Oberheim OB-X8 Review // Desktop v Keyboard v OB-6 // 15 synth tips and ideas // Tutorial

Want to try out the OB-X8 at home without buying one? Check out my favorite patches - multisampled on my Patreon here: ► Check prices here (affiliate links help the channel regardless of what you buy): ► Perfect Circuit: ► Sweetwater: ► Thomann: Other places I hang out: ► Instagram: ► Tiktok: @loopopmusic ► Facebook: ► Twitter: ► Web: My music: ► Bandcamp: ► Spotify: ► Apple Music: ► Cool Holographic scopes? The scopes I use aren’t real - I use MOscilloscope and MAnalyzer by a company called Melda - they’re free with some limitations in the MFreeFXBundle. TIMELINE: 0:00 Intro 1:35 Overview 4:10 Page 2 6:30 vs Keyboard 7:50 Connectivity 9:30 Stereo 10:45 Vintage 12:35 Osc 13:35 Saw Pulse 16:40 XMOD 19:05 Sync 20:20 Mixer 20:50 Filter 23:15 Envelopes 25:15 LFO envs 26:50 SPD env 27:30 Portamento 28:20 Bend env 29:10 LFO extras 31:50 Mod/Vib LFO 33:30 Expression 35:45 Hold 37:10 Chord 39:15 Unison 40:20 Arpeggiator 42:00 Arp holds 44:30 Arp transpose 45:15 Sequencer? 47:00 Arp repeats 48:50 Split, double 50:30 Editor, plugin 52:20 Misc 53:45 Pros & cons 58:30 Outro Here’s a list of the tips in this video: 1. Many synths have “hidden“ parameters you get can access using MIDI controllers - for example, oscillator levels in the case of OB-X8. Check out the MIDI CC appendix of your synth! 2. If your synth happens to have inverted polarity square and saw waves, matched at the right levels you can create interesting octave trill (with a square LFO) and morph (with smooth LFO/envelope) effects. 3. Analog FM is hard to control in a way that makes it playable chromatically. Harmonic frequency ratios work better, but if that doesn’t work, consider reducing the level of the carrier (the “metallic/noisy“ LFO) and pairing it with a higher level “regular“ oscillator. 4. Since you can point the Vibrato LFO to just one of the oscillators, you can use it with oscillator sync (routed to OSC 2), leaving the main LFO or filter envelope to do something else. 5. Filter tracking is important if you want to make sure notes levels don’t get attenuated by the filter the higher up you play, or if you want to emphasize specific harmonics as you play up and down the keyboard, for example, to create organ like sounds. 6. Use high pass filter with resonance aimed at the fundamental as a bass emphasis 7. Use key triggering of the LFO alongside an arp or sequencer to help overcome the lack of LFO tempo sync 8. If you synth has a “bend in“ portamento option, it actually has a dedicated pitch envelope! In the OB-X8 you can point this bend portamento to just one of the oscillators. You can use this as an osc sync envelope for OSC 2, or as a pitch envelope for OSC 1, which, along with XMOD, can make fantastic percussive sounds 9. Audio rate vibrato LFO aftertouch pointed to LFO mod depth = expressive magic! 10. In some synths (like this one) LFO mod depth is quantized in semitones - that makes for easy to program/tune trill square LFO effects when pointing the LFO to pitch. 11. Point velocity to the filter frequency but not VCA level for expressive control over the filter cutoff without hurting sound levels. 12. OB-X8’s hold is really a sostenuto not a regular latch. 13. Since the OB-X8 lets you play over latched drone notes/chords, be mindful of the velocity with which you play the held notes because they’re going to be around for a while. 14. Not happy with your synth’s arp or lack thereof? Turn LOCAL OFF and use an external arp. 15. OB-X8 has a funky relative knob mode - follow Van Halen and switch to Jump mode Submit review and video ideas here (sorry I don’t offer 1x1 sessions/setup/purchasing advice): ► Ziv (at) NOTE: Occasionally I’ll try out affiliate marketing and include affiliate links. This means that I may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via affiliate links to stores like Amazon, Sweetwater, Thomann and others. The content of this clip is entirely my opinion, and was not paid for or dictated in any way by the company creating the gear. Without addressing the particulars of products shown here as they might be under NDA, gear shown on this channel may be either sent by the manufacturer, on loan for review or bought at a discount.