So I’ve played the Prophet 6 now.
I’m gonna trade all my stuff and get one, keeping only the Octatrack.
Not that you need to know this.
But I needed to tell you anyway.
Lol, you pump through the gear. Let us know how it turns out, and don’t forget to post some sounds.
I’m actually bringing my Octatrack to the store today, gonna try and do some multi tracking with it and see where that takes me, and how it responds to the mojo of the Octa. If something comes out of it beyond just experimenting, I’ll post it here.
I use OT with Prohpet 08 a lot, also live.
How does the 6 compare to the 8?
Soundwise and feeling? (the specs I know)
Andreasroman get the Prophet 6
I use the AR ,AK and Prophet 6 as an extremly portable compact live setup
I need all three for my sound.
AK kills the Prophet 6 for bass synth, Prophet 6 is good at everything else
Staying at home is
Prophet 12 --my favourite synth but too big and fragile for live use
Korg Volca sample , Korg SQ-1
Again an amazing kit for home use --not practical for live
Sub 37 and Mood MF Mini Delay --dont really need this for live
staying at home
Some people say the sound is characterised by bright, brassy and buzzy tones. How did you find the sound?
Some people say the sound is characterised by bright, brassy and buzzy tones. How did you find the sound?[/quote]
Well, I’ve had a few hours with it now, and words only take you so far. I’ve yet to see or hear a demo that matches the actual experience of playing this instrument, but anyway:
It’s certainly bright and clear, not as grindy or raw. The dist is nice, balanced and smooth, and the effects add tremendous value to the patches. Seriously, an analog synth with two fx and a dist - sure, the fx (not the dist) are digital, but still. There’s two of them. Reverbs, delays, chorus, phasers. The filters are punchy as hell and the entire instrument has an inherent groove to it when you tweak it - not counting the sequencer, which is efficient but limited. It is, however, very useful and not just a trick. It adds to the experience, and playing something live over your recorded sequence is just a great way to quickly build something with this instrument.
It’s very balanced instrument, and I found that as long as I took care of the gain staging, recording directly into the Octatack yielded solid results almost at once. My engineering skills are pretty bad, so I usually struggled with the Moog, for example, as soon as it took its place in a mix. Here, I managed to get a few tracks going in a song and trim them enough with just the Octatrack to make it sound good.
Here’s the thing, though:
What caught me was the sound, but many a synth today sounds great or amazing. What kept me was the way I worked with it. It truly is an instrument, you play, tweak, adjust and calibrate all the time, like an extension of the keys, not separate things. As I was blowing things away to the left and right, people actually stopped in the store just to listen to hear me play. It’s that kind of instrument. I got an opportunity to play a Yamaha Grand Piano the other day (I’m a classically trained pianist from the beginning), and just the way the fingers slide over the keys, the way the touch responds to the music, made me want to stay and outstay my welcome.
I had this same experience with the Prophet6. Specs, sounds, all that - it’s great. But so are many other synths.
But the way it makes you play. The way it leads you forward through your music.
Seriously, I can’t think of an instrument that affected me this deeply for a very long time.
Feeling, I’d say it’s superior. You just fly across the instrument with your hands and get things done, without even thinking about what goes where. I like the P08 and think it’s a more direct instrument than the P12, but the P06 just begs to be played and improvised with.
Soundwise, I’d say it’s more balanced. The P08, for me, required some taming from time to time, and I feel there’s more options here to create a sound that’s closer to your desired finished result within the synth itself.
I get the feeling that the P6 is closer to the P08 than the P12, when playing it. The P12 is a modulation monster and got all kinds of things going for it that appeals to a specific type of synth-heads. The P6 has less of that, but the overall design still invites you to creations that I believe you’d have to work harder to find within an P08.
Having said that, I’ve not owned a P08, only played it from time to time. And as you can tell, I’m currently very much looking with the eyes of the beholder and can’t be trusted to offer any balanced opinion, really 
I was actually thinking of maybe keeping the AR as well, for variations within percussions and drums. So it’d be Octa, AR and P6 in that case, and everything else goes. Not sure, though. The coin required for the P6 is many a continues in an arcade hall. Not that this reference matters at all. But it is, nevertheless.
And for what it’s worth, here’s my session with the Prophet-6 in the store, recorded from the Octatrack.
This is all Prophet-6, except drums from the Tanzbaer. And the mojo of Octatrack, of course.
It really is just a demo, about an hour’s work perhaps, so listen to the possibilities, not the actual track so much.
