What do all you 'foogers think of the DSI Prophet?

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I know this is the Moog forum, and that’s mainly why I’m asking you all. Give me the lowdown on the Prophet, everything you know/think/feel, likes dislikes, etc. I’ve only been around one once, briefly, but didn’t get to play with it (the staff was unboxing it at a shop in NY on my last visit). Only sound I got to hear was a rich warm pad that sounded amazing.

Since then, my dream-rig consists of a Voyager and a Prophet, with the Phatty for bass and arps. The Voyager is obviously first on my list (already have the Phatty), so I have a long time to think about the Prophet. Anyway, I’d like to get a big thread going here and find out what all of my Moog brethren think of the DSI Prophet. Hit me with the knowledge. :smiley:

thanks

2

I know I’d love to have one at home or a couple of months, just the time to make up my mind :slight_smile:

The possibilities are cool. I remember I had a not-so-good feeling to the instrument when I first tried one. However the second time was more pleasant.
The rest is about tastes and colours. Definitely worth the trial anyway.

3

The voyager, Little Phatty and Prophet compliment each other very well. The Prophet is capable of very nice warm pads (different than Moog, but that is a good thing ) nice leads and basses. It also has a pretty extensive modulation routings. The Four LFO’s are great to work with, the third envelope generator comes in handy for many things.

The four track sequencer is blast, one track can be assigned to pitch on both osc, the second track to filter cutoff, the third to VCA level, the fourth to noise. Or track one to pitch on osc1 track two to pitch on osc 2 track three to cut off. In other words each of the four tracks has a wide rage of functions it can control. Hings get even cooler if you are in split or layer mode, in split use the sequencer just on the lower patch then play a pad on the upper part of the keyboard.

Each patch has a layer A and layer B, layer B can be identical to A but slightly different filter cut off or detuned. Or, can be a totally different sound , handy when doing a split but also works well for creating a unique sound. Down side is it becomes a four voice instrument. Even if you have one of the layers set to mono mode it is still a four voice synth on each side of the split. You can also assign how many voices are assigning to mono mode, but if you just chose one the other three are only turned off and not re allocated to the other side of the split.

There is also an apreggiator on it

Mine is an early one and had problems with the encoders, About a year ago I chnagedit over to the PE version.
Since you have the LP you may want to think about the Prophet next then the Voyager, nothing against the Voyager I love mine, but by getting the Prophet next you have the Moog sound with the LP and will have a different color and polyphonic with the Prophet, then add the more extensive sound creation of the Voyager later. But a Voyager an LP together is also many hours of fun :slight_smile: .

4

I used to like it. Almost bought one. I am glad I did not. I sold my Mopho too. I have kind of overgrown the DS sound. I am hooked on the vintage Moogs sound. I even wish Moog would go back to its own roots. I think the Minitaur was designed to be as close an approach to the Taurus1 as can be. The Voyager is not a Minimoog model D. In time, I have come to prefer the LP’s sound to the Voyager. The Voyager is vastly superior as a machine though : all knobs and 3 nice modulation busses.

That being said, as a poly, and as a synth that does not wear the Moog name, the Prophet is the best I know.

5

Having had the chance to play with one (my friend’s) for quite some time, when he lent it to me while he was away on vacation, I can tell you my personal opinion on it.

The good:

Excellent sound quality, excellent keyboard feel, very controllable aftertouch, the better PE (Potentiometer Edition), well laid out control panel, active voice indicators (à la Prophet 10), small footprint, 4 fast lfos, fast software envelopes, extensive modulation possibilities, massive unison mode, 4 track sequencer, very reasonably priced (a Moog with all the same possibilities would run probably 8-10 times as much), real analog oscillators and filters, nice knob feel.

The bad:

Too small a display (with an annoying red backlight), limited knob resolution, (non PE edition flaky encoders), somewhat cryptic menu system (due to small display), only two oscillators per voice so I found myself layering sounds many times in order to get a fuller sound for pads and strings limiting the polyphony to only 4 voices, Curtis filters (don’t particularly like them, but again that’s personal), I liked the original Prophet 5 better because it had a slightly more aggressive sound, the Prophet 08 has a hollow and mellow sound compared to it.


