Members Peekaboo Fuzzy Posted August 11, 2009 Members Share Posted August 11, 2009 In addition to those bell-like timbres and pristine, motion like pads that the vector synthesis can make, can the vs also do resonant sweeps that sound more Prophet V or Oberheimish as well? How is the arpeggiator? Are there any other sites that have sound clips of the Prophet VS doing warm resonant sweeps and other less digital like timbres? Also, can someone elaborate on the arpeggiator? Judging from the pics I have seen of it, there isn't a rate/speed knob or slider control near the arpeggiator button to control it's speed, so how do you control the speed of the arp in real time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Peekaboo Fuzzy Posted August 12, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 12, 2009 bump. Anyone at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members McHale Posted August 12, 2009 Members Share Posted August 12, 2009 What would be an interesting thread would be comparing the ProphetVS to the Korg Wavestation. Especially considering the price difference between the two on the used market. FROM VSE: ProphetVS: Specifications: Polyphony - 8 Voices; 2-part multitimbral Oscillators - 96 preset waveforms + 32 user waveforms LFO - Two, each with own envelope generator Filter - Curtis analog (digitally controlled) 4-pole lowpass with its own envelope generators Envelopes - 5 stage amp, filter and mix envelopes Keyboard - 61 keys (velocity / aftertouch) Memory - 100 patches Effects - twin chorus, stereo effects panning of individual oscillators/individual voices Arpeggiator - very nice versatile arpeggiator, user can define note order by playing etc. Control - MIDI Date Produced - 1986-87 Est. Value - $1,000 - $2,000 Here's a very cool keyboard from Sequential. Notice the joystick for controlling your sound modelling. The Prophet VS uses Vector Synthesis as its revolutionary new means of sound creation. It uses a total of four oscillators per voice with 127 waveforms (32 user) and dynamic waveform crossfading via the joystick. This was Sequential's first digital synth, and it was also their final synth unfortunately. But after Sequential was gone, Vector Synthesis technology went into the popular Korg Wavestation and Yamaha's SY-22 and TG-33. Wavestation: Specifications: Polyphony - Up to 32 Voices Oscillators - Digital synth with 2MB ROM samples, Vector Synthesis, Wave Sequencing Multitimbral - 16 parts Filter - 1 LowPass filter per voice Memory - 150 patches Keyboard - 61 keys (velocity / aftertouch) Effects - 2 onboard effects Control - MIDI (up to 8 channels at a time) Date Produced - 1990-94 Est. Value - $500 - $1,000 When Sequential Circuits finally went belly-up, their research and development into vector synthesis was picked up at Korg. This led to the hugely successful Wavestation Synthesizer which was based on Sequential's ProphetVS. The Wavestation incorporated the 2-dimensional vector joystick of the ProphetVS which allowed the user to alter and animate sounds. Korg added to this a second break-through form of synthesis: wave sequencing, by which short segments of sampled audio waveforms could be played one after the other and cross-faded into each other for some complex and unusual tones, pads, textures and rhythms. Programming is not exactly easy but this great digital synth is capable of lush ambient sounds and strange effects. It has the obligatory lowpass filter, though it is non-resonant and digital sounding. Also on-board are some multi-effects which are pretty nice. This synth is easily upgraded and expandable with PCM cards too. -Mc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Peekaboo Fuzzy Posted August 12, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 12, 2009 I think the VS is supposed to be warmer sounding. It has been said that it can emulate some of the Prophet 5 sounds....with that said, I am only going on hearsay and what I have heard from some you tube demos. A proud owner shirly must chime in on this thread and discuss it in detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stikygum Posted August 13, 2009 Members Share Posted August 13, 2009 Go to the very bottom of my page here and you can listen to quite a bit of patch scanning I did with some little tweaks. This page is mainly to get the jist of what a synth sounds like, so I've recorded past synths I use to own. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=446680&content=music The P VS is a great sounding synth. The resonant filter is nice and very powerful. On the VS #2 clip, you can hear the filter resonance tweaks really well at about 4:30. (I forgot how crappy my playing was ) I enjoyed it , but just wanted the money for something else. Didn't suit me for the price they go for, I felt I could a lot of bang for the bucks elsewhere. Depends on your music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brandonm Posted August 13, 2009 Members Share Posted August 13, 2009 Don't own one, but I have heard one in person recently. The owner created some amazing sounds with it. A "Detroit" pad he created was sick. Very warm. Very nice filters. The joystick control is really