GForce Oberheim TVS Pro Review: Two SEMs and a Sequencer

Two SEMs, One Keyboard, No Waiting List

Bolt two Oberheim SEMs to a keyboard and you get one of the first duophonic synths, the Two Voice. Originals are rare and priced accordingly. GForce's Oberheim TVS Pro, made with Oberheim, recreates the later TVS Pro version with its built-in sequencer, and it's one of the more characterful synths you can buy for a fraction of what the hardware costs.

What It Is

The original came about in the mid-70s, when Tom Oberheim put two of his SEM modules in one case with a keyboard and gave players two independent voices at once. That sounds modest now, but at the time most synths played one note. The later TVS Pro version added a built-in sequencer, and that's the instrument GForce have modelled.

TVS Pro is a duophonic software synth: two complete SEM voices that you can play from the keyboard or drive from the sequencer. It isn't a polysynth with two voices bolted on. Each SEM is a full synth in its own right, and the fun is in how the two interact.

The Sound And The Architecture

Each SEM has two oscillators with pulse and sawtooth waves, two ADS envelopes, an LFO and the SEM's multimode filter. That filter is the main event. It's a state-variable design with lowpass, bandpass and highpass responses, and it can go from soft and round to quite vicious at high resonance. Basses come out warm and wide rather than thick, and leads have a vocal, slightly nasal edge that sits nicely above a busy mix.

GForce have added a third oscillator to each SEM, which can also run as an LFO. Use it at audio rate and the SEM gets much more aggressive than the original ever could. Velocity and aftertouch are added per SEM too, neither of which the hardware had, so a held note can open up as you lean on it.

On top of that sit a phaser, an analogue-style stereo delay and a reverb, plus undo and redo, and Extend and Flip display modes.

The Sequencer

The dual 16-step sequencer is where TVS Pro earns its keep. It has two channels and its own dedicated page, so you can run a bassline on one SEM and a counter-melody on the other. Pan the two SEMs apart and the patterns start bouncing round the stereo field. It's the sort of thing that turns ten minutes of tweaking into a whole track idea.

What It's Good At

Sequenced basses and interlocking two-part lines are its home turf. Berlin School arpeggios, minimal techno grooves, and anything where two voices talk to each other rather than playing chords. The factory library has over 635 patches, more than 220 new ones plus 400-plus converted from GForce's SEM plugin, so there's plenty to start from.

It also fits neatly into GForce's other Oberheims. SEM presets can be exported to and imported from the OB-E and the standalone SEM, so if you own those, your sounds travel between them.

Where It Falls Short

Two voices is two voices. If you want lush pads and chords, this isn't the one; the OB-E with its eight SEMs is. Some reviewers who know the hardware also find the plugin's envelopes a touch less snappy than the original's, which you'll notice on very short plucks if you're picky about it. And as with a lot of modern factory libraries, quite a few patches lean on the delay and reverb. Strip the effects off and you'll hear the engine more honestly, and generally like it more.

The sequencer is also fairly simple by modern standards. You get two 16-step lanes and that's your lot, so don't expect probability, ratchets or per-step parameter locks. For that kind of thing you'll still be programming in the DAW.

Who It's For

Techno and electro producers who want sequenced lines with real character, ambient and Berlin School fans who like patterns evolving against each other, and anyone who's played a SEM plugin and wished it had a sequencer. If you mostly write chord-driven music, start with the OB-E instead.

Specifications

• Two fully modelled SEMs, each with two VCOs (pulse and saw), multimode filter, two ADS envelopes and an LFO
• Extra third VCO per SEM, also usable as an LFO
• Velocity and aftertouch modulation per SEM
• Dual 16-step sequencer
• Phaser, stereo delay and reverb
• Over 635 patches: 220+ new, 400+ adapted SEM patches
• SEM presets exchange with GForce OB-E and SEM
• Formats: Standalone, AU, AAX, VST2 and VST3
• Mac: Intel or Apple Silicon, macOS 10.15 or later, 8GB RAM
• Windows: Intel i5, Ryzen 5 or equivalent, Windows 7 or later, 8GB RAM

Get the sound: GForce Software - Oberheim TVS Pro

SOUND7 is an authorised GForce reseller. Digital delivery: licence activation code sent by email.

More Oberheim From GForce

GForce Software - The Oberheim Bundle: TVS Pro plus the OB-X, OB-E v2, SEM, OB-EZ, OB-1 and DMX

GForce Software - Oberheim SEM: the single SEM on its own, preset-compatible with TVS Pro

Read our GForce Oberheim Bundle review for the full set.