Arturia Oberheim SEM V

[SKyflash34]

Nice! Looking forward to this one!

[gingataff]

There's a distinct lack of Obie emus out there (for mac anyway) so I think this will be worth a look.

[Dave Polich]

Oh yeah...

They even have the cute Oberheim "note" logo. Tom must have signed off
on it.

I have Sonic Projects OPX, like it but it's always sounded a bit thin. Maybe
this will be "the" virtual Oberheim we've been waiting for.

[Cyforce]

That looks nice!

[an.unna.kid]

hopefully this will be included in the new Origin update coming up.
NICE!

[Jorg]

This would have to be dirt cheap to make any sense.

[itisnick]

Have a single new Tom Oberheim SEM. It was a must-buy for me because of the patch points (which were a DIY mod on the original, afaik never a factory option until now).

The arpeggiator is fairly anachronistic since it wasn't even invented (by Roland in terms of commercial release) when the SEM/X-Voice came out. You had an early digital sequencer as an option. Not that an arpeggiator hurts and maybe it's confusing to stuff a digital sequencer in a plug-in (that would be my guess as to motivation), but you had an original sequencer option for the SEM/X-Voice.

Also I'd argue that Oberheim was know for his phaser designs early on. So I mean it can't hurt to have a chorus and delay, but he was known for his Maestro FX and some early Oberheim brand stomp boxes when the SEM came out

Originally Posted by Dave Polich

Oh yeah...
They even have the cute Oberheim "note" logo. Tom must have signed off
on it.

I have Sonic Projects OPX, like it but it's always sounded a bit thin. Maybe
this will be "the" virtual Oberheim we've been waiting for.

I guess Gibson must have signed off on it. The 70s logo is missing from the reissue Tom Oberheim SEMs

OPX is obviously trying to do an OB-X. I've not demo-ed it enough to call it out for being thin or not but AFAIK it's not trying to be a SEM or Two to Eight-Voice

[Kirk D]

personally I would have preferred an exact emulation - without the added effects or arpeggiator. Most DAWs have effects so I guess its either for standalone live users or a way to get more 'finished' sounding presets.

with the leftover screen real estate and saved CPU they could have made it a 2 voice.

I'm glad to see these classics being emulated though. The emulation technology is improving every year - and the ridiculous prices for used hardware is preventing many from experiencing them.

I just wish they'd keep them exact - limitations and all.

Here's a request - somebody pls do an exact ARP 2500 emulation... and I'd also love to see Waldorf release a soft version of the Wave using the original code. Just the analog filter would need modelling.

KD

[andivax]

I just get new OP-X and it is nice! Maded in Synthedit but sounds surprisingly good. Especially in unison mode.
Arturia knows its job well so i will get SEM 110%!!!!!!

[electro]

Originally Posted by andivax

I just get new OP-X and it is nice! Maded in Synthedit but sounds surprisingly good. Especially in unison mode.
Arturia knows its job well so i will get SEM 110%!!!!!!

OP-X is made by Sonic Projects, a different company than Arturia.

Synthedit or not, Sonic Projects made an incredibly accurate clone of the OB-X

[Aziak]

Hi guys,

I'm testing SEM V since alpha version and it's a faithful emulation of the original (now testing the beta version). The character of the original instrument is there, the added features are not a spoiler but a nice way to keep the functionality modern. The team is working hard to iron out the bugs, fine tune the sound and make this an amazing release.
I'm not affiliated with the company, just a user here and i really enjoy this instrument.

Cheers!

[gentleclockdivid]

Originally Posted by electro

OP-X is made by Sonic Projects, a different company than Arturia.

Synthedit or not, Sonic Projects made an incredibly accurate clone of the OB-X

A lot of people seem to forget that synthedit is often used just for the gui frame etc.
You'll notice that a lot of the better sounding 'synthedit' plugs have custom written modules under the bonnet ..which doesn't mean you can't get good results with the synthedit stock modules ...

