Oberheim OB-Xa and OB-SX "Oberheim Updates" ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1982

Oberheim OB-Xa and OB-SX "Oberheim Updates" 2-page colour advertisement from pages 46 and 47 in the January 1982 issue of Contemporary Keyboard.

If you have been keeping up with my Oberheim obsession, then you might be wondering - why the big time jump between that gorgeous 2-page OB-Xa introductory advertisement from February 1981 I just blogged about on Monday and this also-gorgeous OB-Xa and OB-SX advertisement from January 1982?

Well - Oberheim took a bit of break in advertising their OB-series for most of 1981. That doesn't mean that readers of CK couldn't find a lick of information on Oberheim gear, but as far as ads go, the OB-series was out. As luck (or strategy) would have it, even without ads, Oberheim and the OB-Xa still managed to wiggle in a few guest appearances in the mag.

For example in February 1981, Oberheim announced a new publication for dealers and owners in the "Keyboard News" section of CK:

"Oberheim Electronics Inc. (1455 Nineteenth St., Santa Monica, CA 90404) is now putting out a free company newsletter to dealers, advertising carriers, Oberheim equipment owners, and other interested parties. The newsletter will appear quarterly and will include a small Q&A section...."

Oberheim also went through a bit of a tough patch when the June 1981 Contemporary Keyboard review of the OB-Xa didn't exactly go as planned. The two-page review, written by the most excellent Dominic Milano, begins well enough with a small introduction to Oberheim's polyphonic synthesizer history starting with the 1975 Chicago NAMM show and those two SEMs and keyboard that showed up there. But it is the end of the introduction that provides one little piece of juicy historical info:

"Oberheim tells us that they're selling mainly 8-voice instruments, since in split mode a 6-voice instrument would have only three voices on each half of the keyboard, while in double mode it would only sound three notes overall."

 I love documented history of buyers' behaviour - and is one of many reasons I collect CK and other music mags. A little nugget of gold. Seriously!

After this introduction, Dominic then quickly turned his attention to the synth itself, with numerous detailed sections dedicated to the keyboard, the programs, edit mode, left-hand controls, panel controls, manual section, control section, modulation section, oscillator section, filter section, envelopes, rear panel, and even inner controls.

On that rear panel section, Dominic mentions my favorite - the computer connector! And why not - it is kinda sticking out like a sore thumb.

"Then there's the multipin connector for interfacing the OB-Xa with a computer. This jack, the owner's manual explains, is for interfacing the instrument with future Oberheim products."

Interfacing? Computer? Future Oberheim products? Would CK readers at the time be as intrigued as I am about this? And did those readers realize it was only a month or two later that these "future" products would be launched?

Okay - I'm getting ahead of myself. First I have to explain why this review didn't really go as planned for Oberheim...

Dominic starts the rather long conclusion (almost a full column of text!) of the review with:

"When you've got a piece of high-tech gear, it's pretty much a certainty that at some time it will break down. The question is not whether, but when..."

Aaaaah... obviously Dominic is just about to reinforce the rock-solid reputation of Oberheim instruments. Right? RIGHT? Reading on...

"Reliability is one factor that people consider when they're looking into a programmable polyphonic synthesizer, but reliability will vary as much or more from one machine to another as from one manufacturer to another..."

Yes, of course. But what does that have to do with Oberheim...?

"The reason we're bringing this up is to stress that you shouldn't draw too strong a conclusion from our experience with the OB-Xa, even though in good conscience we have to let you know about it..."

Wait? WHAT? What's he talking about?!?

"We had the opportunity to look at two OB-Xas over a span of two months. the first unit that came had a wrong-valued resistor in its LFO, which affected modulation. In addition, after we'd had it for a a few days the memory started malfunctioning, so that some patches were showing up with wrong values. Needless to say, this affected their sound. On the second instrument we received, four of the eight voices were noticeably lower in volume than the other four on the mono output in normal mode, and there was no way to adjust them so that they were balanced in volume."

Ouch.

But the fine editor at Keyboard also points out that the second OB-Xa was sent on to a retailer who couldn't find anything wrong with it.

