Oberheim OB-1

The OB-1 features 2 syncable and detuneable VCOs with cross-modulation and PWM. Available waveforms are pulse, triangle and sawtooth, with a switchable sub-waveform to thicken the sound. A noise generator is also included.
A resonant VCF with its own ADSR envelope generator is available as the filter. It is switchable between 2-pole (12dB/octave) and 4-pole (24dB) modes and features the usual controls for cut-off, resonance and keyboard tracking.
For modulation the OB-1 offers a single LFO switchable between square, sine and random (sample/hold). It has typical rate/delay controls and can be routed to the VCF, VCOs and VCA.

Internal RAM holding 8 user patches is included, along with a cassette interface for storing more sounds. There is also an audio input for modulating external sounds through the unit's filter. Other features include the usual pitch bend / modulation controls plus a CV/gate interface for external control.
The OB-1 uses CEM 3310 chips as the EGs. The filters are also reportedly CEM circuits, but so far I've been unable to confirm the exact model.

While browsing through material for this writeup, I found a French website claiming Obi-Wan Kenobi got his name from the Oberheim OB-1. The first Star Wars movie was released before the synthesizer, which makes the silly claim quite hard to believe. And as for it being the other way around, I think we can clearly see "OB" came from from "Oberheim".
On a completely unrelated note, I heard that smoking crack is gaining popularity among French web designers. :)

back to Oberheim