Sequential Prophet X | A modern "vintage" sampler/synth that is highly underrated

[@russellbutterfield1419]

If I am honest here. I have to admit the Prophet X is single handedly the best synth that I have ever seen, and to use it is a total joy, some of the pads and leads and other stuff are some of the best sounds I have ever heard from a synth, the warmth from it is amazing and the filter sounds very creamy and lush. I have heard people say that the synth section is stripped down from the Rev2. But its not, its very very close to the Rev2 and you have a sample player on top of that which you go to places, that you have never been before. The only synth which could come anywhere close to this is the Waldorf Quantum v2. But yes I agree this is a very undated synth, and that's because people do not understand it, they don't know its sonic capabilities. I have had mine since 2019, would I sell it 4 years down the road, not a chance. I am still finding out stuff about this synth and its capabilities. Its future proof, and for the doubters, you really need to try one. Some of the sounds you can get are really next level, it blows everything out of the water, and that includes my Polybrute, Hydrasynth, Blofeld, Integra 7, and any soft synths I own

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks for sharing!

[@TimDaleMusic]

Thanks for this Espen. I love my Prophet X. The addition of the samples just adds so much more depth and variety when compared to the rest of the Prophet range. I know some people look down on the digital oscillators but I can't fault them. I've only used it once live so far but hope there will many more occasions. I got the wonderful opportunity to chat with Dave Smith for a while at Superbooth, just a couple of weeks before his untimely passing. I told him that I was now the proud owner of a PX, and he said that was his favorite Sequential ..... but perhaps he says that to all the owners :-). Anyway, hope you have many happy hours with this, and hope there are more PX videos to come in the future.

[@EspenKraft]

People looking down on digital oscillators don't deserve to own a synth. ;-) Cheers

[@keyboardkingpin]

I underestimated this since when it 1st came out it. It sounds awesome great video as always Espen.

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks!

[@dannymontreal6316]

Thanks Espen. You just upped my Prophet XL value. Not that I would ever sell. What an amazing and engrossing experience.

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@EverettDudgeon138]

Thank you thank you thank you so much for doing this. The PX is easily my favorite synth of all time and it's been a huge game changer for me. Completely underrated and you make it sing beautifully.

[@EspenKraft]

Many thanks man! I have another video coming soon that I think you'll like then. ;-)

[@VintageSynthesizerSolutions]

Alweays been curious about these! Seems like a perfect fit for your gigging needs!

[@EspenKraft]

It sure is!

[@cortical1]

I'm happy that you're liking this and that it suits your varied needs. I'm curious about them now after little interest. You have a way of doing that! Sounds great.

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks!

[@andycordy5190]

Very interesting that you gave so much of your presentation to the one workflow element of taking a sample and expanding it across the keyboard and I can see how handy that feature is. Complex mapping of multiple samples takes forever. To be able to spread one sample out like that is surely a unique feature except for specialist plug in architecture.

[@DestroyER82]

Arguably the best Sequential synth since PolyEvolver. Amazing! Thank you for showing, all the best! :)

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@DestroyER82]

@Perisho Sales doesnt always reflect the quality, usability and impact of the instrument. They are selling tons of Prophet 5 reissues and I call that product boring and ridiculously overpriced. Just my subjecive angle of view. In history it is often happening, look at Roland TR808, 909 or 303.. they were initially complete flops and were discontinued quickly. And you can find more examples like that.. So yeah, lets go Prophet X. :) All the best!

[@EspenKraft]

You could easily fit the miniature circuit board of any new synth into a PC. I can't see what that has to do with anything. The OB-X8, the P5... all of them can be fitted inside a PC. Does that make them better or worse? There's no such thing. They're tools. Tools to get the job done. Synths are not pieces of worship, they're tools.

