Oberheim OB-SX - "magic box" transforms the OB-SX into a full-blown synth

[@jupitermarx]

Always makes me think of Lisa Colman from Prince’s and the Revolution. She's the only musician I ever saw play one. And found out her family has ties to Tom Oberheim ❤

[@SoDope29]

Jesse Johnson from The Time used one a lot on his first album

[@kamelhamlaoui9983]

Love your comments!!!💕 I listening Prince 4 37 years, 14 times in concert, lived in Minneapolis, worked at the first Avenue. Last time I saw home alive was there. Had back in the days Obx/ Xa/ 8/ OG SEM, Linn LM-1. Sold everything for peanuts 🥜.🥲🥲🥲🥲 today I got an obx 8, plus 2 SEM’s reissue. But one day I will by un OBX or An OB-SX, my dream one is an FVS-1!!! Prince had 2 of them in the beginning ( first 2 albums.💕🌹

[@PeteMOBie1]

Awesome demo of the forgotten member of the OB-X family. This could easily have been an official marketing demo for the MLAB Magic Box. There were at least 3 versions of the OB-SX: a MK I with just 24 sounds, MK II with 48 sounds (yours will have a switch on the back to select between 2 slots of 24 sounds), and the MK III OB-Xa paint job) that I have with 56 preset sounds using combinations of the A, B, C buttons. This MIDI mod really opens up the synth beyond the 7 knobs and 4 switches on the front panel. Can't wait to get mine back up and running as it is awaiting an overhaul. Synth Chaser in the USA sells power supply upgrade and voice card rescue kit for about $80 each. So glad I haven't parted with my little Obie. Love that little App you have and the sequencer. My own hypothesis is that the OB-SX was a proof-of-concept for the move from the discreet circuits of the OB-X to the Curtis Chips of the OB-Xa. Hats off to you sir!

[@Bernd_Bruening]

Thank you very much, Pete! Now the only missing piece of the OB family is the OB-X. I know that I’ll get one, but not sure when. I had an OB-8 for a while, but then the OB-Xa crossed my way and I was literally blown away.

[@analogholic3651]

@@Bernd_Bruening You liked the OB-Xa better than the OB-8? Can you tell more about this?

[@Bernd_Bruening]

@analogholic3651 well, in my opinion the OB-8 has slower envelopes, lacks a bit of low end and has got an overall tame sound. It’s less aggressive than the OB-Xa. I think Tom Oberheim himself mentioned that the OB-8 is too accurate/perfect, thus much more predictable in sound than the OB-Xa. There are several attempts to bring it closer to the OB-Xa. You might search for J. Haible modifications. Of cause all this is highly subjective.

[@analogholic3651]

@@Bernd_Bruening Thank you Bernd for you answer! Yeah, I "had" to choose between the 8 and the Xa myself...features vs sound. It was a difficult decision but I finally went for the Xa myself as well :). I even emailed the late great J Haible asking for his opinion back then. He liked the 8 better :) Apparently for some reason the 4-pole filter sounds better on the 8.

[@kamelhamlaoui9983]

🌹💕💕💕

[@NachoMartyMeyer]

so beautiful melodies, and that Synth sounds so precious!

[@sadblyte8404]

Wow, I'm amazed) I recently bought myself a cobalt 8, after watching your video I realized that the sound cobalt 8 very, very similar to OB-SX It turns out I have I now have a small Oberheim)))

[@Kalleluja]

Really a fantastic synth - very powerful - thank you for the Clip

[@iosyn5896]

thx, mindblowing. everytime i hear original oberheim OSCs i'm loving my prologue v16 OSC more and more. the nearest possible copy of these ultimate vintage oscs. i'm sure the next time with the newly announced behringer UB-X in comparison. ;-)

[@Maxat_Ospanov]

but what about ob6, isn't it closer than prologue?

