Rob Rosen Reveals His Ultimate Synth Collection

I hope you enjoy this rare opportunity to visit with my close friend Rob Rosen for a deep dive into his ultimate vintage synth collection. Together, we’ll see inside some of the rarest synthesizers of all-time and learn from this master technician how synthesizers have evolved, what makes them tick and why synthesizers make such cool sounds!
I consider Rob’s shop @Rosen Sound ground zero for anything relating to synthesizers. It’s also the biggest wonderland of vintage synths in perfect working order that you’ll ever see .
Rob is a self-taught technician and is now the world leader for repair, restoration, custom manufacturing and sales of vintage synthesizers. He’s also quite an accomplished musician programmer and keyboard player as well.
00:00:01 Intro Anthony on the street in Burbank, CA
00:01:55 Entering Inside Rosen Sound
00:02:06 Meeting “P” from Chromeo and The Rosen Sound Team
00:03:06 Rob shows us his personal work space
00:11:42 Montage of Synths - Start
00:12:35 Montage of Synths - End
00:12:36 Anthony and Rob in “The Cabin” - a wonderland of vintage synths
00:13:42 Anthony explains and demonstrates features on the CS-80
00:20:36 CS-80 “Under the Hood” in-depth tour by Rob
00:53:31 Prophet 5 “Under the Hood” in-depth tour by Rob
01:12:50 Anthony Demonstrates some of the Juno 106 sounds
01:19:27 Juno-106 “Under the Hood” in-depth tour by Rob
01:28:54 One-of-a-Kind Oberheim Modular 8 Voice System tour by Rob
01:35:31 Anthony asks Rob 20 Questions about Synthesizers
01:39:09 Rob asks Anthony some Questions about Synthesizers
01:49:47 Bass Shootout: 1973 Moog System 55 VS ARP 2600
01:54:54 Shoot Out Conclusion and Bass Tips
Instagram: anthonymarinell...
Website: www.anthonymarinelli.com
Tiktok: / anthonymarinellimusic_...
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
IMDb: www.imdb.me/anthonymarinelli

[@russ254]

holy cow! This KZbin video is the future we were promised - television showing exactly what we want, instead of for the largest possible audience! Wunderbar!

[@christdolphin69]

I think about this all the time. Truly an amazing time to be alive

[@enricopallazzoofficial]

This channel is steadily becoming one of the best synths channel on KZbin. I really really enjoy Anthony and his knowledge on things. I'm learning a lot of things about synthesis and arrangment.

[@javd007]

Agreed. It’s getting good . Real good .

[@MrRandomposter]

Fantastic channel. Anthony has a great vibe!

[@jeffconley819]

Man your not kidding. I started messing with these things in the mid to late 70’s then gradually got into other things like Hammonds( b3). But still love synths and I find I’m getting back into them at 60plus years old.

[@pieceworkstudios]

Oh man, that Juno... 😭. I had one in beautiful shape and traded it... Definitely a regret 😞. Maybe I'll find another someday

[@e-conrecords4665]

Agreed. These behind the scenes & historical deep dives are compelling viewing.

[@skylermann]

Can confirm that this is one of the most magical rooms you’ll ever step foot in if you love synths.

[@neilloughran4437]

This is one of the best synth videos I have ever seen. I remember coming across a cachet of 1970s magazines back in the 80s/90s and remember the initial UK reviews of the Prophet and CS80... the prices were similar to the price of a small terraced house in my town. I'd never really thought much of the CS80 until now... what an amazing timbre especially with the ring mod...

[@squareleg5757]

Possibly the best two hours I have ever spent on KZbin. Thanks, guys.

[@Scotty_Russell_Music]

My eyes teared up a little when they turned the OBX8 voice around to see the back of it. Stendhal syndrome moment for sure. So beautiful. A chaotic marvel. God bless the geniuses that make these gorgeous soulful instruments. It's easy to forget the miraculous human achievements in the technologies that surround us every day. What a time to be alive.

[@puppetsnob]

I expect to see little Sims people walking around and screaming when Rob pulls out the "city" cards with parks and warehouses. Thank you both, Anthony & Rob!! What a rare treat to see the synths inside out.