cool. Seems like you can get very creative with it. Its control can also be modulated, sweeping through each waveform. I think he said it has a stereo unison mode. It also has a decent arpeggiator. The VS is a very unique synth and is one of those old digitals that actually sounds very analog, like a PPG.The synth needed some work that he is gonna do himself. I wouldn't mind having one after hearing it, but it seem like one of those digital synths that just doesn't hold up well with age and I lack the skills to repair something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xpander Posted August 13, 2009 Members Share Posted August 13, 2009 Prophet VS is one of my absolute favorites. i always program stuff with vector synthesis in mind (as it's completely geared for that) so i seriously have no idea how it sounds if you try to leave off the vector stuff and just program things using the standard analog waveforms and filter it like a Prophet 5. probably not as good as others would be. but it's distinctive as hell- very, very similar sonic space as the Ensoniq SQ80 (and maybe the ESQ1), one of the few synths that sounds both digital and analog all rolled into one. i like the Wavestation, too- first the Wavestation AD but now the KLC soft version which i think sounds as good as or better than the hardware (minus the vocoder). the Wavestation is a much different beast, a lot more dynamic but it doesn't have the bite or analog/digital sound of the Prophet VS. outstanding synth, though, the Wavestation is. a couple interesting tidbits: 1) all of the buttons used on the VS are still manufactured today. 2) last year a shareware software was created to let users take advantage of the mythical User Wave function- a capability completely ignored in commercial software since the esoterically rare Wave Wrangler software. pure awesome: and more awesome: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Peekaboo Fuzzy Posted August 13, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 13, 2009 Thanks for contributing to this thread. Stickygum, very nice work! Your stuff is kind of a mix of electronica with Film/Horror/Sci Fi music-me likes. I happend to click on the N3 demo, and strangely enough those timbres I would have more use for.The VS really has a unique sound to it though, not digital not analog sounding. The non metalic timbres have a certain breathy quality that is nice. I think I might actually look into a Prophet 600 now, which migh be closer to what I am looking for. That Nord is a very cool VA as well. Xpander, thanks for the break down on the VS and the comparisons to the Ensoniq SQ-80-there's a sleeper synth if I ever heard one! There is a you tube demo of the SQ that is incredible. Nice sweeps too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted August 13, 2009 Members Share Posted August 13, 2009 A couple of weeks ago I was at a local bar where a band was playing the blues. When I came close to the keyboard player, I saw that in addition to the cheesy Roland G-800 he was playing, there was a Prophet VS set to an "Organ" preset laying on his side. I will have to catch this guy when drunk and offer him my DX7 for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xpander Posted August 13, 2009 Members Share Posted August 13, 2009 ... the Ensoniq SQ-80-there's a sleeper synth if I ever heard one! There is a you tube demo of the SQ that is incredible. Nice sweeps too. everyone should own an SQ80, it should cost the same as the Prophet VS and PPG Wave- instead it's a bargain![YOUTUBE]7sTuLP5Dsv0&[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CfNorENa Posted August 13, 2009 Members Share Posted August 13, 2009 everyone should own an SQ80, it should cost the same as the Prophet VS and PPG Wave- instead it's a bargain! One on ebay with BIN price of $399 (shipped): http://cgi.ebay.com/Ensoniq-SQ-80_W0QQitemZ330350537163QQcmdZViewItemQQptZKeyboards_MIDI?hash=item4cea6d29cb&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 Who's gonna pull the trigger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xpander Posted August 13, 2009 Members Share Posted August 13, 2009 that's still higher than the usually go for. i paid nothing for mine since its MIDI was {censored}ed up. i just looked online for instructions on resetting it & it's been perfect ever since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bloopbleep Posted August 13, 2009 Members Share Posted August 13, 2009 One on ebay with BIN price of $399 (shipped): http://cgi.ebay.com/Ensoniq-SQ-80_W0QQitemZ330350537163QQcmdZViewItemQQptZKeyboards_MIDI?hash=item4cea6d29cb&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14Who's gonna pull the trigger? I got mine for $100 from a local shop. I couldn't believe how similar it sounds compared to the VS I owned years ago, still bummed that I sold it to buy a car that now sit at the junk yard:facepalm: The VS has that warmth that the SQ80 yet to hit, but SQ has a wealthier waveforms available. Honestly, I like the SQ80 much more and thought it sounds better musically and easier to program as well. Just wish it has the arpegiator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stikygum Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 