New analog poly from DSI.

[jupiter8]

It started as a riddle by Dave Bryce from Dave Smith Instruments. On page 7 people came close enough and he revealed that DSI has been secretly developing a 30th anniversary Prophet. The Prophet 08. It is basically a 8 voice version of the PEK but with no digital stuff whatsoever except for midi and patch storage.

Originally Posted by Dave Bryce

Basically correct.

Again, basically correct.

Yes...but it does have some bells and whistles. We kept the sequencer, added the arpeggiator, and tacked on one or two more fun little functions.

Prophet '08. Eight voices, all analog. Shipping next week.

dB
DSI

Street price around 2k ships next week. How's that for a "Holy poly Batman.Never saw that one coming" ?

EDIT: Mp3 demoes here and here
A very short video teaser here

[cosmos]

thats another for the list ....

[Beermaster]

holy mother of GOD ! !

[jkamata]

sounds fatt and not a bad price at all!

[F5D]

I'm definitely going to get one of these.

[teknobryan]

2 grand doesn't sound like a "lower price point"

[F5D]

Originally Posted by teknobryan

2 grand doesn't sound like a "lower price point"

That's true but the new synth will have twise the polyphony compared to the poly evolver keyboard which cost more already. I like the prophet8 idea better because it shouldn't have a/d and d/a-conversions in the signal path like the evolver does and is more like the original prophet 5. IMO people are asking way too much for their old analog synths.

Just an example: Somebody is selling his Jupiter 6 for 1500 euros right now here in Finland. Should I get it or buy a new prophet 8 for about 2000? For me the answer is very clear.

I hope the P8 will also look great. At least it sounds great according to those mp3 demos. thumbsup

[sleepwalker]

I really wish the Dave Smith instruments looked better. I think the original Pro5 is gorgeous, but the evolver is cheesy looking. Same with the boom chik pictures. Not my style of design. Oh well. I haven't played with either; maybe the sound will change my mind.

Originally Posted by F5D

That's true but the new synth will have twise the polyphony compared to the poly evolver keyboard which cost more already. I like the prophet8 idea better because it shouldn't have a/d and d/a-conversions in the signal path like the evolver does and is more like the original prophet 5. IMO people are asking way too much for their old analog synths.

Just an example: Somebody is selling his Jupiter 6 for 1500 euros right now here in Finland. Should I get it or buy a new prophet 8 for about 2000? For me the answer is very clear.

I hope the P8 will also look great. At least it sounds great according to those mp3 demos. thumbsup

[Eigenwert]

Originally Posted by teknobryan

2 grand doesn't sound like a "lower price point"

Eh what? Sounds like the LOWEST price point

Or do you know of any analogue 8 voice synth with keyboard being announced for less?

[Eigenwert]

Originally Posted by sleepwalker

I really wish the Dave Smith instruments looked better. I think the original Pro5 is gorgeous, but the evolver is cheesy looking. Same with the boom chik pictures. Not my style of design. Oh well. I haven't played with either; maybe the sound will change my mind.

Haha I think some of the leads do sound even cheesier than the synths look

No AD/DA in the signal path is thumbsup

[zebastian21]

Sounds great!!...but I really dislike the Polyevolver knobs...they feel really Flimsy, I hope they dont use same knobs and looks of it...its a real turn off.tutt

[jonnypowell]

I was just reading all the posts by Dave Bryce from DSI and he said it uses DCO's. I don't understand... How does that make it all analog signal path?
Does anyone know if the poly oscillators are actually VCO's. Was reading about them on their site and it says "analog wave-shape oscillator"
is that just a dressed up DCO??

[Dave Peck]

Originally Posted by jonnypowell

I was just reading all the posts by Dave Bryce from DSI and he said it uses DCO's. I don't understand... How does that make it all analog signal path?
Does anyone know if the poly oscillators are actually VCO's. Was reading about them on their site and it says "analog wave-shape oscillator"
is that just a dressed up DCO??

A DCO is a digitally controlled oscillator. It outputs an analog signal. A synth with DCOs can have an all-analog audio signal path. There are also some synths that generate various control voltages digitally, like LFOs and envelope generators, but still have an all-analog signal path.

Some DCOs may have different characteristics than some other oscs, and some people may prefer one type over another, but that's another issue. The point is that just because an osc is a DCO doesn't automatically mean it doesn't 'sound analog'. We'll have to wait and see what these sound like.

DP

[ignatius]

isn't a DCO essentially a VCO w/a digital clock stuck to it? perhaps that's a very crude explanation but i think it can be more or less true depending on the DCO???

[jonnypowell]

Originally Posted by Dave Peck

A DCO is a digitally controlled oscillator. It outputs an analog signal. A synth with DCOs can have an all-analog audio signal path. There are also some synths that generate various control voltages digitally, like LFOs and envelope generators, but still have an all-analog signal path.

Some DCOs may have different characteristics than some other oscs, and some people may prefer one type over another, but that's another issue. The point is that just because an osc is a DCO doesn't automatically mean it doesn't 'sound analog'. We'll have to wait and see what these sound like.

DP

I know what DCO means, just would've thought for a synth to be TRUE analog that would require VCO's.. Every other modern analog poly synth has VCO's. I've owned synths with DCO's and they dont sound as rich as real VCO's by a long shot. On the plus side they seem to sit in a mix very well.. Especially the Juno 60/106.

