GForce Software has become a favorite here. The M-Tron Pro, their virtual Mellotron software was the first program I had experience with. Since then I’ve bought several others including “Oddity” which has also become a favorite song writing tool, it’s got a lovely tight attack and can really punch, much better than my Korg Odyssey hardware ever was.
So let’s take a brief look at the Oberheim 8-voice package which GForce calls “OB-E”. Why a brief look? Because you should just buy it and get on with using and exploring what this wonderful instrument offers — it is that good -- and dollars per pound, it's a bargain.
HISTORY
The original 8-voice hardware was a strange beast and it relied on having eight of these two-oscillator synthesizer modules for its iconic sound generation. Each of the individual voices was a complete synthesizer and together they formed a polyphonic instrument. The problem for performers was programming this thing to be controllable and useable.
In the beginning, you needed to tweak the settings on each module to match each other if you wanted the sounds to match from note to note — it really was what it looked like, a fleet of SEM modules all being played together from a custom master keyboard (remember, there was NO MIDI when this synth was invented). Bill Payne was one of the first players I followed who used Oberheim synthesizers live in the band “Little Feat”. It took a couple of years for Oberheim to develop a programmer section for the 8-voice which endowed it with a few presets — this was a HUGE feature for live use.
GForce SEM
I’ve been using a GForce SEM in some of my music for a while now — I like it because of the straightforward control layout (which follows Tom Oberheim’s original very closely). It’s easy to get caught up in auditioning sounds and never creating music — with that thought in mind I purposely avoid buying or even demoing everything. One of my favorite features of analog classics (like the MiniMoog and SEM) is the hands-on nature of hardware without presets, you must learn to create the sounds you want to hear on these instruments.
The OB-E (subject of this review) is different, hours melted away as I played with the preset libraries this synth comes loaded with. One button opens the browser window where you can quickly access everything from Pads, to Leads, to Effect type patches — there are lots to try out, experiment with and perhaps even inspire your next hit song creation.
THE SOUND
You can get lost in the browser trying out all manner of everything Oberheim but the really big feature I have not mentioned is the sound of the filter, it is awesome. The GForce filter sound is incredible and it keeps stunning me the more I mess with this synthesizer. It’s got character, there’s this unique hook in the tone that grabs your ears when you hear it — what is that? -- wow, it’s the filter!
THE FILTER
Fans of synthesizers discuss filters all the time, we quickly group them by number of poles (2 or 4) or the dB/octave of roll off (12 dB or 24dB or variable) and we give filters fancy proprietary names like “ladder filter”. All of these descriptors are used to characterize generic synthesizer features, but the Oberheim 8-voice brings it all home to roost, none of that technical mumbo jumbo matters because this synthesizer has THE sound. Rarely does a software synthesizer make sounds as beautiful as this one, playing a fat chord (4-notes or more) on a full sounding patch has rich character that I associate with premium synthesizer hardware.
EPILOGUE
There is a lot I can write about this synthesizer, I can talk about how all your settings get remembered if you’re working in a DAW, about how efficient it is and how many instances I can run simultaneously (four eight voice synths in a single song?) or how it has effects the original never had, there is a lot.
My advice is to head to the GForce website and check out the OB-E. Sign up for their emails, they regularly have sale prices on their synthesizer software packages — I bought mine during a half off sales event.
If you like Oberheim sounds and love experimenting the OB-E is a must have and a bargain — it’s hundreds of dollars cheaper than the cheapest Behringer OB-clone and it might even have better tone, you be the judge.
Thanks for reading High on Technology, Good Music To You!
©August 2025 by Mark King, it is NOT ok to copy or quote without written permission from the author.
Get out there and create something beautiful. . . . . .
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Check out www.tomoberheim.com too!