I include this info not to rag on Oberheim. The exact opposite. Bad luck hits every company at some point. Having it happen *twice* during a CK review sux total bum. But Dominic, the true professional, handles this situation well, using it as a lead-in to why it is important to fill out warranty cards (Yes. It still is...). And going back and reading the review again, there is NOT AN OUNCE of frustration in his writing tone. It remained a very fair and accurate review. And kudos to Oberheim for weathering this relatively small storm extremely well  - no doubt due to their already rock-solid reputation for quality and professionalism, that still exists today.

(I did not get paid to say that  :)  

After that review appeared in June 1981, Oberheim spent the second half of 1981 switching their focus from the OB-Xa to the two newest members of the family -the DSX digital polyphonic sequencer and DMX programmable digital drum machine.

I've already posted and blogged about these and other "System" related advertisements when I had originally obsessed about Oberheim's pre-MIDI interface.

[Pauses to think back fondly]

The two ads in particular that took up most of the second half of 1981 - this DSX/DMX 2-page introductory ad and a creatively titled DSX "Xtra hands" 1-pager sure do fit in well with the previous OB-series ads I've been blogging about recently, eh?

Oh - before I forget - the OB-Xa actually managed to squeeze in one more appearance in the December 1981 issue of CK.  And it is directly related to this ad that started in January 1982.

In the December issue's question and answer section, Dominic Milano answered this question related to the OB-Xa's expanded memory - which again - includes a wack of historical information both about Oberheim personnel, as well as information on modding up older OB-Xa's:

"I've heard rumors that Oberheim is now shipping OB-Xa polyphonic synthesizers with expanded memories. Is this true, and if so, can owners of OB-Xas without expanded memories get them?

Russ Jones, vice president of marketing for Oberheim, tells us that beginning in mid-September 1981, OB-Xas were indeed given expanded memories. Where they had 32 memory positions for storage of patches, they now have 120. In addition to that, memory space for split and double combinations was doubled from 8 to 16. Cost of the parts for the modification is $120.00. Owners of OB-Xas that are still under warranty can have the work done by any authorized Oberheim service center with no charge for labor. The modification shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to add onto an instrument. The memory expansion kit also includes a cassette tape with the new preset sounds, with space for the user to write his or her own sounds onto the tape."

Awesome info!

This blog post is already tipping 1000 words, and between my online and offline research on the OB-Xa and OB-SX, as well as info coming in from a few old and new friends of the blog, I could go on for another 1000 word at least.

But that will have to wait. Time to enjoy the rest of my extra-long Easter weekend - which when you read this is long over. Boooo!

Oberheim OB-SX "What makes the OB-SX so impressive" ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Oberheim OB-SX "What makes the OB-SX so impressive" 1-page colour advertisement from page 23 in the December 1980 issue of  Contemporary Keyboard.

Want to know what makes the OB-SX so impressive?

**THIS AD**. That's what.

:D

For a start - it is in *colour*.  I believe this is the first Oberheim advertisement in CK to appear in colour. Can you believe it?!?!

And this is their second "First" for  1980! The first "First" being that their first two-page CK ad appeared in the March 1980 issue - the OB-X "Evolution of a classic" ad.

Also impressive - the photo used in this ad. Up close and personal. You can even make out the surface texture. Almost feel it! The only disappointment is that you don't see the OB-SX logo on the synth. I love that big fat font with the slightly larger "S". The ad-title font comes close, but just doesn't do the actual logo full-on justice.

The ad-copy is impressive in that it is short and sweet - not typical for Oberheim.  With the main ad theme being "Sound", Oberheim again pushes the OB-SX as the keyboard for the "professional musician" who's too busy working to learn to program. It's excellent positioning, and I'm sure played well with their main audience. Interestingly, they continue to mention that other sounds are available on chips, but gone is the original offer to customize memory chips if a user sends in a cassette dump from their OB-X.

I mentioned this in my last post, but I gotta say it again. I really think Oberheim missed an opportunity by not pushing the custom chip angle more, explaining that musicians could program their OB-X in the studio, and then get the custom roms made of their patches to take on the road inside the much cheaper OB-SX. Maybe it just wasn't cost-effective to make the custom chips, or, not many people took advantage of the opportunity. Boo.

