Prophet VS love-fest!

[michenal]

Originally Posted by Dubtek71

That is a bold statement. The Jp8 and the Pro5 get mucho love around here where as DH points out the VS is barely mentioned.

That is just a fact, not a bold statement. Look at the recent classifieds if you do not believe me..

[Popbott]

I really like the Prophet VS sound, the demos posted sound amazing. Every VS I have ever seen has needed some kind of work done to it, dead voice, something not working. Before buying my A6 I did find one in good shape but thought it was pretty limited for the asking price of $2K. A welcome alternative IMO is the Pot Edition Poly Evolver, updated, more features, better sound pallet and I suppose when it comes to Dave smith instruments a warranty is in order. I currently still own a Prophet 600 and love it to death.

[Don Solaris]

Originally Posted by UpNSmoke

I have one and LOVE IT! Here's some tracks - Prophet VS is the only synth used on them

Nice stuff man!

[Dirty Halo]

Originally Posted by Popbott

I really like the Prophet VS sound, the demos posted sound amazing. Every VS I have ever seen has needed some kind of work done to it, dead voice, something not working. Before buying my A6 I did find one in good shape but thought it was pretty limited for the asking price of $2K. A welcome alternative IMO is the Pot Edition Poly Evolver, updated, more features, better sound pallet and I suppose when it comes to Dave smith instruments a warranty is in order. I currently still own a Prophet 600 and love it to death.

Some of THE best deals on vintage synths these days like the Prophet VS ARE ones that need small fixes... most of the time, they are the kinds of things that scare someone off, so people pass on it or sell, when in fact, it can be as simple as a new spring in a key or ordering a new knob (even from old parts places like Dave Kulka).

THAT'S where the new scores are... no more, "I found a Prophet VS at some grandma's garage sale!"

When I bought my Prophet VS, it was being sold as broken, when in fact it just needed a new Data slider cap! ... but Awwwwwwesome!

-Andrews

[RobJB06]

Well yes.. ive been doing this for some time (buying broken and then fixing up). HOWEVER one should note that the Prophet VS is FULL of custom chips. I mean full of them and parts are not often available for many IC's.
So beware buying a Prophet VS broken...
I bought a not working Prophet VS for SPARES for my VS rack about 3 years ago.. sold to me by a dealer ive known for many years for £150...
So it makes me feel more comfortable that i can keep my VS rack running.

Originally Posted by Dirty Halo

Some of THE best deals on vintage synths these days like the Prophet VS ARE ones that need small fixes... most of the time, they are the kinds of things that scare someone off, so people pass on it or sell, when in fact, it can be as simple as a new spring in a key or ordering a new knob (even from old parts places like Dave Kulka).

THAT'S where the new scores are... no more, "I found a Prophet VS at some grandma's garage sale!"

When I bought my Prophet VS, it was being sold as broken, when in fact it just needed a new Data slider cap! ... but Awwwwwwesome!

-Andrews

[Zombie Stomper]

I had a VS keyboard and sold it about 4 years ago. People mention quite often how this keyboard or that keyboard have this unique sound. I only agree about half the time. However, with the VS, it really, truly has a sound of its own. I wish I still had it. I have the Arturia version, but it's not quite the same. I emailed Arturia a year or so ago requesting that they implement the randomization feature that the real VS has, they said they would consider it, but it never happened.

[Popbott]

Originally Posted by Dirty Halo

Some of THE best deals on vintage synths these days like the Prophet VS ARE ones that need small fixes... most of the time, they are the kinds of things that scare someone off, so people pass on it or sell, when in fact, it can be as simple as a new spring in a key or ordering a new knob (even from old parts places like Dave Kulka).

THAT'S where the new scores are... no more, "I found a Prophet VS at some grandma's garage sale!"

When I bought my Prophet VS, it was being sold as broken, when in fact it just needed a new Data slider cap! ... but Awwwwwwesome!

-Andrews

That's awesome Andrews! Find me one! Lol! I am definitely scared of broken synths, I have had too many and hate dealing with them. I wanna make music, not be fixing synths! I am pretty nifty for small fixes though. Actually, I did just install a CV/Gate on a Moog Prodigy recently, works excellent! My P600 is very temperamental, probably needs a tune up, but I like it that way. But you're right, it's probably a small fix.

[Dirty Halo]

Originally Posted by Popbott

That's awesome Andrews! Find me one! Lol! I am definitely scared of broken synths, I have had too many and hate dealing with them. I wanna make music, not be fixing synths! I am pretty nifty for small fixes though. Actually, I did just install a CV/Gate on a Moog Prodigy recently, works excellent! My P600 is very temperamental, probably needs a tune up, but I like it that way. But you're right, it's probably a small fix.

Hey, I'm with ya... can't tech my way out of a paper bag,even having a fellow Gearslut install my Jupiter 4 I/O kit

Guess what I was saying is, there's PERFECTLY great sounding synths out there that some idiot collector type may pass on, when all it really is is some cosmetic thing or sliders and knobs...

Like I said that's how I scored my Prophet VS Ahhhhhhh (insert great Godly choir sound here )

[roginator]

I love my VS rack!

