I think you are a very intelligent human species.

I bet you make some wonderful music with the Ob-12.

I would love to hear some.

I heard some songs with the ob12 and was thouroughly impressed.

It's not the most "original" synth but it sits right next to all of the other competitors and is even better than more expensive units like the jd-8000 .

Who wants to play with a bunch of plastic?

I dont think there is over %5 plastic in the ob-12.

ITS VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY SOLID.

AND QUITE HEAVY .

A very neat synth indeed.

This is by far the best synth I have ever owned. I have used the Roland XP-10, Roland JX-305, Yamaha Rm1x, Roland SP-808, and the Korg Triton. None of them have the sound engineering and tweaking capabilities of this amazingly creative synth.

The OB12's upsides include: the ability to get the sounds in your head into a timbre without settling for something that "just sounds cool", the ability to tweak the heck out of a timbre, the convenience of programs (convenient for live accompaniments and/or live MIDI sequencing/control), the morph-recorder, and the uniqueness (though slightly weak) of the effects (you can get chorus to sound nothing like chorus, for instance).

The OB12's downsides include: a pretty anti-intuitive phrase recorder (step recording and editing are out the window, they don't even allow traditional note values for length/gate/etc), a clicking sound that occurs on some of the low ends of bassy timbres which can only be substracted through tweaking of equalizers, envelope depth, and filters, and its weight (I only say the latter because I have to move every four months for study/work alternations).

The OB12 is the most subjective synth I have ever encountered, though; meaning that "it's a matter of taste" is an underexaggeration. I use this synth for extremely psychedelic music, ambience, and experimental compositions. So it is perfect for me. Play with it extensively before buying, it could be heaven or hell.

This synth sounds like a virtual analog synth. Beetween the virus, norlead, supernova and so on, it's am atter of taste.

Some do better pads, some are punchier, and so on...

The big problem with the OB 12 is that it should never have been called or labelled "OBERHEIM".

We all know is DOES not sound in any way like a real OB or matrix (I know, we have the OB8, OBxa Matrix 12) in the studio. Just the blue color (although its'seven different !!!)

But the OB 12 is not a PIECE OF S.....

It's just a good virtual analog synth like the others ones... with good and bad points.

Best regards. Arnaud.

My current lineup consists of: ARP 2600, Korg Mono/Poly, Juno 106. MC 303 & 505 Grooveboxes, an Korg Z1 and an OB 12.

I've used OTHER digital synths, but my fav 2 are the Z1 and OB-12, and out of those, I MUCH PREFER the OB-12! The Z1 (as well as the OB-12, to be fair), can make some extremely realistic sounds, but the OB-12 EXCELS in duplicating the old analog synth "squiggles, drones, weird sounds, and outer space noises"! It can make some really PHAT, dirty sound textures that i LOVE!

Plus, it's the ONLY digital synth that has an easy-to-read lcd display; most of 'em are so tiny that they're IMPOSSIBLE to read! And, it is extremely close (lay-out wise) to analog synths, which makes it MUCH easier to tweak than the Z1!

It boils down to this: If you want to duplicate "realistic" sounds (musical instruments, etc), get the Z1.....if you make a lot of experimental/ambient electronic music, the OB-12 is THE synth to own! I will NEVER sell mine! :)

http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/270/normusic.html

Norm Vogel (Normusic)

Now it has it's very own fan club.

Be first on the Friends of OB12 mailing list.

Post and exchange patches , share trade-secrets, and hang out with all your OB-12 friends.

Hope to see you there!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FriendsofOB12