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Sequential resumes Prophet 5, Prophet 10


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Only a single manual on the Prophet 10!?!

 

The best thing about these releases is the downward pressure they exert on the price of vintage gear.

 

Price of these reissued analogs will also plunge as soon as Yamaha announces the DX-7 reissue. ;)

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Only a single manual on the Prophet 10!?!

 

The best thing about these releases is the downward pressure they exert on the price of vintage gear.

 

I believe the original Prophet 10 had been issued in a single keyboard format and there were issues with things overheating with so many parts packed into a smaller package. This partially led to the dual keyboard version, if I'm remembering correctly. A modern Prophet 10 in a single keyboard form factor is pretty seductive.

 

It will be interesting to see if anyone follows suit. For example, could there also be bona fide reissues of Oberheim analog synths?

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Only a single manual on the Prophet 10!?!

 

The best thing about these releases is the downward pressure they exert on the price of vintage gear.

 

I wonder who would actually buy a double-manual version, and if so, why...

 

We're not all big, muscular dudes who can tuck a B3 under one arm and a Leslie cab under another.

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Live demo right now by J3PO

 

[video:youtube]

 

3:08 - "416 Soulful Brass" is a beautiful patch. The velocity modulating filter cutoff is so responsive and full range. Do you hear a touch of Env modulating cutoff as well?

I've been trying to emulate this patch with DIVA. It seems simple, but there's something about the Prophet tone that is hard to match. I'm a skeptic of hardware sounding better than software, but maybe this is an example.

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Only a single manual on the Prophet 10!?!

 

The best thing about these releases is the downward pressure they exert on the price of vintage gear.

 

I believe the original Prophet 10 had been issued in a single keyboard format and there were issues with things overheating with so many parts packed into a smaller package. This partially led to the dual keyboard version, if I'm remembering correctly. A modern Prophet 10 in a single keyboard form factor is pretty seductive.

 

It will be interesting to see if anyone follows suit. For example, could there also be bona fide reissues of Oberheim analog synths?

 

That sounds like what I've heard as well about the dual manual P10.

 

This Dec. 2019 interview says Tom O. wants to get back into the polysynth business again "next year". He's 83-ish years old.

 

https://www.musicradar.com/news/tom-oberheim-thanks-to-the-dance-crowd-and-the-eurorack-guys-analogue-is-back-and-better-than-ever

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Check out the INHALT demo I posted last night Mike, that one is all dry.

 

I notice a new Youtube comment today: "Thank you for not drenching the entire presentation in reverb."

 

This one was funny, in response to a complaining comment about the P10 not being a double-decker:

 

"nothing a hack saw, some rubber tubing, and a bottle Jameson can"t fix"

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Then the next half of 1981 the infamous 'Whale' red Yamaha with his Prophet 5 on top.

A couple years later he moved to the Jupiter 8.

...and then the whale with the Jupiter 8 and Prophet-5 on top. Of course, you know that! ;)

 

When I finally had enough bread for one of the 'big boy' synths, I selected the Prophet-5 over the Jupiter 8 and Memorymoog. I don"t recall there being an Oberheim on the showroom floor at that time, but picked up an OB-8 a couple of years later.

 

I had the MIDI retrofit installed on my P5. Developed some sounds that were bigger than a house.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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The "vintage" knob to blend through the revisions is the greatest idea, ever.

My vote for coolest idea ever goes to the Curtis/SSM switch. Brilliant. Also amazing that they're even available.

 

Well CoolAudio have been making Curtis chips for some years. It would be ironic if Dave Smith was getting his chips from them as they are wholly owned subsiduary of Behringer!

 

Update - just remembered DSI get their chips from OnChip Systems.

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Only a single manual on the Prophet 10!?!

 

The best thing about these releases is the downward pressure they exert on the price of vintage gear.

 

I believe the original Prophet 10 had been issued in a single keyboard format and there were issues with things overheating with so many parts packed into a smaller package. ...

 

That is a nice bit of information that I did not know. I just remember the print adds for the Prophet 10 being dual manual. It was not around very long at all. Seems like a year later they moved to the T8 as competition to the Rhodes Chroma and other touch sensitive analogs.

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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Over-rated

 

Underwhelmed might best describe how I felt about the Rev 3.2 - not able to comment on Rev 2 but that seemed to have much more mojo. I got mine in 1981 but to my ears it didn"t stand up to Jupiters and OBXs that other bands were using. Certainly there were some 'iconic" sounds - P5 sync viz. George Clinton"s Atomic Dog - but I felt the P5s strength was the PolyMod and that seemed to push it more towards the experimental and ambient music of the 80s viz. Jon Hassel//Eno, or the quirky sounds you hear on the Talking Heads records (Eno again?). It could do steel drums though - which was another staple sound in 80s (UK) pop - don"t ask me why!

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So what niche does the 5 cover when there"s a Prophet 6? OCD folks are going to go crazy until Sequential comes out with a Prophet-7 and Prophet-9.

 

 

Yes that's what I'm wondering. I sold my Rev3 in 2005 but in 2017 I bought a new Prophet 6.The sound was supposed to be closer to the SSM P5 version and included some nice additions like the HPF and FX. To my ears it"s more engaging than my old P5 and it can do most of the PolyMod but not all. The big difference is how the waveforms are managed. P5 separate on/off switched for all waveforms - OSC2 can have SAW/SQUARE/TRI on at the same time - P6 is a blend: SQ->SQ/SAW->SAW->SAW/TRI -> TRI. Not quite the same. I have tried to recreate some of my old P5 sounds - the P6 gets close but I can"t nail them exactly.

