Hi my friends in synthesis,
I've scoured the OB-X8 manual, followed Oberheim's troubleshooting guide, created a support ticket with Oberheim, and contacted the seller of this hefty beast trying to diagnose what I hope is a bug and not a defect. I'm yet to hear back from Oberheim, given it's the holiday weekend. Yet since I'm used to much simpler synths like the Juno, I wanted to see if anyone who knows the OB-X8 well recognizes what may be causing the issue.
The problem is that when the synth is in its standard keyboard mode (not split or doubled), none of the parameter knobs or buttons affect the sound. If I adjust any parameter controls, the display shows "Edited" over the program name, yet there is no change to the sound. Additionally, neither the Bank or Group knobs work and selecting a Program button 1-8 does nothing either.
Once I select Split or Double, I can adjust parameters for the Upper and Lower sections, change presets, adjust the Group and Bank knobs, and everything functions as it should. As soon as I unselect Split or Double however, the issue returns.
So far I have tried the following:
-Reset global parameters
-Cleared calibration
-Fully calibrated
-Updated the OS from 1.0.0.3 to 1.1.1.0 and repeated the above 3 steps
-Verified that Local Control is set to "On"
-Verified all knobs and buttons are working in standard mode through "Pot & Encoder Test" in the debug menu and via outgoing MIDI messages
The keyboard tech from the Sam Ash that sold me the synth (Reverb) says that this synth was brought in by someone who hardly touched it and was in perfect working order when it arrived. He noticed the issue I've described after the synth was on the demo floor for a little while and figured someone did something wacky to the settings. After trying everything I can think of and that I can find online, I'm worried this is a hardware issue or that something with my particular unit is just plain defective.
While I wait for Oberheim to respond, is there anything I'm missing or anything else that would be worth trying? This has been a dream instrument and I'd really love it if I didn't have to return it.
Thanks for reading my novel and I appreciate any advice the community may have.