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Dave Smith Instruments Prophet ‘08

Dave Smith has done it again with the resurrection of the legendary Prophet 5. The Prophet ‘08 is an eight-voice synthesizer with a 100% analog signal path. While the Prophet ’08’s overall sonic character will be familiar to anyone who knows Dave’s work from the ’70s and ’80s, it is much more than just a vintage reissue with a few new bells and whistles. Of course, it includes features we now take for granted, like velocity and aftertouch. Add to that performance features like an arpeggiator, gated step sequencer, and the ability to split and layer sounds. The modulation possibilities are much deeper than anything Sequential ever produced, making it capable of producing sounds the “classics” simply could not. Dave has always said that he is only interested in moving forward. The Prophet ‘08 is the product of evolution, not nostalgia.

Dave Smith was honored with the 2007/2008 M.I.P.A. (Musikmesse International Press Award) for Best Synthesizer for the Prophet ‘08. This year’s awards was voted on by 100 magazines from around the world. Thanks very much to the international press!

Prophet ‘08 Synthesizer is also available in Tabletop format. The Prophet ‘08 Synthesizer Module is a tabletop “knobby” module with all of the features and controls of the Prophet ‘08 Keyboard (minus the keyboard, of course) in an even more compact enclosure.

Prophet ‘08 Features:

Two analog oscillators per voice.
Classic Curtis analog low-pass filters.
Extensive modulation routing capabilities.
Four-on-four splits and layers with separate stereo outputs for each layer.
Arpeggiator, gated 16 x 4 step sequencer, and LFOs all syncable.

Prophet ‘08 Specifications:

5-octave keyboard with semi-weighted action, velocity, and aftertouch.
Spring-loaded pitch wheel and assignable mod wheel
256 fully editable Programs (2 banks of 128) with 2 Layers (2 separate sounds) in each Program.
16 x 4 gated step sequencer
Arpeggiator
2 digitally controlled analog oscillators (DCOs) per voice with selectable sawtooth, triangle, saw/triangle mix, and pulse waves (with pulse-width modulation), and hard sync.
White noise generator
1 Analog Curtis low-pass filter per voice, selectable 2- and 4-pole operation (self-resonating in 4-pole mode).
3 Envelope Generators: filter, VCA, and assignable (four-stage ADSR + delay); Envelope 3 can loop.
4 LFOs
Glide (portamento): separate rates per oscillator.
Analog VCAs

Prophet ‘08 Inputs and Outputs:

MIDI In, Out, Thru, and Poly Chain
Main stereo audio output: 1/4″ unbalanced
Output B stereo audio output: 1/4″ unbalanced
Sustain pedal input: accepts normally on or normally off momentary footswitch.
Pedal/CV input: responds to expression pedals or control voltages ranging from 0 to 5 VDC (protected against higher or negative voltages).
Headphone output: 1/4″ stereo phone jack.