Oberheim OBX8 as Desktop Version...?

[phaedra23]

Hey guys,
what do you think, will Oberheim bring out a desktop Version of the OBX8 as Prophet 5/10?
That will be very ineresting for me, because I have a lot of good keyboard synths, and I need space in my studio! So I will wait, probably in next winter namm show??

[LPF83]

Hey guys,
what do you think, will Oberheim bring out a desktop Version of the OBX8 as Prophet 5/10?
That will be very ineresting for me, because I have a lot of good keyboard synths, and I need space in my studio! So I will wait, probably in next winter namm show??

I'm in the same position, another keyboard won't work for me so I need a desktop.  The Prophet 5/10 modules were announced about 3 months after release of the keyboard, so I'm guessing Aug or Sept for the announcement.  I'm hoping the desktop will have mini-paddles as I'd like to try them out.

[Elric]

Hey guys,
what do you think, will Oberheim bring out a desktop Version of the OBX8 as Prophet 5/10?
That will be very ineresting for me, because I have a lot of good keyboard synths, and I need space in my studio! So I will wait, probably in next winter namm show??

I'm in the same position, another keyboard won't work for me so I need a desktop.  The Prophet 5/10 modules were announced about 3 months after release of the keyboard, so I'm guessing Aug or Sept for the announcement.  I'm hoping the desktop will have mini-paddles as I'd like to try them out.

  Just remember the chip shortage/supply chain stuff.
It might 6 to 12 months to get your synth! (If you want it to work correctly.)

[LPF83]

  Just remember the chip shortage/supply chain stuff.
It might 6 to 12 months to get your synth! (If you want it to work correctly.)

Very possible..  but I have plenty of other hardware to hold me over in the meantime.   Maybe I'll splurge my annual budget on a Super 6 or something until the desktop version comes along... I can be a very patient person

[phaedra23]

Yes, for me it will be worth to wait for a desktop version of OBX8. Hope for a better price! (800-1000$ cheaper???) and probably extended features (more cv gate in outs, MPE, or Poly AT)!

[LPF83]

Yes, for me it will be worth to wait for a desktop version of OBX8. Hope for a better price! (800-1000$ cheaper???) and probably extended features (more cv gate in outs, MPE, or Poly AT)!

It will need to be in the range of $1,700 less than the keyboard version for me to bite.  I doubt they would sell many desktop units if priced near the $4k mark. 

[phaedra23]

Yes, for me it will be worth to wait for a desktop version of OBX8. Hope for a better price! (800-1000$ cheaper???) and probably extended features (more cv gate in outs, MPE, or Poly AT)!

It will need to be in the range of $1,700 less than the keyboard version for me to bite.  I doubt they would sell many desktop units if priced near the $4k mark.

probably some dealers could make special offers on black friday...

[shells]

Looks a fantastic product excepting perhaps the 8 note polyphony (ideally 10 for stacking). I'd drop £3-3.2k on a desktop - no chance of £4.7k on another master keyboard - for space, rig and value reasons.

[LPF83]

Looks a fantastic product excepting perhaps the 8 note polyphony (ideally 10 for stacking). I'd drop £3-3.2k on a desktop - no chance of £4.7k on another master keyboard - for space, rig and value reasons.

I've come to love the 10 voices of the P10 though I have no real complaints about 8.. especially since OBs have a thick sound.  I can say I wish for flexibility in the bi-timbral configurations -- allocating 3 voices to the left side of the keyboard and 5 to the right for example would be nice.  I saw Marcus say unison is all voices in mono, I certainly hope that can be thinned out to as little as one mono voice like Sequentials synths.

[jok3r]

Looks a fantastic product excepting perhaps the 8 note polyphony (ideally 10 for stacking). I'd drop £3-3.2k on a desktop - no chance of £4.7k on another master keyboard - for space, rig and value reasons.

I've come to love the 10 voices of the P10 though I have no real complaints about 8.. especially since OBs have a thick sound.  I can say I wish for flexibility in the bi-timbral configurations -- allocating 3 voices to the left side of the keyboard and 5 to the right for example would be nice.  I saw Marcus say unison is all voices in mono, I certainly hope that can be thinned out to as little as one mono voice like Sequentials synths.