[robd]

It sounds like maybe what you're missing with the DCOs is the unavoidable slightly out of tune quality that VCOs have. Depending in the features, you might actuallly be able to program that in. For the record, i have heard some late 70s and early 80s synths that have dcos and still sound incredibly fat.

[jonnypowell]

yeah - that is what makes VCO's sound the way they do... I think DSI are implementing this in the PRO-8.
By the way - what late 70's synths had DCO's?

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by jonnypowell

yeah - that is what makes VCO's sound the way they do... I think DSI are implementing this in the PRO-8.
By the way - what late 70's synths had DCO's?

The Roland JX6 / JX8 had the DCO's and it is a great synth for pads. I think it was well into the 80's before that came along, though.

[dlmorley]

Originally Posted by jonnypowell

yeah - that is what makes VCO's sound the way they do... I think DSI are implementing this in the PRO-8.
By the way - what late 70's synths had DCO's?

I had a Buchla 300 that had 16 digitally controlled oscillators, multitimbral sequencing, patch storage and a few other treats!
I think it was from the late 70's..

[sleepwalker]

That is gorgeous, at least to me. My wife would totally disagree.

Originally Posted by dlmorley

I had a Buchla 300 that had 16 digitally controlled oscillators, multitimbral sequencing, patch storage and a few other treats!
I think it was from the late 70's..

[dlmorley]

It was gorgeous to me too! Fabulous looking machine.
Still have a 200 to keep me warm in the winter
The 300 is now at audities.org where it can be looked after..

[Greg_KPX]

Originally Posted by sleepwalker

I really wish the Dave Smith instruments looked better. I think the original Pro5 is gorgeous, but the evolver is cheesy looking. Same with the boom chik pictures. Not my style of design. Oh well. I haven't played with either; maybe the sound will change my mind.

yeah i thought the same, BUT the evolver uses printed, hard plastic stickers, so if somebody came up with an alternate design, it would be a matter of peeling off the old "skin" and sticking on the new :D

[3rd world order]

i always hated the feel of prophet-5 knobs... the taper is all wrong. the most usable settings were usually between 4-6.. which meant i was only using about 1/3 of the usable range for most sounds... i guess if these were digtal knobs i could rescale them any way i wished and fix this problem...

i wonder if it uses SSM chips or curtis ones... i had an old rev2 which was absolutely gorgeous sounding.. it ruined me because i never liked the rev3 sound after that. problem with the rev2 prophets is they're impossible to keep in tune... mine had to be on for about 3 days before the tuning stabilized.. then midi'ing it was impossible.. or at least prohibitively expensive.. and a cv box turns it into a mono synth...

if it sounded like my rev2, i could rescale some of the pots, and had full midi i'd love it..

[jupiter8]

The Prophet 8 uses Curtis chips.Same ones as the Evolvers though he has tweaked them differently so the Pro8 won't sound exactly the same as the Evolver.

[Orren]

Originally Posted by teknobryan

2 grand doesn't sound like a "lower price point"

I guess your point of comparison is what determines "lower."

It's lower than any other pure analog Polysynth.

Considering DSI's own Poly Evolver Keyboard, it sells for a hundreds more street price, and that's hybrid analog/digital. If you wanted to buy 8 voices of Moog Voyager...eh...what would that cost, at about $2500 per voice? $20k?

Even high end virtual analog like the Virus TI Keyboard is a few hundred more than the Prophet '08.

So compared to those prices, yes, it's Lower.

OTOH, if you're comparing it to a software synthesizer—or even buying a full retail package of Logic Pro or the Native Instruments Komplete 4 for all of their synths—the Prophet '08 is definitely more expensive.

Orren

[Orren]

Originally Posted by zebastian21

Sounds great!!...but I really dislike the Polyevolver knobs...they feel really Flimsy, I hope they dont use same knobs and looks of it...its a real turn off.tutt

I have a MEK and a PER, and I absolutely adore the sound, but I agree, it feels a bit less solid than it should. In my case (pun intended ) I think the knobs are fine, but when I plug or unplug something from the back, I can feel the jacks wiggle, which always makes me hold my breath while plugging or unplugging anything...

Dave Bryce (who does post around here sometimes too, hi Dave if you're reading! ) already mentioned the knobs will be different, and I'm hoping that means the build quality as a whole will be top flight.

All I can say is that I'm very excited about this, and can't wait to get my hands on it!

I may even have to get the special anniversary edition for even more green...

Orren

[muziksculp]

I owned a Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 in the 80's, but, I sold it (I think it was '85).

So... I'm very excited to see a Prophet 8 coming soon ! This is Great News !

I think Real Analog Polyphonic Synths are a rare find these days....Looking forward to checking this one out.

Hope it's a real Gem !

OH, and Yes, please, No cheesy knobs, solid construction, and if possible, No tacky graphics. (Classic Design, Please )

[Popbott]

I have a Prophet 600 that is just awesome, so looking forward to this baby looks promising.

I have to say that what the guys at Moog Music have done is just way cool. If you haven't seen the light up pannel in person, it's a jaw dropper. Now if Moog's next step is a poly/multi timbral version of the Voyager with a light-up pannel...that would be way COOL. In fact, I am already saving my money for something that doesn't even exist.

[Bryce]

Originally Posted by Orren

hi Dave if you're reading!

dB
DSI

[Orren]

Originally Posted by Bryce

Hey hey! And thanks for the pic!

Man that is gorgeous...I hear a rustling in my wallet...

...and just when my wife and I were getting along so well...

Sigh...

Orren