find the real thing may be interested to know that  
> there are
> to my ears, some very close approximations of the Oberheim factory  
> patches
> in the Kurzweil K2500 factory patches, even without FX added.
>
> __________________________________________________________

"Regarding the OBX repair, it's not easy, many parts
are long obsolete."

 I have recently had my OBX serviced by EPR
electronics and they not only repaired and tuned the
unit but they took mine from a 4 voice to an eight
voice and at a very reasonable price. They are great
with all things analog prophets Obie's ppgs ect...
great guys in Tampa that still repair vintage analog
synths at realistic prices. 

Kevin Kelley 
www.keyboardmuseum.org


--- Les Lambert <les_lmbrt@...> wrote:

> The OBX has an upper and lower voice tray, each of
> which has space for 4 voice cards. This is also true
> of the OBXa.
> The two layers are interconnected by either a ribbon
> or long darning needle type rods, I forgot which. 
> I've owned  both of these instruments, but it's a
> while since I looked inside.
> The voices only sound if the switches allocating
> them
> are in the correct position, and the auto-tune can
> bring them into locally correct pitch.
> The information on the insides of these oldies has
> been posted before, but some of the scans are almost
> unusable.
> 
> The voice cards are NOT interchangeable between
> these
> two models, even if you could find them. 
> The OBX had no voice card voltage regulation, and
> the
> tuning is therefore so liable to step changes due to
> poor contacts that it was a chore to play except in
> unison, where the tuning wierdos fattened the voices
> nicely, but somewhat randomly. 
> The OBXa voice cards have an on-board voltage
> regulator, which keeps the cards more stable, but
> not
> really that closely matched with temperature
> variation, so once again, the tuning isn't digitally
> perfect and the voice thickening is a feature here
> too. I generally put some mod on the pitch of osc2
> anyway, so fatter chorus.
> 
> I also owned the OB8 which definitely has ribbons,
> and
> a totally redesigned interior. Only the case is
> similar.The OB8 has none of this, and sounds more
> like
> the original Matrix 6.
> Even though they put in a voice tuning scatter
> parameter in page2 when that arrived, they still
> didn't sound the same, bathwater gone, where's the
> baby. For a time I had 2 OB8's but still didn't get
> a
> sound like the OBX or OBXa.
> The bigger box means there's room for Triggers and
> gates, pedals in and pan pots on the outside of the
> cse. They also upgraded the modulation section to
> include externally clocked arpeggiation, at least
> from
> the DMX or similar. The patches are storable via
> MIDI,
> but the instrument had nowhere to store any names
> you
> might have wanted, even though my patch librarian
> did.
> 
> Regarding the OBX repair, it's not easy, many parts
> are long obsolete.
> My remaining OBXa has been out of action for some
> years now, so have been layering M6,M1000 and when I
> can face the complexity of the beast, the Xpander.
> 
> Those who can't find the real thing may be
> interested
> to know that there are to my ears, some very close
> approximations of the Oberheim factory patches in
> the
> Kurzweil K2500 factory patches, even without FX
> added.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>      
>
___________________________________________________________
> 
> Yahoo! For Good helps you make a difference  
> 
> http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/
> 



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
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On Mar 31, 2008, at 12:15 AM, Nicole Massey wrote:

> Aw, should have kept it in the family.

Guess the family ESP wasn't turned on....... :)

> How much did it sell for?

$1400.

>
> For Xpander type sounds, you need to look at virtual analog  
> instruments.

What's a good source for Logic Virtual analog?

>
>
> -

Does Mike Jay still work/own EPR?

Charlie

www.happyfacesproductions.com	

On Mar 31, 2008, at 8:58 AM, kevin kelley wrote:

> "Regarding the OBX repair, it's not easy, many parts
> are long obsolete."
>
> I have recently had my OBX serviced by EPR
> electronics and they not only repaired and tuned the
> unit but they took mine from a 4 voice to an eight
> voice and at a very reasonable price. They are great
> with all things analog prophets Obie's ppgs ect...
> great guys in Tampa that still repair vintage analog
> synths at realistic prices.
>
> Kevin Kelley
> www.keyboardmuseum.org
>

I can't direct you in that, as Logic lost my attention when they abandoned
the Windows market, but a search for virtual analog VST might help. If
Tassman will work on a Mac then it's a solid option, since it's a truly
modular synth -- want to use samples or physical modeling for your
oscillators? It'll do it. 

