Analog Vs Digital: The Oberheim OB-X & SonicProjects OP-X Pro Compared

Analog synthesis vs digital synthesis: This is a nicely done comparison of the Oberheim OB-X & the SonicProjects OP-X Pro.

via virtualoberheim:

SonicProjects OP-X PRO software synth featuring the Separate Voice Design (SVD) modeling technology compared to an Oberheim OB-X

To verify the showed comparison demos you can download the used patches in fxb bank format here:

Bank for the demo version:
http://www.sonicprojects.ch/opxpro/ba…

Bank for the full version:
http://www.sonicprojects.ch/opxpro/ba…

Demo version of OP-X PRO:
http://www.sonicprojects.ch/opxpro/de…

You will notice that the sound of course is much better without the youtube compression. If you want to exactly recreate the examples you also need to play the same voices, which can be recognized by their panorama setting

To keep everything uncolored and clean for a real 1:1 comparison the stereo outputs of OB-X were recorded directly to daw using an apogee converter. OP-X PRO was rendered directly to harddisk as well.

Furthermore all voices of OP-X PRO before were calibrated to the exact same settings (pan, filter cutoff) as the corresponding voices (6 as well) in the hardware device. With a few exeptions always the same voices were compared by always starting at the same voice position in the circular allocation, which might sometimes give the impression that the same audio file was used. But if you listen very carefully there still can be noticed tiny differences. OB-X generally is a tad bit slimmer and brighter sounding with more weight in the heights and less in the mids while OP-X PRO is a bit darker and has more weight in the mids.

Separate Voice Design (SVD):
http://www.sonicprojects.ch/obx/separ…

This modeling technology used by OP-X PRO is based on completely independent voices with separate signal path and slightly differend sound, as it is the case too in voltage controlled polyphonic analog synths which in fact are based on separate monosynths that are globally controlled. Other than real synths OP-X PRO allows to globally activate and deactivate the detunings of individual parameter groups on demand as well as fine tuning them for each voice separatly with virtual trimpots. This allows for a wide palette of colors between completely “pissed off” and tight and precise. This allows to recreate the character of different synths or to copy the voice settings and character of one specific device in its current state, as it has been done in this video.

The detunings of the following parameter groups can be independently activated and deactivated as well as tuned in detail per voice:

– oscillator pitch
– filter cutoffs
– filter envelope times
– portamento times

All settings of course can be saved with the preset. Have a look at the video to learn what impact those fine tunings can have on the general character of the sound.

4 thoughts on “Analog Vs Digital: The Oberheim OB-X & SonicProjects OP-X Pro Compared

  1. A masterful demo! In it's simplicity, one sees exactly what the software does, what the Oberheim can do, what they each sound like and… that's all one needs to know! I think, too, nowadays, one goes for certain classic synthesizers not because they can do everything or lots of wildly different things, but because certain peculiarities combine in a complex way to make a certain 'quality' of sound which – sure – one can tweak all sorts of ways but as variations on a timbral theme rather than in the olden days when synthesizers could 'make any sound imaginable'. A violin makes, erm, one sound. Yeah, right 😉

  2. Great video and like the other guy said in his comment; it's good to see exactly what the software does and it blew me away, OP-X is fantastic & beats all the other soft synth vsti's that I've heard, which is pretty much all of the Arturia / NI line, they all seem to sound thin in a lot of ways, almost like a wav to mp3 conversion so I hardly ever used them, apart from the OP-X which as I said blows me away.

  3. Great video and like the other guy said in his comment; it's good to see exactly what the software does and it blew me away, OP-X is fantastic & beats all the other soft synth vsti's that I've heard, which is pretty much all of the Arturia / NI line, they all seem to sound thin in a lot of ways, almost like a wav to mp3 conversion so I hardly ever used them, apart from the OP-X which as I said blows me away.

  4. Great video and like the other guy said in his comment; it's good to see exactly what the software does and it blew me away, OP-X is fantastic & beats all the other soft synth vsti's that I've heard, which is pretty much all of the Arturia / NI line, they all seem to sound thin in a lot of ways, almost like a wav to mp3 conversion so I hardly ever used them, apart from the OP-X which as I said blows me away.

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