Dave Smith Instruments LLC today announced that they will begin shipping a desktop module version of their acclaimed OB-6 six-voice analog synthesizer in the early fall. Like the keyboard version, it boasts a sound engine inspired by Oberheim’s original SEM and features an all-analog signal path with discrete VCOs, VCAs, and filters. The knob-per-function front panel offers immediate access to virtually all parameters.
As Dave Smith explained: “The OB-6 has met with unprecedented approval from across the music industry. In just the four months since its release, it’s been adopted by an extraordinary number of artists and is already appearing in projects across the world.” Added Smith: “We wanted to make the desktop version available as quickly as possible to make it even easier for musicians to take it on the road or into the studio. We made it a priority that the desktop version retain the same powerful sound, and easy-to-use front panel interface as the keyboard version.”
Smith continued: “We’ve also added a poly chain feature so that any two OB-6s can be paired for 12-voice polyphony. That is a monstrously big sound.”
The essence of OB-6’s vintage sound is its discrete voltage-controlled oscillators (plus sub-oscillator) and discrete, state-variable filter, both based on the classic Oberheim SEM (the core of Tom Oberheim’s acclaimed 4-voice and 8-voice synthesizers). Voltage-controlled amplifiers complete the all-analog signal path. Said Tom Oberheim: “The desktop module sounds every bit as good as the OB-6 keyboard because, on the inside, it’s exactly the same — the same VCOs, VCFs, and VCAs and the same big, in-your-face SEM sound that people have always loved.”
The module weighs approximately 13 lbs (5.9 kg) and measures 20.75” L x 7.8” W x 4.4” H (52.0 cm x 19.8.cm x 11.2 cm).
The OB-6 desktop module will be available in the early fall with a projected MAP of $2,299.