NAMM 2019: Sequential Prophet XL - Dave Smith Takes Us Through

Always lovely to have a chat with Dave, even nicer when we can do this in their lovely suite, complete with natural light!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Four decades later and everyone still wants to check in with Dave at NAMM. Says everything.

[@christianwheeler8386]

And in recent interviews and old ones he comes off as a great and humble guy.

[@RundFyrkant]

Long live Dave Smith. Such a nice guy and still one of the best to develop and create new instruments. The X is amazing!

[@MsrAlaindeFerrier]

What a smashing man Dave Smith is

[@davebellamy4867]

Dave is ahead of his time again! Socially distanced in January 2019!

[@davebellamy4867]

... and he smashes it out of the park with the Prophet-5 &10 in 2020.

[@harrym9803]

Thank you dave, you are a very grounded person. I will get one, hope we have you for a long time on earth.

[@Deeplycloseted435]

This is now a must have in any fully featured high end studio. I know many people asked for a sampling keyboard with analog filters for years, and Dave gave us that and WAY more at the same time.

[@benjaminbrodie9801]

A Legend. Sequential Prophet XL might be one of the greatest synths ever made. Dave Smith is the Godfather. The Sequential Prophet XL is an offer I can't refuse.

[@Superlover]

Legend. love this guy

[@noiselabproject9659]

Good ol` Dave Smith what a great Bloke he is. This instrument although very expensive is very nice of course and along with the Moog One it gives most of us something to aspire to owning perhaps one day. In the meantime my greatest 2 `Synths` are a Rev2 with some nice stereo TC FX pedals for it and a Nord Electro 6D 73 which has a suprisingly good sample synth section in it as well so I`m not exactly slumming it in the meantime. 2019 `appy days for Synth lovers

[@iseeolly9959]

Such passion and honesty...great chap!

[@EchoKraft]

I saw Dave Smith at NAMM this year ! What a gentleman. A really nice guy. Allowed me to take a photo with him ! Super nice guy !

[@ledheavy26]

Man, if only daddy Dave could come do an hour long show with you, even just to talk would be great.

[@EverettDudgeon138]

While I do appreciate the time and care 8Dio are putting into sample packs for the Prophets, Oberheims, Junos, Jupiters, ARPs, and Moogs, I think it would be absolutely incredible if they did a pack with all the original Prophet 2000 and 3000 samples or even the Fairlight and Emulator samples. There is something special about those Lo-Fi sounds...especially that classic Orchestral Hit.

[@tenlittleindians]

I still use my Sequential Circuits Six Trak with the wooden sides and a Casio FZ-1 sampling keyboard, both bought new. Good equipment lasts forever.

[@TomCasey]

This is going to be a classic.

[@Bigmojo75]

Every time I see this guy I want to shake his hand, say thanks and buy something.

[@Art-zs6sl]

That would be my reaction also. I bet he never gets tired of hearing how his synths drew people into the game.

[@danielclifton3319]

What a legend!

[@digitaldiezel5870]

..."Not that we're doing that.... immediately...." !!!!!! I LOVE DAVE SMITH & SEQUENTIAL!!!!

[@HustonSingletary]

Dave loved the 500hz speakers outside the booth., lol. So good to see him and the team in their awesome "groundbreaking" booth area. Let's see who follows suit next year : )

[@tommymandel]

Very +happy+ with Dave's OB-6 from RobotSpeak in SF- and the ancient Prophet T8 has had a resurgence here at the NYC.lab. Miss my Prophet 4.5? A little. Looking at this new invention, a marriage of Prophet and next-generation-sampling-as-music thinking, ya gotta marvel at one man's mind, and how it continues to transform how fingers make music.

[@DoctorBlankenstein]

HUGE Dave Smith fan over here... #SaveDIN

[@photosynthesisrecords7258]

Thanks for this feature!

[@iVardensphere]

Dave is Love

[@CO5MA]

iVardensphere Yep

[@lancepage1914]

The Legend himself!

[@evildead2002]

I haven’t even started to think about user content yet, there’s so much to keep you busy on it. Must admit I’m itching to get those Moog samples!

[@_Thorsten]

Living Legend

[@Necrobutcher777]

dave smith's a cool guy

[@LifeofCharlie19]

Gotta like Dave. What a guy.

[@mrrafsk]

legend

[@SynthgodXXX]

Beautiful synthesizer, Dave! Can you make me a custom Prophet X with Blue LEDs like the Poly Evolver?! Would look GREAT in my studio! And sound AWESOME!

