Prophet-6 V OB-6 ?

[knolan]

Anyone own or tried out both the Prophet 6 and the OB-6? How do they compare / contrast?

The price difference is quite large - I wonder why?

Thanks!
Kevin.

[Ashe37]

The price difference here is $100 or so.

[Tidda]

More than €500 difference. Very strange.
Funny thing is, a while back it was the other way around:
Now: Prophet~6 €3099, OB-6 €2555
A while back: OB-6 €2644, Prophet~6 €2333

[Z]

I haven't tried the Prophet 6, but I've got an OB-6.

The P6 has traditional 4 pole low-pass filter whereas the OB-6 has 2 pole variable state filter. What sold me on the OB-6 is the ability to modulate the filter state via LFO or after touch. You hear a little bit of LFO modulating the filter state in this improv video I made:

[Sawteeth]

I've tried both. A few friends have them. I've also played original Prophets, Sequentials and some old Oberheim keyboards like the 4voice, the OBXa and the Matrix 12. The difference between the OB 6 and the Prophet 6 is most noticeable in the filters. The OB6 has a nice sweetness when the filter resonates while the Prophet 6 overall is more gritty and dark. They both don't sound as big and lush as the older OB and Prophets (I'm guessing due to less noise, thd in the whole unit and more stability in the VCOs) but they're both at least half the price. So if you're, hypothetically, gonna buy both... maybe just save up for an older synth? Maintaining a new OB6 would probably be a lot easier though. And with a little help from FX and EQ ect, you could make them sound just as big if you know what you're doing.

Just to add some more personal opinion to this post, I like the sound of the OB6 more than the Prophet 6.

[allogistics]

I've tried both and own a Prophet 6. They're different enough that I'd really consider buying an OB-6 if I had 3k to spare I honestly loved them both and was really torn when choosing between them.

As mentioned before, the OB-6 has a 12db filter, but another difference is that the sub oscillator on it is a square wave. The Prophet 6 sub oscillator is a triangle wave, which is (to me) better for pads, poly patches, and sugary leads, but I'd pick the OB-6's square wave sub oscillator for aggressive monosynth sounds. I already have a monosynth, and I think a 24db filter is more versatile, so I went with the prophet.

I think of the Prophet 6 as more angelic, and the OB-6 as the dark side.

[Pro5]

I prefer the Prophet 6, have used it quite a lot. Find it's got more body and more range. OB-6 has a sweet sound but is a bit thinner overall and lacking the kind of filter I'd want in an expensive poly (versatile) HP + 4 pole LP.

I imagine it's more expensive due to things like extra wood, along the front and thicker ends and the type of wood is possibly more expensive (Walnut which is currently the most expensive hardwood I think). Not sure what wood the OB6 has though.

Looks wise and overall sound/features/scope wise I prefer the Prophet 6 and would buy one at a good price. I'm not really that interested in OB6 as it has a fizzy edge to every sound I hear, nice in small doses but not worth the price to me.

YMMV but those who've used them both heavily, inc JD73 (synth reviewer and did presets for them I think?) as well as that guy on youtube who makes patches for everything AND Paul Dither + another guy who's name escapes me right now all say the same thing. The Prophet is just an overall better synth once you get over the slightly looser VCOs in the OB-6 and that sweet fizzy thing, it's a lot harder to not make it sound samey all the time, and it doesn't record or mix as well, nor is as much of a workhorse as the Prophet 6.

If you've got one though, great, it's still a nice synth. Next to a Prophet 6 I think it's a few rungs down the ladder for my polysynth needs at £2k+

Lastly I think the P6 is somewhat closer to what they were aiming for (more like a P5) and the OB-6 is kind of it's own thing with some faint OB-ness about it but overall a bit like a VCO juno, to me neither here nor there, lacking identity. I can listen to Prophet 6 tones all day and be fine, I can't take much of the OB-6 before it starts to grate. 2 Poles can often do that to me unless the rest of the engine is just right.