Sequential Prophet X review

To buy this synth at zZounds, please visit: www.zzounds.com/a--3973047/it...
00:00 Introduction
00:38 What's in the box
00:50 Description of the unit
01:31 Patch: "PX Tease"
02:54 Patch: "Prophet-5 Bass"
03:13 Patch: "Poly Super"
03:36 Patch: "Suspension Cloud"
04:31 Patch: "Soft Scoring Grand"
05:11 Patch: "Glossolalia"
05:47 Patch: "GrimyDrumz"
06:24 Patch: "Vintage Lead"
06:59 Patch: "After Dark"
07:12 Patch: "Silk Roads"
08:12 Panel controls
10:14 Mod example: "Avant Choir"
12:37 Arpeggiator
16:17 Glide
18:12 Live front panel editing improv
23:55 Patch: "Theater Organ"
25:03 Patch: "Bedtime"
25:37 Patch: "Saxophonetic"
26:38 Patch: "Zeus Kit"
27:07 Patch: "Glitch Choir"
27:49 Patch: "Nylon Guitar"
28:22 Patch: "Wave Stayshon"
28:56 Patch: "Master Funk Solo"
29:36 Patch: "Dante's MatriX"
30:33 Patch: "StereoSaws"
31:04 Patch: "Deepspace"
31:53 Conclusion

[@jaimeacuna5293]

do not confuse this keyboard with a rompler. It’s a hybrid synth that Combines all the power of Sequential analog synth technology with tons (150gb) of samples that are also programmable. Plus 50 gb of user sampling memory where you can add 8dio dedicated libraries or your own samples. I keep reading comparisons with vsts. Good luck with that on a live performance. I got my Prophet XL more than a year ago and it’s just a beast. Then again, tools are only as good as the use you give them.

[@eugenephillips481]

FACTS!!!

[@Sawtooth311]

Can't agree more, for a live performer I have not played better. IMO this is the PERFECT top board in a 2 keys setup!

[@briannicepianoworship8944]

Since it’s so awesome live, would you mind giving us a live or recorded demo of the awesome ways in which you use it. Thanks jaime😊👍

[@BFHPET]

is there a software edititor to it

[@safedrivingisforlosers]

I'm so envious! A great demo of what this instrument can do!

[@liamlesson3706]

what a great machine !!! amazing bewitching sounds. that soft scoring grand sound is stunning wow

[@wolfunplugged]

dude! very well played and explained. loved especially the "live front panel editing improv"...but beneath that I enjoyed watching your video from the first until the last second. best greetings!

[@tp63us]

Thanks Paulo! Great demo.

[@MajorOSC]

Really amazing job with this one. The X is an incredible synth.

[@SimpleHold]

Thank you for the great demo and great playing. Not just the skill, but the imagination to choose nice parts for each patch.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Many thanks!

[@prophetate]

Thanks for a great clip as usual, always nice to watch your clips :)

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you like them!

[@imaldon1]

Congrats on your new purchase. May you enjoy it greatly.🎹🎵

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

I have to give it back to zZounds, but thanks!

[@heathwellsNZ]

Was watching another video... got the notification... pressed pause... Want to watch THIS first! 10 seconds in and I can't wait to hear the review!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you very much!

[@Esperluet]

4:31 So beautiful piano sound

[@Sawtooth311]

Just received mine from SW, this Synth is AMAZING! Wow!

[@MrStupidHead]

I got mine couple days ago. This thing is enough to take your breath away. The build quality is next level, and the construction design is superlative. It's not cheap. And it's worth it. It is an achievement is synthesizer creation.

[@ntma]

man this thing sounds great. thanks, Paolo. they picked the right guy for the job o>

[@georgegeez8708]

Love the review. Love the keyboard. But unless Paulo comes in the box with the keyboard, not buying it right now. Much love Paulo. You make anything sound bad ass.