I’ll stop here because I don’t want to look like I’m bashing it. I’m not. It’s a very fine instrument, just not exactly my cup-of-tea. Believe it or not, I prefer my Virtual Analog Alesis ion to it. Better (larger) display, better knob resolution, 3 osc, 2 filters per voice (either in parallel or in series), 2 high resolution mod wheels plus pitch bend wheel, simpler one level menu system, 20 different filters emulated (from Moog to Arp to Oberheim and Roland), one of the best analog emulation out there, etc…

But I don’t want to steal this thread… To each his or her own, I guess.

TIFWIW

6

I own a Mopho Keyboard and a Tetra polychained. Basically the exact same thing as a Prophet, but with Feedback, sub-osc at both DCO’s and 5 voices instead of 8. I also have a Moog LP and a Rogue. I absolutely love how all of them compliment each other. The MoKey/Tetra combo really helps to fill the mix and the Moog synths fit right in the middle. The DSI line is thinner sounding, but it is very capable of lush, warm pads and modulation capabilities way beyond a Voyager. Plus, $2000 for analog polyphony is a bonus.

Adding the Prophet 08 to your lineup next to the LP will be a winning combo!

7

While I am waiting on my Voyager to be created and delivered (2 more weeks…waiting sucks), I have taken ownership of a Prophet 08. I am coming from a Juno 60 and an Opus for my poly needs. I wanted to upgrade to something more stable. My first reaction was that this board was WAY smarter than I was. I was use to one LFO that would either do pitch or frequency. The modulation source and destinations took about a week to comprehend. Now that I do…it’s a completely new way of thinking about these synths and what they can do.

Sound…I agree with most…It’s not Moog…nor does it try to be. It is a nice contrast. I wanted an instrument for pads and drones that was analog. It’s going to take more than a couple weeks before I can use and understand all that this board has to offer.

Overall, I am happy with the board. What was once a little intimidating at first has become inspiring and inviting. After the first time playing, I felt like the first time I saw the Matrix movie…I barely comprehend. After a week or so, it was more like the last Matrix movie…I got it.

8

I will give the P08 credit in the pads area. It puts out some real nice pads. I just can’t justify spending 2k on a pads-only machine. Might sound strange coming from someone who pre-ordered a Taurus which only does bass, but IMHO, bass is worth more than pads are. :slight_smile:

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IMHO, the P08 is a specialty synth for sure. It has a very distinct sound that sounds great when in the right context. Sometimes, you’ll hear it though, and wonder why you bought it…But when you get it just right, it will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. I own one, and originally bought it just for the pads (which sound amazing), but quickly learned that it can be a monster bass synth as well. Since I’ve discovered Omnisphere, I’ve used it less. That, plus a few other redundancies have had me thinking about selling it a few times (I actually have it listed for sale now in another forum), but I go back and forth with it…I’ve changed my mind about selling it a couple of times now…Who knows if I will let it go or not. :laughing:

Another thing about the P08 is the user interface can be overly complicated. There is a fair amount of menu diving required to get into some of the more complex modulations, and I still haven’t totally figured out the freaking sequencer. But then again, I’m used to the no-nonsense Minimoog layout.

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Besides pads the P08 can also do some great leads and yes bass lines. :slight_smile: know this is a Moog forum but other things sometimes work better for bass and leads :slight_smile: . Depending on what I’m going for a lead could be one of the Moogs or a combination of them, it could also be the Prophet or dare I say “digital” synths, it could also be a combination of analog and digital :slight_smile: .

@ drcarver: Take your time with the sequencer, it’s not as hard as it looks, yes it takes a little bit to learn it but after that it’s a blast
Try this
first press the gated seq button , next in the modulation section press edit seq. Select track 1 turn the modulation dest. knob to select what you want track one to control, lets all osc freq. turn each of the 16 knobs with led’s to select the pitch, it is displayed as c0, A#2 ( b flat)… you can also dial in rest or reset anywhere in the sequence. If you select reset on the 5th step it will always go back to step 1, it automatically resets after step 16 so you don’t have to dial that in,

Now go to track 2 mod destination, dial to cutoff, each knob will allow you to dial in the cutoff value.

track three mod destination dial to noise, dial in random noise at different levels

track 4.

Do you have to use all four tracks each time… nope, but cool that it’s there.

11

Here comes an irrational reply.

I tried one at SamAsh in the city and was turned off by the build quality. It wasn’t the PE edition aka Potentiometer Edition Edition : ) perhaps that is better. I thought thought for $2,000 it ought to be something closer to a piece of furniture or more heavy. Again, irrational.

