OB-Xtreme

The developer has been pretty clear on this not being a direct emulation of the OB-X and OB series synths, but that doesn't mean it lacks in any area or doesn't sound real. This definitely has the life of a great emulation, but with a few tweaks and upgrades making it something new all together.

One of the first and only soft synths (even to this day) that had me floored by its sound was the OP-X Pro ii by Sonic Projects. The OB-Xtreme isn't designed to replace it. It doesn't sound the same, but it does sound incredible. It feels tighter, more responsive, and not as "drifty" or bulbous as the OP-X Pro ii does (and therefore not like a real OB-X). The brass-iness that makes the OP-X Pro ii so great is there with this one, but it's different and stands on its own. The drive saturation really makes this synth standout and capable of huge basslines and screaming leads. Dialed back it works excellently for pads.

The OB-Xtreme is an all in one great analog-style synth. Like the freeware classic Synth1, it's pretty swiss-army and there is a lot more than what you see and hear at first glance - Even then the default patches give a pretty great idea of what it is capable of.

The separate outs for all 8 voices is also pretty insane. You can add a reverb to one voice, a delay to another; bitcrush one; and chorus the next. It's crazy.

Aly James Lab consistently puts out really high quality plugins that are either true to their source unlike anything else out there (VLINN for example), or impressive originals based on something from the past like this synth here.

Anyone looking for a great analog-style synth with a ton of great features that can cover all your needs from pads, basses, FX, leads, and more should look no further. Ultimately, it's about the sound and this thing sounds as good if not better than a lot of the synths out there from the big developers.