[@peterrezba995]

Thanks Paolo you are one of my fav keyboardists Thanks man

[@eaglechildkeys]

With this synth you can make a lot of Cinematic tracks. Those sliders can transform completely the sound. Really impressive sounds Paolo.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Yes, definitely a great synth for that genre!

[@life-is-inspiring3953]

What a great sound; just ordered it today

[@pjm8779]

Great review! Dave Smith has given us so many great synths.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you, PJ! He did. Looking forward to trying the new Prophet-10!

[@daniberlanga]

Dave Smith is incredible... I really liked this Prophet X but it is not really my thing. But I can see this perfect for people doing scores for films, etc. I LOVE my Prophet 12 and from the analogue side I would say the OB6 is his masterpiece together with the new Prophet 5. What I think make his synths so good (at least the P12) is the interface and the deep understanding of synthesis. It is not that they have lot of features, but that they are well integrated. Like the Modulation Matrix of the P12. Press mod button, turn source, press again, turn destination knob, INCREDIBLE.

[@adrianh63]

@@SynthManiaDotCom me too ✌️🏽

[@rg2027x]

Yes..👍 Dave is a national treasure

[@Mark-vs5xx]

Bellissimo synth. Anche la demo. Come sempre

[@Tapioca7S0]

Super sounds so inspiring presets.

[@theaudioeng]

🍻😎👏🎹🎶💥 Lovely synth from Dave, Paolo! (RIP Dave 😔🙏)

[@bmovie67]

🖖 Such a nice toy ! Paolo you were in "LOVE MY JOB" Mode ON all the time. 😁

[@fjfrancois]

Yeah ZZounds are the Man 👍🏻

[@politefilters5312]

Welcome back, Paolo!

[@EverettDudgeon138]

The PX has been a game changer for me. So glad to see you with one

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you

[@jockerboy777]

Beautiful equipment Mr Paolo :)

[@menacerisamir198]

this is a great synth ,congratulations

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks

[@zebnewby1518]

that soft grand. patch is so convincing

[@Eyepatchfilms]

Great review! I hope Zzsounds sends you more modern synths to dive into

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks! The zZounds people are awesome - so far they have sent and I have reviewed: Roland Jupiter-Xm kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5Otqp-Do6iHZs0 Modal ARGON8 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYKmhJZuf8uAo9E Novation Summit kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKapfXmVi8SHqKc and this one - the Prophet X.

[@Eyepatchfilms]

@@SynthManiaDotCom Thank you! That's so amazing of them. You're the perfect person to have them go to!

[@TrebleForTheBass]

Suspension cloud is sublime

[@Philigrane5993]

à 18:28 un magnifique travail de Paulo. Du pur bonheur.

[@Lenamusic]

Amazing

[@scottmyers7500]

Paulo Rocks !

[@lucio788]

Paulo you are amazing

[@moncyn1]

thanks for video

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Most welcome

[@btaylo24]

That 2:20 to 2:40 has just a lovely vibe and feel to it.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Great effects on this board for sure

[@asdifasi5379]

Great review 👍 paolo . I wish I had the money to get one😘

[@kiko1935]

Interesting synth, I'm not very familiar with it but you presented it well 👍 it sounds cool, however $3,500 is a pretty steep price tag. I could be wrong but I feel like there's other keyboards out there that cover similar ground? The new Fantom comes to mind with its analog filter, although this beats it with knob per function. Either way I'm glad Dave is still making unique boards like this and I hope he continues to do so.

[@MrCaliforniaD]

Oh my god! Soft Scoring Grand! 04:31 Is that an original piece from you? Is sounds so good!

[@dirkkeersmaekers4343]

It's a beast.