Friend of the blog (and the Vintage Synth Explorer forums!) Micke mentioned in the comments section of my first OB-SX post that the photo in that ad was not the final product:

"...the instrument pictured in this intro ad is most likely a prototype or pre-production unit because it looks a little bit different from the "regular" OB-SX. To begin with, it has less knobs/controls on the front panel, and the OB-X logo is in a different position."

How did I miss that, especially with all the comparisons I've been making with the different OB-Xs in a recent post!?!? Gah!

In a follow-up email exchange with Micke, he provided more detail on OB-Xs, OB-SXs, and beyond.  I'll be including a lot of that information in a future post or three (a lot of info!), but some of that OB-X and OB-SX info fits perfectly in this blog post.

First, Micke pointed out that, in fact, the first OB-Xs off the production line did have what I called the "normal" font logo on them. I had included a progression of OB-X photos in that last blog post, the first of which was from Contemporary Keyboard's '79 NAMM article - and the one I suggested might be a prototype.

OB-X photo from Contemporary Keyboard NAMM article
Notice OB-X logo in top right in 'normal' font.

 BUT, Micke points out  that in those early production OB-Xs, that "normal" font wasn't in the top left corner like in the photo above. But in fact they were in the bottom right, together with that awesome punchy Oberheim logo. Micke pointed me to a number of photos of OB-Xs to substantiate this claim - along with many of their famous owner's names and the albums they were used on! I also came across this image, but can't for the life of me remember where it was from:

If this is your photo, let me know. I can remove or give you full credit!

But, how did he know these were "early" OB-Xs? Micke explained that you could tell when Oberheim OB-Xs were built by looking at the serial number:

"To the best of my knowledge the first two digits indicate the year of manufacture; The 2nd and the 3rd digits indicate in which week of the year it was made, and finally the last two digits refer to the number of units built in a given week. Thus, the OB-X with S/N #793504 was the 4th unit built in the 35th week (the last week of aug) of 1979. "

Nice!

And further more, based on serial numbers, Micke also was able to pinpoint when the "final version" of the OB-X with the big fat juicy OB-X logo in the top left corner was finally shipping:

"The lowest (or earliest) S/N I have managed to find for an OB-X with the new look (the one you refer to as "final version" [See image below for example] is 793534 (the 34th unit built in the last week of aug 1979). This suggests that

a) the OB-X with the "new look" appeared only a couple of months after Oberheim introduced the OB-X and

b) a relatively small number of OB-X's with the "old-look" were shipped from the factory. "

FINAL Version from MATRIXSYNTH Flickr
Notice OB-X logo on top left in awesome Oberheim font
and Oberheim logo in bottom right of front panel

Now that's some detective work. And, we now know there was only a few months of production time before the final version of the OB-X started shipping.

Although that is some awesome OB-X info, what does this have to do with the OB-SX - the instrument featured in this ad? Not much... yet.

But, if you recall from my last blog post on the OB-SX, I'm kinda obsessed with Oberheim's computer port, a kinda pre-MIDI type connector that let Oberheim instruments sync to each other, and which later was officially labeled by Oberheim as "The System"!

In that OB-SX post, I had suggested that the computer port was available on the OB-SX from the start since it was listed in that introductory ad - bringing the introduction of "The System" all the way back to mid-1980.

And now Micke has provided information letting me know this port was ALSO available on the last batch of OB-Xs that came out roughly the same time as the OB-SX. To be more precise, the port appeared on the OB-Xs starting in the first week of September 1980 with serial #803600!

I <3 that computer port.

End note: Micke referenced that last batch of OB-Xs as "Rev 4", a term you evidently won't find in any official Oberheim info. According to Micke, "Rev 1-4" designations were created by a guy named Tony Clark who had a Web page dedicated to the OB-X and that "he created these designations purely for the purpose of identifying the age of the OB-X in question. According to Clark there's no reference to a rev 1, 2, 3 or 4 in any Oberheim documentation."

Unfortunately that site doesn't seem to exist any more.  :(

If you find it, let me know!

Oberheim OB-SX "We call it..." ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Oberheim OB-SX synthesizer "We call it..." 1-page black and white advertisement from the July 1980 issue of Contemporary Keyboard 1980.

