Oberheim Showdown! OB-Xa vs OB-8

[dominono12]

Get those two in for a calibration asap. The OB8 is out the most. I played an XA that was just calibrated and those little differences voice to voice on this video seem big. Once you hear one fully calibrated you will know. They sound tight after a service. Those two need a tech bad.

[thedefog]

I kinda like the OB-8 better. But it could be the way you have them both calibrated. Whatever difference, it is minor, very minor at that. Still will never come close to the Oberheim 8 voice SEM.

[MrTank2112]

Love the older Oberheims. Great job with the comparisons. My nod goes to the OBX-a

[Wolfymusic1]

OB-Xa oscillator is a bit fatter, and the filters are are more expressive. Nice improvement over the classic OB-8

[angie4josh]

It seems to me that for starters the OB-8 is a tad louder than the OBX-A?

I dont think its a fair trial unless the were proven to be calibrated to the factory settings, you know those trim pots the voice cards are bound to have been tweaked with on BOTH at some time.

The point is that the OB-8 and OBX-A are all going to sound a bit different no matter how many pairs you try unless you can recall everything to the first settings inside and out.

[jasonwangjazz]

Which one does Steve Roach use?

[amonster8mymother]

OBXa more filter wow. :)

[soma808]

The OB-8 seems to have a more stable pitch tracking for the oscillators. Also hard to tell on youtube but it also seems to be a brighter and a little less crunchy. Not that those characteristics are always more desire-able (when considering VST options).

[Chlysm]

You should do an OB12 demo lol

[raymangold22]

I don't know much about oberheim synths, but the difference between the two? I'd say the OB-8 has less filtering, giving it a sharper sound.

[DlimitR]

The OB-8 can make a killer "Tom Sawyer" sweep when dialed-in just right (and the pitch bender cranked one octave lower). Also -- my OB-8 has MIDI in / out -- and this does not have it... WEeeeird.

[Yoshigotraped]

OBX-a was better at the last two things but over all i think that the OB-8 sounds much better.

[mixmastermonte]

seems like the OBA is a little better. Both sound amazing. OBA just seems to have something a little more.

[Flipjunkie1]

I think the xa sounds better with low frequencies and the 8 sounds better with high frequencies ! at least thats what i got from this video .

[oryjen]

The filters on the OBX-a are out of tune, so it provides something "animated" and smooth when swept...

Then the OB8 seems somewhat sharp and cold in comparison...

You should record that challenge again after having perfectly tuned your OBXa.

[wwwJeanMichelJarrePL]

If You want Your OB8 to have closer sound to OB-Xa simply follow Juergens Haible modification

[LittleNegrillio]

there you go! $6000!

[retrosound72]

Tom Oberheim about his synths:

"I think the early designs - the SEM, the OB-1, the OB-X and the OB-Xa - have somewhat better sound than the OB-8 and the instruments that followed it. I think that's because the sound of the earlier designs is dirtier in subtle ways, and therefore seems to have more guts. The OB-8 is a more perfect design. The autotune routine tunes the oscillaters more perfectly. But the sound is clean...too clean."

[waretape]

I own a lot of vintage synths -elka synthex, jupiters, moogs, korgs and an OB8. Sometime ago I was ready to buy an OBXA - hopefully I didnt. OB8 has really better modulation capacities... and that makes the big difference! The OSC and filters sound more or less the same! SO THE TEST IS WRONG! Although there is a great dissadvantage on OB8 -which is not the filters or the oscilators -but I wont tell here (it is a missing major function)!

[waretape]

i own a lot of vintage synths -elka synthex, jupiters, moogs, korgs and an OB8. Sometime ago I was ready to buy an OBXA - hopefully I didnt. OB8 has really better modulation capacities... and that makes the big difference! The OSC and filters sound more or less the same! SO THE TEST IS WRONG! Although there is a great dissadvantage on OB8 -which is not the filters ot the oscilators -but I wont tell here (it is a missing major function)!

[cybermooks]

Tom Oberheim himself said the OBXa was his favorite synth.

[retrosound72]

The OB-X is the fattest Oberheim!

[calyx93]

No disrespect meant at all by the prior two posts, Tom. I too have GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) and have made similar comparison tests amongst synths. (P-5 rev 2 vs. 3.2, JP-8 12 bit vs. 14 bit DACs and even between two PPG Wave 2.2s). These side by side tests are just too hard to do with any real precision - component age, calibration differences and even PSU issues can make this really hard. Thanks for sharing this, though - the Xa clearly has the "better" sound.