[@iosyn5896]

@@Maxat_Ospanov yes, but ob6 & prologue oscs’ nearly equal.

[@DanglyLingham]

@@Maxat_Ospanov : I can confirm. I owned the Prologue and the OB6. I would choose either one over the other. Both sound amazing. Though I only own an OB6 now I am looking for a Prologue-16 again.

[@adamharris7775]

The Oberheim OB-SX was heard in the 1984 Prism Entertainment theme.

[@paulschilling2996]

Awesome demo!

[@Bernd_Bruening]

Your OB-X8 demo was awesome as well. I’ve played it at Superbooth in Berlin.

[@vintagesynths]

Wow, great video and synth. Gorgeous that you can get it controlled via the iOS app, even with Arpeggiator. Love the sound of the x very much and I prefer it even over the ob-xa.

[@Pacman1ac]

Is the sound distorted around 3:08 or is it just me?

[@Bernd_Bruening]

There is distortion especially at the beginning, when the synth is in unison mode. The differences in level are enormous.

[@seanchristophersynthesizer6999]

Wow, that sucker sounds great!

[@Bernd_Bruening]

Yes, absolutely! Never expected it to sound so powerful. Slightly different from the OB-Xa.

[@MartaOfMarta]

@@Bernd_Bruening Mine sounds better than my OB-Xa. A true fact

[@Agordon-vw9lx]

Some of these harmonies reminded me a lot to Johannes Schmoelling from Tangerine Dream.

[@Bernd_Bruening]

Thanks a lot. When everything works out as planned I can offer my custom presets for everyone owning an OB-SX. You just need to replace a single EPROM, which is quite easy to do, because it’s socketed.

[@AdamBHarrisHarpist]

That's great, shame I sold the SX a couple of years ago I certainly would have kept it if this gadget was available.

[@calyx93]

Very nice - although I'm not seeing any editor panel indication of routing pitch of OSC 2 via ENV 1 to get the classic sync sweep. Seem like it's fixed here - no mod except LFO. Am I correct?

[@Bernd_Bruening]

@@calyx93 correct

[@rixcom7621]

Hey Synth King, watched this video a couple days ago and reached out to Midisoft. I went on their website to purchase one of these Magic Boxes for my OB-SX and paid for it. Haven't heard a peep out of them after sending a few emails. I even sent Rolf himself an email because his account is tied to the paypay transaction. Any ideas if they are still selling these? I have to cancel the order if I don't hear in a day or two. Other than that the video is great! Cheers! Rick

[@Bernd_Bruening]

Hi, Rolf is on tour with „Kraftwerk“ (yes, the electronic music pioneers) and does the magic box on demand. Please have a bit of patience, Rolf is a reliable person and will reach out to you as soon as possible.

[@xx2535]

Sorry, it was at the weekend but now you are happy with the magicBox 🙂

[@irife2771]

Very cool! The SX is a weird in-between of the X and Xa in architecture, so I suppose my question is are there any interesting things it does that an X or Xa cant do?

[@Bernd_Bruening]

It just has no noise generator and two voices less. The F-envelope to pitch is missing as well. There is no panning option but everything else is pretty similar to the OB-X. Oscillators & Filters are CEM chips, VCA is discrete. Sound character is quite different, more in the face in comparision to my OB-Xa. The magic box in combination with an editor, either software or hardware, really opens up the potential of this unique synth.

[@R_Durand]

What happens if you attach it to an OB-Xa which already has MIDI?

[@Bernd_Bruening]

I don’t know. Depends very much on the midi kit that has already been installed.

[@xx2535]

does not work with ENCORE MIDI because ENCORE disables the COMPUTER INTERFACE

[@AlexanderAlm]

What is the name of the app you are using? Can’t fint anything in the App Store Thanks

[@Bernd_Bruening]

tb-midi-stuff-ios.soft112.com/download.html Don't know if the link works. I had some trouble as well to get this app running

[@dezwrightmusic]

it’s a shame it only has the 12db filter

[@Bernd_Bruening]

Well, it's the best sounding 12dB filter ever. So nothing to complain about.