[@JohnnyUFilms]

dude you are a fucken beast. love your channel

[@VladoT]

Great! Dave Smith finally came to the engineering level of the M1 😀

[@transforminggravity15626]

Wow that is awesome 🔥💯🔥💯🔥💯🔥💯 😎

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks 🔥

[@transforminggravity15626]

My pleasure my friend that was the most amazing keyboard I seen in a long time 💯💯💯💯

[@danielgow7975]

Interesting, so this is similar to a novation summit but has sampling included? I'm not sure I would want to buy this over working with sample libraries but it does seem really interesting. Thanks for the review, great work.

[@jerryholden1699]

Sure a lot of used ones showing up for sale. Wonder why?

[@MilesBader]

Have you seen sonicstate's videos on the Prophet X? In one of them (forget if it's the actual review) Nick goes to town with a little piece that really takes advantage of the slightly odd features of the PX, and it's downright awe-inspiring... Nick is so skilled!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Dude

[@XDanimalzX]

Lmao wtf?

[@kiko1935]

I don't see anything offensive in their comment, I assume they said a weird thing and then changed it? Lol

[@MilesBader]

@@kiko1935 nope that's my original comment.... I also don't understand what's the issue... - -;

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

It's not an issue, and it's not offensive. I thought it was obvious, but since you don't understand it, I will explain: it's not cool to go to a channel, post nothing about the actual content you see, and proceed to mention another site, praising their content. I love Sonic State and Nick just like anyone else, but do also you go to their channel, post nothing about their content, and proceed to tell them how great SynthMania is? Hence my "dude..." reply. Quote: "Have you seen sonicstate's videos on the Prophet X? In one of them (forget if it's the actual review) Nick goes to town with a little piece that really takes advantage of the slightly odd features of the PX, and it's downright awe-inspiring... Nick is so skilled!"

[@mrttripz3236]

Certainly a dream instrument for me. To bad they're so expensive here in south Africa. Great review

[@fjfrancois]

I can imagine, even for me it is expensive and I live in California 😞

[@mrttripz3236]

@@fjfrancois maybe one day...

[@notfoundrick3878]

Sequential synths are expensive all around the world

[@Sawtooth311]

Nice review, thanks! Is there a way to store favorite patches for easy recall during live performance? If so, how many are available? Thanks!

[@allencowley2112]

So I have a question about my Prophet X. It says the synth has 150 GB of sample memory. When I go to the instrument dial and type knob I can scroll through different sounds but they don't seem to be that many. Is there a trick I'm missing to access more samples? Do you have a solution for the seemingly missing samples?

[@driggerfireon5760]

Killer, did this just came out? I'd buy , has the novation sound beauty.

[@ultravice191]

wow,,,I could make a track just out of StereoSaws, Poly Super and Suspension Cloud...lol,,thanks for the video.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Any time!

[@dirkkeersmaekers4343]

With sample robot easy to put vst sounds in it.

[@petersirca223]

Suspension Cloud :O

[@DonSolaris]

Hey Paolo! Nice demo, excellent playing. I wanted to ask you something offtopic, do you use cream in spaghetti carbonara? Someone told me original Italian carbonara should not have cream. So now I am confused. I figure it's best to ask you. :o)

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Hey, Don, thanks! You don't put cream in the Carbonara, perfect timing too as I have a quick question I wanted to ask you! The grandma of a friend of my wife taught us to make goveđa juha s rezancima, and she put chives in it - but I've read online that no, you don't put chives in it. I'm sure you know this. Do you put it in it, or not?

[@DonSolaris]

@@SynthManiaDotCom Hehehe! I have no idea about cooking. :))))))))))))) I just go to a restaurant. The only thing I learned was carbonara, but from Italian guy. I don't remember seeing anything green in goveđa juha except parsley. And some oily stuff that's on the surface.

[@DadoSimicStudiostriver]

Hm, cant feel it like those retro machines. Sounds almost like vst synth compare to them.

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Most often, Sequential (Circuits) stuff does not really attract my attention. Don’t ask me why. The only model from either generation of Sequential that has really tempted me is probably the most rare one, the Prophet T8. This is sort of an exception; it strikes me as being like a 21st-century version of the technology that Dave Smith explored when they switched from analog tone generators to digital ones and designed the Prophet 2000, Prophet VS, Prophet 3000 and Studio 440.

