No only 5% difference in US price
Prophet X is $3999
WQ $4299
Price: $3,999 (Incl. free shipping within US/EU/CANADA)
WQ has a huge huge battle on their hands now. Prophet X will be asking some questions of the WQ
The rompler side of this synth does absolutely nothing for me, and the demos don’t help at all.
I think Dave has to be careful with a product like this, so focused on sample libraries, and the question has to be asked, why not just use the incredible software sample libraries already available for software samplers like Kontakt?
I have a huge Kontakt sample library, and stuff like all the Heavyocity libraries sound ridiculously good. Buy a few of these and you are set.
I think Dave should just focus on what he does best and that is synthesis, sounds that can’t so easily be obtained via software, and in turn also bringing the price down by not having to pay his partners the huge commissions they obviously demand.
It will do a fuckload for performing musicians who play their keys live.
Haven’t Dave Smith synths always been primarily for the keyboard players? There are a few exceptions, such as the first desktop ventures in his revival run and the Tempest, but from his first creations back in time to his most recent ones, I’d say he very much targets people who play. This instrument makes total sense in that context.
You are right, this will be very popular for players, offering a lot in hardware eg. doesn’t require laptop/MainStage.
There’s no competition between this and the Quantum.
Two very different products who will appeal to different types of users. Quantum appeals to synth uber-nerds. PX appeals to people who are more likely to just dial up a preset and write songs and/or play.
I lean a bit more towards the latter group. I was kind of headed towards joining the former. As a 20-something year old, I parroted the slogan “Romplers suck, real synths rule!”. The Octatrack ironically changed my attitude - really turned me into a fan of sampling something then tweaking the sound. But I have my limits - I tend to avoid gear that traps me into spending more time sound-designing than creating music. Now, that would be ok if I could be more like Morton Subotnick or other legendary electronic composer, for whom the synth patch and the composition are the same thing. Unfortunately I’m not that person.
I could see Hans Zimmer and other big-budget soundtrack producers getting both PX and Quantum.
I’ve been enjoying this guy’s demos - I know Jukka mentioned Paul DIther before but here’s the complete playlist
Especially since these people tend to Get All The Gear™!
I wonder how any sample manipulation (trim, slice etc.pp.) will work out on the device itself. The displays seems not really fit for showing waveforms …
I’d rather use Kontakt and the price is pretty extreme. There are a lot of nice things you can buy with 4000 dollars.
I was going to get the Nord Electro 6 but now I may want the PX. Do they seem similar to anyone? Both layer samples on top of piano string sounds. Aside from the gross price difference I’m leaning towards PX.
BUT the PX isn’t (iconic) red 
They don’t seem similar to me. They might to someone who doesn’t know anything about synthesis (no offense - I have friends and family that don’t know synthesis and I love 'em anyway). The “synth” section of the Electro 6 is just a library of synth samples.
What is your priority? A stage piano/organ? Or a pro-level synth? If the former, go for the Nord… The latter doesn’t have the polyphony you’d want to piano parts.
i think quantum is very different. it has 4 GB for samples. Pro X has 50 GB (+150 GB built in). That means you can really sample each key in multiple layers (maybe… no real specs on that, but the piano sounded like that)…
so the real deal is/or would be to add different samples to each key… so in general you should be able to add some short stems (lets say) to the left hand part and play a different layer on the right hand…
still, its all about what happens, when you really play it and how easy it is to create sounds… i have a lot of waldorf gear and its great, but really hard to program… all DSIs i have are pretty much super direct and easy to program and all the parameters really are designed to always give you the sweet spot… thats whats makes the difference to me.
At the end just press a key and hear a sound really will not give you any advantage over a computer… but really playing (!!!) with all the parameters live. a lot of people seem to use samples just “static”… dial in and loop… but playing with all the parameters give me that spice and unexpected sounds… kontakt vs Pro X or Quantum is maybe the same like comparing octatrack with ableton… i prefer a intelligent designed instrument that supports your expression as a musician like octatrack or, well Pro X…so Pro X is nice as soon as you can upload your own foley/modular crazy samples and go wild with all the modulation options 
I would be interested what percentage 8DIO takes with the sales of this synth?
I would much prefer the option of buying this synth with none of their samples onboard, just a nice clean slate ready to upload your own user samples only.
I bet that would shave a huge chunk off the RRP and bring it into a price range more accessible to the public.
I am absolutely certain they’re only getting a tiny sliver of the sales price of each synth, maybe even as much as nothing at all.
Having their name printed on the front panel of a flagship DSI synth and being associated with the “Dave Smith”, “Sequential”, and “Prophet” brand names is probably worth a hell of a lot more to them in terms of brand recognition and marketing.
Huh, how are you absolutely certain 
We could only possibly believe that claim if your name was Dave Smith or you worked for DSI or 8DIO.
A cheaper Prophet X-LE without 8DIO would be a good option imo
Look at the pricing of the other DSI instruments (and keep in mind that the X has 16 filter circuits built-in).
I guess we will never no, unless he brings out a cheaper PX-LE model 