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I got a Prophet 08 PE incoming!! I can't wait!


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I think it was a good deal .... $1,570 shipped and it's two months old. The guy got it at Sweetwater in Sept and it wasn't his thing. It comes with a nice cover too.



sooooooOoo I have no idea if I'll like it or not, but from what I can tell, all the yout0ob demos sound pretty dang good! love.gif

Anyone here have one and have any comments about a newbie getting a complex board like this? confused.gif
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Congratulations, Dr.

I'm planning to get one as well. I came very close to buying one over the summer (used in mint condition for $1600), but I was called out of town suddenly and it was sold by the time I returned.

Now that very same Prophet 08 is being sold on CL by a seller who is always buying up items and flipping them, often at a ridiculous markup.

When I first tried out the 08, I have to say I was initially underwhelmed by the sound and build quality, but after a second look it started to grow on me. If another good used one doesn't show up, I'll just bite the bullet and buy a new one. Fortunately one of our locally owned music stores actually stocks them, so you can spend some time with it before deciding to buy one.

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Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Tweedbucket View Post
smile.gif

I think it was a good deal .... $1,570 shipped and it's two months old. The guy got it at Sweetwater in Sept and it wasn't his thing. It comes with a nice cover too.



sooooooOoo I have no idea if I'll like it or not, but from what I can tell, all the yout0ob demos sound pretty dang good! love.gif

Anyone here have one and have any comments about a newbie getting a complex board like this? confused.gif
Firstly, great choice!! smile.gif

Secondly, Stick with it. Give it time.

As you say, it's a complex synth but if a noob like me can become fairly proficient at programming it, trust me, so can you!

BUT........don't pay too much attention to the presets. Apart from one or two, I thought they were horrible and got rid of them all. This synth was built to be tweaked, and much fun it IS to tweak.

Also, you'll read some criticism on other boards (coughslutzcough) about the P08 sounding too brassy and not warm enough. NONSENSE!! It has admittedly taken me a few months but now I understand it more, I can assure you it "does" warm alright, and can sound absolutely massive, especially with a bit of external effects.

In short, my Prophet is my pride and joy - SO glad I bought one. smile.gif
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Ah - it's the old insult to those who don't like this instrument....it usually goes along the lines of that they don't know how to program and only used presets, didn't give it enough time, are "haters" (my personal favorite), etc. I'm one of these people. Many people like the synth, and I hope you enjoy it. but it's not like people who don't like the synth (and these judgements are of course subjective) are idiots.

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Congrats man. If I were to buy a new analog today, that'd be the one I'd get. I only got to play with one once (at the 2010 HC KSS Gathering at STG's place). After a short while of playing with it, I was getting the hang of it. There's a guy on the web (Alan Marcero) who released a bunch of excellent free patches for it and almost picked up a Prophet 08 simply because of how good it sounded on just those patches.

Patches: http://www.alanmarcero.com/

Demo video:

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Quote Originally Posted by droolmaster0 View Post
Ah - it's the old insult to those who don't like this instrument....it usually goes along the lines of that they don't know how to program and only used presets, didn't give it enough time, are "haters" (my personal favorite), etc. I'm one of these people. Many people like the synth, and I hope you enjoy it. but it's not like people who don't like the synth (and these judgements are of course subjective) are idiots.

I think this is a good point. To say that anyone who doesn't like the P 08 simply doesn't really know synths or hasn't programmed it is to disqualify, out of hand, anyone who doesn't like the synth for any reason. It effectively makes the 08 unassailable.

It turns out that there *are* legitimate critiques to be made about the sound, and some other issues. It's definitely not for everybody. In my view, the 08 excels at what I'll collectively call "80s sounds" -- Sequential Circuits and Roland type leads, pads, deep or raspy basses, etc. It's a nice alternative for someone who wants real analog and doesn't want the headache of keeping up an old Juno or Prophet.

To my ears, the 08 sounds sort of rich at times, but at other times, sterile and kind of cold. In some ways, it reminds me of playing and tweaking an older synth, but with a better keybed (with aftertouch).

I'll also say that outboard effects do a lot to wake up its sound.

But within the realm of what it does well, it's a pretty versatile synth, and I'd buy one before buying any 80s synth with all of the maintenance hassles.

To do more modern electronic music, I'd probably choose a VA first as a main synth. The 08 is more of a second or third synth to have if you've already got a good VA and maybe an analog mono-synth.

I also wish DSI would take a cue from Moog and use better pots and knobs. Something about them just feels kind of cheap and fragile.
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Thanks, that's good to know about the presets and thanks for the link for the alternate presets. I thought I would have it today, but it didn't make it. Should be here tomorrow.
Hopefully the manual is good and can walk me through some basic programming. Usually what I do is find a sound that I like and then make several patch variations, then move on to something else..... I'll figure it out. I'll have to try this through a rack mount delay or maybe a stereo pedal delay.

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