[@minlwintun]

@SynthMania given its 8 voice polyphony limit in its highest quality mode... did you find any noticeable voice stealing... for example in that piano piece you played?

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Location min/sec ?

[@minlwintun]

@@SynthManiaDotCom around the 4:35 second mark using soft scoring grand patch... thanks!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

@@minlwintun Nop, I don't hear any noticeable voice stealing there. You do?

[@FabioBadalamentiComposer]

25 years ago, we used to read 500 pages of a manual. Do you remember the K2600? or the Wavestation? Today very few people read the manuals and they prefer strictly more intuitive keyboards such as the "red" ones ... The problem is that this programming "simplicity" often translates into increasingly banal sounds. The Prophet X is an "old fashioned" keyboard, it's not for everyone.

[@briannicepianoworship8944]

Interesting perspective. Please elaborate in reference to how it’s old fashioned. Love learning about this synth.

[@user-bb3hm8ur8q]

愛love you

[@iseeolly9959]

The stereo image sounds rather narrow.

[@aurelionasvw]

Show

[@FabioBadalamentiComposer]

@ Porca Paletta che Legnata !!!!!!

[@BorliBear-acqua]

current keyboard generation is able to do nearly anything. but I wonder why I am not interested at all ?!

[@stocchinet]

I too prefer more simple instruments

[@wrmusic8736]

Probably because the instrument can succeed at a very complex sound generation - yet entirely fail at doing simple things the simple way. So you end up being more intimidated by its interface than actually inspired. This is probably not the case here however - but instead the problem is that stock patches bombard you with these huge sounds, drenched in effects - and you realize they are not really usable in the real songs and, unless you program your complex synths yourself, the creative value of instruments akin to Prophet X is not there for you.

[@BorliBear-acqua]

@@mallorca1guy yes, sounds as a plug in of samples - too perfect but nothing special.

[@BorliBear-acqua]

@@wrmusic8736 right, "not (really) usable". I think this is the point.

[@wrmusic8736]

@@mallorca1guy the problem is that in modern synths presets are used to showcase all the features as much and as fast as possible to sell you on a 'wow' effect without them providing any kind of a musical value. They just don't approach presets creatively nowadays. Take Wavestation and D-50 for example - in a way those are similar to this one and in some ways also inferior (purely digital, no stereo analog filters) - and yet Eric Persing managed to create really really iconic patches on those, which, while complex, were very musical. Irony is that both of those synths also feature effects and you can drench everything in mediocre reverbs - and yet stock patches never go that far. Too much reverb is like too much sugar - delicious for the first 5 seconds, but then you don't feel the taste anymore. In modern synths nobody cares about patches being a "face" of the synth. I bet Prophet X is way better than what we hear.

[@audiolego]

I would get this than prophet 5 or 6

[@Barry101er]

Why would one need anything else? ;)

[@bekken971]

Really sad about Dave Smith. Hope you are doing well Paolo.

[@alexmax9832]

Great Paolo. But Cut on the Polyphony are so bad. ;)

[@whisperdancer]

Realistic Nylon Guitar... riiiiiiiiiight....

[@aristotlekumpis7095]

Nice review. I love the idea of the PX. But it lacks polyphony. 8 voice? With a synth like this and the price, you’d expect 64 or 128 voice. I like the 8Dio libraries. And the expansions sounds really nice. Not convinced I should sell my Kronos 2 for it.

[@jeffevansmusic]

The issue with it is the way the memory is organised. Its a shame the 150 Gig of 8 DIO sounds is just permanently in there. You cannot remove it. 50 Gig is not a great amount by today's standards for importing your own sounds. It would have better if you had the option of backing up the 150 Gig of factory sounds and using all the memory for your own if you needed it. Or just using what part of the 8 DIO sounds you may want etc. The analog filters are great though and its not often a sample based synth runs through analog filters. The front panel is also great for editing patches too.

