Hey all,
I love the Legend and this looks like a desert island plug too from initial reactions …
Cheers,
Dave
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Thanks for the heads up. Only $99 too.
DUDE!
This I want to hear.
Just bought it and it sounds fantastic.
- Paul
Gaaah - more GAS!
sound-wise, it blows Arturia and OBXd out of the water, IMO. CPU footprint is OK-ish, on par with Arturia on my system.
The only downside is that they only allow two activations per license. If I take the plunge, I’ll have to buy two licenses 
That’s a change from The Legend, which allows three activations.
I checked the Obsession manual, which says:
Activation permanently enables Obsession to run on your computer.You may activate Obsession on two computers simultaneously, provided you are the only user of those computers (for multiple users, multiple licenses need to be purchased).
The Legend manual states the same - is there a specific source that confirms the three activations?
I have The Legend activated on my studio computer, my live machine and my backup machine - no problems so far.
Every developer should know that it is necessary to have a plugin available on 3 computers for serious work. It doesn’t make sense to buy an additional license for the backup machine.
That’s interesting - seems Synapse aren’t consistent across their documentation 
Worth querying with them? Three activations is not asking for much and Arturia allow five!
Ps i darent listen as i have blown a bit on VSTis lately! But it is only a $99…
I drooled over buying an OB-Xa when they first appeared in music stores, but couldn’t afford one ($6500 CAD 40yrs ago). Oh that sound!
I’m downloading the Obsession demo to give it a good listen. I currently have Arturia SEM and OBXd. Hoping Obsession is a major improvement.
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The demo video does sound good. Might just have to try the demo!
I totally don’t get that. Arturia’s latest effort is a truly amazing sonic accomplishment, if you ask me. I own it and have been playing with it for weeks, and find it quite inspiring. In what manner is this “blowing it out of the water”?
Terry
I own the Arturia one, and I have put them side by side with some “signature” Oberheim sounds. To my ears, the Obsession is just more punchy, present and “there”. In direct comparison, the Arturia (volume-matched of course) just sounds “wimpy”. I guess the Arturia sound may actually fit better in a mix, but if you’re after that brash in-your-face sound, it leaves me wanting more “muscle”…
One other niggle I have with the Arturia is that its envelope times scaling is very different from the rest of the bunch, so re-creating original patches from the original settings is fiddly. Mind you, I don’t have an original at hand to compare, so I don’t know which emulation actually gets the original envelope timing “right” and which is “off”…
To be fair to Arturia - they’ve always built emulations with a bit more “on top” in terms of modulation, effects and other bells and whistles. So the OB-Xa is probably more versatile in terms of sound design.
Personally, my synth requirements are pretty straightforward middle-of-the-road sounds, not so much the sophisticated sound design wizardry, so I tend to look for sounds that just “grab me by the ears”. The Obsession did that very quickly, while I kept struggling with the Arturia - maybe it’s just too “polite”
Cheers,
Torsten
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The Arturia OB-Xa V is a hybrid that combines the best features of the a and the d versions from Oberheim. It was not intended to be a perfect match of either. If you want punch I am certain that can be accomplished. 
Which presets were these that impressed you, just out of curiosity? (Please tell me you didn’t go only by the video - that could have some studio magic applied.)
Terry
The video definitely boasts some quality preset design. You can see them going wild with the mod wheel! 
No presets, just some quick “standard” subtractive patches I set up manually, like a saw bass with sub-octave, saw brass patches with a bit of filter attack, a PWM string pad, and the like. When trying out new synths, I tend to stay away from the presets, but rather start with an “init” state and see how easily it gets me to what I hear in my mind (or some completely different place ).
I really want to like the Arturia (I paid some serious money for it, after all - and I like the ability to install their plugs on 5 PCs), but it hasn’t really loved me back that much 
Cheers,
Torsten
Gadzooks! I cannot imagine why not! The thing is formidable! It constantly blows my mind. Perhaps you DO need to visit the presets and tweak from there? It is a bit of a challenge starting from an init on this kind of synth, I think.
Terry