Howdy. Recent viewer, first time poster.

I recently got a Korg Prologue 16 as my first analog synth and I've been loving it for the most part. However while it scratches 80-90% of the itch (for me anyway) for Prophet, Juno and even some OB and Moog-ish sounds, as is often the case with GAS I've started to crave more gear. I finally gave in and got a Poly D to get closer to slaking my Moog thirst and now feel like I want something to get closer to the Oberheim sound.

I've been intrigued by some of the Ub-xa demos but I wondered if anyone had any tips on the best way to make Oberheim-esque patches on the Prologue and/or if anyone thinks there would be any reason to get the UB-xa or if it would just be redundant if I already have the Prologue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xitEIzAsI7o

(I know Behringer is controversial, If I had the money I would totally go for the Ob-x8 but I just can't justify spending that much money any time soon)

Another thing I've been considering is taking a cue from Tim Shoebridge's video "Getting the Ob-6 sound on a budget" and running The Prologue through an SEM style variable state filter to add a different flavor to the sound. Has anyone actually done this either with the Prologue or anything else?

The minilogue (non-xd) can get pretty close (4-pole filter), though you should also give the Sequential REV2 a shot as well.

the prologues oscillators have nice movement. i do not like its filter.

So it seems like you'd recommend the option of running it through a different filter?

you wouldnt get voice per filter architecture. it can still sound cool but not ideal. id rather grab a poly synth with a filter that i outright liked.

and FYI the ob6 has a very different style filter to the old ob-xa and new x8. the SEM filter was originally used on the Oberheim monos.

ps: if im wrong here someone please correct me

Wasn't the SEM filter, minus the variable state mode, used on the OB-X?

I thought the OB-x8 was supposed to have the SEM filter with variable state mode and the Obxa/Ob8 filter as well

you are right.

https://www.vintagesynth.com/oberheim/obx.php

looks like there wasnt very many ob-x’s even made. and the ob-xa may be alot more revered from a sound standpoint.

It does seem like the Minilogue XD is weirdly more popular than the Prologue but I think I much prefer having 16 voices and a 5 octave keybed on a polysynth.

I really considered getting the Rev 2 but went with the Prologue because it seemed like the Prologue had a richer core sound and was more of a "performer" instrument than a "studio" one. Maybe the Rev 2s better modulation options other features would make it a good companion piece to the Prologue but it feels like the Prologue is better equipped to imitate a VCO-based "character" analog like the OBxa.

i much prefer the prologues raw sound to the rev 2

It's because at least the minilogue xd has motion sequencing to make up for the lack of modulations. The prologue has very little modulation and mod routing capabilities.

Expecting to get OBX8 sound from Prologue is pointless. Don't. You'll just be annoyed with the synth not getting you there.
Because it won't and it shouldn't. It is what it is and it should be what it is.

There's a reason your synth costs $1000-something and OBX8 can be bought mostly by people that have music only as a second job.

What really matters is - do you like your Prologue's sound? If yes - then just enjoy your synth. If not - get something else.

I mean I understand that, but just because something is much more expensive doesn't mean a cheaper synth can't approximate it even if it can't you get all the way there. Love or hate Behringer, a Boog seems to be able to get you 98+% of the sound of a Minimoog (again, why I got a Poly D).

I do enjoy the Prologue, and especially the ability to combine different digital sounds with VCO sounds through analog filters, but I do think it can also do a damn good job simulating "classic" sounds from various vintage analog polys and while I'm not expecting it to sound exactly like an Obx, obxa or Ob-6 (or a Prophet, Juno, Jupiter, whatever for that matter) why wouldn't a 16 voice 2 VCO per voice analog be able to get you fairly close if you tweak it the right ways?

I'm a keyboard player more than a "synthesist" and am relatively new to sound design. I like acoustic or electro-mechanical keyboard sounds as much or more than actual synths so it's hard to justify having more than a couple of them ((my other boards are a clonewheel and a stage piano with great EP emulations) . My dilemma I guess is whether or not I'm enamored enough of the Oberheim sound specifically to get an Ub-xa (I definitely cannot afford the Ob-x8) when it comes out or be content with the how close the Prologue can get me.

