UB-Xa - Synthesizer

Love it! Since I can't afford to get an original OBX-a this is a very close clone of it. Unlike the original there is no cross modulation control. It has other features where you can select vintage mode, OB8, OBX-a and some others. I find it easy to program and it sounds incredibly similar (but not perfect), to the OBX-a. It has that classic Oberheim sound and you can make it growl very much like the OBX sound in Tom Sawyer by Rush. I've also programmed the resonant filter sweep from 1984 by Van Halen. Also Jump and the sound from I'll wait which are also by Van Halen. Basses, Strings and square lead sounds are also easy to program and sound spectacular when in unison mode.

Awesome synth. Great priced clone. Quick and easy programming.

If you a live performer who is used to playing piano or performing with a sustain pedal DO NOT PURCHASE THIS SYNTH. You'll notice it's exceptionally cheap compared to other synths with similar capabilities but trust me there are reasons why. First off the key feel is not good at all; very soft springs with plastic keys that feel like they will not put up to any abuse, the mod 'wheel' and pitch bend levers feel like something taken off of a childrens toy, and the volume output is very low compared to other synthesizers i've used. The volume issue can be alleviated by playing with the patches but I didn't even bother once I learned why my sustain pedal usage was so inconsistent on this synth. This is the only modern analog synthesizer on the market that has firmware that interprets the sustain pedal message AFTER the key press message. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but anyone who's used to playing a piano (or literally any other synth with a sustain pedal) with find this absolutely infuriating. The result from this shoddy firmware, is you must press the sustain pedal before you press a key if you want that note to be sustained. You can't keypress then sustain pedal to hold a note, in fact you need to press the sustain pedal about half a second before the keypress for it to hold the sustain. Behringer supports website has been down for days, but after searching for solves in music forums for almost 2 days I've found their most common suggestions are; a firmware update (done that, no help), running your sustain pedal through a midi interface that will send the DIN CC64 input directly through the firmware to override it looking for a keypress first (completely absurd suggestion for live performances), or just relearning how to use a sustain pedal. The last suggestion I find completely insulting; I've been playing piano for over 30 years, I'm not going to try to relearn how to play just to use your instrument with awful firmware. I give two stars because many people just want a synth to make big dreamy patches or arpeggiated melodies which this can do very well. It's pretty easy to use and modify the patches in very cool ways, but this issue with the sustain pedal is an absolute deal breaker for me