arp odyssey + prophet 5 for $400...

Keith collins · Post by **Keith collins** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 7:41 pm

so i got them back from the shop.
the prophet actually sounds pretty sweet. the glide doesn't seem to work... and i have to do some manual tuning every time i change a preset... but once i get a tone going it sounds F A T! i can definitely use it for recordings and maybe even gigging if holds up to the challenge. i'm holding on to this for sure.

the arp on the otherhand is another story... all the keys work and the sliders seem to respond for the most part... but the output level is really really low.
i think i'm gonna sell this on CL if i can. is $200 too much to ask for it's present condition?

Don · Post by **Don** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:02 am

It's odd that you got it back from the shop but the output's too low on the ARP. Sounds to me like they didn't do a very good job going over it.

Low volume could be as simple as a bad connection or pot, or it might be a fried output transistor. All of it should have been detectable and repairable. If it's distorting, too, it could be a transformer.

eric coleridge · Post by **eric coleridge** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:43 am

I'm interested in the Arp if you want to sell it for $200.

I love Odysseys, don't have one, and would be interested in a project.

Is it in pretty good cosmetic condition, have all the slider "pips", no scratches or anything?

Actually though, if I were you, I would hold on to the Odyssey and try and find a decent tech who is familar with working on Arps. Because, it really is a fantastic synth. Literally one of the best ever made.

But, if you don't think you can find anyone in your area, and you decide to let it go, I'm would be interested. [/list]

Keith collins · Post by **Keith collins** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 11:05 am

the tech made it sound like the low output was more than just a bad connection but wouldn't know for sure what it was without going through the whole thing piece by piece, which he made sound expensive. so i told him not to.

it's a little frustrating since i thought i had finally found a good tech, and now i'm back to square one.

i understand that it's great synth... but to be honest, between my moogs and now this prophet 5, i can only take so many "finicky" keyboards, and right now the odyssy requires the most TLC.
it pains me to think in the hands of the right tech this synth could sing, but the problem is finding those hands could be costly, and require lot's of patience.

it's not in the best cosmetic shape anyway... it's missing half a dozon of the slider caps... one of the slider tips is broken off completely. and it looks pretty dirty.
i have pics if you want me to send them.
regardless, i put it up on CL and a guy is coming over at noon today to get it.

B. Kok · Post by **B. Kok** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 9:17 am

If there is a prophet 5 rev2 for sale and it's broken.
Please contact me!
Money is waiting!
[email protected]

thanx
Bart

museslave · Post by **museslave** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 12:40 am

Keith collins wrote:i understand that it's great synth... but to be honest, between my moogs and now this prophet 5, i can only take so many "finicky" keyboards, and right now the odyssy requires the most TLC.

Man, I hear this.
I became obsessed with the Arp Avatar as a low-cost Odyssey at one point, and bought one. The seller was one of those "I bought this at an estate sale, and a guitarist friend says it's working great," sort of things.
Of course, it wasn't working great. It had a totally bizarre problem where it would become intermittent, and hitting it would cause it to come back. Since they have a very convenient hinged top, I would often check all the connections inside. I even hand-cleaned all of the connectors... but the problem persisted.
I, like you, decided I'd rather just sell it than deal with another finicky keyboard... because you can only tolerate so many. (yes, I know the techs are saying: "Well, you could have had it fixed!" which is true, but)
I found the Avatar to be a very nice synth... which leads me to believe that the Odyssey is a very nice synth... but honestly, I found it to be pretty much without aural distinction. There was some functionality that might, when used, distinguish it, but to my ears it was just a pretty middle-of-the-road two osc.

eric coleridge · Post by **eric coleridge** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:01 pm

museslave wrote: I found the Avatar to be a very nice synth... which leads me to believe that the Odyssey is a very nice synth... but honestly, I found it to be pretty much without aural distinction. There was some functionality that might, when used, distinguish it, but to my ears it was just a pretty middle-of-the-road two osc.

I think maybe you didn't spend enough time with the Avatar, because I think we might have similar taste in synths (refering to what you have said about the Mini), and I couldn't disagree more about the Odyssey/Avatar.

