Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

I'm about to get my first vintage poly and am having a heck of a hard time deciding.

The Jupiter 6 is the poly I've wanted longest (aside from the JP-8), but the one I've got a chance to get-- while a relatively good price ($2500 USD)-- will cost me an additional $1,000 over the price tag due to shipping and customs.

The OB-8 wasn't even on my radar until last night when a mint example came up locally with factory midi + page 2 for what I think is a good price; $2200 (CDN).

Now I'm really facing a dilemma here. I know most will advise to go with the JP-6 seeing as it's what I've wanted the longest and it'd just bug me the entire time knowing I didn't go for it, but that additional $1k is really a big "hidden cost".

I'm really a fan of the JP-6's unique sound and don't really have much (read: any) experience with Obie's. The extent of my experience with the OB series is limited to my friend who always complains about his OBX being down for prolonged periods of time. I know the OB8 is considered to be the more stable of the OB lot, but I'm wondering if sonically it will be as pleasing as the other Obie's are rumoured to be.

I play mainly ambient stuff similar to Boards of Canada.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Not had first hand experience with either but I do similar music to you.

I personally would go for the one with the most pleasing raw sound, probably the Obie. But, that sound is so instantly recognisable that you may not get away from it and if you do then why have an obie if you're not using that sound? You might as well have a nice VA as you're going to be heavily processing your sounds anyway.
So, now you have realised that you are buying for synth lust not for music progression ha! I would go for the one that I think I would have the most fun with, the deepest, the best looking, the easiest to fix, the one with the most control etc etc. Meaning that the JP6 wins.
I bought a JP4 with a similar train of thought. I have recorded with it successfully but It did not fit in where I imagined. I find myself just playing "synths" with it more than implementing it into my sound.

i wouldnt really want either of these - but the Jup6 appeals to me slightly more

these are the factors i'd be thinking of:

-tone (OB8 wins)
-interface (Jup6 wins)
-reliability (Jup6 wins although i doubt the OB8 is too bad on this)
-size / transportability (Jup6 wins)

i myself like the Xpander more than the OB8 anyway... stick with the Jup6 - but then again i'd rather have a lot of things over the Jup6 too - i'd rather be $3000 closer to having a Jup8 or get a Juno + be $2000 closer to the Jup8 - but that's me

I have both. There is really not much overlap in the way they sound. The OB8 is big and lush sounding with a darker character. The Jupiter 6 has a bright sound closer to a classic ARP Synth. While the Jupiter won't do what the OB8 does it has a wider range of tones with the multimode Filter, Cross-Mod, wide-range Oscillators, and bi-directional Oscillator Sync. I much prefer the Jupiter's panel layout and function set over the OB8. Even compared to the Xpander/Matrix 12 with all their capability the Jupiter can get sounds not possible on these.

I would love to have any of those, as both are definitely classic synths.
With the OB you get extra voices (which can be useful) and with the Jupiter you get multimode filters (which is somewhat rare when it comes to polyphonic analog synths).

I think any of those would be a nice addition to any setup, but in your case, I think the Oberheim is the obvious pick here.

Both synths should be worth more or less the same, but you end up sparing $1000 if you go for the Oberheim.
Also, you could be 100% sure it works as described given that it is locally, so you'll avoid any bad surprises (the item could get damaged on traffic, for instance).

so i got the ob-8 yesterday and have spent a few hours with it.
i'm really enjoying its big lush sound a lot so far.
it turns out a good friend who lives just a minute away has a jupiter 6 he'd be willing to trade me for the ob-8 if after some time i'm not into it. he's a bit of a synth aficionado and had a go with my ob-8 today; he absolutely loved it.
he also owns an obx and jp8 so i was glad to see him enjoying it as much as he did.
after my place i went to his to try the jp6 (and a plethora of other amazing synths).
certain things appealed to me about it, but if i'm to be brutally honest the core sound wasn't as captivating as that of my new (to me) obie. maybe i just need more time with it, so he suggested we do a week-long swap and see how we each feel at the end of it. he's pretty set on making the trade, but is understanding of my apprehensiveness to immediately go through with it- i did just get the synth after all.
i was 100% set on the jp6 and felt like i was "settling" with the ob-8, but i'm glad that i got the obie and had the chance to hear the jp6 first hand.
what would you guys personally do in this scenario?

ob8 man... ob8

You can't go wrong with a properly working OB-8 at a good price. You made the right decision.

Well done matey.. I really don't think you will ever regret that decision.
I fantasised for years about the JP 6 and then when I finally got one I was very disappointed with it's core sound.. just a bit thin and could never get it to sound as good as it looked.
A year or so later, I got an OB8(swapped for a P5) and absolutely loved that synth.. just instantly fat and gratifying and I have been a massive Oberheim convert ever since.
I never did get on with the JP6 and ended up swapping it for a Waldorf Microwave I(which I enjoyed much more despite the interface)

Enjoy your new baby, I am jealous

I'd keep the ob8, that synth bleeds lushness! and having 8 voices is all ways a plus in my book. Not that 6 is bad, its all those analog 4 voice synths that can bug me to death! Have fun with your new badass synth, and if you swap and like the jp6 more, then swap, the synth that you will use the most is the synth that you should keep imho.

IMO keep the OB8 - you definitely hit the nail on the head with the "core sound" comment

Don't go swapping the OB-8 for a JP-6!! Madness!

JP-6s are vastly over-inflated price wise today they are sonics wise worth half of what they go for but due to the name... etc

OB-8 isn't high priced based only on it's name but from a reputation for thick characterful sound. I love the look of the JP-6 and always wanted to try one but even I can tell you it would be a bad deal if you swapped it with your friend for his JP-6.

Maybe swap them for a month to both enjoy both synths and get them out of your system, then reclaim you OB-8 and see what you were missing again

Pro5 wrote: JP-6s are vastly over-inflated price wise today they are sonics wise worth half of what they go for but due to the name...
I love the look of the JP-6 and always wanted to try one...

The JP-6 is my favorite Jupiter (I have all of them as well as all the OBs). It has an amazingly wise sonic pallet with all the cross-mod, dual direction sync, multi-mode filters, combinable waveform VCOs, dual arps, etc not to mention all the stuff Europa adds. It will do a lot more sounds than the OB-8 but the OB-8 is defintely great at classic analog poly sounds and the patch layering and Page 2 features are very cool. They are the most reliable of the OB polys but in general the Jupiter-6 is more reliable and at the moment the OBs are defintely still a bargain while JP-6s have finally started to climb to where they should be for such a capable analog poly (much more so than the JP-8 which sells for over 2-3 times the price). Bottom line is both synths are very different beasts and compliment each other very well...

gotta love a facepalm over an opinion (not a fact). Well done.

Pro5 wrote:gotta love a facepalm over an opinion (not a fact). Well done.

Well someone slamming a synth they admit they have never even tried will get one...