“I’m so proud to be able to make a synth like this..” Oberheim founder on new TEO-5 polysynth

The TEO-5 is designed by Tom Oberheim himself, the founder of the company. It combines the warm, fat analog sound that made Oberheim synths famous with modern versatile features for musicians today. Just by the introductory video and the demos one can sense the analog lush synth texture TEO-5 brings to the table.

Tom Oberheim himself is incredibly excited about the TEO-5, calling it “the Oberheim sound for 2024.” As the founder of the company, he takes great pride in making an affordable and compact synth that captures the classic Oberheim tone that defined so many records. However, the TEO-5 isn’t just nostalgic – it innovates by packing decades of Oberheim’s acclaimed analog engineering expertise into a forward-looking instrument.

At its core, the TEO-5 has five analog voices with authentic voltage-controlled oscillators and filters. This gives it that classic rich, buzzy analog tone heard on countless classic records. But it also has new features like “through-zero FM” which allows the oscillators to create totally new wild textures never heard before on an Oberheim.

The filters on the TEO-5 are based on the legendary “SEM” filters from the vintage Oberheims. You can morph between lowpass, highpass, notch, and bandpass modes to deeply sculpt the overall tone. There are authentic recreations of effects like ring modulation and phasers too.

Despite having an analog core, the TEO-5 is very modern with lots of modulation possibilities via a deep modulation matrix. There’s a step sequencer, arpeggiator, effects like reverb/delay/chorus, and more. Yet it still maintains that unmistakable Oberheim vibe and character.

Some key specifications of the new TEO-5 include:

1. 5-voice, 2x VCOs with saw, square/pulse, triangle, and noise
2. Oscillator hard sync and X-Mod with through-zero FM
3. Discrete SEM-lineage VCF delivers authentic Oberheim tone and presence
4. Modulation matrix with 19 slots x 19 sources x 64 destinations in a flexible design where almost any mod route is possible, including audio rate sources and destinations.
5. Poly and Mono LFOs with 5 wave shapes and tempo sync
6. Vintage knob recreates vintage synth characteristics by adding voice-to voice variations in component behavior 
7. 256 factory programs in classic and modern styles, with storage space for 256 more custom user programs
8. The premium 3.5 octave FATAR velocity- and touch-sensitive keyboard allows unparalleled expression and responsiveness
9. Velocity sensitivity adds expressiveness to volume and filter
10. 5-pin DIN MIDI In, Out, Thru

To know more about the Oberheim TEO-5, click here to check out the official website.

Tags: Oberheim, Analog Synths, Vintage Synths, Classic Synthesizers, Superbooth