- Oberheim OB-X
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OB-X
Oberheim OB-XManufactured by Oberheim Dates 1979 - 1981 Price US$4,595 Technical specifications Polyphony 4, 6 or 8 voices Timbrality Monotimbral Oscillator 2 LFO 1 Synthesis type Analog Subtractive Filter 1 Attenuator 1 Memory 32 patches Effects None Input/output Keyboard 61-key External control CV/Gate The Oberheim OB-X is an analog polyphonic synthesizer. It was the first Oberheim synthesizer that was created with internal prewired modules and not with the bulky SEM modules. Because of this, it was more functional for live performance, and therefore more portable. It was introduced in 1979 and was discontinued in 1981. It came in four, six, and eight-voice models. The starting price for only 4 voices of polyphony was a steep US$4,595. Besides the generous polyphony, each OB-X came with a memory capable of holding 32 user-programmable presets, along with polyphonic portamento, and polyphonic sample and hold. The OB-X was in direct competition with the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5. The OB-X would be used by artists such as Nena, Rush, Queen, Prince, and Jean Michel Jarre. It spawned more Oberheim analog synthesizers, such as the OB-Xa, the OB-8, and the Matrix series of synthesizers.
Sonicprojects have created a VSTi emulation of the OB-X, for Windows and Mac platforms called the OP-X, with near-identical sounds to the hardware version.
Albums featuring OB-X
- Van Halen - 1984 (1984)
- Ambrosia - Road Island (1982)
- Laurie Anderson - United States Live (1984)
- John Foxx - The Garden (1981)
- Dave Grusin - Out of the Shadows (1982)
- Bruce Hornsby & The Range - The Way It Is (1986)
- Bruce Hornsby & The Range - Scenes From The Southside (1988)
- Paul Davis - 1980 Self titled Lp On the Song "All The Way"
- Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980)
- Japan - Tin Drum (1981)
- Jean Michel Jarre - Magnetic Fields (1981)
- Billy Joel - Glass Houses (1980)
- Killing Joke - Night Time (1985)
- Killing Joke - Brighter than a Thousand Suns (1986)
- Kool and the Gang - Something Special (1981)
- Madonna - Madonna (1983) (song: Holiday)
- Missing Persons - Spring Session M (1982)
- Nena - 99 Luftballons (1984)
- Prince - Dirty Mind (1980)
- Prince - Controversy (1981)
- The Producers - She Sheila / Chinatown (1982)
- Queen - Flash Gordon (1980)
- Queen - The Game (1980)
- Queen - Hot Space (1982)
- Rush - Moving Pictures (1981)
- Rush - Signals (1982)
- Styx - Paradise Theater (1981)
- Supertramp - ...Famous Last Words... (1982)
- Ultravox - Rage in Eden (1981)
- Ultravox - Quartet (1982)
References
External links
Categories:- Oberheim synthesizers
- 1979 introductions
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