Following
the success of the Linn Drum, other manufacturers were quick to
jump on the bandwagon. One of the first was Oberheim with their
DMX drum machine that offered similar facilities to the Linn Drum.
In fairness
to Oberheim, however, they were offering something that was slightly
different.
Although on
the face of it, their DMX was nothing more that a Linn Drum clone,
it did at least integrate with Oberheim's proprietary interfacing
system (the Oberheim Parallel Buss) that pre-dated MIDI by some
years and which allowed Oberheim equipment to be synchronised and
integrated in a way no other manufacturer had yet managed to achieve.
At the time, hearing an entire (and expensive!) Oberheim system
in full force was quite an experience! Nowadays, of course, it's
all very commonplace with just the cheapest of sound modules.
For whatever
reason, Oberheim's Parallel Buss never took off (much like Roland's
own DCB) and was to be superceded by the industry-standard MIDI
but their drum machines were still popular at the time and remain
popular today in certain circles.
Oberheim replaced
the DMX with the DX which added new sounds and enhanced sequencing
facilities.
Samples kindly
donated by Petrit. |