[@lundsweden]

There was this guy I bought a full Roland System 100 from in Sydney Australia, around 1997. His name was Dave... he honestly had 2 more full system 100's, Minimoogs, Korg PS-3100, Yamaha CS60... this was just the stuff I saw. The was a heap more there. He had a mixing desk from an radio station (Triple M), a massive wooden Marimba. At that time he lived in an old warehouse around the St. Peters area. He said he was in a band in the 80s that toured Japan.

[@falangistavaleroso9689]

I also own a EMS Sinthy A and a 909, sadly sold my mint 808 12 years ago and my 2600, yet own tons of jewels... and more to come. Prophet 2002+ coming from Germany now ( got 2 in the 90s), great trick yours with the 2600. I do with my Minimoog. Bob signed it for me in Barcelona one year before he passed away. Moog module with a real clock on it, funny!

[@kabirchoudhary1359]

SO much value. Thank you Anthony, I am 20 years old and only recently got into Michael Jackson and the 80s sound. You're truly a pioneer. As a musician, there is so much to unpack and to learn from and i'm very grateful to have firsthand access to this knowledge. I just wanted to acknowledge my appreciation for your stuff. Thank you. I hope this channel gets the platform it so deserves

[@TehSyneS]

Good luck dude!

[@fuzz7boy]

What an utterly captivating 2 hours of informative video. To see the insides of these vintage analog synths, and hear from an expert on their inner workings, is pure entertainment.

[@Kili69]

Rosen Sounds Synth Cabin is amazing! I would also love to see a tour of your studio!

[@hexagonsun79]

This is the most informative video I have ever seen on synthesis. I want to spend 8 hours talking with this guy! Freakin' guru!

[@eyeprod3101]

This ruled. The ARP 2600 sounded better to me than the Moog Modular. Both were nice, ARP just sounds cooler to my ears.

[@cortical1]

Watched this live and really enjoyed it. Thanks, Anthony! I'm a career neuroscientist and professor who's also a musician and synth enthusiast. Digging all your content from both artistic and technical depth. Cheers from San Diego. 🧠🤘🏻

[@wado1942]

22:00 and I thought the inside of my Hammond looked like a nightmare! Mad respect to the people who designed and built those machines!

[@culttelevision]

Your videos are getting more and more addictive Anthony! This was fascinatingly detailed and nostalgic.

[@TheBcoolGuy]

Anthonyl

[@wedream2]

Love the inside tour of the CS80, Prophet 5, and Juno 106. Surprising how well the ARP stands up to the Moog!

[@Swat-ed5bt]

Awesome ❤❤❤❤

[@anthonymarinellimusic]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@JustinKosler]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Rob and Anthony! Phenomenal video guys! Genuine friendship vibes, and the depth of knowledge in your respective areas of expertise, kept us glued to the screen.

[@officialmikethompson]

P-Thugg! Love Chromeo, that was cool 👍

[@moogfooger]

"People want the long answers". Profound words Rob. This is the greatest thing I have seen on KZbin. Thank you Anthony!

[@TF242]

Officially one of my favorite videos on KZbin. full stop.

[@markr.devereux3385]

I've struck gold !! This is what actually made real history while I stumbled through guitar centers of the 70s and 80s. The black magic of analog and digital musical instrumenta

[@MarkoDeLaVoota]

now , do your own studio , this was really good show !

[@oscillationcommunications709]

Ahhhh So great! I love that y’all started shooting from the street,walking with the crew,cables n all,that’s the real juice right there,everyone literally in creative motion. Keep em coming,Respect to you and the crew,as well and Rob and the Rosen fam. This is beautiful stuff man. Bravo.⚡️🤘🏻⚡️

[@toolman8269]

OH MAN, OH MAN, OH MAN! A two-hour video at RosenSound?!! I may have to watch in sections. This is gonna be epic! So happy to see this!

[@smartti1970]

Astounding work and knowledge ! Thanks for such a lucky opportunity for you guys spending so much time on sharing all this ! It has never been seen and explained so well.... a documentary that will stay forever in synths history !

[@AllieBomba]

this is the coolest thing to watch!!! Steffi the first lady of synthesis!

[@PracticalCat]

As someone who is currently designing my own synth I really love this! Yes the hakko fx 88d is the boss! And to all those diyers out there; you dont need an expensive scope. All I have is a crappy ebay kit scope and its been enough. And for my dmm im using a cheap Aldi multimeter from 2009 and its bang on :)

[@GeorgeAmodei21]

Love that GROWL!!! ( Edge )

[@Luraka1978]

12:42 This looks like my studio actually 🤯 this tech guy knows his stuff

[@samsonwoods5448]

What a collection, this is a great video, for the synthesizer junkie!!!!!!!

