Prophet 5 Rev4: Unboxing and review with sound only demos. 

I am close to 40. This synth embodies sooo much of my youth via sounds that some of the tones coming out of this can bring me tears in a good way. Hope Dave Smith knew that he didn't just create a synth, but the audio footprint of an entire era (from NY to Bangladesh) which was lived through millions on this planet.

It just ooooozes the 1980s golden era of Synths. I only need one kidney!

Man, I’m right there with you on all of this. Just got mine 2 days ago and I can’t stop tinkering with it while I’m supposed to be getting other work done. I didn’t expect to be so taken with it, but it is just such a high-quality piece of gear in every respect, and the raw tone is just sublime!

Thank god you’ve done a review on this! No one going into this kinda detail, thank you!

Getting mine tomorrow morning. I’m so psyched. Only took me ten years to finally get one! And luckily it’s brand new 😎

When a synth sounds this wonderful with a single output and no effects, you know it's the real deal! I assume this is one the later numbered models that didn't need the modification. So full, so sweet sounding, thank you. Best demo I've heard so far, great job.

Awesome Starsky! cant wait for the U He Repro-5 comparision! keep awesome content

Watched the whole thing intently... thanks Starsky, you're great!

Great review, thank you! Sounds legendary, still very fresh ...

What a demo. Amazing and honest review with top sound and vision. Thanks

I can’t tell you how excited I was today to find out this was reissued and to find your review! I am completely hysterical with joy. I don’t want my money anymore.

Sounds great, looks great. There is something about being inspired to play.

My god, this is the most incredible sounding synth I've heard dry. I see the comments from others on other synth videos saying they love it and I don't really get it, but this, this has really suckered me in. The sounds you get from it in the "Some Sounds" section of the vid are just sublime. I'll be interested to hear more about this, comparisons and how you feel about it in 6 months time, as I am sure literally everyone else will :D

Sounds lovely. I used to get a shot of a Prophet 5 occasionally back in the 90s. A lovely synth.

Congrats! This thing sounds as good as it looks.

A sublime sound. Elegance in simplicity but never boring or fatiguing. What I find amazing is how lush it sounds, and it’s mono!!! Some day, somehow I’ll get to play on one of these. God knows when😂

I am SOOO close to buying this - sounds sublime - will be in so much trouble

This is the best video showing this wonderful machine.

You deserve it! And more! Congrats!

Just having binge-watched all Stranger Things episodes before, I can´t help but having that association in my ear when hearing this lovely machine :)

Thank you for this awesome video! :)

I have a deep love for 80s electro since my early teens. I lately found out that almost all of my favorite tracks of that era contain a Prophet-5. Lovely synth!

Special thanks for twiddling all the time with the vintage knob and rev button! This shows potential of this wonderful instrument.

@17:21 what a sound!❤❤Well done Mr. Carr. She is something else. Thanks Dave 👼

Fantastic review! Riveted!

Oh my word, it's just arrived and it sounds every bit as good as I hoped it would! I was a bit worried that the five note polyphony would be an issue and that I should pay the extra and buy the 10 but it's not nearly as much of a big deal as I thought it would be. Really happy right now. Thanks Dave and the team!

A guy who truly knows how to make music with synths, as always! You convinced me to buy to Blue Marvin's and I gotta say you are selling me on this one!

Eager to see those comparisons ! thanks for the video :)

Really nice demo.

it is a beautiful piece of weaponry, nice one fella

Those are some satisfying sounding buttons. Synth sounds good too...

You had to didn't you... looks beautiful. I'm a modern rev 2 owner... but this is another level with its vcos.

Very nice review. More relaxed than others. And yes, they should have thought about the wood. But I think it will make dentists an lawyers happy.