[@slipknotboy555]

@@EspenKraft Not only that, but the Prophet X has analog filters, right? Can't get that with a VST. Plus, plenty of people (myself included, and it seems you as well, of course, heh) just prefer hardware Edit: And I can't personally afford stuff like this, but that's besides the point. I'm glad a modern sample based hybrid synth (with the ability for custom samples) exists, especially with the full featured synth engine

[@EspenKraft]

I'm not a collector, what others do is no concern of mine. I say what I do in my videos because I have people interested in what I say and do. I'm not a journalist, I don't tell objective stories. Everything in my channel are my subjective opinions. If a synth has a PC board or not inside is of no consequence to me. I choose my synths based on a lot of factors. In the case of the PX it's chosen because of my upcoming live gigs. I needed a tool to get the job done and I couldn't find anything that suited me better for that particular job. I needed this tools to be able to do a lot of things and the PX was the absolute best featured tool I could find. So I got that. That's what this video was about. And finally, collecting synths for the SAKE of collecting will definitely inhibit your productivity, creativity and musical output. And that's very sad. If anyone is keen on collecting electronics to worship, to look at or show off, I suggest some aviation instruments instead.

[@xazaful]

I bought one used this weekend. It is a very impressive synth. The ability to mess around with so many samples is a joy. The filter is very interesting with its own character. @Espen, many thanks for your vidéos. They helped me to decide witch synth to buy :) The workflow of this one is very straightforward, it's a pleasure to lose yourself by messing around with its sample engine.

[@EspenKraft]

Congrats! Make sure to check out my epic sample- and patch bank for it. It's very popular and quite frankly the best sounds for a Prophet X out there. It leaves everything else in the dust. ;-) The factory sounds are awful.

[@xazaful]

@@EspenKraft Yes, factory patches are useless. I will give a look at your sounds this night. I started to create some very simple and classic patches that are more usable than the ones provided. I am quite impressed by the digital oscillators. They can sound big, digital but big so a different flavor I created : - Brass sound like D50 with just the two classic oscillators - Digital piano like DX7 with the VS waveforms and a tweak with the velocity to get one waveform when playing soft and one waveform when playing loud without using stack. - old school vocal sound like the ones found in 80’ romplers with inverted choir sample and short looping.

[@ghavinga]

Great to see a video about the Prophet X! Thank you, please post some more videos on the P X ;-) Also try out modulating the filter cutoff on each left and right channel. You can achieve some very unique and great stereo effects. By using for example, slow slightly off-set LFOs on each side. There aren't that many synths available that have that ability.

[@EspenKraft]

Very good tip! I will mostly use this as a conduit for playing all my other synths, through their samples so the sounds will be done with the samples themselves, but for any synth sounds done on the X it certainly has a lot of cool modulation capabilities and more.

[@brettwayne8103]

Brining back some memories for me. I never thought of it for live, but I can see it being great for that. I wanted it as my centerpiece in the studio to emulate vintage synths and samplers. Be my one stop shop hardware synth. It is very versatile. I made a ton of analog type presets using the coded osc's and I imported my EII libraries. I remember I found your channel around the same time at the beginning of 2020. I was just getting back into hardware after years away. I got a PX and a tetra and I reached out to you to find a 12 bit sampling solution to resample into the PX. , and you so kindly suggested the mks-100 to me. it worked great. But I didn't have samplerobot. I should have spent the extra money. It was very tedious making and mapping samples without that. after using the PX for a couple of months I really missed my Juno and sh-101 and other vintage stuff I used to own. I sold it to fund an mks-7, and mks-30. But everything I bought ended up needing service. the dss-1 I bought, still has a dead voice even after trying to have it serviced., the mks-30 I had to overhaul , and recently get a tuning issue fixed. My mks-7 has another dead voice also serviced in 2020, my mks-100 developed a high pitched whine that lead me to part ways with it too. Instead of working on music I spent most of 2020 fixing synths. Lesson learned. Your video on that subject was spot on! The PX is a unique elegant instrument in this day and age and it is beautiful to look at and work on. The filter is fantastic! I sincerely hope you enjoy it very much and have fun getting ready for the gigs!

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks, and thanks for sharing!

[@martinbdker1542]

Wow... what a great sound you ended up with. Don't be afraid of making other videos with the Prophet X - and if you could angle your camera so we could see the control panel better I would learn even more.

