DSI announces Prophet 12!

[alan partridge]

It looks much more interesting and sounds beefier than either the P08 or Poly Evolver, IMHO.

[masstronaut]

Why would a PEK be far better synthesis? I mean, I love it but this looks like it has some wide ranging oscillators. Wavetables? From the demos it doesn't actually sound that different but it does sound rich, I'm sure the delays help. And I'd wait and see on the Music Easel, doesn't the 200e have digital oscillators? Mr. B's also not necessarily an analogue purist like that anyway.

As for pointless comparisons I'd say this is looking sort of comparable to the Q+, which is kind of interesting.

According to a friend who spoke with the DSI guys at the booth today

The oscillators are virtual, produced by a total of six SHARC chips. Output is then converted to analog to go to filters and VCAs. The chips also handle effects.

I don't care. It still sounds amazing.

perfect.

analog can be great and seeing a new Music Easel makes me happy.

but, the Prophet 08 is already a good analog poly synth and the PolyEvolver is a great hybrid.

were this just two Tempests together (minus the sequencer), I don't know why anyone wouldn't rather just buy a PEK and a PE rack (aside from it being discontinued). That would be 8 voices and far better synthesis for about the same price.

I do hope this is something different and a modern SQ-80 type synth (digital oscillators running through analog and plenty of modulation) would be nice.

[tekkentool]

It has a monster architecture(stolen from sq\esq??), but sounds rather digital. And he says this is his best synth by now, I hope he's not talking about the sound.

So let me get this straight. A synth with digital wavetables...can produce "digital" sounding textures and tones.

I have to lie down and think about this I can't see the connection yet. But surely there must be a reason.


I think it looks mad.

I do wonder if it's possible to "sweep" the wavetables as you can on Alchemy and Massive though...

[Ashe37]

were this just two Tempests together (minus the sequencer), I don't know why anyone wouldn't rather just buy a PEK and a PE rack (aside from it being discontinued). That would be 8 voices and far better synthesis for about the same price.

I don't see why 8 PE voices would be better than 12 PE voices... which is what two Tempest sound engines would be.

[masstronaut]

I do wonder if it's possible to "sweep" the wavetables as you can on Alchemy and Massive though...

It would be a stretch calling it a wavetable if you can't sweep that sucker.

[Hybrid88]

Actually not keen on the DSI sound as a rule, but this thing sounds great, muchly impressed!

[_seph]

were this just two Tempests together (minus the sequencer), I don't know why anyone wouldn't rather just buy a PEK and a PE rack (aside from it being discontinued). That would be 8 voices and far better synthesis for about the same price.

I don't see why 8 PE voices would be better than 12 PE voices... which is what two Tempest sound engines would be.

Although similar, the Tempest doesn't have the same voice architecture as the Evolver (just read the specs and signal flow diagram). Obviously the Prophet 12 has different functionality than the Tempest and we still no not know the specs so arguing over split hairs is pointless but a Tempest is not a six voice PolyEvolver.

[ColorForm2113]

Is this the first DSI to not have a sequencer (or four)?

[bhrama]

If you are not on the DSI forums, this is what Pym wrote this morning. Quick Specs rundown

12 voices

4 Oscillators per voice capable of classic and complex waveforms
Low alias digital oscillators of several flavors: tri, saw, pulse, sine, noise and 4 wavetable based sources
Oscillator params: FM, AM, Sync, Level, Pitch (Coarse+Fine), extended slop algorithm, shape, shape mod/pulsewidth


Sub oscillator

Shape Mod/Pulsewidth control changes based on oscillator type:
Pulse and Tri - Pulsewidth control
Saw - Supersaw effect (note: not complete in NAMM units)
Noise - Pink on the left, White in the middle, Blue/Violet on the right

Wavetables - Blends between 3 different waveforms, one on the left, one in the middle, one on the right


Post FX section, fully analog signal path (no DAC/ADC converstion) with digital effects summed with analog signal at wet/dry points
Analog VCA and panning
Analog stereo distortion
Analog resonant Lowpass filter per voice
Analog resonant Highpass filter per voice
All analog parameters are modulated at >11kHz sample rate


Digital FX 'Character' Section:
NOTE: Effects are not finalized (besides Drive) and will be improved and possible changed before release
Air - High shelf with soft clipping
Girth - Low shelf with saturation
Hack - Bit Crush
Decimate - Sample Rate Reduction
Drive - Overdrive/Saturation


Tons of modulation:
4 LFOs up to 4kHz rate, sync and multiple shapes

4 Envelopes - VCA, Filter and 2 Auxiliary. ADSR plus delay

16 Mod slots - Oscillators can be used as sources for FM control of a wide range of params


Two Pressure- and Position-sensitive touch faders for added control in addition to the pitch and mod wheels

4 Delay lines
Can sync to internal arp clock or to external MIDI clock

~1 second buffer for each delay line

Amount, Feedback, and Rate controls on front panel

Delay time ranges from reverb and flanger effects to a looper with feedback turned to max

Delay algorithms not finalized in NAMM units and will be improved by release


Tuned Feedback

Expanded Arpeggiator modes

Quick mod section:
example: holding 'mod source' and hitting 'Osc 1' creates a new mod with 'Osc 1' as the source and brings up the screen. Then holding 'mod destination' and moving the 'Air' encoder assigns the destination to 'Air'. Simple!

Sorting of mods by slot number, mod source or mod destination which includes the fixed mods (destination params for LFOs and Envelopes) to quickly deconstruct programs. Makes it very easy to see what mods are affecting what parameters at a glance


Playlist mode for queueing up programs to use in a set for quick 1-button access to quickly load presets. 4 Playlists with 10 presets plus an extended playlist mode if more complicated setups are needed

[Ashe37]

DSP oscillators?

I am disappointed. for that price i might be able to find a Q+ with analog filters...

[alan partridge]

but the Q+ sounds thin in comparison, at least from what I've heard from the first demos, and it's rare.

[DesolationBlvd]

I have two questions:

- Is this the same low-pass filter as previous DSI?
- Anyone able to identify the bottle in the background?

[masstronaut]

The analogue side of the Q+ can be kind of flaky I've heard.

[Arddhu]

Quick mod section:
example: holding 'mod source' and hitting 'Osc 1' creates a new mod with 'Osc 1' as the source and brings up the screen. Then holding 'mod destination' and moving the 'Air' encoder assigns the destination to 'Air'. Simple!

Nice!
Has this been implemented anywhere else before? That seems like one of the best features.

[_seph]

DSP oscillators?

I am disappointed. for that price i might be able to find a Q+ with analog filters...

and why would that be a better purchase?

the Q is a great synth, don't get me wrong.. but the + just has an analog filter slapped on, not quite the same thing as the Prophet 12's fully analog signal path, which I feel justifies it price a bit better than the Q

anyway, I'm happy to see that this is something different and beyond just a supped up Prophet 08 or PolyEvolver. Well done DSI