Arturia OB-Xa V
The weighty Oberheim classic is the latest to get the V treatment. Is Si Truss Jumping for joy?
CONTACT KEY FEATURES
WHO: Arturia WEB: arturia.com 16-voice virtual subtractive synth with arp and three effect busses. PLUGIN FORMATS: Standalone, VST 2.4, VST 3, AAX, Audio Unit.
Tom Oberheim’s OB-Xa was a massive synth in every sense; bulky in size and shape and immensely thicksounding, with up to eight layered voices and an aggressively gritty filter. Its distinctive sound made it equally suited to ’80s rock and pop – Van Halen’s Jump is the most obvious reference point – as well as later dance and electronic styles.
Despite its power, the original synth itself is simple to program, with a neat interface that gives upfront access to the bulk of its subtractive synth engine. The core UI of Arturia’s version is identical to that interface, albeit with a few small additions. The most obvious is the arpeggiator, at the bottom of the interface. There are other tweaks too though; the OB-Xa V adds an X-Mod dial for cross modulation between the two oscs, replicating functionality present on the Xa’s predecessor, the OB-X. There’s a brand new stereo spread feature too, a great compliment to the synth’s existing unison and detune capabilities. This latter feature is deeper than it first looks too, with a ‘hidden’ interface panel allowing users control over how the spread function interacts with the oscs, filter and LFO, plus access to the pan position for individual synth voices.
The rest of the OB-Xa’s additional features are hidden in the plugin’s Advanced View drop down. Here we get a mod matrix that allows velocity, keytracking, aftertouch, mod wheel and the filter envelope to be routed to any of 50 destinations. The modulation section also houses four function generators – customisable LFOs – that can be routed to the same destinations as the mod matrix.
Also under the advanced tab are a trio of effects slots. Each can be filled with one of nine effect types, including reverb, delay, compression, distortion and modulation effects. These are all pretty simple in design, but sound solid. Some effect parameters can be used as mod matrix destinations – including delay times, and reverb or delay wet/dry balance – but it’s a bit of a shame there aren’t more options here, such as the ability to modulate the overdrive or bitcrusher.
The one place where, arguably, Arturia have missed an opportunity is the filter. The OB-Xa’s Curtis filter design is emulated here, with both 2- and 4-pole varieties present, but given that Arturia have an impressive SEM emulation in their plugin arsenal, it’s a shame not to have an
Arturia takes the original OB-Xa and builds on it with smart new tools
option to switch to that here too, to create smoother OB-X tones alongside the harsher character of the Xa.
These are all minor gripes though. Importantly, Arturia takes the OB-Xa and – as with other ‘V’ plugins – builds on it with smart new tools. The arpeggiator, additional modulation and stereo tools work really well with the base synth design, and add a touch of extra chaos that helps bring this classic into modern realms. This is far from the only OB-Xa emulation out there but there’s enough here to set this apart from the crowd.