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks! I've made loads of videos on KZbin for the last 5 years. Sometimes I show the details of what I do, sometimes I don't. ;-)

[@dzod]

It sounds wonderful and has captured the vintage sound perfectly. Shame there isn't a rack or desktop version. I'd buy one if there was.

[@basspartout]

What a great machine!! Fantastic!

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@andyry1269]

Very nice to have a peak into your wonderful world, Sir. -Andy Ry Denmark.

[@dankeplace]

When I 1st played one I was in awe and overwhelmed too. I think it was the XL I toyed around with, fun times.

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@bobjoe7508]

Loving the chair in the studio! But this is a really great sampler, really nice blend of old school workflow and modern tech.

[@EspenKraft]

You can't sample on the PX so it's not a sampler per definition.

[@bobjoe7508]

@@EspenKraft Thanks for the clarification. I've never used of these myself, but it certainly seems to be worth it for your workflow.

[@Area32Audio]

Love my DS/Sequential synths I have a few Pro3 / Prophet 6 / 10 & 12 not got an X though in truth its on the list but space is a premium nowadays with 16 full size synths plus a good half dozen Rack/desktops , but gotta say out-of all of mine including virus ti2 , nord lead4 , hydrasynth , polybrute, moog one and Modal 002 & 008 , my favourites still remain the Dave Smith stuff , just summat really nice and tactile and build quality about em not to mention sound quality love em

[@VickersDoorter]

I'd not even considered creating new complex voices with Sample Stretch, now it makes sense.

[@MorbidManoeuvres]

Another beautiful thing about this, you can alter the bitrate making it sound even more old school/vintage like . Since older samplers had lower bitrate

[@EspenKraft]

Unfortunately it sounds nothing like that when you do.

[@the_JTowny]

I'm seriously thinking about getting one of these. Treat myself for my 50th.

[@gergokovacsjazzpiano8165]

I know, I'm saving for this! Would go well with my P6.

[@smartti1970]

that was a great patch creation !

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@tedkorkowski7819]

I have owned early sequential synths the pro one , the 600 roland jupiter 6, moog model d . they were great sounding but limited to the technology of the time. I have owned the X for two months and it is a vast color palette, where your ears can hear colors. Im using the moog subsequents CV korg wavestate and yamaha xs8 for there flavours but the Prophet X has a depth ive not heard anywhere else. It,s easy to edit live and evolve the sounds as you go. Desert island synth for sure!

[@pfmmodule5144]

I have one, it’s a gateway to new sonic universes once you dive in.

[@stergiost.6246]

I bought this synths few months ago and iam really impressed! It has a great sound quality. . Factory sounds are bad and not capable of demoing synth's potential and capabilities. I own many synths(juno 60,ob6,prophet 6,se1x,Esq1,k2000,dfam,mks80 and others..) and i have to say that it is the most flexible with a sound quality on par with the best. It is a true chameleon.There are some great free sample libraries out there that transform the prophet x. (sampled analog synths, oscs, etc). I coudn't believe the vibe i got when i installed the free moog one library. This synth must not be used as a usual sample playback synth-workstation. This synth must be used like a wavetable on steroids. The filter is great and you can combine samples from "different worlds" for unique sounds... You can create terrific hybrid sounds or huge classic sounds. The fact that you can create classic sounds from dig osc+samples(for example brass orchestra sample +super saw all thru the analog engine of the synth) gives a new dimension and depth to the classic sounds. It has great tools for manipulating samples timbre before passing them from the filter. Prophet x is ideal for cinematic sounds and film scoring.Incredibe organic sounds can be created from this monster. I ve heard people saying that it is a hardware '' Omnisphere" but beieve me they are just confused cause of the bad factory sounds and demos. Omnisphere cannot have this huge-warm-organic-balanced sound. It has a deep synth engine (it is almost a poly modular) but it is very easy to programm it. Everything is done nicely on the panel, you do not have to remember anything or dive in deep menus. Well dome Mr Smith!

[@McTroyd]

Talk about a blind spot... I had no idea Sequential was still in business, let alone (apparently!) still creating awesome hardware. The X being your main for tour is about the most ringing endorsement they could hope for. Nice.