Perfect. Or almost perfect. Haven't decided which yet. This advertisement just works on so many levels.

Right from the top, this ad pulls in anyone that may glance at this ad. The first thing a reader sees when they flip to this page is the ad-title: Oberheim OB-X for $2,995. Retail.

Those sneaky SOBs! Getting me all excited like that. Readers at the time would be thinking Oberheim has made a drastic price drop to their OB-X, when just a year before the four voice OB-X model was introduced at $4,295.

But the photo underneath the ad-title reveals the truth  immediately and readers are introduced to Oberheim's newest family member - the OB-SX.  Overall, the thin, top-heavy layout ensures that reader's eyes start at the top and reads downward, so there is little chance someone might get confused.

No harm. No foul.  Nice work.

The rest of the ad-copy fills in the details. Your $2,995 basically gets your a pre-programmed OB-X with 24 awesome sounds. "User programmability is not necessary". Better yet, buyers aren't limited to those 24 sounds because they ccould purchase and swap out other ROM chips with different patches. And even better, users could get custom chips made by sending in OB-X program cassettes to the factory. A musician could now keep his or her relatively expensive OB-X in the studio, and then when touring, just get the sounds used on the record dumped on a chip and put in a much less expensive OB-SX.

Brilliant thinking on Oberheim's part.

While researching this post, I found some historical debate on MATRIXSYNTH and elsewhere on whether the internals and sound of the OB-SX resemble the older OB-X or later-launched OB-XA. Indeed this ad compares it to the OB-X, but, that doesn't mean the internals and sound are anything like them. I can't really speak from a technical perspective, but from a marketing perspective, Oberheim didn't have a choice. The OB-XA hadn't been announced yet. So, even if internally, the technology had evolved enough to more resemble an OB-XA, Oberheim couldn't state this fact in this ad or they would have blown the OB-XA surprise.

My 2 cents.  :)

One other interesting note about this ad-copy... if you read right to the very last bullet point about the OB-SX's features, IT MENTIONS OBERHEIM'S COMPUTER INTERFACE! WTF?

Is this the Oberheim pre-MIDI interface, later known by Oberheim as "The SYSTEM", that I became a little infatuated with back in 2010? In one particular blog post I included this little bulleted timeline to explain it's introduction.

In my September 30, 2010 "The System" ad blog post, I did a little Contemporary Keyboard back-tracking to see just when Oberheim or the magazine might have first mentioned the connector:

"I found one of the earlier direct mentions of the multi-pin connector back in the June 1981 Keyboard review for the OB-Xa. The interface is mentioned very briefly in the description of the rear panel, where Dominic Milano writes that the owner's manual explains it "is for interfacing the instrument with future Oberheim products"."

Good lord, I'm quoting myself quoting other people now...   :D

Anyways, what I thought was the earliest mention was back in 1981.

1981: DSX, DMX, and OB-Xa start appearing in ads together.
1982: 1st generation "System" (OB-Xa/DSX/DMX) ad appears.
Early 1983: This OB-8 ad appears - no mention of the "System".
Mid 1983: DX drum machine ad appears - mentions the "System".
Late 1983: 2nd generation "System" (OB-8/DSX/DMX) ad appears.

Point is, this OB-SX ad came out almost A FULL YEAR before that June 1981 Keyboard review for the OB-XA, and that DSX/DMX/OB-XA ad that I also reference above.

Could this ad be the first reference to Oberheim's "System" technology? Way back in 1980? It's lookin' pretty likely.

Interestingly, most references I've found online, even Vintage Synth Explorer, suggest that the computer interface was added to the OB-SX some point later in it's production. But, this introductory ad clearly states that the computer interface was available right at introduction - in mid-1980. Nice.

I'll hopefully continue this OB-SX dialogue in my next ad post - with some guest commentary :)

There's some good resources out there!

End note: Can anyone tell me what the S stands for in OB-SX?  Maybe "Simple"? Gah. Sounds stupid.

Anyone... anyone...?

