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Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 2:40 pm
by namahshaman
I must say, since it arrived Friday, I haven't been able to walk away from my new Sequential Prophet-6. To me, it's the most impressive synth Dave Smith has produced in the 21st century, solid pro-build, and a lush, warm, buttery sound...and most importantly (in the interest of this forum anyway) it pairs beautifully with the Sub37, both sonically and visually. One day soon I'll bring it home from the studio and see how it plays with the Voyager + full MF-chain. :mrgreen:

This experience also further solidifies my suspicions that the new OB-6 will be an equally impressive poly analog.

I bring this up here for a reason...Many folks are so overly-concerned about Moog producing a polyphonic synthesizer that they don't even consider one of these other guys, when they definitely should.

IMO, the Korg Minilogue sounds and looks a bit cheap, and even for the price I'd only give it a C+. The Prophet-6 however, is a gorgeous pro-level synth that to me, rates up in the high A's...right under the A+ Voyager. :D

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 2:57 pm
by Brian G
Glad you are enjoying it. Dave makes great products, are they better than Moog ? No, diffetent. Is Moog better than they are, no different. Each has it's place. Love my Prophet 12 and 08, love my Moogs and other synths. Each brings a different charecter to the mix. Would it be nice to see a new Memory Moog, sure, but there are other new. poly synths out there that are worth exploring.

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 4:19 pm
by MRNUTTY
I heard a Prophet 6 vs OB-6 yesterday, and thought they both sounded great! Much better than the old Prophet 08, which was a major disappointment to me although the MoPho had plenty of punch its big brother mysteriously lacked.

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 4:21 pm
by thealien666
Brian G wrote:Glad you are enjoying it. Dave makes great products, are tgey better than Moog ? No, diffetent. Is Moog better than they are, no different. Each has it's place. Love my Prophet 12 and 08, love my Moogs and ither shtns. Each brings a different charecter to the ???. Would it be nice to see a new Memory Moog, sure, but there are other bew poly synths out there that are worth exploring.
Hey there Brian. I agree with most of your comment. But a little proofreading before hitting the submit button wouldn't hurt, would it ? :wink:

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 5:33 pm
by Brian G
Typos happen. Thanks

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:01 am
by minuteman
OB-6 has impressed me enough to order one. DSI just started to ship. Here are samples from one of the sound designers, Kurt Kurasaki (aka Peff)

https://soundcloud.com/peff/dsisequenti ... 6-programs

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 11:20 am
by megavoice
@namahshaman

Naysayers be damned ????

What-daya-do when you`ll want to play a 7th or 8th note or more ? You goina give 3 ks extra for ?
And what-daya-do when you`ll play enthusiastically into the upper or lower non existing fifth octave ? Will your hand drop down from the keybed or will you imitate a typewriter like Jerry Lewis once did ?

Anyway, sound is GREAT ! Have fun with... :wink:

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 12:24 pm
by namahshaman
megavoice wrote:@namahshaman

Naysayers be damned ????

What-daya-do when you`ll want to play a 7th or 8th note or more ? You goina give 3 ks extra for ?
And what-daya-do when you`ll play enthusiastically into the upper or lower non existing fifth octave ? Will your hand drop down from the keybed or will you imitate a typewriter like Jerry Lewis once did ?

Anyway, sound is GREAT ! Have fun with... :wink:
Well then, I guess this is one of the few cases where I actually have an advantage NOT being a proper "keyboardist" :lol: Luckily, 6-note chords are enough for my limited skill level. Plus, my first real (yet, non-analog) synth was a Nord Lead, so I got used to 4 octaves and relying on the octave buttons.

Also, I got mine for 2K...(a little patience and persistence with the used market can really pay off). And I've seen barely-used desktop modules as low as $1650, so getting a 12-voice analog beast for around $3650, still doesn't seem that bad to me, if someone wanted to do that. :wink:

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 12:42 pm
by jsharpphoto
My issue with DSI stuff is not the sound. It's the build quality. I played a prophet 6 and a Pro2 last week. The knobs on both felt cheap. Everything about it felt a bit cheap. It's obvious that they cut corners on their devices to meet a certain price point, but how much money is that really saving?

I hope you bought it from sweetwater, so at least you'd get an extra year on the warranty.

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:27 pm
by minuteman
jsharpphoto wrote:My issue with DSI stuff is not the sound. It's the build quality. I played a prophet 6 and a Pro2 last week. The knobs on both felt cheap. Everything about it felt a bit cheap. It's obvious that they cut corners on their devices to meet a certain price point, but how much money is that really saving?

I hope you bought it from sweetwater, so at least you'd get an extra year on the warranty.
I am interested in those who own a Prophet 6 and their opinion of build quality given that the OB-6 is built on the same chassis. The reviews of the Prophet 6 are very good, including build quality.

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:48 pm
by namahshaman
Honestly, I'm quite impressed with the build quality, and would say that its fairly close to my Sub37 in that regard.

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 1:13 am
by jsharpphoto
Really? Every single knob wobbles on every DSI that I've ever put my hands on. Like they are all surface mount. And also, they shouldn't have had to come out with a "potentiometer edition" of a synth. Why would they by default be using encoders instead. They feel like a Nord. And how many Nords have to be sent to Sweden for service because the surface mount encoders are failing? Lots.

I don't intend to hate on DSI. They offer things that Moog doesn't. I have considered buying the module of the prophet 6, and using my voyager XL to control it. At least then, I wouldn't be worried about breaking it everytime I touch it.

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 10:22 am
by MC
While at the NAMM show I decided to audition the DSI line from oldest to newest. Progressing from P08 to P12 to P2 to P6/OB6, to my ears they got progressively better sounding but not a bad player in the bunch.

As a fond owner of vintage analogs, the P6/OB6 are fine sounding synths.

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 11:56 am
by MacAquinas
Still hoping to see a worthy successor to the Jupiter-8 . I have never heard a DSI make a sound that made me think 'I Have to have it" The OB-6 sounds great but that is to the credit of the SEM, not Dave Smith and his metallic, sterile, digital sounding analog.

Re: Naysayers be damned...I love the Prophet 6

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 3:12 pm
by namahshaman
jsharpphoto wrote:Really? Every single knob wobbles on every DSI that I've ever put my hands on. Like they are all surface mount. And also, they shouldn't have had to come out with a "potentiometer edition" of a synth. Why would they by default be using encoders instead. They feel like a Nord. And how many Nords have to be sent to Sweden for service because the surface mount encoders are failing? Lots.

I don't intend to hate on DSI. They offer things that Moog doesn't. I have considered buying the module of the prophet 6, and using my voyager XL to control it. At least then, I wouldn't be worried about breaking it everytime I touch it.

Hmmm, take it easy there... :lol: I understand you to a point, I had a Tetra for about two days before I got rid of it, it felt and sounded cheap. I've also played with an 08 and was slightly disappointed as well, however, I'm quite pleased with the 6 so far.

Also just curious...How hard are you on gear? :lol: I've been gigging for over 8 years and have had two different Nords (Lead and Electro4) play hundreds of shows without a single hiccup.