[@synth4ever]

The Prophet X sounds amazing, and Dave is a legend! Had the chance to try one recently and was very impressed with the sample quality, fidelity and functionality -- here's the demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGmWfmdtZ7WohJI Also, Dave mentions at 9:30 they're working on something NEW for the summer... can't wait!

[@EverettDudgeon138]

I concur. I've been loving my PX for months now. It's been a huge game changer for me sonically. I've gotten rid of my Kronos, Kurzweil and FA-08 because of it. I can't wait to see what they are coming out with next...my guess is the P12 replacement.

[@HustonSingletary]

; )

[@blpfrk]

Very curious to see what they release this summer. Won't spend any $ until then.

[@KiesgrubenJunkies]

Its a Monster 😍

[@2ARTISTMBROWN2]

ahhhh man..sweet

[@TerekkiTerekki]

‘Yea, it’s ok’ lol

[@Hell_Inc]

this is SO cool. I hate being poor. I wish I had this synth

[@madmac66]

Sequential - A Whole Bunch of More. That pretty much nails it for me

[@Ancaja123]

I know its stupid but I would still just love to have a Mic and Line Inputs, for sampling directly into it and also the possibility of processing external instruments

[@Ancaja123]

especially considering what dave says about doing stuff with samples quickly and musically, this is what I love about old school samplers like the S612 and the Mirage, I can just have a mic plugged in or a send coming from my patchbay and make something creative and fun right away, without the need to record thru my interface into my computer, then exporting onto a usb drive. Seems like it would deter me from actually sampling on my own which is why I really love samplers and don't use stuff like Omnisphere

[@Art-zs6sl]

I am hoping the release a module, they have a cool thing going on here.

[@marcwalravens2611]

Can you load wav samples from an arp quadra sample cd or hd into this sampler?

[@jondis]

over here just barking like a seal AarRuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[@guruaudiotheexperimentvintagea]

genius !

[@EmygdioCosta]

Dave Smith has some Radiohead samples! :D

[@davebellamy4867]

He sampled an entire album, he said😂

[@sauce_aux]

Nick, did you get to Dave after he had his tequila pictures ??? 😂 love DS and Sequential 👌🏽

[@maxmatson1578]

I would have liked to ask him if he was going to revise the "prophet vs" series¿?

[@Steve_643]

I want to see Dave Smith give a drum machine another try!!! I thought the Tempest was awesome

[@kaostrip]

I imagine the face of those who bought the precedent! it's the business guys! never announced things in advance

[@stephanehoreczko]

Any Desktop version planned?

[@optimystic23]

It was published in the media that DSI was NOT at NAMM this year...

[@EverettDudgeon138]

Correct. Sequential was. ;)

[@neolojism]

Caution, playing a sample of Radiohead may invoke the wrath of the KZbin monetisation algorithm overlords.

[@powers_media]

shots fired at Roland

[@fortheloveofnoise]

PolyEvolver 2 please

[@vinylselektaz6475]

Can you record tracks on this unit?

[@cmath8577]

Spin X off into a desktop and a 1 voice mono called MonoX which of coarse has other features X does not have and a lower price point

[@Paul_Y_T]

Might have more luck praying to the Pioneer gods rather than the Sequential gods for that...

[@alessandroscialanga2430]

asked for a desktop version

[@bond4177]

@@EverettDudgeon138 ...have you ever actually seen an SSD?

[@bond4177]

@@EverettDudgeon138 yeah it's less crammed than you'd think. You literally came up with the dumbest excuse for why there couldn't be a desktop version

[@Digiphex]

Interviewing God.

[@northerntao]

You should have asked about the desktop version.

[@EverettDudgeon138]

Unfortunately it might not be feasible with the size of the SSD for the samples alone it might end up too large for a desktop.