[@GlassTarantulah]

Another amazing watch! Thanks for these 💎💎💎

[@anthonymarinellimusic]

Glad you like them!

[@toolman8269]

OH WOW! So, I thought I would have to break the viewing of this into more than one session, but I just could not stop watching! Very engrossing video. I felt like I was just hanging out with two synth nerds. Although I am no expert player or tech, I was able to follow along fairly well, but I did learn quite a bit as well! Excellent content! I was grinning from ear to ear through the whole video and even clapping at times. Like Anthony stated, it's so great when you have someone with whom you can share the enthusiasm of a subject and really just roll on and on. I could have watched an even longer video and enjoyed every minute. The 20 questions section was great! The shoot-out at the end was incredible! I just gotta get the patch info for that 2600 bass sound! Looking forward to it, Anthony! Very much looking forward to more phenomenal content like this. A real treat for sure.

[@ronycarrasco2039]

I understand only about 50% of the technical stuff they re talking about but it was a fascinating interview

[@neocollective5959]

How lucky we are to listen to you guys and witness your beautiful friendship too. Much love ! ❤ 🤗

[@TheJanda777]

Holy man! This might be the best and most educational video. What a great moment where Rob shifted in his seat that he was self-taught. Because that is something to be so proud of. Having pride in one's work is so rare.

[@marcusholder495]

Thank you for the video you are a rock star

[@francisseidel8014]

It's so cool seeing Rob talk about the Zilog Z-80 in the Prophet. My first experience writing machine language programs in the 1970s was on an Altair 8800 with an Intel 8008 at the college where my dad was a professor. Then soon afterwards I got a Radio Shack TRS80 Model I, which used the Z80 as a CPU. I dove head first into programming it. I wrote many assembly/machine language programs to solve problems back in the day, including a print queuing system so that I could still use the computer while printing, instead of having to wait for it to finish. The Z80 was such an incredible chip in its day. Even used in the space shuttle because it was so stable during liftoff. Brings back so many fun memories.

[@messybuttons7525]

Wow, I loved reading this story. Thanks for sharing!

[@davidjazay9248]

Superb interview / chat. Thank you so much, Anthony and Rob.

[@seanudal]

I used an ARP 2600 as a music student in South Africa and loved it. I still have photographs from 1992.

[@obshaky]

I think this is one of the greatest synth videos Ive ever seen. Sitting 2 hours about mostly fixing synths and you guys made it great. Its remarkable. Congratulations.

[@issiewizzie]

Synthesiser has been my hobby for over 35 years and it's a rabbit hole. Thank God I have a Mrs that's understanding With reference to Rob, yes it's nice to have a soulmate who understands you in that world. And we the audience are with you on that journey.

[@suadcokljat1045]

I'm also a self-taught synth/gear repairman from Europe (at rhe moment repairing Lexicon 480 and Prophet 3000) and I really really enjoyed this episode. Thank you. Cheers! S

[@benbauer1065]

This was some of the absolute best KZbin synth content iv ever seen!!! Thank you.

[@johnboothman1235]

magic stuff--keep it up

[@DrChopz]

Geektronics. Heck yeah!

[@GordonShumway-jf6lt]

Anthony, I love your style of interviewing and asking, and the questions your are asking! ❤

[@gregorybolton]

Thanks both of you for an inspirational journey into the synthisiser world !!! Rob and Anthony,...it's been a pleasure!!!

[@KevinWheelerMusic]

Thank you so much for this episode! A few month I had the same idea and wanted to know how a analog synth makes sounds. I bought the DIY analog synth from Moritz Klein and Erica Synth. They delieverd the kit an a manual so I could learn step by step how this synth works. It was a amazing journey and I own a modular synth 😊

[@user-ls5ou6gv6u]

A dream synth studio! Amazing what is inside a CS80, mind blown.

[@peterkadarmusic9728]

You're doing the Lord's work. Thank you, Jedi Synth Master.

[@morganlundin5029]

This channel is a hidden gem. Hope you never stop doing this kind of work. Super interesting and very well made. Thank you so much! :)

[@user-ec3tb9xe6p]

This person (Rob) is a bonafide galaxy brain. It takes a certain temperament to wade into deep waters like CS-80 repair/building - hats off to you!

