MATRIXSYNTH: Sounds of the Prophet-5 Rev 2


Sunday, December 30, 2007

Sounds of the Prophet-5 Rev 2

via clusterchod on this VSE thread.

"few days ago, i did an improv/tweaking session on my rev2. decided to cut out a few clips demoing general character of this ssm machine. only processing is TC4000, running DVR-2 plate:

http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_SawLead.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_PolyModPad.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_PolyMod-FilterFM.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_Sync1.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_ommadawn_pad.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_strings_n_sweeps.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_liquid_selfoscilation.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_1974.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_1974B.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_TrianglePad.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev2_classicpad.mp3

Synth still needs slight calibration after a bumpy plane ride, esp filter decays, and octave tuning aint exact 100% either."

Udpate: some samples of the Rev 3 and notes added by clusterchord on the VSE thread. Apologies for grabbing this, but the one thing unfortunate about VSE and many forums is that the threads expire in time to conserve disk space. I don't want this getting lost. This is actually the reason I switched from hosting MATRIXSYNTH on my own servers to Blogger. But do check out the VSE thread for the rest of it as well as the comments in this post below.

http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev3-KillerBass.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev3-VariousSounds.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev3-Bass-FreqMod.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev3-ClickChords.mp3
http://www.babic.com/SYN/P5/P5Rev3-SyncLead_UNISON.mp3

"as on rev2 examples, only processing is slight plate reverb from TC4000. there are no effects per se, like delay or chorus that could make the synth sound bigger or more animated. tho rev3 mp3s are limited a bit, so louder.

even tho Rev2 at times sounds almost as if it was going thru a space echo (w tweaked delay time), im just continuously playin its lfo and osc b frequency .. pitch bend etc.. but definetely most organic poly ive played so far - controls react in such a musical way, as if the board has a life of its own. its somewhat indirect and ambiental character is inherent. rev3 is IME slightly "drier" and more focused. whether this is subtle or not, depends mostly on application.

ive spent substantial time with both machines. and in my mind/ear there is not doubt about difference in character of filters, and how resonance and self oscillation sounds/behaves. further, as filter opens more smoothness of ssm vco is apparent vs. trademark ripping/in-your-face sound of curtis 3340. one example: i feel i couldn't do exactly as good warm pads n silk strings with rev3, same way i cant get rev2 to do sparkley sizzley curtis brass, agressive punchy bass, 80s synth pop comping sounds, things like that.. u can get them to sound very similar on some sounds, esp when lot of modulation is "playing" the ear, masking the nature of vco n vcf.. to some, differences may not be important. to me, they are. if i had unlimited funds id get a Rev3, and a P08 too. Smile

i asked my friend if he could bring over his Rev3.3 (one i'm playin in above examples) so we could do a direct side by side. but dont know when this will take place. and both need slight calibration. "
Posted by matrix at 12/30/2007 12:07:00 AM
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8 comments:

  1. Unknown12/30/07, 11:35 AM

    That sounds great! I'm sold, have wanted one for but was also thinking about a memorymoog lamm. Might as well save some money too. Man that sounded really perfect! Is there a big difference in sound between rev 2 and 3?

    ReplyDelete
  2. matrix12/30/07, 12:04 PM

    It depends on who you ask, but if you are into the intricacies that make synths different then I would definitely say yes. The Rev 2 uses an SSM filter while the Rev 3 uses CEM. The SSM has a reputation of being silky smooth compared to the CEM. They are definitely different especially when you modulate them.

    They both sound good to my ears, but different.

    There are a few people that drop by once in a while that are a bit more experienced with the differences than I. Hopefully they'll chime in.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12/30/07, 12:27 PM

    I did a fairly good comprehensive comparison (according to John Bowen himself!) of the rev1 and the rev3 side by side in channel separation which should give you a very good idea at how similar they are. At the same time, there are some very subtle differences between the two.

    The rev1 and rev2 get most of their character from their instability. If you put your fingers near a rev1 or rev2 VCO, you'll cause the frequency to change dramatically. You can touch a CEM all you want and if its firmly in it's socket, you won't notice any difference.

    But the KEY difference is not the VCOs, but rather the EGs and the VCFs. There are also a considerably larger number of trimmers in the rev1 and rev2 which allow those Prophets to sound like 5 synthesizers controlled one programmer (think of an SEM four-voice) versus a 5 voice synthesizer which is what the rev 3 really is.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown12/30/07, 1:20 PM

    Thanks for the follow-up! I guess I am just wondering if it is worth waiting for a rev 2 to surface vs grabbing a rev 3. I like stability but if the rev 2 is that much warmer...If the differences are mostly subtle I would not be concerned then...

    ReplyDelete
  5. DGBFOUNDER12/30/07, 3:11 PM

    I got a revision 3.3 on ebay recently for 1498 with a case ;) BIN free shipping in excellent condition, heehee. I wanted a revision two but the price was perfect and the synth was almost perfect, a few marks in the wood and some knobs, but it indeed is "good enough" for my ears and music.

    -Aaron

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown1/2/08, 3:15 PM

    hi guys. ill just say this.. that texture aint possible on Rev3. speaking from first hand experience.

    hovever, i dont feel one is "better" but rahter they excell at sliughtly different duties. more babble about it on the VSE thread..

    ive added a few rev3 demos too.. just for fun..

    cluster

    ReplyDelete
  7. matrix1/2/08, 3:38 PM

    Thanks tomislav, I updated the post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Unknown1/3/08, 2:57 PM

    thanks

    ReplyDelete

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