I'm really glad you got that, you deserve it with the amount of quality videos your produced this year. That thing is massive! I'm getting the Behringer Cat for Christmas. Before it gets really busy, I like to wish you and yours Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, All the best! - Mr.Tom

It really does sound incredible. The sheer size of it and the knob spacing along with the 5 octave keyboard..winner. Looking forward to seeing your comparison with Repro5 as I doubt I will ever be able to fork out the best part of $5000 CAD for one of these :)

Sounds amazing, and your presentation is, of course, setting a new bar! Wouldn't it be great if going with to such a simple and vintage synth actually knocked out a good handful of more complicated and modern synths? When it sounds good, it sounds good. Layering really great sounding, yet simple sounds is what the 80s were all about!

what a cool ass synth. literal chills woah guys

‘turning resonance all the way up. Watch your ears.’ My dog’s ears started twitching 🐶😂 Great review!

legend

I've had my Prophet 5 on order since the 21st of October (in the UK) and it still hasn't arrived. Videos like this just make me endlessly envious :(

They managed to release it before Behringer cloned it...

Ahh yes another satisfying review on a product ill never have the luxury lf owning 😫

Omg I am light years away from having an audience or making money with my productions but I need this

That's it, I can take it no more. I'm buying one!

This is why Starsky is KING of Synth Land. We all humbly pay our respects. Compared to him I am nothing. I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

Great video demo. Simplicity and quality are great features. Makes live performance more accessible. First time I had appreciated the chromatic stepping of filters. I guess it works better for FM. I will probably go for the desktop version to save space; can add arpeggiators and sequencing that way. Dave's vintage knob is awesome LOL Love the way it loosens the envelopes, not just the tuning. I'd like to make a video like this with my Moog One; I guess I don't have to fully understand it to be able to show some of what it can do.

Starsky - I just realized what a cool name "Star Sky" is. Enjoyed the video. I wouldn't keep the Prophet 6 and Prophet 5, seems a bit excessive imo. But sometimes I think we (as folks who use synths and can never seem to part with them) just... can't let things go. I had a Virus KB and a TI Polar and had the hardest time parting with the KB even though it was basically the same thing (but super nice as a 61 key keyboard). Someday - GAS will just be recognized as a mental disorder (well, it probably already is within the spectrum of obsessive compulsive disorders and hoarding, lol). The stepping is definitely something that Sequential/DSI does - which sorta sucks IMO. My Polysix is just smooth as butter on that and I quite like that. Would be nice to have control over whether it did that or not, but I would imagine they won't implement that. Anyway, thanks for the video!

Thanks, Starsky finally tested it and he can be trusted, he is pretty independent unlike some others. When the hype is gone, I'll probably order the upcoming desktop version and test it myself against my other synthesizers, especially the REV2. Please test it against the Repro5 of u-he.

You're damn right, that very first bit *was* too nice to play once...

I just bought the desktop. Best synth since my Jupiter 06

The interface and look of a synthesizer has its influence on the way you play and make sounds... When I look at the Prophet 5-10 it has such a simple interface, but such a delightful sound! I'm currently used to much more feature filled interfaces like for example the One. But has its own character and experience! I wonder when I can get a hand on the Prophet 5-10 to experience its vibe myself! Enjoy playing and thank you for your video!

Nice woodwork btw...!

I’m astonished how good it sounds with no effects. You kind of forget there aren’t effects until effects are actually applied.

Sounds amazing. I'm new to synthesizers and I feel that - although I've never owned any of the legendary vintage analog models - I am starting to appreciate the difference between analog and digital synths. The really good analog synths have a certain buzz that to me sounds like like powerful electricity being harnessed and controlled. It sounds so much more alive and potent compared to digital remakes. Sort of like if you were to open it up and feel around inside you'd electrocute to yourself to shit lol

Great demo. I've had mine 2 weeks and used it on a session already where everyone cried Cyndi Lauper when I played that first patch :). I honestly think this is the best sounding synth I've ever owned and I have owned many classics since 1985 including Matrix 12, Minimoog, various Roland analogues... if it had voice pan spread I'd be in true synth heaven... it's my only complaint... because it would just be amazing to hear it like that.. Like you I tend to choose simple tones and add very subtle modulations... I tend to find a lot of synths with endless modulation possibilities often have a rather boring tone to begin with. The physical quality of the synth is beyond anything I've ever seen... only the Moog One and Minimoog reissue comes close in recent years (they had the Moog One in the studio on the session I was on and they all said the Prophet 5 sounded better!)... You'll keep it I am sure!

