Having used an ob-xa in the past, this has a slightly cleaner sound - some say thinner - which sits better in a mix. But where this really wins , is with the unique arpeggiator, which is almost like a mini sequencer, and also the page 2 mode, which is great for random tweaking or just gettign stuck in- like I do- to open up the more esoteric sound manglign possibilities, such as phase inversion of LFO's voice detuning - not always necessary on a VCO synth ;-)- and so on. It has these great little pots on the right end cheek to manually pan each of the 8 voices wherever you want to in the stereo field, which is superb when creatign pads and string patches, and even better when you use the split or dual modes, each of which can have their own midi channel.

Of all the oberheims, only the matrix 12 and the xpander can really beat it for the best mix of sound, programmability, and reliability. If you want an earlier oberheim, you better believe that it will require an annual "hospital visit", which can result in some seriously eye watering bills. Furthermore, the earlier machines are too powerful - with the excpetion of the ob-1- to sit well in a mix ( especially the "blow holes in the walls 4 and 8 voice monsters), so stick with an ob-8 and you cant go far wrong, as even the manuals and service notes are avilable on the 'net

One more thing...this isn't well known, but if you attempt to load in the factory patches on some of them, because they may have been recalibrated by a tech at some point , the patches may not render properly..or at all in some cases! you have been warned.

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