The Prophet 6 is a very modern approach to classic polyphonic synthesis, and it sounds great.

First, let me say that this synth is built beautifully, and it is a pleasure to play. With that said, it's incredibly expensive for a synthesizer with so few features. It makes up for a lack of advanced synthesis with it's clean and clear front panel and nice 4-octave keybed. The Poly Mod section is a tad underwhelming with the depth of modulation being relatively shallow and with few destinations, but it does considerably broaden the palate of the instrument. This is especially important since it has only one global LFO that is hardwired to a total of 6 potential destinations.

The OSCs sound good but not great. Particularly, I find the triangle wave to be pretty disappointing, but the square/pulse section is quite nice. The Sub OSC is very subtle, and it can really add some oomph to a patch. The noise sounds lovely when filtered down a bit. There is a Sync function, but I haven't found it to be very useful or musical thus far.

The filter section consists of two resonant filters. There's a highpass that has a strange cutoff scaling on the knob. It's useful to thin out the low end of big patches, but it rarely sounds musical to my ear. The 24db lowpass filter is nice, but it doesn't have a ton of character. Perhaps that's intentional since this is a poly?

There's two envelopes, one for the amp and one for the filter. These work as expected, and the scaling on the knobs is quite nice, imho. The amp envelope requires you to add a touch of attack to keep from hearing the snappy click of the amp opening, but that's an easy and fast adjustment. There is one issue I have here though, and that's with the velocity-sensitive mode attached to the amp envelope. When engaged, it's too easy to create clipping in patches where the mixer is driven a little too hard. This issue coupled with the amp envelope's tendency to introduce clicking can make for a needlessly fiddly experience.

The FX section consists of two slots of various FX choices. The reverbs seem to be restricted to 1 of the two slots, but that's okay since I haven't found any of them to be particularly inspiring. You are much better off reaching for a pedal or plugin when it comes to the reverbs here. Some of the mod FX are quite nice though, and they definitely add a little extra stereo sauce to your patches. A nice little bonus is the ring modulator effect. While almost all of the FX are digital, there is a true bypass which is great. Oh, and the analog distortion is quite nice; much nicer and more useful than I was expecting it to be.

If I could give this synth another half-star then it would have earned a 4.5 out of 5. This is the type of synth that offers bread-and-butter poly sounds in a modern format. The build quality is beautiful, and it sounds really gorgeous when it's in a sweet spot. Unfortunately, I have a hard time stating that it is worth the $2900 is currently retails for in the US. That's a ton of money for a 4-octave 6-voice synthesizer. I appreciate the VCOs quite a bit, and the Prophet 6 definitely has a cool analog vibe to it at times. At the same time, I can't help but think about the fact that the Korg Prologue 16-voice is nearly $1000 less. Sure, the Korg lacks aftertouch, but in exchange you get an extra octave, 20 more VCOs, a digital OSC, and a compressor.

To sum this up, The Prophet 6 is expensive, but it looks, feels, and sounds really wonderful. It's the kind of synth you could keep for a lifetime. It's the kind of synth that invites you to play it rather than talk about all the cool things it can do. It's certainly a player's keyboard, and I find that charming. Is this synth for you? Well, probably not. I'm not even sure it's for me. If you have $3000 to spend on an analog polysynth in 2021 then I'd say there are probably better options out there for you unless you gig in a band that takes advantage of the classic sounds on tap here in the Prophet 6. If you are a gigging synth player then this might be exactly what you want in a band setting.

My best 4-POLE Synth

I like it's sounds so authentic to me, (though there's already Prophet 5, 10 is available) but has more modulation options then Prophet 5, so I like the P-6 more than P5

Yeah, I think P5 sound is more fatter than P-6 but there are some of reasons I like P-6 than P5

1. Pan Spread - I can't found the option with other synths that panning with 'voices' and I think it's a magic.

2. HPF - I love the High Pass Filter in this synth, like the Juno 106 or JX-3P but it can be triggered by envelopes! so I can use it in any uses

3. Sub OSC - I like the synths with Sub OSC. Because it has no phasing problem (like using OSC2 or OSC3) , and just makes your sound more deeper.

So I love this!

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Best Buy in the last decade

I always wanted a Prophet 5 because all my favorite musicians ( Tony Banks, Nick Rhodes, Toto, etc ) had one. But I didn't want another vintage old synth. This came out and I jumped on it ( a year later they re-released the Prophet 5 but this is still good enough for me ).

I actually use this as my main controller in my DAW, I have the Spectrasonics Omnisphere and sync this with their amazing software to get all kinds of awesome sonic possibilities with layering and stuff.

I also bought the Matt Johnson and J3PO synth patches and I've made and saved my own patches as well, it comes with 000-499 ( editable patches ) and 500-999 that are uneditable ( write protected ). I paired this with my Big Sky Midnight and whooosh !

Great modern classic

Superb sound. Could easily create classic vintage tones as well as modern ones. Built in effects complement the sound perfectly.

One of the best

One of the best synths ever made! Easy to use yet sounding fab, modern, musical and full of character!

could spend weeks in a dark room with this :D

So much joy playing with this that could spend weeks in a dark room with this :D

Harsh and versatile beast.

Best synth I've ever had so far. Instant 80s synth sound with modern character.

Awesome!

Truly an awesome and very versatile synthesizer! Love it

Dave Smith's best!

The Prophet 6 is a great instrument, analog sound, great keyboard, perfect buttons - lovely!

My desert island synth

he Prophet 6 is an amazing analog synthesizer that is worthy of the Dave Smith Instruments name. It looks boutique, it sounds vintage, and it feels amazing.