What happens when you take 8 mono synths and use them together? Huge analog sound! This sound is the result of slight imperfections between each voice card and, because of some electronic components (mis)behavior, parts from the orginal circuit (notably the OB-X) caused all sort of distortion happening at different stages from filter to VCA and also at the output stage, OB-Xtreme place a special attention to the later with an emphasis on "the Growl".
There is a lot to say about what V2 is, I can already say what it is not : a simple V1 cross-platform
update.
V2 is a full remake, while OB-Xtreme V1 was a simpler take on an OB voice card architecture, V2 is more
closely
related to original OB designs and specs (including features from OB-X, OB-Xa etc)
it is not a direct V1 replacement, nevertheless it got a Legacy mode for Envelope Generators and Filter
control so V1 sounds can be reproduced or made (more on that later).
V2 have higher specs in every part of the circuit, it comes as an upgrade gift to all V1
owners, V1 owners
can update for free or use a "give what you want" option.
The summer 2022 pre release was the full functioning synth minus the v2 factory presets (only v1 bank + some extra were included, LFO2 wasn't active). Since then additional work have been done for Release version which features many improvments, more controls on voltage offsets (portamento offsets! you know you want that), more modulations and better logic. Design sounds and funk it up with some brass stabs, cutting leads, lush pads and screaming bass.
A complete list of OB-XTreme 2.0 features is provided below, in a nutshell OB-Xtreme can act as an
8 voice polyphonic, 8 voice unison mono or true (one voice) mono, a FAT mode engages the unison
while also providing polyphonic unison, that means 8x8 voices power.
Most OB-X/OB-Xa functions are provided, including SAW, PULSE, TRI oscillators
shapes and the peculiar SAW+PULSE which can produce an interesting +1 OCT harmonic depending on the pulse
width setting.
the 2Pole filter is based on the OB-X and the 4Pole is based on the CEM3320
implementation, the 2pole has that classic SVF linear "singing" resonance across the
bandwidth while the 4pole will resonate less at lower cutoff values (a bit Moog like), a bandpass output
is also provided in 2pole mode while 4pole have an optional volume loss compensation.
The Xtreme factor is the main control over the emulated OTA enduced distortion, one
chip in particular the CA3080 was used a lot at different places in the circuit (although less and less
over the OB synths evolution). OB-Xtreme gives some control over that, you can push them way beyond the
original specs or stay at minimum for more traditional behavior, you can also bypass PRE or POST circuits
for versatility.
The PRE stage will act more on lower notes while the POST stage is linear across the range.
Another feature is the under the hood access so you can control the 8 voice cards voltages across
the main parts. The cards variations are an important factor to mimic the analog character,
while using a VCM (virtual component modeling) approach, I wanted something effective but not time
consumming so I designed some pre-defined offsets and deviations that you can dial in or scatter across
all 8 voices.
You get seven macro sliders: OSC (which doubles on the front panel as the "SPREAD") controlling OSC 1 and
2 tuning offsets, FILT filter envelopes offsets, AMP for amplitude envelope offsets, VCF for VCF
deviation, PW for pulse width offsets, PORT for portamento glide time lag and XMOD for cross modulation
offsets.
Additionally you can toggle a realtime small random deviation per note or randomize and scatter
deviations around. Voltages offsets reflect on the GUI as positive or negative voltages (yellow/blue).
I removed a not so usefull temperature function that changed the EG timing to make room for individual
card tuning, the cards tuning in semitone (+1 OCT range) can give interesting results, we can have a
ressembling chord mode when using unison (FAT) mode.
The Fat and screaming sound!
Windows:
Windows 10 and higher, 64bit host, plugin provided format is VST3.
Not supported but has been proved to work on Windows 7.
Mac OS:
Mac OS (10.14) to Mojave or higher, 64bit host, plugin provided format is AU (AudioUnits).
Not supported but has been proved to work down to Mac OS (10.12.6).
About AudioUnits format:
AU is Apple s proprietary audio technology, part of the Core Audio provided by Mac OSX. It is part of the operating system so it provides low latency and system-level support for the interface. Most DAWs developed for Mac OSX support the Audio Units interface due to its stability and system-level solutions (which also means faster processing). Apple Logic only utilizes Audio Unit format plugins, but other DAWs such as Ableton can also use these.
One or two DAWs like for example Cubase do not support Audiounits directly yet but you can still easily load an AU plugin with the help of a VST host plugin, some popular solutions are DDMF Metaplugin or BlueCat's Patchworks, a popular free one that recently got open sourced is KUSHVIEW ELEMENT. You will find info and a direct link to latest free binaries at the support/OSX Support part of my website.
Protools:
Avid Protools only supports its proprieratary format AAX at the moment but you can still easily load an AU or VST plugin with the help of a VST/AU host plugin, some popular solutions are DDMF Metaplugin or BlueCat's Patchworks, others might be available that I am not aware of yet.
Other info:
32bit is not supported ATM
Mac M1 handles it fine (rosetta 2) even if not compiled for native ARM yet.
Native ARM/INTEL as universal binaries as well as Mac VST3 format are in the making.
Get amazing details about the OB Synth line and master the OB-XTRM 2!
OB-XTRM V2 Manual - coming up!
You can check your current version with a right click on the GUI.
Updates for OB-XTRM 2.0
owners are free until version 3.0
Get OB-XTRM v2 for Windows & MAC
Windows 10, or newer, Mac OS (10.14) to Monterey or higher, M1 compatible*.
64bit Host, PC
VST3 or MAC AudioUnit Host.
OB-XTRM 2.0 comes with both Windows & Mac Installers and Manual
*works on Mac M1 even if not native ARM yet (see compatiblity info tab)
Thanks for your interest!
Once your payment is accepted you will receive an Email with info and download links for
the OB-XTRM
software within 3 days Max (could be a bit more on release dates), usually it takes 24h
Be sure to authorize incoming Emails from info@alyjameslab.com and alyjames.info@gmail.com in
case they would be blocked by your spam filter.
The software will be registered to your Paypal account name.
