If you want a premium synth and don’t need the keyboard or want it to fit into a little less space, Sequential has made desktop renditions of both Prophet-5 and Prophet-10.
They’ve still got high-end price tags – minimum advertised pricing of US$2499 and US$3299 for Prophet-5 and Prophet-10, respectively. But I know CDM readers were already drooling over these.
The Rev 4 of the classic Prophet-5 and new Prophet-10 have plenty to recommend it: the real deal, with Curtis voltage-controlled analog oscillators and filters, plus the SSI 2140 filter also designed by Dave Rossum. There’s the Vintage knob to loosen up the voices in the way they would be on the original hardware – when you want it. And yeah, now they have velocity and aftertouch, plus the powerful Poly Mod modulation architecture.
It’s gorgeous stuff. I also have to say I enjoy just reading the words “premium-quality, steel case with hand-oiled sustainable black walnut heartwood trim.”
Oh, also – we’re more optimistic, because the press release uses the words “portable” and “touring rig.” Now that’s something to dream of doing again.
Meanwhile, we can look at … this:
Here’s some music, with the keyboard attached – but the sound is exactly the same.
Of course, the OB-6 and Prophet-6 are worth a look, particularly with some unique tuning and polyphonic expressive capabilities: