It is in immaculate condition and seems to work almost perfectly. It is a rather quirky synth but has a unique sound that stands out among both digital and analogue instruments.

I have always lusted after an OSCar since I first read a review in a 1985 "Sonics" magazine (australian music mag) that ended with the quote 'I want one'. So did I, from that moment forth. I lacked the resources to buy one at the time and when I finally did, there were no OSCars to be found. I finally came across this one, which is the first of few that I had seen that was actually fully operational and physically perfect.

Mine seems to have the full MIDI spec, at least I do not think it is a refit. I am still getting used to the clock divider for MIDI clocks. It seems to be a fine art to get synch just right, but when it does, it swings beautifully. The arpeggiator is clever, but simple -it does seem to have a slight glitch, but I think it is OK in the right musical context and is part of the appeal of the instrument.

I am using my OSCar to do purely electronic sounds and it can go from huge sub-bass to nasally thin screaming lead in a heartbeat.

I think my one has a battery slowly going flat as it doesn't always do the right thing with my patches. It seems to save most of a patch, but omits the Octave and sometimes Filter settings.

Mostly though it works OK. I use it as a regular monosynth mainly and just store the basic patch settings I want then tweak the rest.

I have no problems driving OSCar via MIDI, but I absolutely love the keyboard. It is a lightweight synth action but it is so fluid I can do mad glissandoes on it so simply. I wish my DX7-II (my controller) had the same action.

I find the OSCar has a very full sound, that can stand alone in a small ensemble with just a few instruments, or it can sit in a mix with lots of layers very nicely too.

I also have a MiniMoog that I duet the OSCar with. MY current project involves minimal tunes with OSCar doing bass via the arp/seq synchedto my Drummer and the MiniMoog providing ambient lead and pad lines.

The OSCar is a very fragile instrument and needs to be treated gently. It is not giggable as such in my opinion, unless it is stored with the guitarist's 67 strat and handled the same way.

I am very pleased with my purchase as I wanted one of these for so long and am not disappointed at all with the sound or the performance of the instrument - if only I could find a way to keep my cat off it.

cheers cinematronic@hotmail.com