[@dezwrightmusic]

@@Bernd_Bruening true but it would be nice to be able to get those nice pluck and quick brass stabs in this synth like the obxa

[@lovehalfblack9420]

$1200 for one in Craigslist rn… worth it?

[@Bernd_Bruening]

Absolutely. Check, how many voice cards are installed (4 or 6). Please check out my other video with my custom presets.

[@analogholic3651]

That´s steal if ihas 6 voices. Sound is incredible!

[@Bernd_Bruening]

@analogholic3651 I made new preset sounds for the OB-SX which are available after swapping a single EPROM. The SX is much more usable with the new sounds.

[@Synthesizer_Explorations]

Is there a link to the magic box for the Oberheim Ob-sx?

[@Bernd_Bruening]

Yes, it’s in the video description

[@Synthesizer_Explorations]

@@Bernd_Bruening thanxs, I realized that a little bit later, and visited the homepage 😀 The price is at bit steep, and I don´t know if the 37pinport works, my OB-SX was spraypainted red by someone in the distant past. Is there a simple way to check if the port works before investing €400?

[@Bernd_Bruening]

@@Synthesizer_Explorations At first I hesitated to buy the magic box because of the price, but there is no alternative at all. Given the fact that the OB-SX hadn’t been produced in big quantities and the work, time and efforts Rolf has put into this project, the price is absolutely justified. There is not reason why your interface shouldn’t work. Not knowing how seriously your SX has been repainted I suggest to clean the interface with isopropyl before plugging in the magic box.

[@Synthesizer_Explorations]

@@Bernd_Bruening I´ll start there 😃

[@Synthesizer_Explorations]

could you put a photo of how your 37pinconnector is hooked up inside the OB-SX? It might be wise to check out that mine is not disconnected before I invest in a magic box, and mine has had surgery, for example is the memoryswitch on the backside moves to the front.

[@ast4127]

Brilliant demo thanks so much! These sounds are your own presets? In that case possible to buy? Sounds brilliant. I was on my way purchasing the new OB-X8 listening to this demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYnSiJiJi8RpndE But now its difficult to choose! :-O

[@Bernd_Bruening]

You mean the OB-X8, no? Due to the „magic box“ the OB-SX turns into a fully editable synth with 56 further factory presets and 56 user presets. I’ve only done a handful of my own sounds. In order to use them you’ll need the magic box as well. It’s indeed not very cheap (around 400 bucks). A friend of mine is building a dedicated programmer for my OB-SX at the moment. Stay tuned, there will be a video demo soon.

[@ast4127]

Sorry I edited the answer as my english is not very good. Thanks for your reply, I found it now. Yes I meant the new OB-X8! Any thoughts on that machine? ;-D

[@Bernd_Bruening]

The OB-X8 is a great instrument. I played it at Superbooth in Berlin. If you already have an OB-SX it’s really worth buying the magic box, since it really opens up the instrument. Check out my profile picture on Facebook and you see the OB-X8, Tom and me. 😊

[@ast4127]

@@Bernd_Bruening Ah cool! Well I can only afford one of them, and I have one OB-SX offer at around the same price as OB-X8 including the options you recommend. But your video here with the magic box gave me a good headache 🙂

[@Bernd_Bruening]

@@ast4127 maybe you should watch my demo video of the upcoming Behringer UB-Xa kzbin.info/www/bejne/rprXdnywdth8bdE

[@xp50player]

You still can’t touch one of those things for what a new OB-X8 costs.

[@Bernd_Bruening]

Oh, then I was extremely lucky. I’ve bought it completely broken and managed to repair it.

[@MartaOfMarta]

@@Bernd_Bruening Me also. Just a couple of years ago, and for a few hundred dollars no less.