How the hell can you know an instrument in such a short time ? I need time to get deep. You are allways talking about what instruments do to you - then you change your mind - give another opinion - change again. – other opinion … But I really start to wonder if you really went deep with one of these instruments. In my opinion it’s the person who makes a synth sound good or interesting. Every instrument has it’s weakness and stregth - it’s uniqueness. I would like to hear your opion atfter using the Prophet 6 for at least a year or longer.
I wont’ discuss that each synth has it’s own sound-caracter but in the end it’s up to the one who creates the sound. We are not talking about piano’s or violins . I read so many threads about " what instrument do I need - should I buy a 5th one - this one is better than that one etc… " .
To me it’s abouit " What are you capeble of getting out of an instrument "
What about dedication ? To really know the possibilities of an instrument takes a lot of time no ?
Great combo for composition, You’ve got it all, that way.
That’s a fair point. I agree with this.
I’m just a very emotional guy and swing like a pendulum between what’s true or not.
You just happen to be in the line of fire for my rants.
As I am in the line of fire for anyone who has a problem with this.
Was there anything about your current setup that you felt was lacking, so that you sought out the Prophet 6?
I understand being emotional, and wanting to use, understand, and explore new gear. But I also work to be sure to only seek things out when there exists a gap, or even just space for something different (unused sequencer tracks, for example).
The gap in my setup was just filled and I’m giving myself plenty of time to truly explore all of the possibilities of the instrument that filled it.
But also, I knew it was what I needed within just two days of using it, so I can relate to what it feels like to just know.
I think one way to really know if the instrument is right for you, is to find out what you don’t like about it. Because in the end those things are going to come up again and again, and if you can deal with them, or work around them, its easier to keep the instrument and grow with it.
I appreciate the question, Adam. A brief history is required to understand my notorious trading habits.
I’m a pianist to begin with, and found my way into electronic music through keyboard noodling. From there, I went to workstations and the immediacy of combining keyboard skills with recording and production within an instrument got me into writing my own songs. I had a record deal with Warner within reach, we were talking and meeting, but I blew it for various reasons. I decided to pursue another career. That went well, and I put my music to rest.
But I always missed it and decided about two years ago that I’d pick it up again, because I love it so much, with no intention of making even a modest career out of it. I just wanted to play.
I was now appreciating the analogue sound more, but I still wanted to get back to the immediacy of playing and recording within one instrument. A tricky balance when you want the analogue sound but the workstation flow. Being used to 128 voices polyphony, 16 track sequencer, multitimbrality, multiple fx, solid keybed and solid editing options, this called for some tough choices.
And it’s kind of where I am today. The Octatrack and the Analog Rytm take me very far. I’m missing the last component, the actual equivalent of the keyboard instrument itself. It’s difficult for me to say why the instruments I’ve tried have fallen short, because I’m trying to figure that out myself. If I’d been rational about it, the Analog Keys would’ve fit the bill. And if I’d been just emotional about it, the Sub37 would be it.
But - when I played the Prophet-6, it just felt different. It wasn’t the usual “Oh, I love it, this is it”. It was something else. I didn’t bother comparing features, like “Oh, it can do this, but the Analog Keys can do that, but then again the Sub37 does this, and let’s not forget the JD-XA”, and so on. I just played it and there was no “Oh, okay, I’ll have to work around that” or “Aw, I wish it could do that.” It just generated idea after idea. I was playing it like I was playing a piano.
I am pursuing this almost vain attempt at finding the sweet spot instrument because I love the pursuit as much as I love playing. Obviously, this makes me come across as inconsistent, thinking I’ve found the sweet spot now, then realising I haven’t, telling you guys all the time about it. But we’re all friends here, and it shouldn’t be controversial to share these thoughts. No one deserves to be a target for simply sharing their passion and paying respect to others who take their time to listen and say something back.
We approach music in different ways. But we all love it. That’s why we’re here.
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@andreasroman I truly like the way you write about your emotions on playing on your soulmate instrument. Don’t let anyone’s words dirty such feelings.
I wish this instrument was cheaper, though…
Thanks
Yeah, the price tag is pretty nasty. Gonna have to send the kids to work in the mines now, to make payments.
“AK kills the p6 for bass” interesting considering vco vs dco, and from what I’ve heard (only on line demos) “kills” seems a bit over the top
I dont find bass sounds on the A4 to be special at all, unless I stack em, and will have to see once I have a P6 in front of me
because if it were the same for me I wouldn’t buy one.
I had the same feeling in front of my Rhodes Chroma, mind blowing stuff, just play with the magic it made,
though practicalities of owning one are difficult.
I’m hoping for a similar feeling when I get the chance to play P6 and and AND without the issues and worry.
Cheers
your thoughts are appreciated! the only thing stopping me from a p6 is the modal 002