Father Christmas has been very nice to you indeed 😁

I can't imagine how could you resist opening the box for 2 weeks... I'd tear it apart the minute it gets thru my door no matter how busy I would be LOL

Don't know if you can get the same sound out of a Pro 6? This sounds really nice but I would miss the nuts and bolts from the Prophet 6. Looking forward to see and hear a comparison. I noticed you laugh a lot during reviews and comparisons. that's because you have a lot of fun making them and that's why I like watching them. Congrats and thanks for the review. And btw, we can never have to much synths. Such great times for us synth geeks.

What a beauty! ❤️

It does sound sturdy and strong

As a P10 owner and a Repro 5 owner, I’d still love to see your comparison of them! I’ve done a bit of testing and I have to say the P10 seems to just have more mojo (very scientific :p). Need to test more. I can never seem to quite replicate the P10 patches in Repro, though, which was a surprise to me.

I used a Rev2 a few years back - the filter also stepped.

To those blown away by the sound..vintage analogs a whole other level..

Got the Prophet 10 (6 voices min for me)... bit of a beast. Love the poly unison mode yet still have 5 voice poly when using it.

Jesus I need to get one of these...

Anything sounds good.

I'm not familiar with the original P5 - does anyone know if the original stepped with the filter resonance? One thing I really like about old synths that don't step like that is that resonating inharmonic frequencies often makes the sound more interesting to me (like the SH-101. I believe the Behringer MS-1 does something more akin to the P5 in terms of stepping, missing those inharmonic frequencies).

For those who have to wait for their Prophet at least until January, this doesn't make waiting easier!

I think if you use the filter envelope with poly mod routed to oscillator one while it’s synced, set the attack and decay to zero, the sustain will act as a smooth way to manually control the pitch without stepping. This works in other keyboards, it should work with the new Prophet 5/10. Haven’t got mine...YET

Im.getting mines for my birthday

Iconic synth ,good demo, but please explain ,Cv-Gate control means that One of the voices can be sequenced separate,and the 4 other voices be played at the same time?

Man You do the absolute best videos. Im torn of what to get between the Prophet 5 and the OB6 to share a space with Moog One I know the differ but HELP!!! not trying to break the banks again :)

I will buy it....only for the modern piano emulations 23:37

I have owned the prophet 6 and rev 2 , miss the 6 much more than the Rev 2……..currently both are gone this appears very organic and knob per function , authentic ……do you still feel strong about it , appreciate the classic sound? And from what I can tell on you tube it separates itself well from the other prophets, Some crossover but it sounds different, I have the Pollybrute so don’t need more complex modulation routing …..

Do you ever feel limited by the Mono out? I'm saving for either this or the UDO Super 6 and am completely torn! This is the nicest sounding synth since my OB6.

Wish Roland would reissue the classics like Dave...

Do i hear some Yves Deruyter - Yvesday starting @ 22:20 ? Great review! And what a fat sound - only my wallet hates me already.. constantly.. Cheers

Now you and Alex Ball need to jam together =]

That stepped filter would drive me nuts.. no way! I prefer a silky smooth analog filter sweep that doesn't keep latching on to notes. Essential to have a non-stepped filter when making slow epic brooding (bass) sounds..

I can buy a new synth that actually sounds & looks like a vintage one? - I find so few modern synth that really have the same emotion as classic instruments. - they did a great job with this - nice playing also.

