Manufacturer Oberheim Price US$4395 Timbrality Bitimbral | Dates 1983 - 1985 Polyphony 8 voices Oscillator 2 VCOs per voice | |
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The Oberheim OB-8 is a subtractive analog synthesizer launched by Oberheim in early 1983 and discontinued in 1985. It belongs to the OB-X product line of polyphonic compacts synthesizers and is successor to the OB-Xa. The number of production was about 3,000 units.
The OB-8 features eight-voice polyphony, two-part multi-timbrality, a 61-note processor-controlled piano keyboard, sophisticated programmable LFO and envelope modulation, two-pole and four-pole filters, arpeggiator, external cassette storage, MIDI capability and 120 memory patches, 24 bi-timbral patches, and used the Z80 CPU. Musician's interface also consists of two pages of front panel programmable controls, left panel performance controls and a set of foot pedals and switches.
Artists who have used the OB-8 include Boys Noize, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, Prince, Spinetta Jade, Queen, Van Halen, Depeche Mode, The War on Drugs, Styx, Kool & The Gang, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Clarence Jey, The Police, Siekiera, Silent Running, The KLF, Future Sound of London, Barnes & Barnes and Nik Kershaw.