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That's the point I guess... no matter how much "better" Dave feels he has made his synths, there is a contingent who simply wants it to sound, behave, and even look JUST LIKE a P5.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I never understand why people make such a big deal about the PolyMod. You can use Osc 2 and/or the envelope to modulate the filter, osc1 frequency and/or pulse width . That's a whopping 2 mod sources and 3 mod destinations. Maybe innovative in it's day but...

 

I will say the term "PolyMod" was the greatest idea ever. No one including Dave Smith really knows what it is, but ya gotta have it. :allhail:

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So what niche does the 5 cover when there"s a Prophet 6? OCD folks are going to go crazy until Sequential comes out with a Prophet-7 and Prophet-9.

 

 

Yes that's what I'm wondering. I sold my Rev3 in 2005 but in 2017 I bought a new Prophet 6.The sound was supposed to be closer to the SSM P5 version and included some nice additions like the HPF and FX. To my ears it"s more engaging than my old P5 and it can do most of the PolyMod but not all. The big difference is how the waveforms are managed. P5 separate on/off switched for all waveforms - OSC2 can have SAW/SQUARE/TRI on at the same time - P6 is a blend: SQ->SQ/SAW->SAW->SAW/TRI -> TRI. Not quite the same. I have tried to recreate some of my old P5 sounds - the P6 gets close but I can"t nail them exactly.

 

You can compare P6 to P5 and other Sequential synths with this PDF:

 

https://yo41t1y5gos9jw8f3lptw0xo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Sequential-Synth-Comparison-Chart-5.1.pdf

 

I still like the P6. I think of it as the synth for people who want a P5-ish sound but are willing to live without the Rossum-designed filter, P5-only VCO, Vintage knob, etc. in exchange for onboard sequencer, arpeggiator, and FX.

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That's the point I guess... no matter how much "better" Dave feels he has made his synths, there is a contingent who simply wants it to sound, behave, and even look JUST LIKE a P5.

 

And he was obviously convinced that the business case was strong enough - meaning the demand for a P5 reissue is high enough to generate good revenue.

 

Pro 3 appears to be his Modulation King - 46 sources, 171 destinations, 4 CV ins and out - for those willing to give up true polyphony, vintage "accuracy", etc. in the name of modulation

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Three vintages analogs that I never owned and always wanted was the Jupiter 8, Oberheim 4 voice or Matrix 12, and the P5. At one point I owned 5 of the DSI synths, including two versions of the Prophet. Then I sold them all. While the Talking Heads did a wonderful job getting great sounds out of the P5 on Speaking in Tongues, I found that I preferred other synths. I went through that age playing a MemoryMoog and Rhodes Chroma. The P5 felt like a simplification.

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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You want sample playback with analog filters and powerful mod matrix that nobody knows about? Prophet X

 

Lead/bass synth with Eurorack connectivity and bazillion modulation options? Pro 3

 

Taste of Oberheim? OB-6

 

Prophet 5? Nord Lead

 

P5-like thing but with FX, sequencer, and arp? Nord Lead... j/k Prophet 6

 

Sequential's got a pretty solid lineup. All that's missing is the budget models that DSI used to make - Mopho, Tetra,etc.

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Steel Drums were big in the 80's because there was a heavy crossover influence from reggae, ska, and calypso at the time.

 

I had always thought most bands were using the DX7 for that, but probably there was a big enough gap that the P5 preceded that for a lot of the material.

 

Many of the bands used the real thing though, so I'm not sure how big synthesized steel drums and marimba were during that era.

 

It's not something I had really thought about before, regarding a P5. Yet I've always been aware that chromatic percussion is a strength of FM synthesis.

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Amazing that Dave Smith just announced his own golden parachute. :laugh:

 

I'm curiious to see how many new Prophet 5/10s show up on stage. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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Amazing that Dave Smith just announced his own golden parachute. :laugh:

 

Well-earned and deserved. His family should be set for generations to come.

 

I've seen some people say this is his swan song, but I don't think he's done. I'm sure some of the profit will be used to finance more cool stuff.

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I've seen some people say this is his swan song, but I don't think he's done. I'm sure some of the profit will be used to finance more cool stuff.

 

I agree i think we will see some outstanding synth after this before he hangs up his soldering iron.

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I am not sure that the Prophet-10 in a single manual version got much past the prototype stage; overheating problems were IMSC really showstoppers. I have never seen one in the wild.

 

I think the main reasons the released 10 had two manuals were (a) it made room for two P5 mainboards with room to breathe so overheating wasn't a huge issue and (b) remember that at the time, polysynths were still a very new concept and a lot of folks were playing them like glorified organs, at least at first.

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I am not sure that the Prophet-10 in a single manual version got much past the prototype stage; overheating problems were IMSC really showstoppers. I have never seen one in the wild.

 

Dominic Milano had one - I'd seen it in his office at Keyboard Magazine back in the day. I can't recall exactly but I think a few were made/released, maybe as special units, not ever sold through dealers. I could find this listing also:

 

Prophet 10 auction

 

The heat issue was the problem, for sure.

 

Jerry

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