ACME XP60 is an upcoming new polyphonic analog Synthesizer that replicates the Oberheim Xpander technically and sonically.
The fascination with reviving vintage synthesizers will remain strong in 2025. Behringer is at the forefront of relaunching almost the entire vintage synth market. But it’s not just Behringer; many small companies also want to give vintage synths a new life.
My friends from the German Sequencer Forum discovered an exciting new project. ACME, a one-man synth repair company led by Markus Malik, is working on a clone/replica of the legendary Oberheim Xpander polysynth.
ACME XP60
XP60 will be a clone/replica of the Oberheim Xpander from 1984. According to ACME, development is advanced.
As a reminder, it was a 6-voice desktop polyphonic analog Synthesizer with 12 VCOs, linear FM, 15 VCAs per voice, and a multimode filter with different pole settings: lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch, and phase shift.
One of Oberheim Xpander’s original strengths was its routing and modulation flexibility. It hosted five ADSR envelopes and five multi-wave LFOs per voice, the latter of which could sample most other modulators. Plus, it gave you a crazy 15 VCAs per voice, so in total, 90 VCAs.
Markus Malik from ACME is replicating this vintage polysynth goodness for his project XP60. According to him, the first prototype is ready, although optimizations are still needed everywhere, for example, on the shrunk PCB, power supply, and more.
The pictures immediately show that the Oberheim Xpander clone/replica is much more compact than the original. Thanks to modern technology, its uber-size can be packed into a classic desktop device.
Cloned Circuits
Internally, it is based 1:1 on the circuits of the original Oberheim Xpander from 1984. According to the first info, he will use reproductions of the CEM3374 VCO and CEM3372 VCF VCA chips.
The developer said on the Sequencer Forum that attempts were also made to recreate the IC circuit using discrete transistors. Still, despite adjusted values, no satisfactory results were obtained regarding temperature stability and FM, so this approach was not pursued further.
ACME will also adopt the original operating concept for the XP60, which has three displays. One improvement, however, will be the controls, which will have LED rings whose colors can be customized.
The complex firmware is currently based on the original Xpander. It will host the LFOs, envelopes, and other software-implemented functions. Tom Oberheim has been asked for permission to use the firmware.
This step would lead to restrictions for the user; for example, there would be no MIDI CC support, only Sysex. Therefore, I hope that the developer takes the extra time and brings improvements, making it more modern.
The ACME XP60 is in full development. Its release date is unknown. The device’s availability and price are TBA but will be limited to 50 units. More units may be available in the future.
An exciting project, and I will stay tuned and report when there is news about it.
More information here: ACME
Let’s face facts, it will be tremendously expensive so let’s just wait till Behringer nail it for an eighth of the price.
Love or hate Behringer, they are f*cking nailing it right now, we can all build sound suites full of the gear from the past for a fraction of the cost of buying the old, f*cked, retartedley expensive originals.
If the upcoming Behringer Pro16 sounds ANYTHING like a Prophet 5, I’m done, game over, I’ll buy three.
If Behringer makes an Expander copy, I’ll bet money it will come in under $1500. Lay your bets.
Bravo! bravo! bravo! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
You are very correct. My estimation this will be $3,499. And it appears it is offering the routing flexibility but also the tough interface which should be a no go. I owned the Matrix 6 back in the day and it was wonderful, but I would easily spend countless hours trying to use it. If Behringer does it, it will be far more usable and as you say, REASONABLEY priced. Epson Kraft just recently analyzed the sell through prices of vintage gear on eBay and NONE of them are selling anymore. It is indeed coming to an end.
It looks absolutely beautiful. I often wondered when someone would clone or get more inspired by those beautiful beasts like the Xpander and Matrix 12.
I have the Doepfer xpander filter and it’s so versatile.
I expect it will be expensive but who knows how much it will be.
Wonder why they 3d printed button caps (and mechanical keyboard switches) when Marquardt still makes #6425 switches and keycaps. They look very close to the originals and they feel great imo.
it must be said this is a prototype not the final version. Indeed, the Doepfer Xpander filter is lovely 🙂
I had 3 Xpanders, and each time I expected the new one to blow away the previous, but sonically I always felt it was never up to the SOUND I expected (as the owner of an OB8). THEN…I discovered modular synths and instantly I got it – if you have some modular experience, so much makes sense now. Hoping to get another, or, even better, a Behringer priced clone.