I don't have a Prologue, or any 'logue for that matter, but some synths can get closer to sounding like "synth X" than others. It all depends on, well everything. Filters mainly.

The Prologue has a 12db filter that I think has some MS20 or 700s heritage, I forget which. Definitely a Korg sound. Whether that sound can get close to the Oberheim sound for your ears I can't say. Maybe it could imitate the OB-X to some degree, but it won't sound like the 24db filter on the OB-Xa/8. In a mix it may not matter.

Do you have any other synths besides the Prologue, or any softsynths? Software is a good way to get OB sounds on a budget, if you don't mind dealing with a computer. There are a multitude of nice Oberheim emulations out there by Arturia, Sonic Projects, GForce and others.

OP do the thing and let us know how it goes

as previously mentioned, running a synth through an external filter wont ever sound the same because the filtering wont be done on a per voice basis. but it can still sound cool.

Consider getting an OB6 desktop. It wins on cost vs. the OB-X8, wins on availability vs. the UB, and without stirring up the hornets nest about whether the OB6 has "the Oberheim sound", relative to the Prologue and Poly D you would be getting the most Oberheim-y non OB-X8 out there now.

If the OB6 is still too expensive then you probably have to wait for the UB, but you have no guarantee on the cost or sound until it is out -- almost all of the conjecture on the board is either not informed or not impartial.

“The Prologue has a 12db filter that I think has some MS20 or 700s heritage, I forget which. Definitely a Korg sound.”

the prologue has very harsh resonance. pretty much the total opposite of the oberheim sound as far as that goes.

I have an OB6, a Prologue 16 and a Pro3 on a track I made awhile back, and for some reason most people ask me about the 2 sounds, which were just the Prologue doing some dark pads, and the other was just an arp with a triangle wave or something like that... I like the Prologues natural distortion but I couldnt keep it. Sadly it had to go. Maybe one day I'll grab another. It does sounds pretty good.

Always will be mad at Korg for only making 5 with Aftertouch...

Comparing to the ubxa is pointless, IMHO that synth is still at least a year off for most (non beta testers / YouTubers).

I also wouldn’t be looking for outboard filters to run the prologue through if the goal is to try to get an ob sound…I would just use it for what it is / learn the depths of it, if / when the ubxa comes out buy that if it’s still what you fancy.

IMHO none of these details like “does it sound like an oberheim” or whatever matter in the end…the only thing that matters is if it sounds good/fits the song, very few people choose the music they listen to based on what brand of synth it may sound like…

Ask yourself - do you even need "that Oberheim sound"? And what exactly do you mean by it?

Because OB-Xa and OB-X8 sound different. The former has Curtis CEM3320 filters and the latter has actual Oberheim's SEM filters - which do not sound alike. In fact technically OB-Xa has more in common with Prophet 5 Rev3 than it has with literal "core" Oberheim synths.

But if you mean "can I get the "Jump"* sound out of my Prologue" - yes, you can. It won't sound like "Jump" on OB-Xa (and neither will "Jump" sound like that on OB-X8) - but it will sound like "Jump".

Because subtractive analog synthesis is the same everywhere.

Just try to get the best sounds you can (aka sounds you will enjoy the most) out of Prologue and enjoy it.

*I don't mean "Jump" literally, just to give you an example.

Ehm, you're wrong. The OB-X8 has both the SEM and Curtis filters, including the 4 pole mode and the state variable stuff of SEM (bandpass / highpass / notch). It also has the differences in square waves / LFO intensity and envelope behaviour of all the models, selectable from the 'page 2' menus. So it can mimic the OB-X, OB-8 and OB-Xa pretty much spot on. It even has all the original presets of the various models and there are some direct A/B comparison Youtube videos where you can hear they're 99% identical give or take a few nuances or random stuff like calibration imprecision, portamento start or LFO/VCO phases. Also anybody who heard an OB-Xa next to a Prophet 5/10 knows they're completely different worlds even if they share some components.

I didn't say they sound the same, just that they are 'technically' similar. Like literally 'technically'. Having CEM3340 and CEM3320 in both OB-Xa and P5 Rev3 certainly makes them a lot more related to each other than OB-Xa to Four-Voice.

