Published
Sun, Oct 4, 2020, 12:32
- New versions of Dave Smith's groundbreaking polysynth will be available this month.
Dave Smith's Sequential will roll out new versions of the legendary Prophet-5 polysynth later this month.
The synthesizer, which hit the market in 1978, was the first programmable polysynth. As Dave Smith puts it, "For the first time people could play chords and change sounds." While the look of the reissue is faithful to the classic wood and knobs design of the classic Prophet-5, the new version honors tradition while integrating key updates.
The Prophet-5 was manufactured in various versions between 1978 and 1984, and the new model includes a "Rev switch," that lets you pick which version you'd like your model to emulate, as well as a "vintage knob," which allows you to dial in the potentially charming instability that was inherent to the earlier models. The new version comes with 200 permanent factory presets, including the original 40 from 1978, as well as room for 200 of your own, and includes MIDI, USB and CV and Gate in/outs. It also comes with velocity sensitivity and aftertouch.
Beyond that, the reissue hews close to the original design, with five voices, two multi-waveform analog oscillators, Poly Mod and other classic features. It comes loaded with the same Curtis VCOs and filters that came on the Prophet-5 Rev 3 and a Dave Rossum-designed SSI 2140 filter.
Sequential will also be rolling out a Prophet-10 this month. While the original Prophet-10 was a rare, double-keyboard synthesizer, the newer version comes with ten, as opposed to five voices. The synths were designed and assembled in San Francisco. Dave Smith recently turned 70 and refers to the reissue as his gift to synthesizer lovers around the world. The new Prophet-5 lists for $3,499 minimum advertised pricing with the Prophet-10 coming in at $4,299 MAP.
Check out a brief film featuring Dave Smith speaking about the features and history of the new Prophet-5.
Listen to audio demos of the new Prophet-5.