Oberheim family of products - The System, Keyboard 1982

Oberheim family of products aka 'The System', including the OB-Xa and OB-SX synthesizers, the DSX digital sequencer and the DMX digital drum machine from page 7 of Keyboard Magazine June 1982.

My recent blog posts have been about "The System" - but those posts were all about the Oberheim 1983 System which included the OB-8 synthesizer.

Here is an ad featuring the older version of "The Oberheim Performance System" circa 1982. *THIS* is the system I dream about at night. I drool every time I look at it.

I not only drool because of the gear-nerd that I am, but also because the marketing guy in me knows a good thing when he sees it. This ad documents the point in time that Oberheim's marketing department finally started to push the concept that "the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts".

Oberheim knew these pieces looked good together. Oberheim knew they sounded great together. They just needed to be tied together into one... cool... slick... package...

And The System is born!

I also dig these earlier Oberheim ads because they feature these particular pieces of gear. And knowing when the OB-Xa, DMX and DSX started showing up in ads helps give us a good idea of just how long the tech *behind* the Oberheim system had been around before MIDI made it's commercial breakthrough.

Before doing research, I was thinking ---> This ad started showing up in June 1982? The first MIDI synth came along shortly after in 1983. Bah!

True. But as it turns out the the actual technology behind "The System" was available long before this first ad.

I started looking back at old issues of Keyboard to see just how far back the technology went, and, even more interesting to me, how Oberheim positioned these pieces before "The System" as a whole made an appearance.

I found one of the earlier direct mentions of the multi-pin connector back in the June 1981 Keyboard review for the OB-Xa. The interface is mentioned very briefly in the description of the rear panel, where Dominic Milano writes that the owner's manual explains it "is for interfacing the instrument with future Oberheim products".

Not only is "The System" not mentioned yet, but there isn't even a brief mention of the DSX or DMX, which is strange because....

Just a month later in the July 1981 issue, Oberheim began running a two-page advertisement for the DSX Digital Polyphonic Sequencer and DMX Programmable Digital Drum Machine. The photo in the ad has the two featured products up front, and shaded out in the background is the OB-Xa synthesizer. This is the first sighting I've found of the three pieces together.

There is a lot of ad-copy in this two-pager, including one brief bullet point on the DSX's side mentioning that the DSX sequencer "interfaces directly with the OB-X, OB-SX and OB-Xa and the new DMX".

The ad-copy still doesn't mention "The System", but it does end the ad by mentioning how great the three separate pieces of gear work with each other

"The OB-Xa, DSX and DMX are amazing by themselves, but together... watch out!"

The next month in the August 1981 issue, the DMX and DSX show up in the Spec Sheet section of Keyboard. Again, there is only a brief mention that with the DSX, "direct interface is possible with the Oberheim OB-X, OB-SX, and OB-Xa synthesizers and DMX drum machine". (I'll save the full text of the Spec Sheet for another day - another ad :o)

But, still no direct mention of "The System". Come on, Oberheim marketing guys - MIDI is getting closer and closer to launch!

And in the January and February 1982 issues, Oberheim runs another two-page ad featuring the the updated OB-Xa with 120 programs. Again - only a brief mention that "The OB-Xa is interfaceable with Oberheim's DMX Digital Drum machine and DSX Digital Polyphonic Sequencer".

Is 'interfaceable' even a word? I guess I've used worse...

But, gah! It's been almost a year since Oberheim started putting these three pieces together in ads, and the Marketing Department still hasn't turned it into "System" gold!

And then, a few months later... BAM!

In the June 1982 issue of Keyboard ("The New Synthesizer Rock" issue with Michael MacNeil of Simple Minds playing an Oberheim OB-Xa on the cover - sweeeeet!), we finally have this first "The System" ad on page 7, directly across from the "Letters to the Editor" section. Great real estate!

And what a beauty it is. These three pieces of gear look great together, all wrapped up snuggly in their "System" marketing package. Seriously.

So, although it took until June 1982 to finally call this 'The System' in advertisements, Oberheim obviously had the system in mind since at least June 1981. And if you take into account that I probably didn't catch the first documented instance of the tech, and the fact that the development of the OB-Xa started much earlier... then Oberheim probably beat out MIDI by more that two years.

Nice work, Oberheim.