Pro-53

Pro52 was my first VSTi I purchased other than what was included with my DAW. I still remember the excitement of installing it on my screen and looking at the beautiful interface. It gave me a rush of excitement as I thought about the last time I played a real Prophet 5. As a first purchase it set expectations that have not been matched by other instruments and developers. Later Native Instruments provided a free upgrade to Pro53. This early product still has an excellent sound when compared to other, newer products. Maybe the most important feature of Pro53 is the amazingly low CPU load required by such a good sounding instrument.

This product is not going to give you rhythmic pads with 32 step eg’s or any type of synthesis other then subtractive, but what you get is of excellent quality. You can fill a lot of parts with Pro53 before having to consider freezing tracks. The bass is good, pads are smooth and leads can cut. It has a better oscillator sync sound than any VSTi I own. This is the sound that helped to make the real Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 an in demand product 20+ years ago. NI’s Pro53 does not stop with features available only on the original Prophet 5. They have added effects, touch response, and more.

Make no mistake, Pro53 not sound just like a real Prophet 5, and no VSTi has reached the point of sounding truly analog. Pro53 has a sound that is just a bit thinner, cleaner and edgier than the real Prophet. Even so, it sounds good and to most, it is close enough. I truly with other products could match the sound/CPU load ratio of the Pro52.

User Interface - Looks nice and is not too large.
Sound - Very good.
Features - Basic subtractive analog with oscillator sync plus effects.
Documentation - A very nice book. One of the best.
Presets - Plenty of usable sounds.
Customer Support - Good considering how many customers NI must have.
Value For The Money - A bit expensive for a basic subtractive VA but worth it for the sound quality and the low CPU requirement.
Stability - Never crashes my system.

Copy Protection - Occasional CD check.
Frequency Of Use - Most every song.
CPU Load - Very light.
Remote Patch Change - Patch increment and decrement works from my keyboard workstation, but bank change has no effect.
Fun Factor - Medium.

I would buy it again, even with all the new competition.Read Review