The fact that all analog synths sound different is a fact, hence why trying to make synth A sound like B is mostly pointless. Even synth A1 won't sound exactly like A2.

The Poly D is my only other "synth" synth (again I have a clonewheel and a digital piano). I tend to like having self-contained hardware instruments, as expensive and impractical as it may be (I'm also trying to talk myself out of buying a memotron, haha). I feel like if I were to get into softsynths I'd rather do that with the kinds of synthesis that either aren't available or aren't practical in analog- FM, wavetables, granular etc - and even then somewhere down the road I might want to get something like an Iridium, Wavestate or Prophet X.

In some ways it seems like despite the filter similarity the Ob-x might be the harder one for the Prologue to imitate than the Obxa, because isn't the discrete circuitry a big part of the Ob-x sound? i.e. that sort of "ensemble of monosynths" quality?

OP i find the new Take 5 to have a super great filter reminiscent of the Oberheims in some settings for some applications. Alot less voices than your Prologue though.

There are dozens of other factors more important than discrete vs integrated circuits to the sound.

I encourage you to audition some synths and try to get the sound you are chasing — you will probably be surprised which end up getting closest.

To my ears the OB-X8 has a magic with the filters wide open. There's plenty going on with the voice architecture (distortion, phase relationship of square/pwm osc etc.) and then there's the filter.

OP if you're really bothered about the last few % I'd pony up. Prologue is a nice sounding synth and I don't think you'll get hugely closer, because of the many unique elements to the OB voice architecture.

BTW that last few % is why people here end up hoarding dozens of synths so buckle up to pony up even more if you're that selective!

If it were my money and I wasn't happy with Prologue, Take 5 and Prophet 10 are ace suggestions. T5 looks capable of a wider palatte if you're not wedded to the OB sound.

I wouldn't call the Take 5 "Oberheimy"...it's a completely different architecture with SSI oscs+filters, not even CEM. But it does sound nice and it can get fat and raunchy. Its resonance is pretty distinct too, but different than Oberheim's. I have one alongside an OB-6 module, which sounds great in its own way.

Maybe watch some youtube vids of various analog polysynths to see which ones sound what you're after at the price you're willing to pay. As far as authentic Oberheim-ness, short of the OB-X8, the OB-6 is the next best bet at a much smaller cost.

Responding to kraze and kslight

I'm not interested in getting Oberheim sounds for branding or for recognition or just to sound more authentic when doing covers but simply because I like the way they sound, believe it or not. Before I got the Poly D trying to recreate Moogish sounds on the Prologue was still fun even if didn't sound 100% authentic (and while the Poly D is better for that stuff it's not quite AS much as better I initially thought it would be).

As far as "Jump" I figured out how to create multiple versions of the jump sound that I like on the Prologue pretty quickly. I'm more looking to figure out how to get the kinds of sounds in these videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDd4p6eJgQQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xitEIzAsI7o

Again I've already learned a little bit by trying to tinker with envelope settings and was partly just looking to see what other pointers others might have.

If you haven't tried already something that commonly helps newer synths with distortion to sound bigger like those examples is to start with a reasonable amount of distortion (50%?) and with osc gain very low, and to tweak to taste.

I don't own a prologue but the approach works for me with other synths.

The other thing I feel worth mentioning is the copious vibrato that's always in OB videos with PWM. Those sounds benefit from independent LFOs at different speeds, so far as I recall there's one LFO on the prologue? That being the case the custom user oscs might help you if they have their own internal LFO...

Yeah I guess it's just the nature of GAS/The Hedonic treadmill that getting something nice just makes you want something even better.

The Take 5 does seem to sound pretty nice, but 5 voices and a 44 key keybed just seems pretty limiting on a polysynth. The Prophet 10 I guess is a little cheaper than the Obx-8 right now and might have more sonic range but it's still quite expensive and even the Ob-6 is still juuuuust a little outside of my budget at the moment.

I think to me the Ob-x specifically is what intrigues most and I guess the only way to recreate it is to either save up for an Ob-x8 or wait until Behringer releases the Ub-x (is that still a separate project from th ub-xa or did they combine them?)

Still a separate project but even further down the line than the UB-Xa, so definitely don’t hold your breath!