February 22, 2022
by GForce Software
I was pretty amazed by OB-E, it was pretty damn close right out of the shoot. It was “wow!“. I like listening to that. With OB-E v2, it’s like you have the hardware with you.
Tom Oberheim, Synth Pioneer.
London, 22.2.22 – Tom Oberheim and GForce Software present Oberheim OB-E v2. An even more authentic emulation of the Oberheim® 8-Voice, and the first ever software instrument with Tom’s personal endorsement*.
Last year, as we neared the release of OB-E®, we were contacted by Marcus Ryle on behalf of Tom Oberheim. Marcus is a co-founder of Line 6® but also a former Oberheim Developer who contributed to the OB-Xa, DSX, DMX, OB-8, Xpander and Matrix 12. Through Marcus, OB-E found its way to the ears of Tom Oberheim and they were both impressed enough to suggest a collaboration to refine the instrument and release an update carrying their full endorsement.
Despite receiving several Best Soft Synth 2021 awards, working under the guidance of Tom and Marcus, we further enhanced the already incredible sounding OB-E. Refining the Detune feature and adding a new Vintage knob, dials in more realistic musical inaccuracies in line with the original instrument for a truly authentic 8-Voice experience. We’ve taken time to get this right and implement it in a way that does not compromise the sound of your existing presets. Your track will sound the same, if you want it to…
The first time I heard OB-E I knew it was special. Its authentic tonal character and musicality makes it the closest thing to analog hardware that I’ve ever experienced. It’s been really gratifying to refine this powerful foundation with GForce Software in order to capture the few remaining nuances of component tolerances and calibration that add just a bit more magic into this very impressive piece of software.
Marcus Ryle, Former Oberheim Developer and co-founder of Line 6.
The 8-Voice is not simply eight identical SEMs put together. The interaction of those 8 independent, and slightly different Synthesizer Expander Modules, plays a major role in making the 8-Voice’s sound so incredibly beautiful. The injection of these authentic inaccuracies into each of the eight SEMs in OB-E takes it to another level, one that blurs the lines between the hardware, and makes OB-E v2 the most authentic emulation of the Oberheim SEM sound and 8-Voice instrument.
Additional features include a new reverb, 100+ new patches making a new total of 700+ Patches. You now have the ability to Zoom on the sequencer, in addition to a crazy new Drum Mode which enables each SEM to be played by a dedicated key. We also added 10 drum kits presets to get you started. If you were looking for a new analog sounding drum machine, give it a go, this might surprise you.
Existing OB-E owners will be happy to discover that OB-E v2 comes as a free update. PC users, we hope, will be happy to discover that it’s now PC compatible. (see, we told you we love you too).
As synthesizer obsessives and fervent electronic music historians, collaborating with both Tom and Marcus to realise this latest version of OB-E has been a genuine ‘pinch-me moment’ for all of us at GForce Software. We have deep respect for all the synth pioneers’ immense influence on our lives and this journey and collaboration has been a huge honour.
Dave Spiers & Chris Macleod, co-founders of GForce Software Ltd.
*Whilst the Oberheim branding has been displayed by other software manufacturers before, this was at the time the trademark was owned by Gibson, and Tom had no involvement. Gibson had the good grace to give Tom back his trademark in 2019 enabling him to start a new journey.
Oberheim OB-E v2 – key features
- [New] 100+ New presets
- [New] Vintage knob & Refined Detune parameter
- [New] Matrix Reverb
- [New] Drum Mode and 10 drum kits presets
- [New] PC support, VST3 and Apple Silicon Native
- [New] Sequencer Zoom
- [New] Flexible scaling UI
- An authentic sounding emulation of the Oberheim® 8-Voice
- 700+ factory Patches designed to fit in a mix, all tagged and categorised
- Librarian for easy access to the presets (Arrow Keys Navigation)
- ZOOM enlarges an individual SEM filling the UI with front & rear panels side by side
- Group and Offset mode to edit all SEMs at once, Individual SEM Copy/Paste/Save
- Upper/Lower SEMs can be Split across the keyboard
- Multi-faceted analogue style sequencer
- Extensive Velocity & Aftertouch modulation, Pan and Volume per SEM
- Polyphonic aftertouch and MPE.
More info at http://gforcesoftware.com/products/ob-e
All trademarks, service marks and company names are the property of their respective owners. Oberheim and SEM are registered trademarks of Tom Oberheim. Line 6 is a registered trademark of Yamaha Guitar Group.