For those who aren't aware but might be interested, the software emulation of the Oberheim OB-Xa from Synapse Audio that had been mentioned as in development on message boards for the past year was finally released earlier this month. Geddy picked up his OB-Xa for Signals and it probably saw some use on Grace Under Pressure as well (maybe a bit on Power Windows, but I really don't know for sure). And of course the Xa was all over other mid-'80s records from Prince, Simple Minds, Gary Numan, The Police, etc. This is a reasonably inexpensive and hassle-free way to get an at least decent recreation of that sound...I know I definitely won't be spending the $8K+ it now takes to lay hands on the original, not to mention the upkeep on something so old and temperamental. (The last '80s VCO poly synth I bought a decade ago developed multiple problems within a fairly short period of time...owning those old relics definitely isn't all just happy nostalgia.)
Keyboard / Synth Thread
in Making Modern Music
Posted · Edited by stillc
Oh wow thanks for mentioning it. I've read about it before release and wanted to try, but I forgot about it. Now, I definitely try it.