Sequential, the company of Dave Smith has filed the trademark for OB-X, will we see a reissue of the legendary Oberheim polysynth for NAMM 2021?
Prophet 5 and Prophet 10, Dave Smith and his company Sequential surprised everyone with these two synthesizers in 2020. There were no leaks, no advance notice, it was a real surprise. The information has now emerged that Sequential is working on another reissue. But none from the impressive Sequential history but an iconic synthesizer from Tom Oberheim.
New information says Sequential has filed to trademark “OB-X” for use with musical instruments, namely, keyboards; music synthesizers’. More precisely, this could be a possible reissue of the legendary analog Polysynth OB-X by Oberheim from 1979. This news is all the more interesting because the virtual NAMM 2021 will start shortly. Anyone who has followed the NAMM News in recent years also knows that Sequential is releasing a new Synthesizer at exactly this time. Last year the Pro-3 hybrid synth.
Sequential OB-X
Whether we will see the Sequential OB-X for the NAMM is not known but a remake seems to be in the works. It’s not yet sure whether it will be a classic reissue or a complete further development. Personally, I would be happy about an OB-X next generation with new features. The original OB-X features two VCOs per voice with sawtooth or pulse, a two-pole lowpass filter with an ADSR envelope, 1 LFO, 1 ADSR-VCA envelope as well memory for 32 patches.
If it is a next-generation OB-X, the new features will be very interesting. I would love to see an option to choose between the OB-X and OB-Xa filter, more modulation power (ADSR, LFO…), MPE support, more patch memory… It’s going to be exciting and one thing is certain: Sequential didn’t just register the name for fun. It would also be amazing if both Synthesizer pioneers have teamed up again as they did it before with the OB-6. I would celebrate that to be honest.
Tom is 84 years old and this could possibly be the last Synthesizer he will make and that with Dave Smith. So that would be a perfect final official Oberheim chapter. Even if another well-known company bought the name. Original remains original.
More information will follow here: Sequential
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