[@EspenKraft]

They make a lot of synths these days, have been for many years now. They even make a new Prophet 5 now.

[@digitaldiezel5870]

I really wanted them to make a desktop module or a Tempest X that used the same engine (using the same sample library but maybe focusing more on drums and rhythms, as to be a slightly different machine)

[@xnonsuchx]

I think the last equipment I bought were 2 Kurzweil K1000Rs several years ago because I was going make 1 most complete unit between the 2 and sell the other one. But I’ve never gotten around to consolidating them.

[@joonglegamer9898]

That thing just looks good old fashion sexy (Am I even allowed to use that word?) but I can't say any less about it, it rings all the bells with me. And I bought a modern thing too without even trying it out, it was the new AKAI Mpc Key 61 when it came out last june, instantly from the factory release because the specs just blew me away. It's still a prototype ish thing, so it's full of bugs, but I've never ever been this productive before so it was still worth it to me.

[@michaelpierce3264]

I guess this is like the emulators depeche mode used from construction time to violator

[@DaveDaves]

Yea wow I wouldn't have thought of it as an ideal fit for you but this video makes the case; you and I seem to have some mutual favorite sound timbres - like JX-8P and Depeche Mode, 80s overall, sure. The 80s sounds came out so incredibly well on this! Given its modern tech, capable of very clean hi-fi multi-sampling , is packed with tons of hi quality samples, no VCOs or analog DCOs, I just didn't think 80s when I read about it - but woah do the SSM filters sound crazy good on it! Unfortunatley now I have no choice but to yearn for this - I'm starting to question my plan to go Akai MPC direction . Your video only showed one example of the chorus but I was very underwhelmed, you too? For the Roalnd JDxA I had to buy the TC June-106 (Juno/JX Roland stereo analog chorus backwards engineered) because the digital inbuilt chorus just didn't do it for me; Roland's own digital emulation of it is quite good but JDxA chorus? big shrug, and that's why Behringer's DeepMind despite being Juno-based didn''t feel magical to me. The pitch shifting across the keyboard seems to be very good, yes? To me that's the most important charachteristic of a sampler. My 909 has an OK tonality doing that (losely based on the V-Synt & VP-9000's Variphrase technology but not the full thing and not as good) - to my ears, EMU samplers had the best-sounding method for that which I read about from their main engineer, how it cleverly doesn't have to reduce the sample rate to slow/pitch down.I love the JDxA but its quite flawed, too. Now gonna watch your chorus shoot-out!

[@EspenKraft]

The onboard factory sounds are incredibly bad. And you can't sample on this, but you can import samples or multi-samples. Cheers

[@fugue6904]

hmmm,,, why doesn't my Prophet X sound like that? :). nice patch! very lovely.

[@Latvian3Dman]

Impressive. I mean both, gear and you 😀

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@thesungodra123]

You should try playing the Prophet-X from a polyphonic aftertouch capable keyboard. Simple modulations like controlling the filter cutoff polyphonically per key really makes a expressive difference when playing sampled strings, or anything, really.

[@EspenKraft]

I've never had much use for that doing pop-music. I usually turn off after touch on all my keyboards if I can.

[@thesungodra123]

@@EspenKraft I agree about mono aftertouch. But polyphonic aftertouch is something different. And very much so when used on the Prophet X.

[@EspenKraft]

I simply don't use it or want it for my upcoming gigs. The PX is my master keyboard and bringing something else just for a feature I don't use is of course out of the question.

[@Jauly]

I love the PX, for me it's the Prophet VS of today. My only gripes are the non existing vintage knob (slope in the mod matrix won't do it as it works incorrectly on sample pitch) and the absolutely punchless VCA envelopes. If you hit a key to play a sample it feels a bit like you hit play on a CD player.

[@EspenKraft]

It's not without its flaws, but as a replacement synth (with my custom samples) for live use I find it absolutely stellar.

[@theaudioeng]

... hmmm, might look to get this beaut (and they have ceased manufacturing it now too)...🤔

[@J._Campbell]

It would be great to see song demo with a synth as before

[@EspenKraft]

Tired of that.