[calyx93]

In continuation of my last post - this certainly isn't a very good comparison. Sure the Xa's overall sound it much more open and brash and the filters have some obvious differences, but setting the knobs to exactly the same values is pointless. Put two Prophet-5's (same rev) side by side and equal knob values will not equal the same sound - there's enough differences due to calibration, etc. You can even load the same patch on two identical polysynths and have some very obvious differences.

[calyx93]

It sounds as though you have the filter keyboard tracking set to 0 on the OB-8 and to something higher on the Xa - I'm rather certain of it. When you're sweeping the filter, the upper octave is brighter on the Xa - the 8 isn't - so you must have had the tracking at zero.

Also, on most of the dual oscillator patches, you've got the OB-8's detuning set to less (you have to do it by ear, NOT by knob value) so naturally the 8's patches are a bit less "lively."

I'd like to hear this redone.

[skylineXpert]

they both do it good but still the ob-x is better, the ob-8 is only the alternative

[MidiJet72]

OBXa seems to be more ... gentle!

[maccagrabme]

My choice is the Vsti plugin, a lot cheaper, easier to use, more reliable and as close as it needs to be. Also, I'd get a recording done a lot easier than this guy.

[sackajapeanuts]

anyone want an obxa that needs a service... for a cheap price? I feel bad for having it sit in storage for so long....

[nikwalnikwal]

OB-Xa is clearly magical, ob-8 is less magical imho with the sounds presented there is no doubt. Depends on the type of music created though...

[analogig]

Hi, i have just bought an ob-xa but the sound patches are lost. Do you know where i can get a wav file to try and reset them again? I found one file on the web but the synth fails to complete the load ??

[officialmikethompson]

@analogig Probably nothing wrong with the wav file, it's the volume at which you're transmitting it. It needs to be just right for it to register. What I did was record the wav file onto a cassette tape on a small radioshack portable tape recorder that had a line in. I had to experiment with volume, etc to get it right but it will work. Good luck!

[analogig]

@officialmikethompson I did try lots of volume levels with the same result. I have found an OBX wave file with some patches. That loaded ok

[Babyblue57]

My choice is the OBXa. 

[dazzjazz]

your chords are wrong at the end of the "Jump" riff!

[matt9741399]

OB-Xa wins in my book.

[soundmanhaven1]

nice one there clearly a diffrents in the sound i like this comparison to show how much.....:)

[floydgenesisnut]

Dennis DeYoung had both an OB-XA and OB-8. The OB-8 he used on last Styx tours and still uses it in his records as he is the master of the Oberheim. If you watch the Styx 1999 final show with Dennis he has the OB-8 and he still uses Oberheim as he feels no other synthesizer could match his sounds like that.

[litemakr]

I own both synths as well. They both sound nearly the same. The OB8 is slightly sharper and cleaner sounding and the OBXa is slightly grittier and has a tad more low end. But honestly, in a mix you can't tell the difference. The OB8 has a lot more programming flexibility and range of sound modulcation. It has also given me more trouble than the OBXa and seems to be harder to fix. If I had to sell one, it would be the OB8, simply because I just have a lot of affection for my OBXa.

[darksith36]

I mean couldn't get the settings the same, sounds better too on ob-xa

[darksith36]

Hmmmmm i can tell for sure jump was done on obxa unless he could get the same settings ?

[peterkadar]

They're really quite similar. When I leave them playing in the background, I can't tell which is which - they both sound great!

[panfart]

Good idea, but you can clearly hear the individual voices are out of calibration on both synths which voids the test.

[officialmikethompson]

@panfart Yes, the voices on the Xa are definitely out of calibration.. we'll end up posting another one of these with direct audio and after we get the Xa calibrated/repaired. This was kind of a quick idea at the time.

[thesearethesuns]

OBX-a owned OB-8 on Tom Sawyer. Clearly.

[Edward3D]

Yes, yet the OB-8 was better on Jump

[xnonsuchx]

We should hear the difference between an OB-X and an OB-Xa to see how well the Xa replicates the original OB-X sound for Tom Sawyer.

[shaft9000]

Xa has filter resonance that can tear your head off!