-----Original Message-----
From: oberheim@yahoogroups.com [mailto:oberheim@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Charles Massey
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 9:14 AM
To: oberheim@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [oberheim] Xpander Chat


On Mar 31, 2008, at 12:15 AM, Nicole Massey wrote:

> Aw, should have kept it in the family.

Guess the family ESP wasn't turned on....... :)

> How much did it sell for?

$1400.

>
> For Xpander type sounds, you need to look at virtual analog 
> instruments.

What's a good source for Logic Virtual analog?

>
>
> -

Yes and he has a partner from new york (EPR) who is a
great PPG tech


--- Charles Massey <cmassey@...> wrote:

> Does Mike Jay still work/own EPR?
> 
> Charlie
> 
> www.happyfacesproductions.com	
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 31, 2008, at 8:58 AM, kevin kelley wrote:
> 
> > "Regarding the OBX repair, it's not easy, many
> parts
> > are long obsolete."
> >
> > I have recently had my OBX serviced by EPR
> > electronics and they not only repaired and tuned
> the
> > unit but they took mine from a 4 voice to an eight
> > voice and at a very reasonable price. They are
> great
> > with all things analog prophets Obie's ppgs ect...
> > great guys in Tampa that still repair vintage
> analog
> > synths at realistic prices.
> >
> > Kevin Kelley
> > www.keyboardmuseum.org
> >
> 
> 



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Yes and he has a partner from new york (EPR) who is a
great PPG tech


--- Charles Massey <cmassey@...> wrote:

> Does Mike Jay still work/own EPR?
> 
> Charlie
> 
> www.happyfacesproductions.com	
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 31, 2008, at 8:58 AM, kevin kelley wrote:
> 
> > "Regarding the OBX repair, it's not easy, many
> parts
> > are long obsolete."
> >
> > I have recently had my OBX serviced by EPR
> > electronics and they not only repaired and tuned
> the
> > unit but they took mine from a 4 voice to an eight
> > voice and at a very reasonable price. They are
> great
> > with all things analog prophets Obie's ppgs ect...
> > great guys in Tampa that still repair vintage
> analog
> > synths at realistic prices.
> >
> > Kevin Kelley
> > www.keyboardmuseum.org
> >
> 
> 



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
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http://www.eprelectronics.com/contact.htm

the phone number is 813-232-3907 
This is where we take most of our stuff that we cannot
repair 

Kevin Kelley 
www.keyboardmuseum.org



--- JC <lawjcrg@...> wrote:

> do you have the phone number for this shop?
> 
> kevin kelley <xirin6@...> wrote:          Yes
> and he has a partner from new york (EPR) who is a
> great PPG tech
> 
> --- Charles Massey <cmassey@...> wrote:
> 
> > Does Mike Jay still work/own EPR?
> > 
> > Charlie
> > 
> > www.happyfacesproductions.com 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On Mar 31, 2008, at 8:58 AM, kevin kelley wrote:
> > 
> > > "Regarding the OBX repair, it's not easy, many
> > parts
> > > are long obsolete."
> > >
> > > I have recently had my OBX serviced by EPR
> > > electronics and they not only repaired and tuned
> > the
> > > unit but they took mine from a 4 voice to an
> eight
> > > voice and at a very reasonable price. They are
> > great
> > > with all things analog prophets Obie's ppgs
> ect...
> > > great guys in Tampa that still repair vintage
> > analog
> > > synths at realistic prices.
> > >
> > > Kevin Kelley
> > > www.keyboardmuseum.org
> > >
> > 
> > 
> 
>
__________________________________________________________
> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one
> month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. 
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> 
> 
> 
>                            
> 
> 
>               Jonathan G. Chance, Esq.  
>   JC Law Offices 
> 
>   1840 Gateway Blvd.
>   Suite 200
>   San Mateo, CA 94404
> 650-378-1383 (office) 
> 650-429-2048 (fax) 
> jonathan@... 
> www.jc-law.net
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 



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