Proph.8 or will there be something new soon?

[R.U.Nuts]

MFB Dominion 5 but there´s no release date for the near future. There´s also some speculation about a new DSI flagship synth around but well -speculation...

why do you think that you´ll be wanting the new synths that might come out? maybe a prophet 8 is the right thing for you no matter wether there are some exiting new products coming up. the other way around chances are high that you can resell the prophet for the same price you baught it in case you can´t stand craving for a new shiny product (...that might turn out as a buggy mess, that should have been beta tested a few more months, but the manufacturer couldn´t wait until after NAMM)

[ibiking]

I'd love a Jupiter 4, korg Monopoly, or the DSi P08.

I had DSI P08 - I really liked the flexibility, hated the encoders (I guess you don't have to worry about that if you get the POT edition :P), the sound was cool for poly duties and FX, not so much for bass.. But it was lacking something in the sound for me (and I really really hated those encoders), so I sold it.

Bought monopoly and Jupiter 4 instead, later on installed Io midi kit as well. Never regretted it, the sound is soo much better (for me). I'm gonna say you need both, but if I only had to chose one, it would probably be monopoly.

Jupiter 4:
- great 70's quality sound!
- super fast lfo and envelopes
- quality hardware, built to last!!
- excels at arpeggio sounds and fx (great for Kraftwerk/doppler effect/anthony rother style electro), chords also quite ok

Monopoly:
- great sound, comparing it to jup4 I'd say more "liquid", "round" and "bubbly", also a little more "plasticky", but very useable in a lot of situations
- super fast lfo, nice envelopes for leads
- really fun, great for live performance (chord mode, crossmod, arp cycling through all osc etc.)
- very flexible, great bass, nice leads, crazy fx, jazzy chords..


For me monopoly is the best all around synth, super fun, great sound, can't go wrong with it. Jupiter is also great, very nice sound, but a little more limited. If you can, try them in person!

That said, I wouldn't mind owning P08 again (without encoders), but there are some synths that are higher on my priority list..

It also depends on what you're looking for - if you mainly need a poly synth, get the prophet, becase poly mode is more of an add-on to monopoly and jup4.

[Rooftree]

I doubt that DSI will release a new synth that's better than the P08 and is in your price range ($1500-$2000). They're already selling plenty of P08s for around $2300. I don't see them simultaneously dropping the price while improving the product.

If/when fully-featured new analog polys hit the market (from anybody, not just DSI), I expect that the prices of used P08s will drop a bit.

Do you want to wait indefinitely for a new poly to hit the market (you probably won't like the price), or do you want to buy a synth now and suffer a slight drop in resale value in the future?

[shponglefan]

DSI just released the Mopho 4x, so I don't see them releasing yet another synth so soon.

Besides, even if they do release a new synth, there is no guarantee it will be better than what exists. Better to just get something that exists now and enjoy it for what it is than worrying about future releases.

[daydreamjohnny]

These are all wise posts guys. Thanks.

I wish I could try the jupiter 6(not 4 oops. Well maybe. Never researched that one) or monopoly. Id prolly end up with one of them.

I love the sound of all three. What's cool is that they all have 'their' sound. Monopoly, bubbly, thick(but sometimes with a plasticky thinness((also one of MGMT's fav synths, which is cool)), very controllable with four osc. No memory is kind of a drawback. It'd help me learn faster though... jup6: very thick, smooth grainy chirp to it, great arp, just beautiful sounding. P08, dare I say it sound sad? There's this meloncoly-ness that I hear in it. Does melotron well(yes), its soft sounding to me. Even in its grindy-ness. Maybe that's youtube compression.

The the I love about the old two (among other things)is that there is no menu. Not a big fan. I'm concerned its going to make learning things that should be simple more difficult. Can you guys tell me a bit about your experience learning it and whether it's doable for a complete synth beg?

The things I'd want to wait for are sub osc, HPF, better arp, discrete if possible, easier changing through patches(for live), VCO's... I'd of course be okay to pay more for that.

[daydreamjohnny]

So, I'm going to try it out tonight. I'm a complete beginner I don't know what watch out for. Can you guys give me some problem areas to check ?

[shponglefan]

Originally Posted by daydreamjohnny

The the I love about the old two (among other things)is that there is no menu. Not a big fan. I'm concerned its going to make learning things that should be simple more difficult. Can you guys tell me a bit about your experience learning it and whether it's doable for a complete synth beg?

There's almost no menu diving on the P'08. About the only thing I use the menu for is to either change the name of the patch (if I edit it and want to save it as something else) or for changing the Unison mode.

For most of your standard synth functions (i.e. Oscs, Filter, envelopes, etc) it's pretty much knob-per-function. Plus the screen on the P'08 is kind of handy, especially when editing specific items (since it shows the prior setting and the edited one).

Only things that might be a little tricky on the P'08 is learning the sequencer and also the mod routings (not that the mod routing is challenging, just there's a lot of options).

[shponglefan]

Originally Posted by daydreamjohnny

So, I'm going to try it out tonight. I'm a complete beginner I don't know what watch out for. Can you guys give me some problem areas to check ?

Test all knobs, buttons, and keys; make sure all LEDs works... When playing keys without unison mode, it should cycle through all 8 voices, so that's an easy way to check if they work.

[Luke44]

Got my p08 at our Canadian Guitar Centre equivalent for about 1800 used (mint) about a month ago and I absolutely love it, its an incredible value when you look at the other analog poly options in that price range... I think you should dive in, because DSI jsut released the mopho x4 in august and the tempest this year as well I think so I don't think they want to saturate the market with products and im pretty sure the prophet 08 is their flagship...

but even if they do, this thing is a steal at the price you're quoting, im a bit jealous but its all good because I would pay 1800 again for it if I had to.. anyways good luck with your decision

[BaconTastesGood]

P08 is great. The biggest knock is that it lacks personality, which means that it can do a lot of things very well, but it's not the best at any one thing. There are better synths for bass, leads, drones, pads, etc. but I doubt there's any one modern synth that can do it all as well as the P08. And there is NOTHING even close to its price point with those features.

Realistically it's either a P08 or you get something that costs about as much but isn't nearly as general purpose.