I thought I heard someone in some of the Superbooth videos say that unison voice count will be a Page 2 Parameter... that would be really nice.

[LPF83]

Looks a fantastic product excepting perhaps the 8 note polyphony (ideally 10 for stacking). I'd drop £3-3.2k on a desktop - no chance of £4.7k on another master keyboard - for space, rig and value reasons.

I've come to love the 10 voices of the P10 though I have no real complaints about 8.. especially since OBs have a thick sound.  I can say I wish for flexibility in the bi-timbral configurations -- allocating 3 voices to the left side of the keyboard and 5 to the right for example would be nice.  I saw Marcus say unison is all voices in mono, I certainly hope that can be thinned out to as little as one mono voice like Sequentials synths.

I thought I heard someone in some of the Superbooth videos say that unison voice count will be a Page 2 Parameter... that would be really nice.

Indeed.  It sounds like the display may add a lot of flexibility to the page 2 concept..  Maybe even a page 3

[marzzz]

They will deny it. They will say "we can't talk about future development of products." But I have heard all of this before, and now I will wait contentedly...

btw-the keyboard does respond to PolyAT, so I imagine a desktop module would also.

[RobM]

Hey guys,
what do you think, will Oberheim bring out a desktop Version of the OBX8 as Prophet 5/10?
That will be very ineresting for me, because I have a lot of good keyboard synths, and I need space in my studio! So I will wait, probably in next winter namm show??

I was at NAMM and spoke with the Oberheim sales peps and from the conversation a few cool stuff is in the pipeline but first is a desktop version. I hope it's true.

[brandonm]

I was considering a (potential) desktop when the OB-X return rumors started floating, but it may be out of my price anyways. I own a well-serviced OB-8 with Fatar keybed and I just don't think I could part with it for the OB-X8 keys.

[Scrypt]

I've wondered if Dave envisioned the OB-X8 as a module at all, or whether he intended to wait and see how this synth fared before developing a version for customers who lacked room for the full keyboard. I wonder not only about supply chain issues but about development questions now that Dave is no longer here.

[LPF83]

I've wondered if Dave envisioned the OB-X8 as a module at all, or whether he intended to wait and see how this synth fared before developing a version for customers who lacked room for the full keyboard. I wonder not only about supply chain issues but about development questions now that Dave is no longer here.

I don't want to pretend to know what goes into creating a desktop version of a synth, but I'd think once the synth electronics have been designed, putting it in a smaller form factor is not particularly challenging, and is a way to achieve higher sales by reaching a wider audience because sales of a 5 octave synth is always going to be somewhat challenged by the fact not everyone has room for another one.  So for business reasons I'd think Focusrite would want to release a module version for the same reason Dave did (and the same reason so many other keyboards eventually find their way into desktop form).  Supply chain issues and such... well that's anyones guess.  But I'd think Focusrite has a lot of experience and purchasing power that Dave and Tom would have had individually, and other folks are shipping their synths so I don't see why not.
Maybe wishful thinking on my part.

[AlainHubert]

A desktop version would be great. But for those who would like it to be less expensive than the keyboard version, have you looked at the prices for a brand new OB6 Desktop unit lately (around $2400 USD)? So I would assume that an OBX-8 Desktop would be more expensive than that. Probably around the $4000 USD mark, since the keyboard version is a thousand US dollars more.

[LPF83]

A desktop version would be great. But for those who would like it to be less expensive than the keyboard version, have you looked at the prices for a brand new OB6 Desktop unit lately (around $2400 USD)? So I would assume that an OBX-8 Desktop would be more expensive than that. Probably around the $4000 USD mark, since the keyboard version is a thousand US dollars more.

Perhaps..  My guess for an appropriate price point for a desktop OB-X8 would be in the $3k-$3,200 range USD... this is based on 8 voices and assumes similar manufacturing costs to the rev 4, basing that on current desktop prices of Prophet 5 @ $2,600 and Prophet 10 @ $3,400

[c3dw]

No space for a keyboard, so zero chance of buying one. Need the desktop!

[xeamus]

I would gladly buy a desktop version because of lack of space.