The 2 part ‘introduction/review’ of the Prophet is absolutely incredible especially since it contrasts the beast and all of it’s trimmings to my favorite synth of all times (OBX), well, the OB-Xa.

You don’t have much to choose from when it comes to a modern Poly and I think the sound is great; something about complexity (somebody mentioned that) turns me off though). With power comes complexity so double edged.

If you want one, get one or borrow a friends, or rent one. If you don’t overpay, you can always sell it and if you lose a few hundred in the transaction, at least you can say you gave it a shot.

EDIT: Nice picture DRCarver; really nice. Nikon D90 with Aperture preferred mode?

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^I think the build quality is quite nice. I’ve never played the non-PE version, but the pots are super solid.

That pic was taken with a Canon 5D with the100L lens. :mrgreen:

@brian: thanks! I will give it another go. The fact is, I’d probably never use the sequencer for any of my applications, but I hate having such a serious board and not having it mastered. :smiley:

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Nice picture indeed, I like it!

About the sequencer, don’t think of it as a note sequencer but rather as a parameter sequencer, a source of modulation. It can specifically be routed to oscillator(s) pitch hence becoming sort of a note sequencer though.
I had an Evolver, same software. You can for example have a track routed to PWM and have the modulation wheel controlling the depth of the sequencer modulation. Think of it as a very specialized LFO.

EDIT: sorry, I got confused between Namahshaman initially asking and Drcarver not knowing wether he will let the Prophet go… Anyway, wish it inspires :slight_smile:

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Good point just using it as a param. seq .

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I had an older non PE version and later upgrade it to a PE. While this made a vast difference, my main isues with the board were in the interface. Yes, there are a ton of knobs, but they have multiple functions and not in a good way. Menu diving on a small screen in cumbersome. Overall I parted with the P08, not because it sounded bad, but because I hated the interface. That being said I now own a Tempest, which is absolutely amazing. It seems DSi has learn some along the way, and there are rumors of a future monster on the way.

16

For ME the display is not a problem, could it be larger. sure. The multi function knobs also for ME make sense, it would have added too much cost and space to have each individual. But I can understand some not liking it and that’s fine. :slight_smile: I guess it’s from all those years programming a DX7 I don’t really mind it :slight_smile: . Menu diving for sure can be a problem on a small screen.

The Tempest is a interesting box with lots of nice features, enjoy.

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I’ve been eyeballing the Tempest as well. I really want to get my hands on one for a while before I commit to purchasing though.

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Just a quick reply, I’ve got one alongside a Voyager & a few other classic polys and I love it:) It now serves as the main controller for almost everything else (using the aftertouch on the P08’s keyboard to sweep the filter on the Memorymoog or the Jupiter 8 via a Kenton MIDI>CV box, is especially dope:) Very nice in a live setting, too - the (lack of) weight is sheer delight. One thing that really helped crack the more complex aspects of the programming & sequencer for me, is the editing software; I found it to be an excellent companion and a great visual reference when doing sound design…the software really opens things up.

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DSI Prophet no midi !
http://youtu.be/qDEP0IspOkw

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IMHO it’s a must.

Forget for a moment the pads and the horns (where the prophet is king, and terribly unexpensive for a 8-voice analog):

just speaking of the leads, I use a oberheim synth, a ARPish one, a prophet08 and a moogish synth (planning to move back to a Moog with a great M: but my 24db ladder-based synth is a modular… which is cumbersome, but… I am full of doubts… I want a moog sound, but won’t give up modularity. thinking very hard about that :confused: ).

Well, they NEVER overlap. they can be layered, or you can “duet” by alternating voices. No way of mistaking one for the other.

The prophet has a distinct, “vocal” quality.

I’d recommend it along with a moog.

If it was my ONLY synth, what would I choose?

Dunno. Real hard to tell.

But FOR ME, a “only” synth would have to be polyphonic, so that somehow restricts the choice (and scores another point for the DSI, albeit this is not correct considering your initial question)

Totally subjective at this point.

Finally, the following is NOT subjective. Comes from experience with several prophet08s I owned or tested:

a) don’t use your prophet as a “master” synth. buy the module not the keyboard. keys are poor, midi implementation limited, polychaining sometimes questionable.

I traded my keyboard for a module and I am very happy

b) PE.

again: PE.
Non-“pot edition” prophets are a nightmare. Go for the PE. Or buy CHEAP, VERY CHEAP a used “encoder edition”, and have it immediately upgraded to PE.