![]() In interviews, Dave Smith mentioned that the OB-6 oscillators were taken from Tom Oberheim's famed SEM design. While the OB-6 has a similar voice architecture to the Prophet-6-specifically two discrete VCOs per voice plus a sub oscillator and noise source-there are concrete differences. Since I've recently reviewed the Prophet 6 Module, I'll concentrate on the ways in which the OB-6 distinguishes itself. The only difference here is the behaviour of the filter cutoff input. Moving to the back of the unit you'll find the same pair of stereo jacks and a headphone jack for output, USB and 5-pin slots for MIDI and footswitch/expression pedal inputs for sequencer start/stop, sustain, filter cutoff and volume. This octave range has been controversial since these keyboards were introduced, with many wishing for the additional fifth octave found on the originals. At 31.8 inches long, it's slightly shorter than the Prophet-6, but they both share the same four-octave keyboard, pitch bend and mod wheel controls. Given the DSI foundation, the OB-6 has a very similar spec sheet to the Prophet-6. ![]() This allowed the designers to worry less about nuts and bolts considerations like MIDI programmability, sequencing, presets and effects and concentrate on the core pieces needed to achieve the characteristic Oberheim sound. It was no accident the OB-6 was built on the foundation of the Prophet-6. However, you may notice a strong resemblance to Dave Smith's other new analogue polysynth, the Prophet-6. The Blade Runner-style horizontal blue lines, the long row of program buttons and the stacked filter and loudness envelopes are clearly pulled from the original OB series keyboards. Considering this history, you might not have predicted what came out of this year's Winter NAMM show: a new Dave Smith and Tom Oberheim collaboration called the OB-6, inspired by the classic Oberheim instruments of the past.Īt first glance, a couple of things jump out on the OB-6. Smith's Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and Oberheim's OB-Xa were both legendary instruments in their own right, but their differences split many producers and synthesists into separate camps. During this time Dave Smith and Tom Oberheim were competitors creating some of the most in-demand instruments of the era. Analogue synthesisers had their heyday as the '70s ticked into the '80s.
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