No problem Peek. Glad it was helpful. From listening to the SQ, my impression is that it has more unique waveforms (Ensoniq always does a good job on variety). They definitely have similarities, but the VS sounds rawer while the SQ sounded a little more romplerish. But from the sounds I can tell it can get quite VSish as well, just in a different sense. I think I remember years back, the ESQ1 made onto some of Linkin Park's songs... or at least it sounded like they were using an ESQ1. Never owned the ESQ or SQ though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xjscott Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Also, can someone elaborate on the arpeggiator? Judging from the pics I have seen of it, there isn't a rate/speed knob or slider control near the arpeggiator button to control it's speed, so how do you control the speed of the arp in real time? It's a basic arpeggiator. When you turn it on, the "RATE" parameter is made active in the display, and the data slider now controls rate. The data slider only controls one parameter at a time, whichever one is active in the display. The buttons bring up the parameter. Some parameters you need to press the button a few times. Other notes: The digital oscillators are not antialiased. This was a design decision and it gives the instrument more grit, dirt, and brightness. All of the sound parameters are accessible through Non-Registered Parameter Numbers. It has MIDI guitar mode support, so you can have individual control over each voice, which I use for microtonal work - the VS is brilliantly microtonal. Each voice can be independently panned. It was the first instrument to support the MIDI Sample Dump Standard, for programming its single-cycle waveforms. There is an included sample editor of sorts, you mix up to 4 other waveforms using the joystick and can resample the resulting mix and store that as a new waveform. Pitch bend wheel is located close to the edge, so you can hold the side of the instrument and ride it with your thumb, a great performance detail few instruments have. Problems: It gets really hot. The aftertouch hardware design was flawed and hence is never working. If you send too much parameter data at once (ie, several dense streams), it gets bogged down and note timing is affected. Certain replacement parts could be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bloopbleep Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Mine aftertouch never work either, and it is scary hot on that heatsink. I put a small fan back there and was contemplate on moding with bigger pc's heatsink/fan combo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xpander Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 incidentally, i just went to a small bbq at a friend's house and the guy who made the stellar Vector Surgeon software was there (very cool guy) as well as someone who i think used to work for SCI. they knew exactly why the P VS aftertouch dies so often & how to prevent it if it isn't dead already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flat earth Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 A couple of weeks ago I was at a local bar where a band was playing the blues. When I came close to the keyboard player, I saw that in addition to the cheesy Roland G-800 he was playing, there was a Prophet VS set to an "Organ" preset laying on his side. I will have to catch this guy when drunk and offer him my DX7 for it I hate it when you see things like that .. Reminds me of the time I went to a friends house years ago. They had a Kawai K5 in there living room with a music stand behind it. The music book read something like 'Songs of the Lord for the Piano'. From what i gathered they used 1 preset and nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crawling Wind Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 I saw a surf/boogie/blues band this year, and the guy had (2) Korg Karma's. He was playing cheesy organ riffs. I didn't get that one at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OFM Posted September 14, 2009 Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 The Prophet VS is a lovely keyboard, nothing to be compared to the WS, the VS is fat, analog fliters, the arpeggiator is amazing "but" as any vintage you'llhave to get ready for some issues, especially the Curtis CEM5530's. A rare custom chip which can only be found in two other pieces of gear other than the VS. The VS has two of them, the rumour is that a bad batch of these chipsmade it to the keyboard, the other rumour is that these are bad unreliable chips, anyways, Ive had 2 VS's both of them had that problem and finding these chips is like finding the Lost City of Gold in the Amazon... Anyways you could always get a savy tech to create you boards that replace these chips, and yes the PSU gets hot as hell, after 20 minsdont put your hand near the "Sequential" on the back as you will getburned! Oh yes also if you get one be soft on the joystick as they're no longer available. Cheers,OFM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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