Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

OMG no wonder ive been unable to log into this site for the past week. I thought the site had gone down.

I probably really am the last analog synth lover to find out about this news. I just cannot believe the news.....Im so shocked. A keyboard 8 voice analog synth - am I f**k dreaming?

Its shaping up to be the sort of analog I always wanted someone to build. I'd be very interested to hear peoples A6 and P'08 sound comparisons - they would probably be the perfect modern analog match.

I have just finished reading the entire thread and alot of interesting comments have been made. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I think the intelligent solution is to wait until you've tried one out before passing judgement or direct too much criticism. Overall the views of people here is overwhelmingly positive.

Ill give you my first impressions now -

The Prophet 5 reference - Im not too sure I understand why some people are trying to compare this soundwise to a Prophet 5 - or wanting it to sound like one (identically). The P5 was/is a nice synth and had some notable sounds unique to itself.....but it sounds incredibly dated now (more so than any other analog Ive ever used: Jupiter 8, Monopoly, Juno etc). The P5 can put out some classic sounds, but its not the most musical sounding synth ive used. The P5 has limited use in modern music.....vibes change over time.....hence the evolution of new synths which have fresher tones (some VA's and softsynth digitals fit this purpose well). You may realise, as I did.....they are great for your nostalgic late night jams but they are a b***h to integrate into modern musical styles. I think it must be because over time...my ears have become acustomed to contempory vibes and the P5 is now, pretty far removed from this. Dont get me wrong, i love the P5 for what it can do.

What I WANTED from Dave Smith (now appears he's delivered) was a true analog polyphonic analog synth with more than 5 voices and sounded more musical (I registered this interest back in 2003 and I think its safe to assume that not even Dave knew at the time whether they'd ever be a market for this). Daves Evolver strategy has been a stroke of genuis actually, on a number of levels. I suspect when Dave was first designing the Evolver he felt the need to go beyond plain analog cicuitry and produce something really quite unique - and the rest is history. Like Clusterchord mentioned, when i first heard about the Evolver concept (a great concept in its own right) I was left thinking....'please build a true analog poly synth with no digital c**p' Thats what I honestly thought at the time. Call it analog an analog purist tendency (not in the modular sense....but I make a concession for quite alot of digital control in analog poly's). We should *all* be very happy that through the success of Evolver, Dave has now produced a true analog 8 voice....in 2007. This was totally unthinkable 3 years ago. I really applaud Dave Smith and DB (for his great handling of sales and marketing - i trust thats what he does....maybe i could promote him to communications director? Also to Stefan Tripler for his passion to use Daves synths and produce tracks which give a real flavour for what can be done on them).

To get back on topic, the prophet '08 has all the hallmarks of being a classic. A fresh sounding modern true analog which can cover prophet territory and also provide useable modern analog sounds. To my ears it sounds instantly more musical than the P5 ever did. If you like the concept and tone of the P'08 then go for it (as I will be) but if not.....pick something else....

Wow its taken me some time to write this and im still in shock that its actually happening.

Cheers DSI

DS (no im not dave smith!)

*sigh*

Well, i suppose i'll just need to add another synth to the list of instruments i'll need to buy, along with the Little Phatty (as soon as they implement glide on legato) and the John Bowen Solaris (as soon as they finish the darn thing).

Must admit I'm pleasantly surprised to find a new real analogue poly being produced, and moreso because it seems to an instrument designed to be played live, rather than stuck in a studio connected to a computer (no offence to people who make their music that way, it's not not how I work ).

As to whether I'd actually buy one, only time, money, & having a good play on one in a music shop will decide that, but like polardark I'm adding it to my list!

Oh, and while I prefer having the wheels in the usual place, the way they are on the P 08 isn't too much of a problem for me, because the DX11 has them in the same place.

Wow! This is certainly great news! Thanks for sharing it with us..

Can't wait to try it out. 8 voice analog beast do have certain appeal to me

And thanks for keeping it a secret for so long

CTB wrote:dB, you've been beyond understanding and tolerant throughout the mess that this thread became. You are to be applauded for your restraint and decorum.
:occasion5:

I concur. I quit reading this thread a day or so after the secret was revealed, but since I saw that it had grown to over 400 posts, I thought I'd check it out again - and what a mess it has become.

I think we should be very thankful for what DSI has created. I know it is not the answer to everyone's prayers, but it's damn near close. At a price point around $2K, we're getting a lot of bang for our buck.

I guess most of the naysayers' complaints is that it is not living up to the Prophet name. I sort of agree with that. Maybe it should have been called something else. Kinda of like the new Roland Junos - only thing they have in common with the original Junos is the paint scheme.

"Prophet" or not, I am still very excited about this synth and cannot wait until the full specs and ordering info is posted on DSI.com

Z

nadafarms wrote:Good thing the new prophet doesn't look like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Painted-blac ... dZViewItem

That's disgusting.

I look fwd to auditioning one as soon as they arrive in the Toronto area, thanks Dave for the news and great come backs to some of the posts here, now I have to clean up some coffee off the laptop.

