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-Xa "Latest result of the evolutionary philosophy..." ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1981

Oberheim OB-Xa "Latest result of the evolutionary philosophy..." 2-page colour synthesizer advertisement from page 42 and 43 in the February 1981 issue of Contemporary Keyboard.

Hubba hubba! This is my kind of centerfold.  No, I'm not talking about that J. Geils Band song everyone used to roller-skate to. I'm talking full-on pure centerfold gear pr0n.

Early side note: Just for sh*tz and giggles, I decided to Google "centerfold", and sure enough not one, but two links for the song of the same name by the J. Geils Band, are actually the top links.  Yup - that song beat out anything related to Playboy. How popular do you have to be to do that?!? Although unfortunately, the Wikipedia page for the song doesn't mention roller-skating at all. Very disappointing. :)  And yeah, don't try the image search though, unless you are 1. alone and 2. not at work.

But back to the ad.

Oberheim obviously thought they got some good bang for their buck with their first ever 1-page colour ad for the OB-SX, and so decided to keep the colour machine running when launching the latest instrument in the Obie family - the OB-Xa - with not just one page of colour, but TWO. 

Like their only previous 2-page ad (in black and white) for the OB-X, a good majority of the two pages of real estate was reserved strictly for imagery. Rightly so - that OB-Xa baby speaks for itself with its gorgeous texture and colouring, the big-ass OB-Xa logo with that cute little "a", and all those other fine details such as the red accent line running along the bottom of the ad that we were first introduced to in the colour 1-pager for the OB-SX. TOberheim - you are on a roll.

As for ad-copy, again Oberheim keeps their long-standing theme of "evolution". And their positioning as a higher-end synthesizer manufacturer by including such lines as "collaboration between Oberheim staff and professional musicians" - with the keyword being "professional".

I used the word "launch" to describe the purpose of this OB-Xa ad, but were there enough changes between the original OB-X to consider it a whole new instrument? Heck yah! The bullet points angled down the lower-right hand side of the ad give all the details, except what I think is the most important one - the switch from discrete circuits for oscillators and filters to Curtis integrated circuits.

The Wikipedia page for the OB-Xa points out the obvious - this change "made the inside of the synth less cluttered, reducing the labor required to replace bad parts; and reduced the cost of manufacture". But, not mentioned (but probably inferred), is that this switch also resulted in a change to the sound of the OB-Xa when compared to the OB-X.

I wasn't the only one interested in this difference. The sound comparison question has been asked on the 'net on numerous occasions, but I found two sites in particular with some good information. The first was a conversation on the GearSluts forum back in 2009. And a post in that thread took me to a good Oberheim OB overview from the September 1998 issue of Sound on Sound. There are other interesting conversations out there too. And, unlike some comparison conversations I've witnessed, the Oberheim crowd tend to keep it on-topic and it rarely devolves into name-calling. Gotta like that.  :)

Did you notice that curious end to the ad-copy? This little gem is something new for Oberheim: 

"Don't take any wooden nickels"

I took it as an obvious message to musicians not to accept cheap alternatives (and a jab at other manufacturers).

Not sure how I feel about the inclusion of that little sentence - did they really need to "go there". Maybe it was more of an in-joke thing?

This particular ad appeared a couple of times at the beginning of 1981 to introduce readers to the OB-Xa. And it certainly wasn't the last we would hear from Oberheim about this instrument. But, the OB-Xa (and OB-SX) would have take a back seat to the new DSX digital polyphonic sequencer and DMX programmable digital drum machine for the next while.

Short post - time to enjoy the extra long weekend (which by the time this goes live will almost be over. Drat.

But yeah - nap time.

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.