I've had an Avatar, and an Odyssey II, and although they definitely had a different sound (because different filters, etc.), they both shared a uniqueness of sound that I can only describe as Mini like. They don't sound anything like a Mini, but they had this quality of tone and a richness that I've only heard from a Mini-- or what I would describe as a "Modular" type sound. On an Odyssey, theres not the same rich bass sound as you find on a Mini, but instead it has more of a mid-range sharpness that gives it the sound of a real instrument. When you play into the higher range of the oscillators, that sharpness remains and gives the Odyssey this amazing tinny bright pin-prick type quality that I don't think any other synth can re-produce. So, it will make the most realistic, but still electronic sounding, clavinet or harpsichord type sounds. Just totally different, and in my opinion better, than any of the "little" Moogs, Roland Shs, Korg MonoPoly, Korg Ms.
Plus the Odyssey, and to a lesser extent Avatar, has the most logically layed out control panel design of nearly any synth. It takes a while to orient yourself to the Odyssey's controls if you're used to playing other synths: The way the VCA, mixer, and routings function are quite different than most every other; But once you do, I found it to be a much better layout design. Ingeniously, the Odyssey pretty much allows you to route any source to any destination, and all at the same time.
I find this layout to be much more expressive than the typical Moog style layout where you only have 1 LFO to modulate everything, or just a Mod Buss.

All that said, I sold both of these Arps for reliability issues. I need synths to be able to travell well, and I found that they werent the best instruments to have to move around alot. They're a bit delicate.

analogbass · Post by **analogbass** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:44 pm

they both shared a uniqueness of sound that I can only describe as Mini like. They don't sound anything like a Mini, but they had this quality of tone and a richness that I've only heard from a Mini-- or what I would describe as a "Modular" type sound. On an Odyssey, theres not the same rich bass sound as you find on a Mini, but instead it has more of a mid-range sharpness that gives it the sound of a real instrument.

Superb sound was the nature of most of the 70s and early 80s monophonics. Just great, all with different personalities. The Odyssey reminded me a little of the SEM-not as fat as a Moog but cleaner and tighter, loaded with character.

Arps, Moogs, Pro-Ones, early Rolands, Oberheim OB-1/SEMs, Yamaha CS-15/30 all had excellent sounds, really great and also very distinctive, unlike today's equipment. While the Moogs were fatter, their general nature is such that they ALL excel at bass and leads.

Korg polyphonics like the Poly 800 and DW/EX8000 also sound great. I sold my Mono/Poly for the same reason as I sold the Multimoog-neither has the warmth or character of the abovementioned, which proves that the number of oscillators isn't that important by itself.

Keith collins · Post by **Keith collins** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:30 pm

yeah, like eric, i tour with my synths, so stability is crucial, my prodigy holds up for the time being, but it would be nice to have a dual osc mono synth i don't have to worry about drifting out of tune in the middle of a song. if anyone can suggest one i'm all ears!

OysterRock · Post by **OysterRock** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:35 pm

Keith collins wrote: it would be nice to have a dual osc mono synth i don't have to worry about drifting out of tune in the middle of a song. if anyone can suggest one i'm all ears!

Didn't Moog just release something like that..oooo..what was it called? The Little somethingorother....

Keith collins · Post by **Keith collins** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:52 pm

right:)

i forgot to add under a $1000!

museslave · Post by **museslave** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:26 pm

Keith collins wrote:yeah, like eric, i tour with my synths, so stability is crucial, my prodigy holds up for the time being, but it would be nice to have a dual osc mono synth i don't have to worry about drifting out of tune in the middle of a song. if anyone can suggest one i'm all ears!

Keith... I don't know what the MS-20 is going for today, but if it's still under $1000, that's my suggestion. They are IRRITATINGLY stable. TOO stable for my tastes, actually. I very rarely tuned mine, if at all. The same went for the two MS-10s I have had. I ended up selling all of my MSs because despite how incredibly powerful and versatile they are, they were too stable, too clean, and too... well, modern (despite being from the late 70s). (the one exception being the MS-50, which seemed to be warmer and buzzier than the others)

Also, you can't beat a resonant high-pass filter combined with pseudo-modularity!

museslave · Post by **museslave** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:31 pm

analogbass wrote:I sold my Mono/Poly for the same reason as I sold the Multimoog-neither has the warmth or character of the abovementioned, which proves that the number of oscillators isn't that important by itself.

