Oberheim Xpander Demo

[@tomnoise23]

Yeah, the beatiful tone of an Xpander. Priceless

[@asynchronicity]

Beautiful and beautifully done. Someday…….

[@jazzjeffjazzjeff]

This makes me miss my Xpander, stolen in '91 :(

[@arcadely]

Damn. That was a punch in the gut to read even now. When someone steals something like an instrument it's not just the thing itself but also, unless you can afford to replace it, the potential as well. Can only imagine how you must have felt at the time. Did you ever try to get another?

[@jazzjeffjazzjeff]

@@arcadely I never did.....but I just ordered a OB-6. I think that will help heal my gut!

[@Lachenmann7]

How was it stolen?!

[@murraybartley4467]

​@@jazzjeffjazzjeffi had a moog and an arp pro soloist stolen, i don't think i could deal with my Expander being stolen!

[@nofahz]

Got to use one quite a bit when I was at Berklee in the mid 90s. ❤

[@Station2Station-du2gh]

6:20 Multi showcased very well. The underlying sawtooth waves with the tiny bell on top. 2 patches layered.

[@chandeleerjet5637]

I just demo’d one in a store and am about to return my OBX8 to get it. It had the best pad sound I’ve ever heard in person. Among a lot of other nice sounds I’m just hoping it’s got some versatility because it didn’t seem like there were many patches

[@paperstreetaudiocompany]

Well, the Xpander is arguably my favorite sounding of my vintage synths. I’m keeping my OB-X8 though! Rumor is a re-release of the Xpander is next up for Oberheim

[@chandeleerjet5637]

@@paperstreetaudiocompany oh wow you have both! I wish I could keep both. There’s just a small annoying squeaking sound on thr physical pitch/mod stick when it reaches maximum value. Did you notice that on yours. I’m pretty sure it’s only mine and one of the reasons I was going to return it.

[@Lachenmann7]

I bet it will be. Oberheim took out a patten.

[@1vootman]

Nice Assimilate riff (3:00)! Where did you get your restoration done? Mines due.

[@paperstreetaudiocompany]

Ha! Nice catch. I spent barely more time on putting this together than the length of the clip itself, so I tossed in a nod to Assimilate. A local tech had replaced the transformer and just generally replaced caps and out of spec components . There used to be a slight buzz near the unit ( not in the signal path) and that’s gone. It has the most updated firmware and all buttons working smoothly. I was happy to get a local tech. I could refer you to him if you’d like, but most of what he did should be something a tech could do as it mostly related to going through the Xpander fully and doing cleaning, reflowing solder, replacing caps and getting everything around the PSU right.

[@Station2Station-du2gh]

Yeah it's a dandy with those 15 filter bundles.

[@Radar23]

seriously they don't make synths like this...

[@vincechan4620]

How did you build the patch at 14:15? Just learning to program mine. Thanks

[@christdolphin69]

im very curious about this as well. these sounds are some of the absolute best tones i've ever heard from any synth and this one is my favorite. it actually reminds me of a timbre i was able t o get while patching my prophet 12 about a month ago with lots of exponential fm and some am with stacked oscillators, but i don't think this actual tone is possible without those gorgeous svf sem(?) filters

[@neilk575]

Any chance of sharing these patches? They’re incredible!

[@paperstreetaudiocompany]

The patches come primarily from two sources - gstormelectronica.blogspot.com/2013/01/download-links-are-back.html soundengine.com/oberheim-matrix-12-xpander/46-xpander-exlax.html Lots of great Xpander patches on there

[@neilk575]

@@paperstreetaudiocompany Thanks, I’ve not seen those before

[@tekis0]

Wow, this thing sounds really good! Am I mistaken, or did I see somewhere that you purchased the new Oberheim OB-X8? While I haven't gotten my hands on it, it does seem very legit!

[@paperstreetaudiocompany]

Yes, I also have the OB-X8. Those are my two Oberheim synths. Real lovely stuff, I’m very fond of the sound.

[@tonato17]

@@paperstreetaudiocompany having own an Xpander, how are you liking the OB-X8?

[@piktormusic2538]

Thank you for posting this. Lovely demo. In the 1980s it was my dream to own one of these. I had Champaign tastes with a beer budget, so I did get a Matrix 6 new. Have you owned this instrument for long?

[@paperstreetaudiocompany]

Thanks. I’ve had this a number of years now. I fell in love with the Oberheim sound when I got a Matrix 6r decades ago and this was the Oberheim I aspired to get. I love it. It’s a desert island synth for me.

[@Heavy_Distortion]

Like you I also wanted an Xpander but was too poor. So I bought a Matrix6 in 1987. Then a Matrix1000. I think Sequential will release an Oberheim synth in 2021.

[@padpstudio]

nice plug in...

[@paperstreetaudiocompany]

I’m not sure what you mean. This is a fully restored original Xpander played directly, no effects or EQ. It was recorded via a Metric Halo LIO8. I can compare it to some Oberheim plug ins to see how accurate they are, but I’ll be able to do the comparison in my studio on Barefoot monitors, Metric Halo hardware, and a good acoustic environment. I would anticipate finding any plug ins usable but could imagine preferring the real Xpander in person where it’s differences might be apparent even if slight. I do think software has become much much better recently, especially U-HE.

[@padpstudio]

I was joking... sorry for the miss understanding. Actually I own an Xpander...