CTB wrote:dB, you've been beyond understanding and tolerant throughout the mess that this thread became. You are to be applauded for your restraint and decorum.
:occasion5:

Agreed. Not too many would have put up with some of the nonsense dB has endured here.

Thanks for toughing it out with us Dave, I'll be among those watching the website.

JMP wrote:

nadafarms wrote:Good thing the new prophet doesn't look like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Painted-blac ... dZViewItem

That's disgusting.

....

you can say that twice.

WHAT A f**k WANKER

The problem is that you have to pay twice: once to get it, the other time to get it completely refurbished by people like CustomSynth to fix it up in all its original glory.

nadafarms wrote:Good thing the new prophet doesn't look like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Painted-blac ... dZViewItem

Whoever painted that needs to be slapped upside the head.

hageir wrote:

JMP wrote:

nadafarms wrote:Good thing the new prophet doesn't look like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Painted-blac ... dZViewItem

That's disgusting.

....

you can say that twice.

WHAT A f**k WANKER

Oh come on, they are only asking $1200 DSI could really learn from this beautiful aesthetic, I call the paint job "banana turd" plus you gotta love this part of the description:

"It still plays as it should, and it has also had the oscillators de-tuned. This is a minor fix if you prefer to return to stock voice configuration"

WTF?

stillearning wrote:

CTB wrote:dB, you've been beyond
understanding and tolerant throughout the mess that this
thread became. You are to be applauded for your restraint
and decorum.
:occasion5:

Agreed. Not too many would have put up with some of the
nonsense dB has endured here.

Thanks for toughing it out with us Dave, I'll be among those
watching the website.

Yep, that dB is a tough guy, as I can attest!

Z wrote:I guess most of the naysayers' complaints is that
it is not living up to the Prophet name. I sort of agree
with that.

Before I voice my opinion on that, a bit of background:

1) I'm not a DSI employee, so I don't stand personal gain or
loss from Prophet '08 sales. I've just programmed sounds
(a LOT of them), and helped in various other ways on the
Evos and P'08, including the front panel for the PEK. So,
nothing I say is "official", OK?

2) I don't own a real Prophet 5, though I have played
several, along with Sequential Pro One, Prophet 600, and T8.
(I'd love to own a T8!)

3) Not counting the four Evolver models I own, I do own
seven other vintage analog synths, with a wonderful and
pristine Oberheim OB8 rev5 with factory MIDI being the
closest comparison to the Prophet '08.

So, back to Z's quote, as someone with a lot of hands-on use
of the P'08 (nearly 3 months), I have to respectfully but
strongly disagree. I think this machine is WELL deserving
of the "Prophet" name. In many ways, I think it's better
than the P5, and that's before we start talking about age,
reliability, and repair issues. In side by side comparisons
with my own OB8, its raw sound is amazingly similar. Matter
of fact, if you don't use filter resonance on either machine,
the raw sound is all but identical. Granted, the OB8 has
some cool "page 2" functions that the P'08 lacks, such as
LFO Phase, Quantize, etc. On the other hand, the P'08 has
several significant features not available on the OB8, such
as four LFOs, three Envelopes, a four track Sequencer, and a
MUCH deeper Mod Matrix.

I love my OB8, and you would have to pry it from my cold
dead fingers, or offer me an insane amount of cash!
But, if you put me on a desert island - a desert island with
a power supply, that is! - and told me I could have only one
of these machines, I would choose the Prophet '08 without
hesitation.

To me, it IS without a doubt, the Prophet '08.

I'm a little late to the party it appears.
I was on Dr. Tripplers website checking out the P8 demo tracks
and this is very exciting news. Always wanted a P5 but back in the day '81 had to settle for a Poly Six which I still own. Maybe time to move it and acquire this 21st century prophet! 8)

Ian S wrote:Must admit I'm pleasantly surprised to find a new real analogue poly being produced, and moreso because it seems to an instrument designed to be played live, rather than stuck in a studio connected to a computer (no offence to people who make their music that way, it's not not how I work ).

No problem. I for example never play live, only work at studio but IMO there's no (much) difference between live and studio synths. MIDI and audio always work. If you mean the multitimbrality, that doesn't matter at least in my case. I have enough synths to play parts anyway so 1 part is enough.

Something like Virus TI usb-integration would have been totally disappointing. At least that's not the way synths should be going. I really hope that Waldorf will use the usb in their new synths only for midi interface, no audio transfer to plugin. I guess the Virus TI has been a very good example why synth companies should avoid that idea. Way too much work for programmers to keep up with sequencer and operating system upgrades. That time could be spent programming new code for new products or to make the synth bug free in standalone mode in 6-12 months, not 3+ years.

Anyway, the P8 looks totally awesome. I will also support DSI by purchasing the synth at some point. It seems like Dave turned the analog market upside down and saved us all. Now we don't need to buy old analog gear at sick prices when we can go and purchase a brand new one! Ok, it may be a little more expensive than some old gear but it's much more reliable, has more features and voices, nobody has scratched the surface, dropped the synth etc... 8)

Ok, now he can design a 3 oct. monosynth based on the same sound engine for less than $1k.