Any reason I shouldn't buy a Prophet VS? Alternatives?

[ThinkTanx]

So, I'm considering selling my MnM SFX-6, maybe my Voyager too. I'm looking for dark, interesting pad and string sounds. I love my Virus TI for these sounds, but I guess I'm looking for some variation there, and the VS architecture and features have always intrigued me (plus, just the fact they're so well known for these ambient sounds... Eno, etc.). Should I be worried about reliability with the VS? Does anyone, who has owned both, think the TI makes the VS redundant? Is there another synth I should be checking out? I wouldn't wanna spend more than $2500 probably (also note: I'm not interested in DSI stuff).

Cheers.

[paugui]

Why not sparing some more to get a John Bowen Solaris?

I think you can emulate a Prophet VS "perfectly" with it.
It won't have analog filters, but you can have the same structure.

Saying this, I would like to get a Prophet VS too, but the reliability issues I've read on this forum (like units going dead from one moment to the other), definitely pull me off...

And I already have a really nice hybrid synth, the Korg DSS-1 (which I'm sure is not as powerful, but still a really nice machine), which made me consider in sparing my money, especially because if anything goes wrong, it won't be that easy to get it repaired in Portugal.


But if you want some nice pads, why not to try a Clavia Nord Modular G2?
It is incredibly versatile and the sound is quite good too (probably the sound on the G1 is a bit more warm, but the added features are great for pads for sure).

Other nice alternative could be an Hartmann Neuron.
Seems huge for pads, but will likely cost you more than 2500$ as it is pretty rare...

But I'm sure you can find more common synths that can do that pretty well, like a cheap FM synth or a Roland JD800, for instance.

[ThinkTanx]

Well, if I'm honest, the analog filter and vector synthesis does play a role for me. I can cover standard VA synths with my soft synths and my TI. If I'm gonna get a hardware piece at this point, I would like for it to be quirky in some way.

The reason I liked the SFX-6 is because it is quite unique. But it's just time for me to move it on, I think. I've had it for four or five years now and it gets very little use these days, plus I'm looking to get away from so much loop-based composing, if you will. I should probably just go for the VS, as it's been on my watch list for years and years. If it doesn't work out, I can always sell it. That said, I may just pare things down for now and give myself some time to think on it.

Btw - I said $2500, but money isn't really a big issue. That was just a general price point I was thinking. It seems that you go from the VS price point to Jupiter 5 or Memorymoog land, which has gotten a bit top heavy imo ($5,000 or whatever they go for now...). I'm not a huge synth enthusiast, I buy this stuff to make music with it, so the novelty factor doesn't mean a whole lot to me (at least, not in terms of spending a ton of extra $ on it). All that said, I'll take an Elka Synthex if someone wants to give me a good price on it!

[Ashe37]

Something to think about when looking at the Prophet VS, going right along with the reliability factor, is the joystick. Apparently even Wine Country can't repair them anymore (though they can fix everything else on it)

[stikygum]

I have many sound clips of this machine. Very nice sounding (except for the crappy convertors I had used to record this). You can check them out here, it will give you a good taste of it:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... tent=music

Hit me up if you are looking to sell your Voyager. I liked the VS, but I really love my PEK. Different sounding even though they both have the same sampled waveforms. No knobs on the VS. The immediacy of the PEK is greater imho and I felt I could get results quicker with the PEK. I think the VS has more growl and more of a hifi sound though. The filter is killer on it. Pads are great too. I've had both and fell in love with the PEK.

[iProg]

I hope you'll find a VS in good condition. Beats any VA out there. You won't hear it until you play it yourself, but you won't be disappointed.

[schmidtc]

If you get a VS, buy the service manual from wine country and rebuild the power supply. If you're patient I see them go for $1200 on occasion. I read on AH, or here that there was a place in korea selling NOS joysticks a few months back, but if you don't gig it, you'll probably never have to worry about that. The most irreplaceable part is a 30 channel sample and hold CEM chip that usually fails due to transient spikes a power up/down. Last one available I know of sold for $150 a few years back and they were only used in that one machine.

My Sfx-6 is the workhorse of my studio, it actually sequences the VS, which will be buried with me.