Weird! I have held on to my Mono/Poly because mine is the closest to the Moog sound that I have (including my Arrick modular!). I don't know if it is a subjective thing or not, but my Mono/Poly has a very dare-I-say fat sound... the filter is out of control with fatness. I have often been inclined to sell it for its 80s aesthetic and too-many-digital-aspects nature... but its sound has made me keep it.
Also, I don't know if its a flaw or not, but my oscillators react to the portamento setting at slightly different speeds, causing a very cool effect! I have used that a LOT.

museslave · Post by **museslave** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:39 pm

eric coleridge wrote:
I think maybe you didn't spend enough time with the Avatar, because I think we might have similar taste in synths (refering to what you have said about the Mini), and I couldn't disagree more about the Odyssey/Avatar.

Well, my Avatar did have an irritating problem that made me avoid using it in recording. But I did explore it quite a bit.
I think I have been unfair in my description of it. I suppose it did have a unique and recognizeable sound... just a sound that wasn't as unique or desireable to me as the Minimoog does.
And, I have to concede that the routing was very powerful... delightfully powerful. I was thrilled with the fact that the lag could be applied to the Sample and Hold... what a COOL idea... I use it all the time on my modular to create organic and random modulation.
The Avatar (Odysseys) also have a great deal of functionality missing from the Minimoog.
I have a Micromoog bias... and I have to say I like the Micromoog everything better than the Avatar (although I wish the Micro had two oscs). But despite my previous seemingly-harsh tone... I would recognize its value up against the other synths you mention. It definitely sounds more... well, it has that... 70s quality that i like that is lacking from some of the other synths mentioned... especially the Korgs. (although functionally it gets pretty weak compared to the MS-20)
As for the tone... I think my perception of it is closer to analogbass's. (knowing full well he likes them better than I do!)
As for Layout, there are a few non-intuitive aspects I could point out if pressed...
; ) I still say it's easier to use an SH-1000 than an Odyssey. ; )

eric coleridge wrote:I find this layout to be much more expressive than the typical Moog style layout where you only have 1 LFO to modulate everything, or just a Mod Buss.

Again, I point to the Micromoog, which had the best modulation layout of any of the Moogs. But still, not denying the powerful modulation control of the Odyssey!

If I were rich, I would probably get another Avatar someday... so that says something, right? ; )

eric coleridge · Post by **eric coleridge** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 10:25 pm

analogbass wrote: Superb sound was the nature of most of the 70s and early 80s monophonics. Just great, all with different personalities. The Odyssey reminded me a little of the SEM-not as fat as a Moog but cleaner and tighter, loaded with character.

Arps, Moogs, Pro-Ones, early Rolands, Oberheim OB-1/SEMs, Yamaha CS-15/30 all had excellent sounds, really great and also very distinctive, unlike today's equipment. While the Moogs were fatter, their general nature is such that they ALL excel at bass and leads.

Korg polyphonics like the Poly 800 and DW/EX8000 also sound great. I sold my Mono/Poly for the same reason as I sold the Multimoog-neither has the warmth or character of the abovementioned, which proves that the number of oscillators isn't that important by itself.

How can you disagree with that? pretty much every analog synth does sound good!

But some are far more unique than others, and the Odyssey, to me, is one of these.
The Mini is another. That's about it.
The MS20 has a very good filter and can be made to sound like virtually any budget Moog. The combination of Low and High Pass in series gives it alot of versatility. It can also be made to sound absolutely unique.
The Monopoly ,has alot of good features, but the one I had sounded too 80s slick... not what I wanted at the time. Just an opinion.

But opinions vary so widely. I've owned all these synths, and feel like I know them very well... but someone else who owns them may have a completely different opinion.

For instance, I disagree with what analog bass has said about the Micro/Multi. It does sound very different than some other Moogs... but, to me, it has some characteristics of a Mini that some other Moogs don't.