NAMM 2015: We were sort of expecting Dave Smith to rock up to the NAMM Show with a new synth, but the news that Yamaha has gifted him back the Sequential brand name ("To say that I'm grateful would be putting it mildly," says Smith) and that he's putting it on a sort-of-sequel to the legendary Prophet-5 has caught us off guard.
Explains Smith: "The Prophet-6 is a tribute to the original poly synth that started it all - the Sequential Prophet-5. But more importantly, it's the culmination of our effort to build the most awesome sounding, modern analog poly synth possible. It's not a reissue, it's vintage with a modern twist."
So, many of the Prophet-6's specs are similar to those of the P5 - it has a completely analogue signal path with discrete voltage controlled oscillators, filters, and amplifiers - but there are also enhancements.
There are additional modulation destinations, for example, and also a dual effects section, a multimode arpeggiator, and a polyphonic step sequencer with up to 64 steps. The keyboard is velocity-sensitive and supports aftertouch, and its four-octave size was chosen to satisfy both gigging and studio musicians.
Check out our video of the Prophet 6 live from the show floor with the man himself, Dave Smith, and drool over the specs below. Plus check out our gallery of pics and hands-on with the Prophet 6 here.
Expect release in the second quarter of the year and a price of $2,799.
Prophet-6 specs
Oscillators
- Two newly designed, discrete VCOs per voice
- Continuously variable wave shape (triangle, sawtooth, pulse, square) per oscillator
- Pulse width per oscillator
- Hard sync: oscillator 1 syncs to oscillator 2
- Triangle sub-octave generator (oscillator 1) per voice
- Low frequency mode (oscillator 2)
- Keyboard tracking on/off (oscillator 2)
- Oscillator slop amount for increased tuning instability, from subtle to extreme
Mixer
- Oscillator 1 amount
- Oscillator 1 sub-octave amount
- Oscillator 2 amount
- White noise amount
High-Pass Filter
- Two-pole, resonant, high-pass filter per voice
- Bi-polar filter envelope amount
- Velocity modulation of envelope amount
- Keyboard tracking: off, half, full
Low-Pass Filter
Four-pole, resonant, low-pass filter per voice, inspired by the original Prophet 5 filter
Filter can be driven into self-oscillation with the Resonance control
Bi-polar filter envelope amount
Velocity modulation of envelope amount
Keyboard tracking: off, half, full
Filter Envelope
- Four-stage (ADSR) envelope generator
Amplifier envelope
- Four-stage (ADSR) envelope generator
- Velocity modulation of envelope amount
Low Frequency Oscillator
- Five wave shapes: triangle, sawtooth, reverse sawtooth, square, and random (sample and hold)
- Clock sync (internal or external MIDI clock)
- Initial amount
- Mod destinations: oscillator 1 frequency, oscillator 2 frequency, oscillator 1 and 2 pulse width, low-pass filter cutoff, high-pass filter cutoff
Poly Mod
- Sources: filter envelope (bi-polar) and oscillator 2 (bi-polar)
- Destinations: oscillator 1 frequency, oscillator 1 shape, oscillator 1 pulse width, low-pass filter cutoff, high-pass filter cutoff
Aftertouch
- Source: channel (mono) aftertouch with bi-polar amount
- Destinations: oscillator 1 frequency, oscillator 2 frequency, LFO amount, amplifier envelope amount, low-pass filter envelope amount, high-pass filter envelope amount
Clock
- Master clock with tap tempo
- BPM control and display
- MIDI clock sync
Arpeggiator
- Selectable note value: 16th note, 8th note triplet, 8th note, dotted 8th note, quarter note
- One, two, or three octave range
- Up, down, up/down, random, and assign modes
Sequencer
- Polyphonic step sequencer with up to 64 steps and rests
Effects
- Stereo analog distortion
- Dual, 24-bit, 48 kHz digital effects, including: reverb (room, hall, plate, spring), delay (full bandwidth digital delay and emulated bucket brigade and tape delays), chorus, and phase shifter
- Delay sync
- True bypass maintains fully analog signal path when digital effects are off
Performance Controls
- Full-sized, semi-weighted, 4-octave keyboard with velocity and aftertouch
- Backlit pitch and mod wheels
- Spring-loaded pitch wheel with selectable range per program (1 to 12 semitones up and down)
- Transpose controls for an 8-octave range
- Hold switch latches held notes on
- Polyphonic glide (portamento)
- Unison (monophonic) mode with configurable voice count, from one to all six voices, and key modes
- Preset switch: when off, the front panel is live; what you see is what you hear
Patch Memory
- 500 user and 500 factory programs in 10 banks of 100 programs each
- Direct program access, including Prophet 5-style single-button access to the current set of 10 programs
In/Out
- Left/mono and right audio outputs (2 x 1/4" phone jack)
- Headphone output (stereo, 1/4" phone jack)
- MIDI in, out, and thru ports
- USB for bidirectional MIDI communication
- Low-pass filter cutoff expression pedal input
- Volume expression pedal input
- Sustain footswitch input
- Sequencer start/stop footswitch input
Power
- IEC AC power inlet for internal power supply
- Operates worldwide on voltages between 100 and 240 volts at 50 to 60 Hz; 30 watts maximum power consumption
Physical Specs
- 32" L x 12.7" W x 4.6″ H (81.3 cm x 32.3 cm x 11.7 cm)
- 20.0 lbs (9.5 kg)
- Walnut end panels and trim
