Sequential Prophet 6 !!! NAMM 2015

[lfm]

Just two things bothered me with demonstration - he recorded a strummed kind of playing but sequencer played it back just full chords. Like quantized on quarternotes or something, really weird - and that oscillators had artificial drift(like a Roland SH-32 I had).

But if analog filters are there - it got to be something else than digital emulations.
It felt more digital TBH - not quite the fluffy feel of analog.

But he said true analog signal path, so, I must be wrong.

[fluffy_little_something]

Maybe it has to do with the audio quality of the video (and recording it in the first place). I do think it sounds very nice.
If I were wealthy or a musician playing live, such a synth would be nice to have. But I wonder if it is worth it in the studio. I doubt one can hear the difference between the P6 and a good software synth in the mix. The new Omnisphere for instance costs 1/10, is incredibly more flexible, and you can load as many instances as you like.

What would bug me most about the P6 is that it only has 6 voices. I remember using Noizemaker a lot, which is also limited to 6 voices (which is rare for a plugin). 6 voices can run out pretty fast, no matter how great they sound.

[ericzang]

Just two things bothered me with demonstration - he recorded a strummed kind of playing but sequencer played it back just full chords.

iirc, he said it is a step sequencer, so that would explain it.

[News From The Sky]

But if analog filters are there - it got to be something else than digital emulations.
It felt more digital TBH - not quite the fluffy feel of analog.

But he said true analog signal path, so, I must be wrong.

It's VCOs through analog LPF and HPF, all discrete circuits. The effects are digital (and I believe the envelopes and LFO as well), but the actual signal chain is 100% analog. The slop feature is there so you can reduce the auto tuning if you want more drift. But stable VCOs are a good thing in a polysynth.

[Shy]

Digital effects means analog to digital and digital to analog conversion, which means not fully analog signal path.

[ghettosynth]

Digital effects means analog to digital and digital to analog conversion, which means not fully analog signal path.

Who gives a shit. Seriously, "all analog signal path" is one of those "features" that was created, in part by Dave Smith, to hide important non-analog elements of analog synths, largely DCOs. I cringe every time I hear it. Digital effects are great, I absolutely like the idea of having them in an analog synth. Having an all analog signal path is overrated, it doesn't really mean anything. Having actual voltage controlled analog components is what makes the difference in a synth. The chances that you aren't going to again digitize the output of a synth in almost any application is very low. Even modern PA systems often include digital crossovers and dynamic EQ.

[Aiynzahev]

Digital effects means analog to digital and digital to analog conversion, which means not fully analog signal path.

Really? Why not just mix the effected signal back into the dry signal? The original analog signal path then remains intact, while the converted portion is simply mixed in with it.

[Aiynzahev]

Digital effects means analog to digital and digital to analog conversion, which means not fully analog signal path.

Who gives a shit. Seriously, "all analog signal path" is one of those "features" that was created, in part by Dave Smith, to hide important non-analog elements of analog synths, largely DCOs. I cringe every time I hear it. Digital effects are great, I absolutely like the idea of having them in an analog synth. Having an all analog signal path is overrated, it doesn't really mean anything. Having actual voltage controlled analog components is what makes the difference in a synth. The chances that you aren't going to again digitize the output of a synth in almost any application is very low. Even modern PA systems often include digital crossovers and dynamic EQ.

Def some truth in this. It's about the final result. Still a sensible aim to have both a good sound and an analog path though.

[Shy]

Digital effects means analog to digital and digital to analog conversion, which means not fully analog signal path.

Who gives a shit.

I don't give a shit who gives a shit. I give a shit about people misleading others.

Really? Why not just mix the effected signal back into the dry signal? The original analog signal path then remains intact, while the converted portion is simply mixed in with it.

What is it that you're not getting? Even in that case ("send" effects), the "converted portion" is a signal that comes from A/D D/A conversion. That means that the signal path is not fully analog.

Don't tell me that people are now gonna claim my old digital reverb and delay hardware units, which combine converted and unprocessed signals, have a "fully analog signal path". All this "signal path" shit is getting ridiculous.

[ghettosynth]

All this "signal path" shit is getting ridiculous.

That, I agree with. The issue is that Dave is stuck with that bullshit now that he's used to to sell endless DCO based synths as "all analog signal path" synths, so, his customers expect to hear those important words. A DCO is not an analog oscillator and that's the language that Dave used to keep that nasty digital word out of his ad copy.

That said, it is possible that there is a dry/wet mix on the synth that does yield un-digitized output, I haven't actually looked that close yet.

[xamido]

What do you expect? Ad with these words?

Definitely almost 100% analog signal path

[JCJR]

At the end of the day, mixed into a fully-analog mp3, right?

[Aiynzahev]

Digital effects means analog to digital and digital to analog conversion, which means not fully analog signal path.

Who gives a shit.

I don't give a shit who gives a shit. I give a shit about people misleading others.

Really? Why not just mix the effected signal back into the dry signal? The original analog signal path then remains intact, while the converted portion is simply mixed in with it.

What is it that you're not getting? Even in that case ("send" effects), the "converted portion" is a signal that comes from A/D D/A conversion. That means that the signal path is not fully analog.

Don't tell me that people are now gonna claim my old digital reverb and delay hardware units, which combine converted and unprocessed signals, have a "fully analog signal path". All this "signal path" shit is getting ridiculous.

If I remember right, when he came out with the Evolver synths, the entire path was converted before it got to the output.

With the P06, if we're talking about a mixer stage where the DSP effects signal is mixed in, then the pure analog signal path is always there, If you don't mix in the effects, you get a straight analog path.

I don't see what's misleading about that. It's more like a "Pure signal path, or a mix"

I wouldn't say it's a big deal, but if you're going to spend $2700 on an analog synth, mainly because it's an analog synth, you want to know what the internals are.

[lfm]

Just two things bothered me with demonstration - he recorded a strummed kind of playing but sequencer played it back just full chords.

iirc, he said it is a step sequencer, so that would explain it.

I guess so, and it raises more questions than it answered.

Now the question is:
a) sequencer allow realtime recording?
b) sequencer is just step entries from keyboard?
You set entry resolution to quarternote, and every key entry becomes a new quarternote - but you also sense if one note is down, overlapping, so you make a chord.

If b), I would call it Edit rather than Record.
Maybe that's just me....

The drum machines I had, DR110, TR909, Zoom 223 have step sequencers - but also realtime recording.

Seems really simple if not doing realtime in P6.

I remember especially liking one feature in NordLead - how easily you decide velocity impact on different parts of ADSR's(hold a button and vary ADSR knob min and max). Just about the most interesting part - how attack of keys inflict on sound.

Saw nothing in demo about this - but it could be there - anybody know?

NL2 also having Prophet 5 stock sounds in rom - don't remember how good they were, just that they tried to emulate that.

I will look for more demonstrations on P6 - but as of now I'd rather get a Nordrack 2x again instead. NL sounds stunning either way. And yu get a used one for less than $500.

Better get on with my JV-80 I just replaced switches on....also nice features....

[himalaya]

I give a shit about people misleading others.

Well, it seems that Dave Smith is not misleading anybody. By-pass the digital effects and you get fully analog signal path.