This week we’re indulging in some lovely new binaural patches for the splendid Oberheim OB-X8, exploiting its new v2.0 firmware, plus some free sounds for GForce’s superb Minimonsta 2.
I recently covered a bunch of presets for the pretender to the Oberheim crown, Behringer’s UB-Xa, so with the OB-X8 recently getting a rather lovely firmware upgrade, I found a couple of banks that exploit its new feature set, including the Binaural feature. But first, a freebie!
Syvät Tunteet Sound Bank for GForce Minimonsta 2 by Tontario
I couldn’t quite believe it when I checked and found that Minimonsta 2 came out 18 months ago! Boy, how time flies. The second iteration of GForce’s Minimoog clone on steroids really impressed me back in February of 2023. They gave it the full GForce makeover whilst still retaining all of its superb features.
Now GForce are offering a free bank of patches for it for a limited time only! Designed by sound designer, producer and artist Tontario, this bank of sounds points squarely at the ambient and techno genres. It’s full of atmosphere and really makes use of Minimonsta’s unique feature set.
Minimonsta 2 is an incredibly versatile synth and this sound bank shows a lot of it off to great effect. But hurry, this bank is only available for free until the end of July 2024. After that, the bank will cost £9.99
- Grab the free bank here before the price goes up! Free until the end of July 2024, £9.99 thereafter
- More from GForce Software
Analog Synth Selection for KORG modwave by Maik Schott
It’s one thing trying to stuff old vintage synth samples into a modern day synth and making it sound good, but the KORG modwave gets a free pass simply because of what it can do with the aforementioned vintage samples. Featuring samples from analog staples such as the Roland Jupiter 8 and Juno 106, ARP2600 and Moog Prodigy, Maik has made some good choices with which to create some great sounds.
He has extensively multi-sampled all of these classics in order to create around 80 performance patches. These sounds cover a wide range of preset categories, such as pads, leads, brass, sequences, arpeggios and plucks. He’s also included a bunch of MIDI files for each category that demonstrates how those sounds could be used.
This entire bank is compatible with the modwave keyboard, desktop/rackmount module and native VST/AU plugin. Maik supplies full installation instructions, which is useful because installing new sounds on the modwave can be a slightly confusing process until you get the hang of it.
Best of all, there’s a free taster pack available that includes a couple of performance patches and two MIDI files to give you a sneak peak at what to expect. But I’m sure the demo video will convince you to part with your cash!
Bi-Timbral Sound Bank for OB-X8 by Polydata
Ok, I’ve kept you waiting long enough and congratulations for making it this far down the post! Here’s the first of two banks for the spectacular Oberheim OB-X8. Both of these banks make use of the new features in the recently released v2.0 firmware.
Polydata’s Bi-timbral Sound Bank for OB-X8 is a collection of 64 single patches which combine to give you 32 stacked sounds that really show off the heft of the Oberheim’s sound. It’s a proven formula. If you have a great-sounding synth, you can make it sound better by stacking it twice! Roland JX-10? Yamaha DX1? Prophet 10? Now you get it!
What Polydata has done is to program each layer to work perfectly well with the other. It’s all too easy to mismatch sounds that end up cancelling out the things that make them work as single.
Luckily for you OB-X8 owners, the care taken in creating these patches has resulted in a great sound set that delivers some big sounds on your v2.0 OB-X8.
- Buy Polydata’s Oberheim OB-X8 Bi-timbral Sound Bank here for $30 (v2.0 firmware is required)
- More from Polydata
Luke Neptune’s Synthwave Sound Set for OB-X8 with Binaural Patches
Luke Neptune hails from England’s Vegas of the North, Blackpool. Famous for its tower, ballroom dancing and being the birthplace of one Chris Lowe, it’s also home to self-confessed synth lover, Luke Neptune.
Besides being a musician in his own right, he’s also a dab hand at sound design and he wasn’t sitting on his laurels when the 2.0 firmware dropped for the OB-X8. Luke is of the opinion that the OB-X8 might just be the greatest synth for Synthwave ever. So what better way to demonstrate that than with a bank created specifically for that genre.
Luke has made use of a whole host of the new features, including the modified 4-pole filter and the new waveforms. This particular bank features 128 single patches and 16 binaural ones, and the sound set will load up into most of the available banks on the OB-X8.
Luke also provides full instructions on how to import the sounds into your hardware and these will work on both the keyboard and desktop versions. Unsurprisingly, the v2.0 firmware is required. If you haven’t already updated your OB-X8, what are you waiting for!
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