Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

sinussquare wrote:i'm not into cv stuff so i have only one question: those sounds you just played, are they possible with "just" the midi version or did you use some patchpanel reconfigs to get certain sounds?

The only connections from the patch panel were VCO1 CV1 In and Env1 Gate In, being controlled by an SH-101 so yes, the sounds in that clip should all be available on the newer Midi'd version. They're all just basic bass and lead sounds with no vibrato or keyboard tracking on filter.

sinussquare wrote:

Solderman wrote:they are a bit expensive in the EU, but i might just NEEEED this one whatever the cost....

That was the position I was in. Still paying for the TETR4 but what the h**l - the whole World seems to be run on massive debt these days so I'm just adding the SEM to my long line of credit card purchases

Heh, you have your quotes backwards Dogboy73, but I would add that even if you can get the US price, there's a massive waiting list and mister Oberheim is building these without any help. It makes me wonder if the endeavor becomes profitable enough, will he turn it over to someone else for manufacture?

has anyone sourced the parts for the new SEM to see what the cost breakdown is? i'm curious if tom is making much money on these.

Tom isn't making a killing on the SEM's, he's doing it simply because he wanted to make synths again.

A parts/cost breakdown would probably be a bit misleading- my understanding is that the biggest investment was having pots custom made as the center detent bi-directional pots were not available. I don't know if Tom had to have the knobs themselves custom made, but I either way, they aren't cheap. Strangely enough, those are the pricey parts.

If i were a bit younger i'd volunteer to help tom out during the summer holidays assembling all the SEM's.

my payment would be very simple: i'd like to have a SEM module to take back home

unfortunately i'm not a very handy person either. I wouldn't trus the SEMs i assembled really.

When all of us will have our SEMs, sales will eventually decline and he will be glad that he did not hired all that staff.

Heard from a memeber of another forum that Tom is now saying 4-6 weeks for the MIDI>CV version. That's cool

jaypodesta wrote:

Dogboy73 wrote:But I wonder why Tom didn't do something similar? The patch panel version with basic MIDI>CV built in would have been awesome.

Cost and simplicity perhaps?

Just been looking at some of the new MFB stuff. They have a new little synth out called the Nanozwerg. 220 Euros and, like most of the MFB synths, it has both MIDI input & CV I/O. I still think it would have been nice to have MIDI-input on the patch panel version. Instead I've got to buy both the MIDI>CV version AND the patch version!!

Why?

jaypodesta wrote:Why?

To wind up the misses

Got my SEM today, after about 4 weeks I suppose. Serial 0143. Got some odd scuff marks in the paint on the bottom of the casing that I attribute to it rubbing against Tom Oberheim's belt buckle as he rubbed frigging GENIUS off on it. Holy God, this is what a filter is supposed to sound like, and I'm just playing it through my little Fender Champ I have in my office. I can't wait to get it home and plug it in to my Oberkorn and run it through my PA.

Totally worth it, and I wouldn't consider getting anything but the patchbay version, folks. It's just too exciting, and I only have a single patch cable with me to play with this afternoon.

CapnMarvel wrote:Holy God, this is what a filter is supposed to sound like, and I'm just playing it through my little Fender Champ I have in my office. I can't wait to get it home and plug it in to my Oberkorn and run it through my PA. .

Are you employed, sir ??

Yeah, got a nice professional job and all. Have a P600 and a little Emu Classic Keys running through a Fender Champ in my work office for stress relief.

CapnMarvel wrote:Yeah, got a nice professional job and all. Have a P600 and a little Emu Classic Keys running through a Fender Champ in my work office for stress relief.

Take it easy dude!!

No, that was just a quote from the B.L....
Thanks for sharing your first impressions, we share your excitement!