[electro]

Originally Posted by Aziak

Hi guys,

I'm testing SEM V since alpha version and it's a faithful emulation of the original (now testing the beta version). The character of the original instrument is there, the added features are not a spoiler but a nice way to keep the functionality modern. The team is working hard to iron out the bugs, fine tune the sound and make this an amazing release.
I'm not affiliated with the company, just a user here and i really enjoy this instrument.

Cheers!

Arturia had a knowledgable CS-80 enthusiast telling them what they needed to tweak to make CS-80V faithful to the hardware and it seems he went ignored.

Did you actually test the sound of the SEMV against the hardware?

[spaceman]

omg.. i'm a huge fan of the Oberheim sound. Want !

[LotuZia]

Originally Posted by Jorg

This would have to be dirt cheap to make any sense.

The GUI has some hidden parts with additional possibilities.

[kim olesen]

Wondering if it will be free (or cheap) for v-collection 2 owners.

[Trailmix]

Originally Posted by kim olesen

Wondering if it will be free (or cheap) for v-collection 2 owners.

Great question! At least a favorable loyalty discounted upgrade would be appreciated Arturia. 8-)

[santibanks]

Originally Posted by electro

OP-X is made by Sonic Projects, a different company than Arturia.

Synthedit or not, Sonic Projects made an incredibly accurate clone of the OB-X

Wasn't OP-X reaktor?

[Aziak]

Arturia had a knowledgable CS-80 enthusiast telling them what they needed to tweak to make CS-80V faithful to the hardware and it seems he went ignored.

Did you actually test the sound of the SEMV against the hardware?

I know what you mean, but developers always follow their own will at the end, no matter what other's opinions or suggestions are. I find this reasonable, cause only they know the limitations, the issues and how hard is
to get this final 5% to match (as possible) with the real thing (regarding an emulation). I'm not a developer, just happens to talk with some of them or read their blogs (like Sean Costello's excellent blog). I respect their work cause this kind of knowledge is missing from me but i judge the results and try to pass them valid infos, so they can push the limits further. Many of my suggestions are not in the final product but i don't feel ignored,i understand how these things work.

Opinions are like ass cracks, everybody has one...
I remember early summer when Xils Labs released Synthix, some people loved the instrument (including me) and others started the "it's not close enough to the real thing" argument. (I use it every day and it's pleasant to my ears! )
I think this will be inevitable with SEM V as well.... comparisons are bread and butter around here....

A friend has a SEM (the latest revision) but haven't the time to pay him a visit yet. Sem V is still under development and things are changing constantly, i prefer to wait till a pre-release version is ready, to compare things. I think though, that Sem V is based on the original Tom Oberheim's '70s release. ( I have to ask Kevin about this)

I made some audio files so you can hear how it sounds.
These are wavs @ 24/96 and the screenshots from Logic to prove that no additional processing were used (except an Addictive limiter to prevent output O.L.) and what's the settings.

Sem V Saw https://files.me.com/aziak/nkxkac.wav

Sem V Pulse https://files.me.com/aziak/uc85d6.wav


Enjoy!




Akis.

[an.unna.kid]

Wow, that sounds fantastic (listened in my Sony MDR 7506)

Really natural and phat!

Will it it included in the new Origin update?

[CoolColJ]

can barely read the writing - FAIL

CS80V gave me headaches due to everything being so small.
Monitors with large resolution make everthing tiny.... need scalable interface....

[K-Slash]

Originally Posted by CoolColJ

can barely read the writing - FAIL

CS80V gave me headaches due to everything being so small.
Monitors with large resolution make everthing tiny.... need scalable interface....

What you see is not the real size.

And the JPEG compression degrades the quality.

So don't worry about that.

[HomeProducer]

Originally Posted by Aziak

Hi guys,

... The team is working hard to iron out the bugs, fine tune the sound and make this an amazing release.
...

I wish they could do that for their previously released software, too.

But they simply DON'T care.

[audslu]

This one sounds pretty good and has polyphony:
SAM VST - Oberheim (TM) SEM clone

Can't wait to compare it with semV, although sam is emulating the new sem.

[Aziak]

Originally Posted by HomeProducer

I wish they could do that for their previously released software, too.

But they simply DON'T care.

