Could the Sequential Take 5 synth give you the Prophet-5 sound in a compact and more affordable keyboard?

Previously leaked by a Belgian retailer Sequential has confirmed the existence of a new analogue synth, the Take 5. This the company's first new synth since it was acquired by Focusrite in April 2021.

Possibly not designed exclusively for those who wish to play the Dave Brubeck classic, this is a five-voice polyphonic instrument with two analogue oscillators per voice and a continuously variable waveshape per oscillator. As such, its architecture appears to be similar to that of Sequential’s Prophet-5 Rev 4, which was released in 2020.

Other features include a sub-oscillator, hard sync and front-panel FM, while a Mixer enables you to set the levels of the oscillators and the amount of white noise.

The four-pole low-pass filter, meanwhile, is said to be based on the design of the one in the Prophet-5 Rev 4. This can be made to self-oscillate using the Resonance control.

Modulation features include two five-stage envelope generators with variable routing, with velocity modulation of each envelope amount. The envelopes promise to be freely assignable to multiple modulation destinations. The same can be said of the LFO, which offers five waveshapes and internal or external MIDI clock sync.

A digital effects section, meanwhile, gives you dedicated reverb and overdrive along with a multi-effect that delivers stereo delay, BBD delay, tape delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, ring mod, vintage rotating speaker, distortion and a high-pass filter.

There’s also a Vintage knob - another feature of the new Prophet-5 - so that you can recreate the tiny oscillator, filter and envelope fluctuations that are typical in classic synth hardware.

On the control front, there's a full-size, semi-weighted and aftertouch-capable 3.5-octave Fatar keyboard, pitch and mod wheels, a keyboard split mode and both portamento and unison (monophonic) options.

A step sequencer and arpeggiator are on the agenda, too, while you can expect 128 factory presets and space for 128 of your own.

“The Take 5 puts the classic Sequential sound and legacy into the hands of people who may not have been able to experience it before,” said Dave Smith, Sequential founder and lead product designer.

“Packing this much performance power into such a small footprint was the kind of challenge we love. Throughout development we were amazed by how huge this synth sounds and how crazy versatile it is. It was a joy to work on and I’m looking forward to hearing what our customers create with it.”

The Take 5 is available now priced at $1,299. Find out more on the Sequential website.