[@RaquelFoster]

I love this stuff. The CS-80 is very compact compared to the Oberheim Eight Voice! You're not gonna carry the Oberheim up the stairs yourself! Just FYI, if you're going to fly around a room like 11:42 you'd probably be better off using an iPhone in Action Mode if you're not using a gimbal. The camera is moving dramatically through all three axes, and there's massive blur. It's hard to watch when it's not stable in at least one axis. The shutter angle determines how much the frames blur together, and it looks like it's manually been set higher than 180° which is very high. If you're not going for a trippy/dreamy/nauseating look you need a tighter shutter with a higher ISO. Also it looks like this was shot in 24 FPS then converted to 30 FPS, which adds a stutter during panning.

[@Snaggletoothsound]

AMAZING 😻 thank you Rob and Anthony!

[@achtagon]

This is a masterclass from synth gods. Absolutely incredible! CS-80 down to the component, asking all the right questions, and they're just getting started.

[@TehSyneS]

Rob seems so cool, thanks Anthony! Also, P-Thugg!!!

[@jeansebtremblay]

Wow ! Amazing videos, please keep them coming :)

[@JulianABaca]

Amazing !!!! Thank you for this channel !!!!!

[@brujua7]

Woooooh, I just finished watching it. What a wild ride! Loved every minute. Thanks so much!

[@richardhess7313]

Amazing! Thank you!

[@brodyvalentino]

This is so great!! So grateful you are sharing this information Anthony! I am a huge fan

[@Jacob-ur3lh]

This is such a great channel and video. You really go into a deep dive of why these older synthesizers are so special.

[@blenderbuch]

Thanks for that gem of synth Video ❤❤❤❤

[@sn1000k]

What a great video. I really enjoyed this peek inside, and the discussion at the end. Thanks guys.

[@samot1808]

Rob should be a recurrent character here. Instantly camera-ready.

[@johnbullock320]

Amazing video and Rob’s knowledge is inspiring. Thanks Anthony!

[@JJJBeats]

Wow truly amazing. Thank you both a lot!

[@FakthorX]

So inspiring thank you two for sharing!

[@dafunkbacktodapunk909]

Thank you for this! Super educational and aspirational!

[@bux77]

You are making amazing videos, thanks so much.

[@6195ryan]

Wow thanks to you and Rob Rosen! Awesome!

[@_demitri]

Your content just keeps getting better and better. Love this channel

[@michellemarchiano9878]

Amazing. Ty so very much for this.

[@jaymack7062]

so good. thank you.

[@velosouk]

Such a great video. Thanks Anthony!!!

[@mikegeary8056]

Cool!

[@dennishockaday1509]

Love the passion and knowledge being shared here.

[@johanboberg]

Wow! Amazing insight, great video!

[@drstupid1]

Incredible stuff!! 🤯

[@junjiito7100]

Fantastic work!

[@JamrockVybzTV]

Good stuff. Thank you both

[@kylemartin8206]

This was amazing, thank you

[@harbars1]

beautiful!

[@flaviobanterla]

Wow, thanks for this ❤

[@gavingetsit]

Golden content, lets go dude!

[@gabrielmanzanedo]

This is unbelievably good. Lots of gratitude. Thank you!

[@stopinterview]

An absolutely amazing experience. Thank you both so much for this.

[@lartisan6274]

its so cool and fresh, to see outside :D

[@domenicocaruso2153]

This was so cool! Thanks guys!❤

[@arryaxx263]

Great video. Good job to the editors as well!

[@666Nightshift]

I watched it twice in the same day, very joyful to learn from top dogs within the industry, which are really humble ...thank you for the video!!!! :)

[@johnwilliams-ih3pv]

Awesome , mind boggling ! Thank you all 🙏

[@tricevid]

Thanks for doing this guys! Amazing Stuff! Hugs from Italy!

[@Rondo2ooo]

These clips are getting better and better. The knowledge being shared hands-on is incredible. Thank you so much for your efforts and for facilitating this to us!

[@KickzNBeatz]

My favorite KZbin channel

[@imaguy123]

Great stuff man!

[@jonahstar2000]

Great Video, Thanks 💯✨✨✨

[@ajotech]

AMAZING is all I can say, mind BLOWN with Rob and Anthony!