OB-8 is mellower but more flexible to program

[NewShimmer]

They both sound good. The OB-Xa sounded better on "Jump", but the difference wasn't huge, and probably you could make up for it by adding some effects down the line.

[PhuckHue2]

you might as well Jump!

[KataVideo]

this is a very good demo, nice and methodical. I really couldn't say that the OB-8 is less fat than the OB-Xa. and it really confirms the most important point of all, that "jump" is just an awful, awful song.

[lewisjp8young]

this will drive people mental on comparing these. i had the ob8 at the same time i still have my obxa. i kept the obxa. but the ob8 is still a really good synth in my view. dont worry too much here.

[pauleyh]

i own both boards. they are pristine. but in comparison. id say the obx-a has a fatter analog sound. i do think the ob8 digifies some of sound patterns represented here. the obx-a will bite you in the ass. with the in your face frequency range. but in some songs for example lets go crazy by prince. would sound better on the ob-8. then you got van halen jump . which has a nice clean reproduction on the ob-xa. it's all on what sound you like to pretty much determining the winner.

[caddood]

I would have loved to do this comparison myself but when I had both keyboards, the xa had only 6 of the 8 voice boards. It was going to cost me at the time another $800 to just make it to the 8 voice, which I did not have the money then(or now). The 8 I still have and it's fine for an overall cover. BTW, I think I still give the slight edge to the OBX for the true OB sound!

[nudist0885]

Sounds like there's some noise added on the 8 in the first 0:40

[DepecheMode1974]

VCA envelope seems to be a bit faster in the OBX-a, to me.... but I owned the OBX-a, just played sometimes the OB-8.

[synthartist69]

The only difference I can hear is the tuning. I have owned both the OB8 and OBXA at the same time as well. Close your eyes and listen to the tuning.

[lisakn69]

obxa sounds softer, also. mellow, magic, and yes perhaps slightly more drifting in and out of tune;chorus-like!?

[virtualoberheim]

Great and useful vid again! I agree with mikethompson that the main difference is the tuning. But this also can vary between different devices and is dependent too on warm up drift and state of service. The used CEM chips are the same in both (3310,3320,3340), but the OB-Xa still has single voice boards while the OB-8 only has 2 big boards with each hosting 4 voices. The predecessor of OB-Xa, OB-X, was even fatter because the filters and oscillators were still discrete (only 3310 for envelopes).

[VacTrooper]

Perfect demo. I agree with adam872, they sound the same, the OBxa just has a fatter low end.

[magevers]

Very nice demo, thanks!

[chizmo7]

Thanks for taking the time to do this but, you can't really get them set to the "exact same settings" because they are different machines. I have both also. They're both great. Also, the "Jump" sound is not right. You need to use some filter envelope modulation to get that initial pitch jump at the beginning similar to a trumpet.

[VacTrooper]

Yes, TURN UP THE PORTAMENTO! That's the key to getting the sound. You get the randomized analog "rip" or a SLIGHT pitch shift in every other chord. Other than that, you've got it. They're phat.

[adam872]

The OBX sounds better in the low end, I reckon. Other than that, they sounds pretty much identical further up the keyboard.

[officialmikethompson]

The only major difference between the two that I can really say makes them sound slightly different is the tuning. The OB-8 is tuned almost perfectly while the OB-Xa never gets that perfect; at least on this unit. We also did not use any EQ or effects and the OB-8 is lacking some low end anyway because of old caps so that could have made a difference...

[SpiderDrummer24]

definitely need to add a minimoog to this and do a "Subdivisions" cover!!

[rezisehtnys]

Xa has it's frequency range more focused on the lower end. Which guaranteed, EQ the 8 and it'll be much closer but light years ahead in programability. Definitely had to have "Jump" in the end. Did you know that the A1 preset on the Xa is the actual patch used for "Jump"? Look forward to seeing more. =)

[Thalassa77]

Thanks for this great Face 2 Face . I've posted this video on switchedonsynthesizer.blogspot . com

[dazzjazz]

Gosh the OB8 sounds a little digital in comparison to the Xa

[analogholic]

Thanks a lot !!!

Please do it with direct HQ recording if possible, although even this shows which one the BAD MF is :)

[juno6]

Great! Thanx. Audio quality could be better, but thanks anyway.

[NonDigitalTom]

Yeah, something happened to the sound quality when I uploaded it. Thinking about doing it over...