Holy…!
These are ridiculously good!!! 
Thanks!
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At least with the handful of Dave Smith instruments I’ve owned (P12, Take 5… back in the day an Evolver and a Mopho, although my memory of these is a hazy), the presets generally fall into two categories:
- Fairly vanilla stuff meant to satisfy someone who buys the synth for a working band. (aka “here’s our Jump!-like patch”)
- All the modulation all at once at everything all the time to the max. Ostensibly to show “what the synth can do,” except it all ends up sounding like way, way, way too much.
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Regarding the lack of a decksaver for the P12 desktop that has been mentioned, I shoud recommend the Softube Console One’s decksaver, that fits nicely. It does the job for me 
It has like 0,5 cm extra on each side, if you want a tight adjustment on the sides perhaps it can be solved with some rubber.
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I have the following problem with the module, sometimes it seens the filter cutoff knob isnt fetching the correct value, i have to edit it via menu to get the controller back to full range. Did someone else see this behaviour?
i had every single thing in this photo in my setup at one point. those are essentials
My Prophet 12 patches are on sale for 8 days in celebration of 8 years releasing synth patches. 35% off everything.
https://bobswans.sellfy.store/
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Hi, does it properly fit when the cables are plugged a the back?
Yes, it doesn’t cover the outputs, It fits without problem
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Excellent news. Ordered.
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I have something similar. My filter envelope depth knob doesn’t register values turning left with any real detail. Have to crank it hard turn it all the way and then dial the detail back. Its not the knob as it works fine on all other pages.
Never looked into a fix though as Ive just got used to it.
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I fucking love the P12
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So how does it compare to today’s synths like ASM Hydrasynth, Waldorf M or Novation Peak/Summit?
It doesn’t. It is its own thing.
Edited to add: In fact, it’s those synths that don’t compare to it.
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Could you perhaps be a bit more specific? Which features or characteristics make you think so?
I’m asking because I used to own a Hydrasynth and it got fired as soon as I had added the P10 to my setup. I currently use a Kronos, Continuumini, Osmose and a P10, which is plenty of sound.
I wonder nevertheless how the P12 would fit in there. For example, the EaganMatrix can sound pretty cold or aggressive, all while its expressiveness makes it sound very alive. When you mix this texture with other instruments or warmer synth sounds, it literally adds a unique icing to the sonic cake.
Hydrasynth was also good in this department but it was more difficult to tame it. To me, it sounded big and dominant. In addition, I was concerned about Hydrasynth’s long-term durability due to its UI’s heavy reliance on its many xmas lights and multiple screens.
I don’t think of synths that way so I don’t think I’m the one to ask, but I’ll take a stab at it. Keep in mind this is just my personal opinion/experience.
I see the P12 like I see other Sequential instruments: a complete whole in it’s own balanced sense. The focus is on the raw sound design, blending hybrid oscillators which aren’t trying to be full wavetable oscs with a beautiful pair of filters and a very flexible and useful set of delays. Waveshaping and other modifications are there to help add complexity, but the whole thing isn’t trying to be like anything else - it’s all balanced against itself in a way that makes the whole far more than the sum of the individual parts. The idea, if I can summarize it, is to provide a toolkit of sound shaping components that permit the creation of particularly organic, malleable, dynamic timbres in addition to the usual synth offerings. The ability to dynamically blend variable levels of cross-fm (linear or exponential), cross-am, and sync simultaneously, into the resonant delay lines and the tuned feedback allow for karplus-strong-like synthesis layered into waveshaped traditional synthesis and the fusion lends a remarkable subtlety that can sound both “natural” (as in, interesting and complex) to the ear as well as “novel” (as in, unusual and foreign). If anything, this is an intentionally chosen focus of the design of the synth. The stacking permits binaural, spread-stereo, or dense layers, and with the sub oscillator and multi-voice unison you can stack up to 60(!) oscillators simultaneously, all doing crazy fm/am/sync/detuning/whatever. It goes from subtle to nuclear, but in a very controllable and explorative way. Despite the density, though, it never feels hard to navigate or program.
I don’t see any of the other synths you mentioned being similarly focused, as completely unified, or as well balanced - the Hydrasynth in particular comes across to me as trying to be everything to everybody and has zero personality. The Waldorfs I dislike intensely for a complex and personal set of reasons I don’t want to go into. The Peak I like quite a lot and have respect for as a product, but:
A P12 doesn’t sound like “a P12” - it sounds like what you’re working it into and often has a very organic and “living” sound thanks to the aforementioned combination of audio-rate mod matrix, fantastic oscillator complexity via simultaneous fm, am, and sync, and the delay lines which act like resonators. It’s got a tremendous range of flexibility and fluidity. It’s not an easy synth to program for that reason, but once you spend time with it and learn how it likes to work, you can get some stunningly, hauntingly surreal timbres out of it, not just synthetic ear-candy.
I think the Peak, of the ones you mention, has the most comparable ‘organic’ sound, but almost every time I hear a Peak in a mix, I can pretty easily tell it’s a Peak (which is fine, people tend to buy it to get “that sound” so that’s cool). The P12 doesn’t imprint such a signature to what it does, yet there’s a presence it has that makes whatever it’s been programmed to sound like, in the hands of a skilled programmer, sound fantastic. The Hydrasynth and Waldorf (any of them, really) to me sound “plastic” (as in, the cheap kind that looks dingy in 6 months), no matter what they’re doing. But that’s just my attempt to express how it feels to me, not me stating that as if it were universal fact (which, no doubt, it isn’t).
I hope that helps!
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I would love for Sequential to release a new P12 Desktop. It would match so well with my OB-6, Prophet 6, and Prophet Rev2 desktops.
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There is nothing like the P12. If you really want what it does, forget about seconds. Buckle up and get one. It’s the only way.
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