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Reviewed By Xaviero [read all by] on September 4th, 2007
Version reviewed: 1.1 on Windows. Last edited by Xaviero on 4th September 2007.
The Installation was straight forward and hassle free, I got the free update from Arturia's website and installed it along with the new syncrosoft drivers. The Dongle is shipped inside the box, along with a plastic registration card.
Once the installation is done, I started Ableton Live 5 And Started up Prophet V. The GUI starts up in the Prophet 5 mode and is spot on in terms of a accurate visual reproduction. The VS mode is not accurate visually like the original, but it is nicely laid out and easy to get around in. The Hybrid mode has the VS stacked up over the Prophet 5 so it is one synth. Some people with smaller screens may not like that it takes up a lot of screen space in the hybrid mode, but it was not something that bothered me. I noticed one bug in Ableton Live 5, where if you re-opened the GUI after you closed it, that the Keyboard would disappear in the Prophet V's GUI. Also when you change from the Prophet 5 to the VS I noticed the Animation was a bit choppy and could have been a bit more fluid.
The sound of the Prophet 5 Emulation is very good, the default patch that the synth loads up with, sounds convincingly analog and warm to me. The famous monophonic sync lead sounds are very nice as well, and in unison you can get some incredibly big lead sounds. It definitely sounds like a Prophet, and in comparison to NI Pro-53 I find i like the Prophet V better. The downside to the sound quality, is that it is very CPU hungry, On my 2Ghz Centrino Duo it was pretty hungry in unison mode with 7 voices but it never froze up once. One of the things that you cannot do is process external FX with the synth, which the Pro-53 can do. The Prophet VS sounds good and has 127 waveforms that you can choose to load in 4 of the oscillators. The sounds remind me of a Korg wavestation but in a more harsher way. Its no wonder that Nine Inch Nails used the VS a lot.
With the synth in Hybrid Mode you can really get some interesting analog\wavetable combos, but this is where it can really get cpu hungry. One of the features I missed from Arturias Other synthesizers is the implementation of a Arpeggiator or a Sequencer. For effects, you get a chorus and midi syncable delay which can add a nice touch to your patches.
There are more than 500 presets included for both the prophet 5 and the VS, so people who want to start playing right away wont be disappointed.
Documentation was good and I enjoyed the way the manual was laid out. The history bit could have been a bit longer, but it would have made the manual a bit bigger than it already is.
I have not yet used customer support, other than getting the Free update that you can download on Arturia's website which is a major bonus. Arturia offered a forum but last i checked the forums were not as alive as they could be.
The value for money in this product is really good! You are getting 3 Synths in one package and it really does sound good. Read more
Once the installation is done, I started Ableton Live 5 And Started up Prophet V. The GUI starts up in the Prophet 5 mode and is spot on in terms of a accurate visual reproduction. The VS mode is not accurate visually like the original, but it is nicely laid out and easy to get around in. The Hybrid mode has the VS stacked up over the Prophet 5 so it is one synth. Some people with smaller screens may not like that it takes up a lot of screen space in the hybrid mode, but it was not something that bothered me. I noticed one bug in Ableton Live 5, where if you re-opened the GUI after you closed it, that the Keyboard would disappear in the Prophet V's GUI. Also when you change from the Prophet 5 to the VS I noticed the Animation was a bit choppy and could have been a bit more fluid.
The sound of the Prophet 5 Emulation is very good, the default patch that the synth loads up with, sounds convincingly analog and warm to me. The famous monophonic sync lead sounds are very nice as well, and in unison you can get some incredibly big lead sounds. It definitely sounds like a Prophet, and in comparison to NI Pro-53 I find i like the Prophet V better. The downside to the sound quality, is that it is very CPU hungry, On my 2Ghz Centrino Duo it was pretty hungry in unison mode with 7 voices but it never froze up once. One of the things that you cannot do is process external FX with the synth, which the Pro-53 can do. The Prophet VS sounds good and has 127 waveforms that you can choose to load in 4 of the oscillators. The sounds remind me of a Korg wavestation but in a more harsher way. Its no wonder that Nine Inch Nails used the VS a lot.
With the synth in Hybrid Mode you can really get some interesting analog\wavetable combos, but this is where it can really get cpu hungry. One of the features I missed from Arturias Other synthesizers is the implementation of a Arpeggiator or a Sequencer. For effects, you get a chorus and midi syncable delay which can add a nice touch to your patches.
There are more than 500 presets included for both the prophet 5 and the VS, so people who want to start playing right away wont be disappointed.
Documentation was good and I enjoyed the way the manual was laid out. The history bit could have been a bit longer, but it would have made the manual a bit bigger than it already is.
I have not yet used customer support, other than getting the Free update that you can download on Arturia's website which is a major bonus. Arturia offered a forum but last i checked the forums were not as alive as they could be.
The value for money in this product is really good! You are getting 3 Synths in one package and it really does sound good. Read more