[Muser]

had the keyboard and rack in the past. always liked them but didn't have enough time to investigate them enough.

I tried that Arturia VS demo recently and I thought it was pretty good.
regardless of how you like that plug-in what it's really good for is doing the speculative programming on and
then transfering those settings to the VS proper.

The interface on it is really well concieved and it's quick and intelligible.

The VS keyboard had poly aftertouch I believe but it often failed because the metalwork tended to flex.
re-enforcing that frame might lead to having a really nice synth action keyboard with poly aftertouch.

not much out there has that at all.

[dougt]

Originally Posted by Muser

The VS keyboard had poly aftertouch I believe

Nope. Just mono aftertouch. Maybe you were thinking of Ensoniqs from around the same era (SQ-80/EPS/VFX).

[Muser]

Originally Posted by dougt

Nope. Just mono aftertouch. Maybe you were thinking of Ensoniqs from around the same era (SQ-80/EPS/VFX).

oh.. maybe it just had mono in that case and even that messed up.

This may be of interest to some..

........

The VS has a very powerful (for 1986) MIDI implementation, one that could
conceivably cause a lot of problems to a 1990 power user unless care is taken
to filter the input MIDI stream to the VS. The VS responds to a large number
of MIDI controllers, but most of these are funnelled into the few Sources that
it can accept for modulation, i.e. mod wheel and Pressure. Thus, the VS
interprets Breath Controller as Pressure, Foot Controller as Mod Wheel, Poly
Pressure as Mono Pressure, and can receive and transmit joystick motion and
data alteration as sequences of Control changes: potentially powerful for
control of external synths, but hell on data reception, especially since each
type of mod source is only globally enabled or disabled. One nice touch is the
ability to set up a Mono mode for guitar controllers where each voice responds
to a different MIDI channel (only up to two simultaneous programs, though, and
then only with four voices each); controller data can be channelized to
control each particular voice or globally control sets of four or eight
voices, a nice touch that is only partially implemented on instruments like
the Xpander.

[PeteJames]

You VS lovers should celebrate your love of it by making kontakt multisamples of the waveforms and patches for us

[mamonu]

Originally Posted by UpNSmoke

Don't forget Spacetime Continuum's 'Sea Biscuit' - the VS is all over that album!

one of my favourite albums....!

i know i like the VS

(just dont have the money for it right now....)

[Harlem]

Absolutely love my Prophet VS keyboard too, to me it has endless depths and surprises that can lift any track up, I use it the most of all my synths, somehow it always fits in a mix well

For instance you can put it in dual mode with the same program number, and a slight detune, very fat sound then, still 4 voice poly. Filtered strings are classic. In unison I find it quite powerful at lead and bass esp when using mixture of square and saws

Got two questions about it:
- I installed upgrade chips to version 1.2, but don't like the LFO restarting now each time at key press. Is there a way to have the LFO in free running mode like in older versions?
- Are there any small MIDI knob controllers known to work with it? Slider is fine but sometimes I like a few more knobs

:-)

[Mace Clef]

How does the Arturia emulation shape up next to the original?

[rob61]

I have the Prophet VS keyboard that I haven't fired up in a couple years. I'm thinking I might sell it. Is there anything I should check out when firing up that is a known issue? I want to go through it and make sure everything is still working fine. It was the last time I used it, but its been a while.

[Denis Goekdag]

Yeah, I totally agree on the VS love. It was the first synth that blew me away.

About twenty years back, I had previously gotten hold of my very first synth, a Wavestation, and was doing an internship at a post studio that had a VS in one of the studios because a client couldn't pay his bill and put his VS in there as a security for the studio.

Nobody could handle the thing so when I had read the manual overnight and made some sounds with it, they were pretty impressed and let me do some musical ambiences for a (admittedly totally crap and irrelevant) film they were doing the audio for. Me being about 15 it was nevertheless a cool thing to do :-)

Later, I purchased a keyboard but it got stolen from my studio by some brain dead junkie within mere days. *sigh*

[Liquid360]

Wavestations don't have the bite and grit, and the filter in the VS is top-notch.

As far as build quality, it's a shame the chassis flexes so much, I had to put a wooden board under mine so it wouldn't freak out when placed on a keyboard stand. There is a long multi-pin connector between the two main circuit boards, if it becomes loose the machine goes out of tune and puts the wrong waveforms in the oscillators. I leave the after touch off, it never really worked right.

That said, it's a beautiful sounding machine, pair it up with a MIcrowave and you have all the classic grungy digital sounds you'll ever need, outside of DX7 style FM.

You can really hear it in the outro of this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTFwQP86BRs

[Cycom]

Hello all. Longtime lurker here. Felt the need to show some VS love with a few quickie tracks I made. I don't own a VS anymore but I miss it greatly. It's a remarkable and spine chilling synth.

Hope you enjoy these.

[rockmanrock]

Originally Posted by Cycom

Hello all. Longtime lurker here. Felt the need to show some VS love with a few quickie tracks I made. I don't own a VS anymore but I miss it greatly. It's a remarkable and spine chilling synth.

Hope you enjoy these.

Great stuff!