Sequential Circuits Prophet 10

Ignoring the poly mod/ mono mod etc. it is easy to get great sounds from the Prophet 10. Nice big knobs to twiddle with. The volume knobs are quite severe, but the Filter and Resonance are immense.

Five note polyphony on each manual is a bit limiting, but easy enough to set both manuals to same sound and hit single mode for ten note polyphony.

No on-board effects, so needs a touch of chorus and reverb to get the sounds I need.

Has MIDI which I think is a retrofit but not sure. Works fine.

In double mode (two Prophet 5's playing at once) this synth has no equal. The analogue sounds are the fattest/smoothest/richest imaginable. Lack of velocity/aftertouch does not sway my opinion.

The Prophet 10 came in great cosmetic condition but with some faults which are now fixed. I gig it at larger venues, but have sampled all my favourites in double mode as stereo (upper manual left/lower manual right) samples to an E-mu Emax II.

David Sesnak at Wine Country have been very helpful. Fixed a propblem almost by chance during a conversation (software ROMs were corrupted). Also contacted Dave Smith (designer of Prophet 5/10) and he got back to me with a few ideas. Considering this synth is 24 years old, availability of parts is still very good.

Always been my ambition to own one of these beauties. Can't believe I snapped one up for only #1100 in such great condition. I love everything about the Prophet 10. It looks and sounds superb. It is a great conversation piece. Suppose the only downer is the weight. Wish I had the original flight case.

I would be devastated to lose this. If it died and I couldn't get another I would opt for a Rev 3 Prophet 5 for probably more money!

Pretty standard subtractive synthesis. Two oscillators and one filter per voice, OSC A had a pulse width control, and this can be modulated. One ADSR for amp, one for filter, plus one LFO. More modulation routing than average for this kind of synth, OSC B can be a mod source, and the filter envelope can mod more than just the filter, etc. Probably easier to use than most vintage analog synths.

The Prophet 10 is essentially two Prophet 5s in one box, with a dual manual keyboard, and can be used in various ways. Each manual can play its own sound, or the two presets can play simultaneously. One doesn't buy this, of course, for the features, one buys it for the sounds, which are described below. One other "feature" is its drop dead looks. Really, I just love walking into my music room and seeing my aircraft carrier sized Prophet 10 on its stand. Cool logos, big old knobs, it says you mean business in the synth department.

Now, we finally get to the heart of the matter. My god what a synth. Among SCI cognescetti, the CEM equipped Prophet 5s (and all Prophet 10s used CEM chips) are supposed to be a bit weaker and thinner sounding. I've only heard one SSM Prophet and it did sound grittier, but other than trance bass lines I can't see many situations where that grit would be missed. For me, the slightly smoother sounding CEM Prophets might even be a bit preferable, and in any case we are talking about very small differences in tone. Plain and simple, if you like old school analog synthesis, this is ten voices sung by angels. The unison mode generates bass sounds fat enough to run a Krispy Kreme franchise. Sweet pads abound, edgy lead sounds, lovely filer oscillations. I've used every soft synth out there (and review them for magazines) as well as a Waldorf MicroQ and an Access Virus. The VA stuff is great, and has its own vibe, but there is something to the original.

It's pretty old but this one works great so far. Always dangerous buying gear so old though.

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I've always wanted a real Prophet. Some of us lust after a '64 Deluxe, some after a Mini Moog, some after Liz Hurley. For me, it's a Prophet. OK, Liz Hurley and the Prophet. And Famke Janssen. Liz, Famke, and the Prophet together maybe. For me, this synth is it, it's going on everything I do from here on out. Yeah, it's a lot of money for something that could break any day and is a massive pain to repair. I'll take that chance.

Knobs and buttoms. Pitch and mod wheel. Factory MIDI included and CV input for filter control..etc. Dual Manual keyboard feels a bit clunky though.

10 voice Prophet. You can use it as two differect parts/MIDI channels or 1 big layer of the 2 sounds or 1 huge 10 voice poly patch. The MIDI is rudimentary since its only note on/off and program change. Rather weak but there are CV inputs for filter control for both channels/parts. If you have a CV-MIDI converter than you can do filter cutoff CC's on your favorite sequencer.

Anyone wanting a Prophet 10 today obviously is buying it for the sound. It is 2 Rev 3 Prophet 5's in one case. CEM rather than SSM chips used here. For all you Pro-One lovers the Prophet 10 is a 10 voice Pro-One. An amazingly phat bass machine. Many of you know how good the Pro-One does a hard edge snappy techno bass. The Prophet 10 is 10 times the power of that. Far smoother than the Rev 2 SSM Prophet 5's in that category. I own a Rev 2 Prophet 5 as well and they sound totally different. The SSM Prophet's are more raw and aggressive than the Rev 3 CEM Prophets. Listen to early Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly and KMFDM "Money" to hear unique tone that CEM Prophets can do. The envelopes are fast thus making them inapropriate for pads in my opinion. Snappy leads are attainable too.

I bought the Prophet 10 because I owned a Pro-One and loved it. I wanted a rev 3 Prophet 5 but then came across a mint Prophet 10 for a fair price and couldnt refuse. Its a rare find.

It goes out of tune from time to time but thankfully like the Prophet 5 series it has an autotune button. If you leave it on for more than a couple hours it will drift. MIDI implemetation is simple and the processor is rather slow so MIDI overflow error arise when too much MIDI information runs in tandem. Using both MIDI IN and MIDI OUT and having the "record enable" switch turned on I encountered memory overwrite problems. I lost about 20 patches as the Prophet freezed up. The solution is if you will use both MIDI IN and MINI out (I only use MIDI in) turn that "record enable" switch off. I have no problems using the Prophet since I only use MIDI IN.

As for repair, Wine Country Sequential specializes in Sequential repair so no problem there. If you have to ship the Prophet 10 for repair expect to spend a great deal of money in shipping. The PRophet 10 weighs about 170 lbs (around there). Make sure you get a flight case w/ the Prophet 10 other wise it will be the biggest hassle moving.

One of the best analog basses come from this monster. Not versitle but great for basses and leads. Very punchy. Its a rare piece so if it were stolen I don't know what I would do. Maybe opt for a Rev 3 Prophet 5 since the 10 is so hard to find in good shape. Kudos to those who keep them in good condition.