Seems like it's a better investment than the Prophet 5/10 REV 4s
Do you mean for your particular needs or in terms of the future resell value?
Neither. For the money, it's a better investment based on it's capabilities and versatility of features compared to the P10
An investment means contributing something toward the goal of obtaining a greater future return. I'd like to understand your logic here. Subjective individual valuation aside (i.e. one musician preferring an Obie sound to a Prophet or whatever).... what is the future return of a synth?
You win Mr. Spock. You win.
Fortunately music isn't a sport to me and I wasn't hoping to win anything, I genuinely was trying to understand your thought.
"Sometimes A Feeling Is All We Humans Have To Go On."
If you just meant you'd prefer it to the Rev4, then fair enough. I just think there may be an interesting discussion in there about synths as an investment (because increasingly, I do see them as such, in the true meaning of the word).
The OB-X and OB-Xa command higher prices on the used market compared to vintage P5, is that because there were less units made or because they were less durable and thus there are less remaining? Etc.. I'm a synth geek and into that sort of topic. I'm unqualified as a Star trek geek having literally never watched an entire episode nor seen any of the movies... I had to google your quote to understand the reference. lol
I look at it in terms of value for money spent. Stereo signal, more memory, arpeggiator, dedicated splits/layer section etc. Compare that to a Prophet 10 REV4 barebones approach, it's hard to not feel that Dave should have just went a bit more further with the REV4 as Tom is doing with the OBX8. These aren't deal breakers for some obviously but to me the OBX8 feels more like a new instrument rather than a reissue with a few modern accommodations. Sort of like comparing the Two Voice Pro to the Moog Model D reissue. Tom seems to be a bit more forward thinking compared to the other analog synth brands of old in terms of reissues (I remember speaking with a rep from Korg about the ARP 2600 FS and I asked how do I clock the sequencer to a MIDI clock and then they realized....well...you can't....there's MIDI on the module but there's no way to sync the sequencer which was built into the keyboard and he even admitted that was an oversight).....Tom seems to have thought all the details through and I'm genuinely happy for him.
Something that's interesting to me coming from the Soundtrack world is that Prophets were EVERYWHERE and Oberheim OBX/as were barely anywhere. I've also noticed a lot of New Wave bands tended to gravitate towards the Prophet and more American rock bands were OBX/a oriented. I think because the Oberheim sound tends to cut through a mix better. Most of the soundtracks that had an Oberheim used the SEM Four Voice but any soundtracks that used an OBX/a almost always had it playing alongside a Prophet (Terminator) or orchestra (The Exterminator, Maniac Cop, Invasion U.S.A.). I think the only scores to feature an OBX/a solely was Rob Walsh's scores for Revenge Of The Ninja and Young Warriors. Just an OBXa, DMX drum machine and Les Paul.
I definitely agree that the OBX8 seems more positioned as a new product thats based on the OBX/Xa rather than a reissue; and I wonder if this is because the specific sound of the original could not be faithfully reproduced, so maybe in part, it's a license to avoid a bunch of YT vids calling the new synth out for not being authentic enough? Personally I would fully understand if faithfully recreating the sound of the original well enough to call it a reissue weren't possible... Dave said himself the only way that recreating the P5 sound was even possible is because the same parts became available again, and as I understand it there are components in the original OBX that are most likely not being remanufactured. If it can the match sound of an OBX / Xa as the Rev4 does the Rev 1/2 and 3, then I'll be happy. If it comes no closer than the OB-6 to the vintage sound, I will likely be disappointed, but I'm optimistic (not even cautiously so -- just simply optimistic).
In terms of what it offers for the dollar compared to the Rev4, I'll evaluate the bang for buck a bit more once I fully understand the feature set. On one hand it is stereo as you pointed out, but it has two less voices and a lot less wood than my P10, with a MSRP of $600 more. Preset storage is pretty similar, oscillators I assume are same (3340), it does have a screen which I both appreciate and almost wish it didn't at the same time (I know that sounds strange but I love the fully retro look and spartan readout on my P10), so perhaps the real value provided the screen will depend on how it is used -- for example, (in addition to the obvious such as being able to see patch names) it could be used to more easily guide the user through keypress sequences that unveil new firmware features in a way that's much nicer than memorizing key combinations, and prevent buyers from knocking their wheels (err.. paddles in this case) out of calibration by accident, etc.
The whole Prophet vs OBX phenomenon has always been interesting to me. As a Gen-Xer I grew up loving American rock... I started playing the drums at age 5 (first toy drums then nice Ludwig kit), and was at a near professional level in terms of skill by age 7-8. But as an adolescent, MTV happened and introduced me to British new wave and I found synthesizers to be more of a true passion as I was also becoming a budding software developer at the time and enjoyed watching the marriage of music and computers.... So Dave Smith has pointed out, back in the day their were Prophet guys and their were Obie guys. I suppose I was more of a Prophet guy in terms of the types of songs each were famous for... I liked Van Halen but honestly "Jump" never impressed me, nor did other synth-heavy rock. I liked the OBX/a for its overall sound and the relatively rare use of it in new wave. Fast forward to now, and I could still probably say the same... if I had to choose between the P6 and the OB6 for example, I'd take the P6 simply because it's more versatile. I totally get why some feel the other way around, but I always look at the total number of uses I might use a synth for.
I had never really thought about OBX or OBXa fitting better into mixes... I guess it depends on the mix, but I always think of them as a somewhat fatter sound than the Prophet, which often means they demand more elbow room in the mix (scooping away other harmonics and giving the fatter synth its personal space), but at the same time with the 2 pole filter on the OB6, it has a very "sizzley" sound which does often give it a certain prominence. I think of Obies as more wanting to stand out in the mix and make it their own... while the Prophet patches tend to be more willing and open to finding a niche inside the mix, and cooperating with other sounds to let the player determine what role it should play, while being more than willing to jump out of the box and break down walls if commanded to do so. For the TVS, FVS etc. I'm honestly not sure never having played one, but I do find that sometimes synths with less voices and/or less oscillators are in fact easier to work into a mix simply because they carve out their groove in a very distinctive way.
One way or the other, I assume that since the OBX8 is neither a OBX or OBXa, but rather kind of both in one, that we will not see "purist" reissues of the original. And for that reason I will most likely need to buy one of these. I'm still going to wait a while, keep eyes and ears open on reviews, and hold out for a desktop announcement.