Aly James Lab OB-Xtreme 2.0: Growly Oberheim infused synth emulation

19 Jul 2022 by Robin Vincent | 4,4 / 5,0 | Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes

Aly James OB-Xtreme  ·  Source: Aly James

Aly James OB-Xtreme  ·  Source: Aly James

Aly James OB-Xtreme  ·  Source: Aly James

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For version 2.0, Aly James has reworked the OB-Xtreme software synthesizer for added fatness, increased distortion emulation and more OB-X and OB-Xa detail.

OB-Xtreme

The idea was to generate a huge analogue sound by drawing on everything that made the OB-X and OB-Xa awesome. OB-Xtreme capitalises on the slight imperfections, the misbehaving components and moments of distortion from the oscillators to the filters to the VCA and the output. And while the original version was a great attempt at modelling voice cards, version 2.0 increases the detail on every part of every circuit.

The synth can be an 8-voice polysynth, an 8-voice unison monster or a combination of the two with the flick of the FAT switch to have an 8-voice polyphonic with eight layers of unison. That’s ridiculous! All sound sources are modelled on the original synth waveforms with Saw, Pulse, and Triangle and includes the Saw+Pulse. The individual voice cards can be manipulated by taking on offsets and deviations to mimic their analogue character.

Aly James OB-Xtreme · Source: Aly James

There are two filters, the 2-Pole coming from the OB-X and the 4-pole based on the CEM3320. There’s a bit of optional resonance compensation on the 4-pole, while the 2-pole also offers a bandpass output.

Xtreme Factor

One feature is the “Xtreme Factor”, which takes control of the emulated OTA-induced distortion. This goes from traditional behaviour all the way up to something a bit juicier. A bunch of Macro knobs gives so nicely curated control over the oscillator tuning, filter envelope offsets, VCA envelope offsets, filter deviation and pulse width modulation.

The sound and look of OB-Xtreme is awesome. It sounds huge and thoroughly exciting. I like the interface’s graphical approach, particularly the voice cards. It gives you a sense of what you’re actually doing when winding in deviations.

The version 2.0 release is available now for macOS and Windows with an update coming after the summer that will add in a whole bunch of V2.0 presets. OB-Xtreme 2.0 costs €45.

• Aly James Lab website.
• More from Aly James.

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