Dave Smith Instruments

ManualsBrandsSequential ManualsKeys6-Voice Analogue Synthesiser

FM VERDICT

9.0

Has the essential Oberheim

character/signature, crossed

with DSI’s sonic DNA – it

sounds tight/modern with a

nod to vintage Oberheims.

I/Os Round the back are a headphone

output, left and right audio outputs,

USB for OS updates and MIDI, MIDI

In, Out and Thru, plus footswitch

inputs for volume, ﬁ lter, sustain and

sequencer/arp start/stop.

AFTERTOUCH/VELOCITY Aftertouch

can be routed to VCO1 and 2, LFO

amount, Loudness, Filter Frequency

and Filter Mode. Velocity can be

switched in to affect the amp and

ﬁ lter simultaneously/independently.

UNISON/CHORD/PORTAMENTO The

OB-6 sounds great when set to unison

and you can set the number of voices

used for smaller or bigger sounds.

Unison also accesses chord mode and

the polyphonic portamento rocks!

PAN SPREAD A great feature, this

spreads out the voices across the

stereo ﬁ eld alternately for dramatic

stereo effects, or to add subtle

movement. Really brings brass, pads

and unison sounds to life!

natural than the P6 as DSI have

loosened things up a little. If tuning

does go out then there’s an autotune

routine which is best performed at

several different room temperatures

initially, so that the OB-6 can best

learn/compensate its tuning tables

for all sorts of playing situations.

Killer dirty bass

So once you have two oscillators

detuned what can you do with

them?! Firstly, you can sync them

together (patch 007 is a great

example of a beautiful sync sound,

with the LFO slowly controlling

VCO2’s pitch). Next, VCO2 can be

decoupled from the keyboard voltage

for drones and can be used in low

frequency mode too, as a pseudo

second LFO. Then you can move to

the mixer section, push levels for

more saturation/clipping, add in

some white noise (digital) then add

the square wave sub-oscillator (more

ballsy than the Prophet-6’s triangle

sub oscillator). The OB-6 is certainly

a killer dirty bass machine, though

the P6 is equally so, just with a

creamier/thicker/slightly more

well-behaved character!

Next up is the 12dB-per-octave,

2-pole state-variable SEM based

ﬁ lter and this is the key to the

distinctive Oberheim tone. It has a

precise yet ﬁ zzy/gooey character and

by design lets more high frequencies

through compared to the P6’s 24dB

low-pass. The ﬁ lter works well for

bright aggressive/driven tones,

drums, roughed-up leads, warm yet

harmonically present pads, rubbery

synth brass and growling unison

basses, but works beautifully for

softer sounds too, adding character

and welcome ‘break up’ to the highs

– add some delay or reverb and voila!

As the ﬁ lter state is continuously

variable and modulatable from LPF

through Notch to HPF (there’s a

separate BPF too, modulatable via

X-Mod), this allows a whole host of

other-worldly textures to be achieved.

It’s a very bold-sounding synth,

although as the OB-6’s character is

so distinctive, it’s less ‘chameleon-

like’ than the P6. Notably, the ﬁ lter/

resonance doesn’t self-oscillate and

instead highlights a chosen area of

your sound – as you add more

resonance it thickens and drives the

sound in a pleasing, almost vocal

way that picks out the harmonics

beautifully. It’s a completely different

experience to the P6 – think more

wiry, gnarly, ﬁ brous, in your face,

textured and buzzier.

There’s also a fair complement of

modulation. The audio-rate-capable,

5-mode LFO syncs to MIDI and can

modulate VCO1, VCO2, the pulse

width of one or both oscs, the amp,

ﬁ lter frequency and the ﬁ lter mode,

so it’s pretty powerful. Then there’s

the polyphonic modulation section of

the P6, on the OB-6 called X-Mod.

Unlike the LFO which applies to all

voices globally, X-Mod allows

modulation per-voice for more

complex/detailed sounds and here

you can use the ﬁ lter envelope or

VCO2 to polyphonically modulate

VCO1, VCO1’s shape/PW, ﬁ lter freq,

ﬁ lter mode and to vary from LPF/

Notch/HPF (normal) through to BPF

mode – a hugely versatile section.

Subtle or more wayward modulated

textures can easily be achieved

using this section and happy sonic

accidents are its forte! Finally, the

ﬁ lter and amp envelopes (both have

bi-polar amount controls) are snappy

and very detailed, enabling extremely

punchy basses and cutting sounds to

be made with ease.

To sum up, the P6 and OB-6,

though built in (literally!) the same

mould, are very different yet

complementary-sounding beasts!

One is inspired by the Prophet-5, the

other by the OB-Xa/OB-8. The

bottom line is they both sound top

dollar but ultimately it comes down

to whether you prefer creamy, thicker

and hi-ﬁ (P6) vs aggressive, raspy

I/Os

Round the back are a headphone

AFTERTOUCH/VELOCITY

Aftertouch

UNISON/CHORD/PORTAMENTO

The

PAN SPREAD

A great feature, this

and industrial! (OB-6), though there

is some crossover too! If you still

don’t know which to choose, there’s

only one answer – get both!

Dave Smith Instruments OB-6 | Reviews

FMU307.rev_dsi.indd 89 15/06/2016 18:12