Had time with the Take 5 again today. Those 5 voices really hold it back. Even 6 voices would make it a more playable synth. Maybe they’ll do a 10 voice version at some point.
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Right, so you are saying that a 5 voice poly ends up sounding like a 5 voice poly then?
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For the types of patches you can create on it, with all the modulation options, effects, etc… you tend to notice the voice stealing a lot more. When you play a Prophet 5 it’s a little less obvious maybe just because of the limited types of patches you can create. At the very least it’s just something else people should consider before buying it. I think it’s having its praises sung enough that a couple measured critiques can’t hurt much.
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Right on, we are all privy to our own experiences. I also played the T5 next to the P5, and to me they both felt like 5 voices synths. But yes, if you need more than 5 voices, then maybe look elsewhere.
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At some point, I’m gonna derail this thread with some random post on the Prophet 12. Not today. But it’s coming, folks. It’s coming.
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It’s the only reason I still post here. We’re just trying to keep the seat warm for you @circuitghost.
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Personal taste might play a role here 
yeah its fine, for what it is
have you tried the Take-5?
in other news:
this is just a sound i recorded to my octatrack 3 minutes ago. it’s not a great representation of how vast and gritty it can be, but it does use fm, osc sync, audio rate modulation of a few different parameters, then i use the hp filter effect with some high res filter cutoff at the end there
i dont feel like going through all my presets now but here’s six i just did. some are more similar just gritty fm brassy stuff, but i there is a nice quality to the synth where you can get high notes that are clean woody almost digital dx fm sounding but organic while the low notes and chords are fuzzy and warm at the same time. I’ll try to find some of those later, but these are just some i was able to record quickly just now. sorry about the volume differences, i forgot to normalize a couple. also excuse my playing, i suck
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some initial observations
- build feels solid, not cheap at all
- knobs have a nice resistance to them, no wobble
- keybed also feels nice
- preset bank situation is kinda weird but makes sense
- compared with the p12’s knob driven patch navigation, t5 feels clunkier
- it appears like there’s some bank of LEDs under the mod/pitch wheels that indicate the used voice count, but it’s not exposed on the top case
- p12 has these LEDs right on the case, which can be annoying but at least is obvious
- no idea why they’d stick LEDs under the case but still illuminate them
- sound is warm in a hard to describe way; immediately warmer than the p12
- creating patches is immediate and quick
- yes, this thing is portable, but you are not going to plop down on the couch with this on your lap to tickle the ivories
- it’s deceptively heavy and dense
so i already had the p12. it’s super deep. i’ve only scratched the surface. all of the hardware i have is kind of a long term investment while i have the means to do so. my goals are to level up my skills so the limiting factor isn’t me any more. in that regard, i really appreciate the immediacy of the t5. the 5 voice count is fine. my playing isn’t going to challenge that at the moment, anyway. a bunch of the presets are also decent. for whatever reason, i kinda like the electric piano/wurlitzer patches. they don’t sound like the real thing but are warm and usable in their own right. it’s a fun synth.
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right on the edge of pulling the trigger on one of these things before it sells out near me. have a feeling its filter and envelopes will have the pluckiness that i need for the kinds of stabs i like. strikes me as the ideal analog poly for dub techno at its price point, especially with that gorgeous reverb.
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For what it’s worth, I’ve had the Hydra keys, Peak, and Prologue. I like the T5 far more than all of them. In fact, I’ve sold all the others (though I miss the Hydra’s keybed and Peak’s reverb). The T5 sounds better to my ears than all of them, has a nicer workflow/UI, and excels at nearly every type of synth sound I’d want. The T5 is hands down the best poly synth in that range, as far as I’m concerned.
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This synth sounds pretty damn good, I watched a few more demos today and it’s great. It sounds like a mono, but poly (if you know what I mean), which is rad as hell. I think the filter sounds good too in the way it works but it would be cool if it could get a little wilder… but it sounds awesome and it’s clear that they designed it to work that way. Super unfortunate that it just went up in price.
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that’s a huge deal coming from you, glad to see you’re enjoying it too. couldn’t agree more. i feel that when more people are exposed to it, it will explode in popularity. it’s the synth ive been waiting for.
the peak does have nice reverb, but i think the t5’s is totally usable. typically though, i’ll put it through my digitakt or digitone master reverb or just the octa’s dark reverb
i’ve had the hydra desktop, peak, rev2, digitone, analog four, and while i love all those synths, the Take 5 is by far the one i connect with the most. i immediately was blown away by it. never felt that way about a synth before. there’s typically always a compromise i cant get past, but with this, the pros outweigh any cons by far.
yes, the filter and envelopes can get ultra snappy and closed off, then open up to full grit and expansive wild analogue harmonics. but those are both things i look for in a synth, if it didnt have nice snappy envelopes, i wouldn’t be able to use it. and in fact, they can get even snappier by doing the trick i learned on the peak, modulating them in on themselves, but its not necessary
i’d like to hear your thoughts after trying it, if you get a chance.
it’s not just the modulation options, but the fm (in conjunction with osc sync) specifically is what really got me with this synth. once i learned how to use it on this synth, it felt like the most powerful analog voice i’d ever used. of course, all of the components are great but that type of sound sculpting power in an analog synth is rare in this price range, or just rare in general
I believe this is a good opportunity for me to say that I prefer the Prophet 12.
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Curious for people with a Take 5.
When you select a bank or preset (push the buttons) does the plastic casing dip down? Does it move?
Nope. Not for me. You have to try and make the casing flex (by pressing the casing, not a button) for that to happen.
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Fair enough - hard press of the button moves the casing for me. But a not so intentional press of the casing flexes mine.
For $1200+ that’s a little weird
no flex here. pressing on the case below the preset buttons has some give, but it seems fine.
also, i just realized today that the t5 has basically the same build and aesthetics as the pro3. i never even looked at the pro3 because i don’t need another mono in my life. knobs look the same. most of the layout is similar. plastic end caps are the same. it looks like preset buttons are up top on the pro3 maybe. anyway, i feel like an idiot for not realizing this. the pro3 was just nowhere near desirable for me.
also, is it me, or do the effects seem to drop the volume/gain a bit? it’s not a lot but possibly noticeable.
^ this + no gated sequencer is rough to me. I like my poly’s to have a lot of options for imbuing per-voice variances, and rev2’s gated sequencer kills it.
I’m aware Take 5 has a random mod source, but I’m a control freak and spray-and-pray isn’t nearly as fun as curating my own list of depths to advance through.
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