Not true..... I know some things you don't.
I can't say much, but trust me, they do CARE and you'll see what I mean in the
near future.

Cheers!

[mossie23]

Originally Posted by LotuZia

The GUI has some hidden parts with additional possibilities.

that's what worries me.

i just did something i've been wanting to do for awhile: i made a mock version of rp-delay that shows everthing that's in there, without the tabs. it's kind of crude, but you get the idea.

it has nothing to do with rp-delay specifically. for me this represents something i see in a lot of plugins. 'hidden options' might mean hidden from your eyes, but it doesn't mean hidden from your mind. you know the hidden stuff is there. and subconsciously you have to make decisions about it. like the decision to not use it.

arturia does this in quite a few of their synths. take the minimoog for instance. the first thing that hits me is the big empty space above the synth. uh-oh. and indeed, out come the hidden options that make this 'classic synth ready for modernity'. personally, the only thing i care about is whether the synth invites me to tweak it and feel involvement. and i find more and more synths (and some effects) are trying to be complete workstations that inspire me to little else than preset-browsing. which is not a good thing for a tweakhead like me. synthix comes to mind as well. i bought it, but just couldn't get into it. even though the sound is great. i read the elka synthex manual and that inspired me. but when i came back to the synthix, all the extra options put me off. even if the synthix can do the synthex. somehow, i felt a distance.

it's the same distance as i feel when i plug my guitar in my soundcard, route it to amplitube, and overwhelmed by the options, go for the first preset i find. softube vintage amp room is already a lot better. but the best is still a real amp in my room. not because it's real, but because i can wrap my head around it. that doesn't mean it has to be simple though.

take the valhalla room reverb plugin for instance, with its shamelessly 2d gui. that's one deep plugin. but to me it also feels really direct. it invites me to go deeper. it invites me to learn about all the reverb modes, about what reverb is, about how i can make it sound good. it makes me care. like expensive hardware does. i think involvement is much more important than options.

look at the remixed rp-delay... do you feel invited to tweak it? if not, than probably neither will the normal version inspire you. i hope more plugin developers realize that there is no such thing as 'a hidden option'.

[Shy]

Originally Posted by Aziak

I'm testing SEM V since alpha version and it's a faithful emulation of the original (now testing the beta version). The character of the original instrument is there

I don't know what you mean by "the character is there", but even the character of their Jupiter 8 emulation (their only real attempt at an actual quarter-decent emulation) isn't. So they couldn't get that one or any of their other "emulations" right, but they could get an emulation of a synth that's even harder to emulate right? "Not holding my breath" is an understatement when it comes to Arturia.

I'll just wait to hear how horrible it sounds compared to the real deal when it's out and people post comparisons.

The word "emulation" has been abused so much in the software audio plugin world that it's really not funny.

[audslu]

Jupiter 8v is the most digital sounding vst ever made by the human race. Just because some magazine says it's good, it doesn't mean that it is. They advertise everything it falls on their hands (it's the same magazine that says all daws sound the same, just 1s and 0s!). Noizemaker (Sharam who loves roland, uses TAL vsts) and phutura sound much more like a roland. I think people fall for 8v's gui. Xiosynth has more "character". If jupiter 8 sounded even close to arturia's emulation nobody would care to emulate that at all.

[K-Slash]

Originally Posted by audslu

Jupiter 8v is the most digital sounding vst ever made by the human race. Just because some magazine says it's good, it doesn't mean that it is. They advertise everything it falls on their hands (it's the same magazine that says all daws sound the same, just 1s and 0s!). Noizemaker (Sharam who loves roland, uses TAL vsts) and phutura sound much more like a roland. I think people fall for 8v's gui. Xiosynth has more "character". If jupiter 8 sounded even close to arturia's emulation nobody would care to emulate that at all.

Well, taste. May it sound digital, I love the way it sounds. And I have things like Decapitator to add some "analog color" to it's so called "cold sterile sound".

That said, your statement about the fact that if it was close nobody else would try to emulate it is all wrong IMHO.

So why even when there were already close sounding emulation of 1176 by UA, Waves and Softube, IK and NI would came up with their own versions ?

Just an example.