[@Goettel]

50 GB of user sample memory is excellent "by today's standards". For example, both the Yamaha Montage and Nord Wave 2 have less than 2 GB.

[@BadgerLaser]

suspension cloud = instant Vangelis

[@timka880057]

Woah, it's sounds allot like the Yamaha Motif sounds, or MOX F or actually like the Montage... some like the Nord Stage 3.

[@tenlittleindians]

You call it a Prophet X. I always thought is was a Roman numeral X meaning ten so I always called it a Prophet 10. Since they had a Prophet 5 I just thought it was a big brother so they doubled the number! I really don't know if it's a 10 or an X.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnK9l5eifr1pecU

[@tenlittleindians]

@@SynthManiaDotCom Thanks for the definitive answer! I wonder if they understand how this translates around the world for those like myself that know of their previous names and had never seen this video? Too bad they drifted away from the nice stained wood sides like I have on my Six Trak

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Well, think about it. They never used roman numerals before. And also, there used to be, and there is now again, one of their synths called Prophet-10. Hence, the logical answer is that it's "X" for the alphabet letter, not the roman number. I mean, we're not talking about iPhones, here. We're talking about synths.

[@DreamscapesMusicCinema]

True Roman numerals have lines above and below

[@tenlittleindians]

@@DreamscapesMusicCinema Nobody bothered to tell the clock and watch maker's they had to have the lines as some do and some don't. World war 1 and 2 are often written using Roman numerals without the lines. Henry Ford is an example of someone that did things different. If you asked random people "which came first, the model T or the model A" and I'd bet most would get it wrong. Humans are used to logical progressions usually from left to right.

[@hendrikboser8238]

Watching this while listening to Aphrodite Ganja Man

[@TheOrganist007]

Instead of Buying a new car i bought the xl Version .

[@le-berry]

Aha so you did not buy it you just tested it. I would not expect you personally getting happy from this kind of synth :-)

[@clray123]

The most impressive part was the drumming on the drum kit, and not because of the instrument.

[@devnexen]

Nice gear, great sounds ... but not for me

[@pcuimac]

This thing gives me nooooo GAS at all. I am obviously not a Sampler lover. I prefer VA and analogish synths. The presets may just not be my thing. I also don't find DSI instruments visually interesting. They look like laboratory equipment. They are neither retro/legacy nor futuristic. The displays are also too small for someone who is beyond 45 years old.

[@superprim12]

If this synth's main thing is a sampler... why not do a video of sampling?? why presets???? Do a dog barking etc and show what u can do with it????

[@EuroDJ]

many VST sounds better ... including Free

[@nothvman6813]

You don't get it 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@EuroDJ]

@@nothvman6813 )))) probably ))))))

[@JosefFerger]

@Luke that´s not true... the PX has great personality if you get used to it. The factory samples are okay, but I´m only convinced by a few of the factory patches. I almost only use my own samples and then does the Prophet PX begin to show its strengths. The same sample sent through the PX filter sounds so much better than in NI Kontakt, for example.

[@nothvman6813]

@Luke getting similar isn't the point. Watching this amazing dude play the original synthesizers is the point.

[@AdamSpade]

Its a sampler. Its not about sounding better or worse than a vst, its about working with the sampled sound. A sampler can sample an actual instrument and modify it from there like a synth would modify a waveform. A typical vst synth with oscilators is generating its own sound to mimic things like brass or bells, whereas the sampler is using actual brass or bells. Technically you could say the sampler is better because it uses actual sounds, but its not really better or worse, its about using the sound you want at the time. In this way they are more equal but simply do something different... Which i very much love and appreciate. I mean, crack or heroin, right?

[@evertmeurs]

Not my cup of tea. A lot of noises and useless sounds.