bart_van_zon's Electronic Synth Setup

I don't know really know what to write about the Prophet-10. I wrote a couple of reviews before, but this instruments speaks for itself. The more I write about it, the stupider it sounds.

It's a re-issue of the classic Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 from 1977, that has been used on countless songs by so many artists. This version has 10 voices as opposed to 5, which was something they tried to do in the early days, but was difficult to get right because of overheating issues. It also lets you choose between 2 different filter types; a remake of the old one from the rev1 and rev2 and the newer one from the rev3. It has a vintage knob to make it go from relatively modern and stable to very old and wild. I assure you, this is not an effect or a gimmick, but really part of the core sound that makes this instrument what it is. A modern synth that can do vintage sounds. They've also added after touch to the rev4, which is something the old ones didn't have, but is a great addition.

I used to own a Prophet-5 Desktop Module, but after little over a year, I sold it to get this one. I liked the sound of the Prophet-5 Desktop, but it was difficult to work with. I had tuning issues, the pods didn't turn smoothly and it was a bit of a shame you couldn't play it right away, but had to hook up a midi-controller. The full version looks and feels like you actually have a piece of music history at your fingers. It's much more inspiring to make music with. The pods move smoothly right from the start. Even the tuning issues seem to be gone for some reason.

The original Prophet-5 only had 5 voices, so you'd think that's enough, but in practice it isn't. You can't play two full chords with two hands. Even if you play a basic 3 note chord, if it has a long release time, one of the notes will cut off as soon as you play the next chord. With 10 voices I don't have these issues. Even the monophonic unison sounds are fuller and more lively with double the number of oscillators.

It's hard to describe the sound. It's timeless. Very neutral and versatile. It can do all of the basic synth sounds very well. Better than any other synth. It has no "character" or "personality", but that's possibly because you've heard it a million times. It always sounds exactly how you expect a synth to sound, while every other synth is a variation of that sound at best. Even without the distinct character you'd still be able to instantly recognise this synthesizer, because it's the only synth that sounds exactly how it's supposed to. It has a full warm and organic sound. It can go from soft and ethereal to punchy and upfront. It never sounds thin or fragile and never becomes harsh and nasty. Always remains refined and elegant. It's a solid backbone for your sound palette.

The only disadvantage is, it's a re-issue of a synth from 1977, and doesn't have many of the features common in later synths that you may take for granted. For instance, it has no stereo output, no sub oscillator, no lfo-sync, only low pass filters and no build in effects. It's also quite expensive for what it can do. If you don't care about the history behind this synth and are simply looking for a great sounding synth for a descent price, this is not the synth to get in this day and age.