Oberheim OB-8 Sounds and Functions Demo

Recorded directly using the OB-8's own stereo panning system and some software lexicon hall reverb. No EQ or other tampering of the sound has been made, strictly pure OB-8 goodness.

[@station2station544]

Of all the great synths of the late 70's/80's, the Oberheims stir my soul. Even more than the Memorymoog and Jupiter 8, both of which I love. The Oberheims are like being bathed in frothy warm milk. And nothing sounds more proggy-medieval that the square VCO on a classic OB.

[@JoelBouchillon]

I have an OB-8 since 1985, and I just learned a few tips from this video I didn't know the OB8 would do. GREAT VIDEO

[@JoelBouchillon]

ha ha! I fixed the date... thanks for the heads-up! Rock on my friend

[@F0nkyNinja]

Thanks for the kind comments! There will be a much better and more entertaining followup to this video with even better, clearer examples of the sound, patches and deep programming of the OB-8. Coming soon.

[@Tholgrimar]

As.soon.as.I.get.another.job.I.will.buy.this.dream.synth.aka.the.best.synth.ever.made.Long.live.Prince!

[@Nathanaelsun22]

What a MUSICAL instrument. It might just be one of the perfect sounding instruments. Just so musical.💘

[@calyx93]

Probably the best vid I've seen for the OB-8 - kudos for demoing the pg.2 functions.

[@mima85]

This is one of the best OB-8 demos I ever seen!

[@brendanf9360]

Great playing! Thanks

[@goonfish]

God, how did the 80s manage to pack so much more character into the big flagships than we see today?! Especially since the Analogic nostalgia has only continued to grow...

[@uv77mc85]

Amazing these things are still revered. They are very basic and limited compared to modern stuff but they are simple to use and have the sound we all know.

[@CapitaineSabor]

Dear friend, the sound at 1:09 is awsome, sound like EDM ou something like that with a brillant vibe of melancholia, i do love "repeat" on the Oberheim, it is a signature sound ! some persons prefer the OBXa, but i still prefer the OB-8 ! It is a shame your video had only few view, because it is so great ! Nice job, and hellow form France :D

[@AJDOLDCHANNELARCHIVE]

Awesome sounds and playing, love Oberheim's!

[@ultimatefab]

Wow ! At 0'20 is it your improvisation . I really like ! All the demo is amazing ! Bravo !

[@mooogglover6189]

As soon as you started that sound at 4:56. I started thinking about "HEAD" by PRINCE 😆

[@kamelhamlaoui9983]

Me too!

[@ME-ru4hv]

Doooood!!! This blows away other polys

[@Steve-mp7by]

Dearly beloved

[@oriomenoni7651]

After the first notes..."a Mezzoforte fan!" Oh yeah... :)

[@stargazer520]

You have some amazing programming skills, my friend! (I have an OB8 needing power supply repair.) Can you provide some insight into how to program the intro to the Styx tune Too Much Time on My Hands? Dennis DeYoung used the OB8 a lot and I'm betting those portamento settings you demonstrated in this video were used on that sound as well. Any advice is much appreciated.

[@AlexTyson_]

Great demo - can i ask which composition you are playing at 13:45?

[@F0nkyNinja]

A snippet from one of my own compositions.

[@AlexTyson_]

@@F0nkyNinja sounds great :) Have you had to service this instrument very much since you have owned it? I have heard others say that it's quite hard to maintain.

[@F0nkyNinja]

​@@AlexTyson_There were a few issues, like some 30 year old components in the power supply needing replacement but since I fixed them there hasn't been a single problem.

[@steviewonda5515]

@F0nkyNinja Did you perform the haible mod for more lowend on this particular beauty? Thanks

[@F0nkyNinja]

Yes. I think I had done the mod by the time of making this video.

[@ingostromitzky497]

Sounds nice, thank you, what are you playing at the beginning?

[@F0nkyNinja]

Mezzoforte - Beyond the Horizon

[@ingostromitzky497]

@@F0nkyNinja wow what a pice thank you

[@deandavis325]

Just got my OB8 out of the shop. Had the power supply repaired and some pots and caps replaced. It's working great now. I own a lot of synths both analog and digital but nothing I've owned or played can do what this synth can do or has the sound it does. Now that the power supply has been basically rebuilt the tech that did the work told me it should be good for quite some time. If it crashes again I'll probably start looking at the DSI OB6 or this new Behringer OBXa clone that's supposed to be comming out soon. The OB8 is a beast but I can't keep dropping $500.00+ to keep it going. The new analog stuff is more dependable and cheaper to work on. Just saying....

[@F0nkyNinja]

I doubt it'll crash on you. It's one of the more reliable vintage synths around. Not to mention new VCO chips are being produced if the old ones ever fail. The OB-6 didn't have the vintage sound to my ears, so I don't know if Behringer's will. Besides, the OBX-a and the OB-8 are two seperate instruments. Vintage always sounds vintage effortlessly, it doesn't try to be something it ain't, like clones do. They're 30 years apart! I got mine cheaper because it had some problems with the filter on one of the voices and the noise generator was borked. It was a common cheap IC chip in the filter circuit and a transistor on the noise, cost under $5 for replacements. As long as you take care of them, check that the power supply is alright and replace those old capacitors, it's 80% of common issues solved. Of course the instruments aren't infallible, but having experienced opening up and repairing several other synths in the past from the 70's -00's, OB-8's are the easiest to work on by far, it's surprisingly tidy on the inside, saves techs hours. You might want to have a look at this forum post for all the info you need on maintenance, the guy really went overboard but if you have any problems try these fixes first. www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/721112-oberheim-ob8-how-make-survive-next-10-more-years.html

[@deandavis325]

F0nkyNinja, hey FOnkey Ninja loved the video. Yeah the tech said pretty much the same thing you did. I'm fortunate to have one of the later models with m.i.d.i. and he said the voice cards were in great condition. I agree the so called "new" Oberheim is not even close to the classic OBX, Xa, or 8. Believe me I've watched the vids, checked the specs and it doesn't even come close. I mean 1 lfo, are you freakin kidding me ??? If mine keeps purring I'll probably never part with it. It's not like I'd buy another one (have you seen what they're asking for them on Ebay and Reverb ???) total insanity. They're asking more for them than the original retail price. Insanity !!! LOL

[@F0nkyNinja]

They only made 800 OB-X's, 3000 OB-8's and somewhere inbetween of OBX-a's so I suppose they're in high demand.

[@acoustic61]

The patch at 6:40 sounds like typical Steve Winwood.

[@obscuresoundz]

dam is that thing alive; there is a ghost in that thing

[@Gerald_Daniel]

OB8 2pole is the brightest analogue sound I ever had & heard. Why is yours still working? I´ve bought three in my life and none of them works anymore. I still have two broken ones. I treated them like with kid gloves but that did not interest these machines. The only one I knew that repairs vintage gear, said "unfixable", Obviously he was wrong. Do you have some advices?

[@F0nkyNinja]

It's most commonly the power supply that needs its capacitors replaced so the synth actually gets some power. Mine did and I bought them from synthchaser.com, an experienced electrician/repairman can solder them in place in an hour. I don't know of any other common issues.

[@Gerald_Daniel]

LOL No way! Someday there´ll be a repair by hopefully qualified personnel. One OB-8 ended as another synth´s repair pawn. Currently only two are mine.

[@triffid9902]

Do you want to sell one ? I am looking to buy a 2nd OB8 to keep for spares.

[@Gerald_Daniel]

That question doesn´t arise.

[@johnnyv673]

OB-8's are pretty easy to work on, i would start with measuring voltages, often one of the rectifiers goes bad.