[@northerntao]

A 2.5” SSD is pretty small. I could see the guts of this possibly being too much to stuff in their standard desktop, but I doubt the HD size would be a concern, unless heat is a concern. Anyone done a tear down of one of these? Curious about how much space is in there

[@SubQuark]

​@@northerntao I have not seen the inside of the Prophet X, but I have the Prophet 12, both keyboard and module versions, and an OB-6. Of these three, the OB-6 has the largest guts with the analog voice cards. The P12 has a very small PCB. I imagine the Prophet X having something similar to the P12 plus an SSD, which should not be any problem to fit inside even the very compact P12 module, which is maybe a third of the volume of the much larger P6/OB-6 module. Heat should also not be an issue, with the Prophet X consuming maximum 25 Watts versus the P12's 30 Watts. The main problem with a Prophet X module would be the panel controls. I don't see how they could fit on a module. Maybe they would have to redo the UI with fewer physical controls, similar to the P12 module? Update: here is a Prophet X repair video that gives a good overview of the inside: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2m0dXalmNOnZq8 There is a typical synthesis board, a standard ITX computer motherboard and a 2.5" SSD.

[@Art-zs6sl]

@@SubQuark ^Nice post!

[@andreasmoll_0924]

Never make a compromise between 61 and 76keys ! use 61 or 88keys

[@davebellamy4867]

I like 73. Like the big Hydrasynth. 73 keys of poly aftertouch.

[@GODenWord]

Interesting to play piano with analog filters.

[@robettinger246]

Is this a hybrid? He doesn't really say.

[@Gusrikh1]

Interesting

[@RogerBrenon]

Dave, 50GB of user sampling is pretty bad by todays standards. What'd it cost, 20 bucks? 8DIO's patches in Kontakt are way over the 1.5GB sample limit you have in here. I wanted one of these pretty bad until I saw the memory limitations. Maybe I'll look again at the next innovation of this if it's corrected. Can't compete with computers until it does. Not trying to be negative. I want you to succeed.

[@HornieCow]

Dave.... please stop putting knobs right next to the screens.

[@bond4177]

Rather buy a Moog One

[@Art-zs6sl]

Different thing, but I hear you. The Moog one is beautiful.

[@pauloyoshizaki2103]

SEQUENTIAL ; PROFETA PROPHET :X ; SINTETIZADORES DO. FUTURE : HOJE JÁ ESTÁ AO ALCANCE SEQUENTIAL : FUTURE : NEW FORMATO RITMOS SINTETIZADORES. DIGITAIS. FUTURE : É : HOJE !!! APARELHOS ; YAMAHA ; KORG : ROLAND : CASIO : WERSI : BOHM ; BOHM : ETC ; NEW SEQUENTIAL NEW. MODELOS : REVOLUCIONÁRIO APARELHOS SERÁ !!!… LANÇAMENTOS. FUTURE 👍😎😎👏👏

[@kaostrip]

but nice expensive sampler !

[@bond4177]

Not a fan. Plug an audio output from your interface into an analog input on any analog synth with filter pass through... I mean I'm sorry but this thing is a rip. Use deepsampling plugins and midikeys....

[@SubQuark]

Use whatever suits you. If samples are what you want, fine. Yes, the external input of any analog monosynth could be used to process samples or whatever output from a digital source. But, for more complex sounds one might want to have a filter envelope, and maybe even LFOs, aftertouch, modwheels or other controllers modulating the filter. And the digital synth could be polyphonic. In this case, the only practical solution is a Prophet X/Prophet 12 type hybrid.

[@bond4177]

@@SubQuark Not true technically. The digital VST can be polyphonic, while the analog synth can still have it's filter modulated with any routings on the synth, even using external input. (Mine is the Arturia MatrixBrute in this case)

[@intnrmri]

Villan Bond except for polyphonic filtering you will need a filter per voice, your monosynth has only one. This has 16 as mentioned in the video, you need it for filter keyboard tracking and so on

[@bond4177]

@@intnrmri Ah that's true, it would technically be paraphonic. But still... If basically the same result can be achieved with minimal gear, I don't think the XL fully deserves it's price point. I'd tell people to buy a Moog One.

[@boothbuster]

I am with you dude... I think it’s possible for a company to make TOO many products. I don’t think I’ll ever want a DSI or Sequential, there’s just so many products it kind of gives the impression that they’re kind of hacked together to sell something “new” every quarter. I really dug some of the past synths but now there’s so many, like what’s the point. Easier to just use what I got and more sampling in the computer too.

[@tomwinter5029]

Ok well buts still a sampler.. Without samples no sound.. Hmm.. Not realy a instrument.. Thx

[@distprod]

Wrong, there are high resolution virtual analog oscillators, not just samples. They sound great, I didn’t know they were digital until I looked up the specs. Dave applied a similar approach to the PolyEvolver, with two sample oscillators that can be mixed with two virtual analog oscillators to create a stereo voice. You can pull in user libraries without ever using a computer.