Xmod.... Is it really that useful?

[musicman666]

I have watched videos on xmod ...experimented with it and gone through a few patches on the ob6 to see what it brings to the table but I can't seem to get anything or hear anything very musical out of it at all.

Sure it can bring some glitchy weirdness to the sound or prehaps some overlying grit but that's as far as it goes for me.

what ob6 patches best show off the musicality of xmod?

[Benzebub]

Short answer: Yes, it's useful!

More elaborated answer: I find it really great for filter FM (especially with some resonance added to the filter), controlling the pitch of oscillator one with the envelope while being synced for the classic sync sound and also subtle modulation of wave form and filter mode. I usually never use presets so cannot give any good examples.

[Soundquest]

I agree with Benzebub.  I also find the cross mod useful.    I mentioned elsewhere in this form about that trait of the OB6,  that there are some subtle, as well as not so subtle features of the instrument to allow modulation of sound.  Cross Mod is one such feature that I like a lot.   Having cross mod feature to modulate sound is perhaps not as familiar outside of the modular realm, but one that gives character to this instrument.

While I never craved on-board effects,  I learned to like the availability of such on the OB6.   I'm sure some synth purists might argue, but effects IMO are simply more available ways to modulate sound.     The effect I find most interesting on the OB6 is the ring mod.  I'm not clear if this effect is truly ringing both oscillators together in traditional terms, or whether this is just some digital replication of that being applied.  Nevertheless,  the end result seems true to form with various ring modulators I've used.  Combined with the various filter settings some  great formant type sounds become available.

[DiesIraeDisArray]

I find the Xmod, and Amount(Filter Envelope) are very useful for getting

Flutter/Siren Vibrato/Tremello type sounds I haven't played around too much, but maybe I had fiddled with the Pan Spread when I found this.

[Chimponaut]

Imagine the OB-6 without X-Mod...Almost 1/3 of the modulation possibilities gone. Immensely useful.

[h4ndcrafted]

I found x mod useful with this bell drone :p xmod is pinging the filter on a held gminor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8-rwgSzOSY

[psionic11]

If you want to bend the pitch of OSC1, you can use the Filter Envelope under the X-mod section.  Good for getting that initial detune in the attack portion only where OSC1 bends up to pitch against the normal OSC2.  You'll need to tweak the Filter Env amount against the Sustain to get the destination pitch of OSC1 where it needs to be. 

[LoboLives]

The one thing I wish the OB6 had (or even the P6 for that matter) was the ability to raise and lower a single oscillator's pitch manually with the mod wheel.

Other than the fact you can modulate one or both Pulse Widths is there any major difference between X-Mod and the Poly Mod of the P6?

[AlanC]

The OB-6 has two extra destinations: filter mode and filter normal<->band pass. Modulate the latter with VCO 2 and you get a rather unusual sound, almost as if there are two filters running in parallel.

Regarding the original question, yes it is very useful. For example, you can use it to get a range of vocal type sounds by using VCO2 to modulate the filter; just keep the amounts subtle. I reckon I've used X-Mod to a greater or lesser degree in fully half the patches I've created, and I'm definitely not into the harsh / glitchy type of sound.

[Morgenspaziergang]

First off, im ignorant .. so indulge me gents..

Is "cross mod" an oberheim development or is it on other synths but just under a different name?

For example, like on the prophet its "slop" but the ob6 its "detune".

There's modulation destinations, then theres cross mod. Two separate types of functions yes?

Yes i have an ob6 but im not a synth guru.

[LoboLives]

The OB-6 has two extra destinations: filter mode and filter normal<->band pass. Modulate the latter with VCO 2 and you get a rather unusual sound, almost as if there are two filters running in parallel.

So not really a whole lot of difference.

[AlanC]

Is "cross mod" an oberheim development or is it on other synths but just under a different name?

For example, like on the prophet its "slop" but the ob6 its "detune".

There's modulation destinations, then theres cross mod. Two separate types of functions yes?

The particular effect that cross mod usually refers to is the ability to use a VCO to modulate either the frequency of another VCO or the filter cutoff at audio rates, producing some very distinctive sounds.

On the Prophet 5 and Prophet 6 it's known as Poly Mod. It's perhaps a bit unusual to have a dedicated section and to have routings for the filter envelope and VC02 in the same section.

It appears on quite a few other synths but in a different form. For example, on the Moog Voyager you have two modulation busses that allow you to choose a variety of sources including oscillator 3 and the filter envelope, which you can then send to various destinations including the filter cutoff or oscillator frequency giving you the same results as the dedicated X-Mod / Poly Mod section on the DSI synths.

[theliftedindex]

I just recently got my OB-6 and have struggled to get X Mod to play nicely with me. Whenever I try to use VCO2 with X Mod I get what seems to me to be a slight, but unpleasant, clicking sound for every cycle of VCO2. Doesn't matter what wave shape it is, there's always a little percussive attack that bugs me. Is this supposed to be there? It makes all of he pretty ideas I had in my mind for X Mod not so pretty : )