[@J._Campbell]

@@EspenKraft I got it

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Such a temptation! In 2023, one thing I have yet to own is this classic-style hybrid with digital tone generators and subtractive synth architecture combined. But - I’m trying to combat G A S.

[@EspenKraft]

I'm thinking of getting another one myself. ;-)

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

At least, you have figured out how to make your awesome skills pay the bills, Espen - to some extent at any rate.

[@kevrenshaw6177]

Many years ago I aquired a Prophet T8. It was a beast and I regret selling it. Can I do normal Prophet 5 type sounds if I didn't want to use the sample engine ?

[@EspenKraft]

You sure can. In fact, I have a video on my channel showing just that.

[@5lip5pace]

$3500 bones is a lot! sounds great though

[@tommiilee]

Fantastic movie and synth. Thank You. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Prophet X compared to the: Kurzweil K2700, Roland Jupiter X or Korg Kronos 2?

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks! Answers like that takes too much time and space in a comments section. Check out my Q&A livestreams where I answer stuff like that in more detail. I have a new livestream coming Monday where I will talk more about the P X.

[@zdravkodimitrov]

Kronos has the most engines and most sound banks available. I've loved my Kronos for almost 10 yrs now, won't change it for any of the others

[@briann5001]

Espen is right and most people have no idea because they don't read and educate themselves fluently. Let me help, the Prophet x exceeds the Kronos and actually can't even be compared to it because the Kronos or montage or nord can not do what it can do. That being said most people don't know how to use the PX which is why it's so unique

[@GizzyDillespee]

Kronos is an actual sampler, as in, you can sample into the audio inputs, and use that sample as an instrument, or as part of a sequence, or in FM synthesis, etc. For the PX, you would load samples onto it via freeware PXtoolkit. I don't know much about K2700... I thought it had audio inputs, but no live mode... so I assume it can sample?

[@EspenKraft]

PXtoolkit is ok, but much better is SampleRobot.

[@joee6014]

Hard choice between the Prophet x, the nord wave 2 or stage 4. Any helping words? Mostly to sample chords… crazy how little options there are to stretch at transpose

[@EspenKraft]

I have never used or played the two others so I have no idea what they're like. As a big fan of older samplers I can surely say that the P X definitely has that old sampler vibe with it's ability to stretch a sample throughout the entire keyboard. When it also has the ability to import multi-samples, at different velocities AND analog SSM clone filters it's a winner in my book.

[@joee6014]

@@EspenKraft Prophet x seems like the move. Thanks!

[@Bigger-Circuitry-Bigger-SOUND]

I v always thought that this was the best modern Dave Smith keyboard and worth buying

[@briann5001]

It is but most people have know idea why it is ...there's nothing better unless I by a Jupiter 8 or cs 80 even then that's not as versatile

[@frankklang5508]

Think the Prophet6 was the best Dave Smith Synth.

[@torarinvik4920]

Great video. I have a question for anyone that knows the answer. On the beginning of Fulci film City of the living dead there is this resonance filter sweep synth sound, I've been trying forums and google and other places but I have not been able to find the answer. Does anyone know how to achieve this sound?

[@EspenKraft]

Thanks! A filter sweep like this is easily done on any synthesizer, with a slow LFO sweeping the filter. A high resonance too. Then balanced and mixed in with the rest of the music, in this case. I know the film and music very well.

[@torarinvik4920]

@@EspenKraft Nice, thank you. I actually tried that, but since Im a synth novice I wasn't able to do it. As far as hardware synths I have a D-50. But I don't have any analog synths, so I tried several plugins. PG-8X and Arturia Minimoog plugin. I tried to make the LFO control the filter, but I wasn't able to, basically because Im an ignorant noob :D How do I do it, or where can I learn how to do it? Thank you for answering, much appreciated!

[@EspenKraft]

There are lots of videos on KZbin showing how to do that. I did a quick search and found plenty. Best of luck!

[@torarinvik4920]

@@EspenKraft thanks 😊

[@Ethanol5]

How's the sell off been coming along Espen?

[@EspenKraft]

It's quiet now. Show is over.