Voodoo Ray yeaaaah

33:20 that's the only problem... over 3000 dollars? It's why the Behringer stuff is so tempting. If they ever get around to releasing their Pro-800 I'm definitely buying it. The Prophet 5 is probably the most iconic synth of all time (arguably) because of price point and two oscillators and filter envelope, etc. I've owned a Jupiter 6... I've only ever wanted a Prophet 5. But will probably never own one. Because they're so god damn expensive.

This may be a dumb question, but can you use the usb port to controll plugins? I kinda want this synth as my main keyboard but I don't know if I can use it to get piano sounds from my VST's

Damned ,got my prophet 5 today (partly your fault )Thanks for that.....!

RIP Dave Smith

@starsky carr, the 10 is only £59 more than the 5 on Bax! On back order currently but worth the wait for the saving.

What would you recommend between this and the ob6? I love the sound of both and can’t decide

Concerning the filter cutoff stepping, I almost asked about whether there was something to do with the characters in the parameter display. To explain where that query comes from, I have a Roland JX-8p and an MKS-70 (to replace my previously-owned JX-10), all of which step like crazy through all their editable parameters but have a 2-character parameter display. My Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue’s filters don’t step at all (practically), but the Voyager’s parameter display has3 characters. Is any event relevant to this synthesizer, or am I rambling? I definitely enjoyed the way you were using the keyboard tracking of them self isolating filters to try generating organ simulations with additive synthesis. That is something which I have occasionally experimented with on my subtractive instruments and observed in other demos. Subjectively, I would be thinking with a combination of my own musical interests and what the late Dave Smith originally had in mind with this model. He wanted it to have 10 notes of polyphony from the start, but he went with five because the original components from 1977 kept overheating. When he came out with the P10 in 2020, he said it was the instrument he had always wanted to build. For my own part, having owned the JX-10 & MKS-70, each of which had a maximum of 12 notes and placed strong emphasis on their split/layer functions, I can see the practical advantages of having 10 versus 5 notes of polyphony.

😱🥳🤩🤩🤩

Beautiful sounds! Are these custom sounds or presets?

Damn it! I'm now 3 grand worse off 😁 Got my 5 on Monday and it is fab, big and heavy too! The ease of use of this synth is just the best, SO easy to program and store patches. Time to get rid of my Korg Prologue, which by the way gives the Prophet a damned good run for the money.

wow that unison sound @ 29:20 is giving me early 90’s acid/rave/Shamen flashbacks. i’m thinking about getting a P5..do you wish you had the P10 instead?

How many factory presets does this have?

your comment about the complex tones got me wondering - have you had your hands on a Novation Summit at any point? I've managed to get the bones of an entire track just latching *one* chord with that thing, it's ridiculous.

Hey Carl, great stuff as always - I was about "downgrade" my Prophet 5 to the new SSM filters before this, but now I'm not so sure - I notice some of my favourite sounds here are with the SSM filters - can you compare those closely in a follow up? No one has really done that in depth and I think that's a major selling point of this new version. Still loving your old Munro Sonics - Jezz ☺️👌

Hi Starsky, can you please check your Vintage knob again? My is much more extrem and is bringin on position one the OSC in a heavy detuned state (actually not usable in chords playing). I set it up with init patch and having both OSC on SAW with both tuned to C-1 and no fine tune. Then turn Vintage to 4 see, that everything is very tight. Turn it to 1 .. is it heavily detuned? It did sound very subtle in your video, but the patch was not very good on recognizing it. But even patch 111 sounded much more detuned on mine in pos 1. Would appreciate if you can check on that.

Nice review. 3.499 € sound good in my pocket too. It's a nice synth but overpriced. Dave making a lot of money !

Man, I pre-ordered the P10 and won’t ship until at least February. Lucky guy you!.

U got a Pro-6, what a beast

Great demo as always. So much vintage analog goodness in there! I noticed that you have your volume cranked in this demo. I've found that the line output on the Prophet 5 is considerably lower than other Sequential synths such as the Prophet 6. Is that your experience as well?