Another comment I will throw out there is I think the OB8 sounds great. Others, including TO himself, have stated it is too "polite" and the more raw sound of the earlier OB series synths are better.

I think the OB8 has this airy, yet full beautiful sound to it. I never tire of it. Exploring the page 2 parameters with the out-of-phasing of the LFOs and other choices is worthwhile. Of course, one needs to add appropriate level stereo delay and/or reverb (to any analog poly) to get the full benefit.

And pan those voices in an arc left to right , not hard panned left & right.

The OB8 is not a lesser synth than the OBX (which I also have) it is just a different flavor of the wonderful Oberheim poly sound.

Fatar on the OB8 would be a dream! Please let us know if you hear anything further regarding that.

Should I order these 2 cans for cleaning the fader pots and making them easier to turn? Amazon also sells just the green can on the right. Am I OK with just that one? Thanks!

read this, that is such a repair guru with a monthly show .. he uses something completely different ..but will not be a long-term solution either.

https://www.amazona.de/doc-analog-ob...refurbished/2/



https://www.emusician.com/gear/icon-...-pass-the-lube

if you are more interested in the californian products, here is the manufacturer. everything is explained there

https://caig.com/hacks/#

As often mentioned here and elsewhere -- DeOxit D5 is designed to clean *** metal on metal *** contacts.
Potentiometers in the OB-8 and elsewhere are metal on carbon. D5 will cause all kinds of long term damage including eroding the carbon and if left alone for a period of time, freezing/binding the metal wiper to the carbon resulting in a pot that can't move or breaks the track if moved (yes, I had 2 of those to repair over the years - had to order new pots across the board).

FaderLube may be OK, but again - you're looking for something to clean carbon and metal (and maybe plastic for other synths). Carbon track wear out over time; cleaners (if they are too strong) can flush more of the carbon off the tracks resulting in worse performance over time.

The correct/best answer that no one ever wants to hear is -- replace all the pots with new ones.

the stuff is just tempting, dream results without work. Everyone has got to know that for himself.
I think if all fader caps are already down and the pcb is removed, then you can also send it to a tech at low cost. He doesn't need all the synth.

Good information! I don't mind replacing all the pots. Do you know where to order them from?


Oh yeah, I've been looking at https://synthchaser.com Great site!

You have so much great information. Thank you for sharing!

Anyone have the OB8 factory presets on SYSEX?

Here > https://wiki.grahamenglish.net/index.php/Oberheim_OB-8


Ahh! the OB-8, used on many a KLF record. Also responsible for the ethereal arpeggio sounds on The Orb's
'A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld'.

Thank you VERY much! I was searching on Bing, but never saw this website.

Now I just have to learn how to do a SYSEX import.

Love this thread. You blink and more cool pix are up :-) Sub37 & OB-8 sweet pair, and a Modal 002's :-)

...and OB-8s now go for $7000US on Reverb, up from $3500 a year ago. Thank you GS! :(

GS has nothing to do with it, it's a reverb thing. here is still an ob-xa for 2.7k that nobody wants .. luckily it was spared from the great platform.

OB8 owners- in case you already do not know about this, I found this great website via another thread here on GS. It is a website that allows sysex transfers to and from a large list of synths....including an OB8. I used it last night to reinstall the original factory programs back into my OB8.
https://f0f7.net/fe/#/SysexLibrarian/OberheimOb8

i need to try that out this weekend, ive never been able to get other sysex dumps to work correctly on my ob8, but i know some people have. I always had to go the old cassette dump route, which is a pain. lol i was just reading their website and enjoyed the feature of being able to delete all your flute and sax sounds.

update: It works really well. I think the not being able to write to the memory buffer is what threw me off in the past. Thanks!

I also mentioned it twice in this thread

Glad it worked! To make it clear: users need the factory MIDI in their OB8s. Encore interface is currently not supported. Therefore F0F7.net works with many other synths too.

Oops!

definitely jealous

After a week with the OB8, I have to say that it definitely has a unique sound...certainly different than my OB6. I should have my first OB8 demo finished by tomorrow.

Look forward to it , your demos always sound great, and CONGRATS man! It will certainly sound different, being that the OB-6's lineage is from earlier Oberheims instead of the Curtis ones(that from Tom himself!). Again man, congrats on your new baby!

Thanks! The only bad thing about this is that I am even more wanting now to acquire an OB-X. D'oh!

LMAO, Just wait until you see those prices then...the OB-X is the priciest of them all lmao. If you've seen vids of the OB-X next to the Curtis OB-Xa/OB-8 you can clearly hear what I'm talking about. **** man, I'm happy with what I got(I still want a 2nd OB-6 module)....I'm pretty much done after that. Good luck to ya man

Yeah, I know how STUPID EXPENSIVE they've become, which bums me out. In order to acquire one I would have to get rid of my OB-8, my OB-6, and either my 002 or my The River.....which would just be too much. Who knows what the future holds though. Hey, just 2 weeks ago I was using toilet paper to clean myself....and now I use whatever paper I can scrounge up. See how life changes?

Right now it might be better to invest in one of those Japanese commodes, problem solver!

The usual way to have fun with something too expensive to own is to own it temporarily.
It will require some strong will though.

Right from the start you should tell yourself: I will buy it, enjoy it, record it, multisample my favorite sounds, copy my favorite sounds to other synths, then i will sell it at no $ loss.
2 months should be enough for all that.

Conveniently abstrakt are making their clone, no need to buy the overpriced original anymore!

I do think the OBX is great, but I think it’s become a bit of a cliché/internet myth that it is considered the peak of Oberheim polys. It does a pretty specific sound, and it does it really well, but there’s a lot of stuff it can’t do. You’re never going to get those warm/smooth/ready for movie soundtrack vibes that you get from the OB8.

It’s also not a perfect machine, being made in the very early days of polysynth technology. For example, there is digital clock bleed in the audio output that becomes hard to ignore once you hear it!

you all have no idea..
the oberheim was offered here last year for 9k. rather hostile to users and antique, of course. the rest is quite nice but...

was that in switzerland? Was interested in that

I don't know. I owned an Eight Voice for a number of years. Yes, it has a glorious sound. Yes, it is a royal pain to change to a new sound and adjust everything (even with the programmer module) so it sounded right when playing chords. I tend to leave it on one patch for long periods of time.

In this day, if money was no object, I'd buy OB-X and OB-8 or maybe split it and buy an OB-Xa and a Two Voice.