[@angelog.spicolaiii8021]

...could ya elaborate abit more on why OB-X8, 3rd Wave, Quantum or even Prophet 5 or 10 (new versions) 'wouldn't be the right choice' Believe me Prophet X is a fine instrument, almost does it all¡ just wonderin' EK thanx again dude 😎

[@EspenKraft]

Brief walk-through in the video description. The OB-X8 don't have sample import, neither does the 3rd wave or the other Prophets. The Quantum does not appeal to me at all.

[@angelog.spicolaiii8021]

@@EspenKraft ... I'd love tooo see a little tutu on how good the sampling engine actually is, specs, features etc... doin' abit o research myself, EK thanx again dude

[@EspenKraft]

You can't sample on this, it's not a sampler. You have to import the samples.

[@angelog.spicolaiii8021]

@@EspenKraft ...huh?! seems to be alot tooo be learned & discovered about this piece of kit, almost a hybrid one of kindlike synth EK thanx again dude 😎

[@EspenKraft]

It is a true hybrid. Just as I like them.

[@shanetucker3094]

Have you put any Fairlight or DX sounds into it? If so, how do they sound in the X?

[@EspenKraft]

You can hear the DX piano, and the whole process of multi sampling to get it there, in my previous PX video. The one with SampleRobot.

[@shanetucker3094]

@@EspenKraft Oh wow! Yeah, that sounds incredible. Like the real thing! Thanks!

[@mutantdisco87]

A question : if you don't load user samples, and if you just use the internal samples, Are the internal samples worth it ?

[@EspenKraft]

No, the internal samples and patches are very bad. I don't use them at all. I import my own samples, that's what this is about. I say so in the video and I link to another video where I show the process of getting my own custom samples into it.

[@briann5001]

This of course is what makes the prophet x so controversial. I say the internal samples mixed with the filters blow away everything ok the market. The prophet x does not work if you try to use it as a rompler. You must use it properly to awaken it's powers

[@GizzyDillespee]

Do you like 80s style patches? Then, yeah, what Espen said. The presets and onboard samples I've heard tended more towards hifi cinematic and experimental...

[@sailorkap]

Hej . is this a new prophet .. i wonder how u could afford it . itsvery high prized i see.. but yes its a super synth.

[@EspenKraft]

The PX has been out for a few years now so it's not new at all.

[@SiegelBantuBear]

🎉😊

[@markstevens5442]

Getting a bit like Dire Straits at 3.22 there lol ;)

[@6581punk]

People just don't get excited by samplers and romplers these days.

[@EspenKraft]

This is neither a sampler nor rompler. ;-)

[@briann5001]

@@EspenKraft People just don't get it and I love it. Because only the wise know the power of the Prophet X

[@GizzyDillespee]

It's a synth with 2 sample based oscillators, 2 dsp oscillators, stereo analog filters and VCAs

[@DrTune]

It sounds exactly like every other keyboard and softsynth of the last 20years or more. Sure the knobs and buttons are different but that's all mappable nowadays. This could have been a demo cd from 1996. Could do this (same sound, very slightly more awkward programming; so use a PC based tool) on a cheap akai S1000 - or just a softsynth. SO much gear fetishism. Shrug

[@DrTune]

I'm happy if this makes you happy but to me spending thousands on hardware is totally absurd unless you are totally clear that owning hardware for the sake of blinkenlights is the endgame, not making music

[@EspenKraft]

It's obvious that you don't get why I got this. Are you under the impression I'm a gear snob or a synth noob? I've done synths for a living since the late 80s. Now I'm taking up live gigs again and wanted a keyboard that could hold all my custom sounds in a nice powerful package. And you ramble on about soft synths on a PC... If that's all you have I suggest you just move on. Nothing for you here.

[@chrissneider7550]

Good synth, however, head to head, it doesn't sound as good nor is it as varied in synthesis as the beastly VPS Avenger the Vengeance, I'm just telling you, because I've compared them and the VPS Synth beats this one in sound, quality and performance by far. Sorry to tell you because we know you are a hardware lover, well dear, this Prophet will be far behind the best VST's of 2023...

[@EspenKraft]

Haha, take your pills immediately fanboy.