Sequential Circuits Prophet 5

Mine is a Rev 3.0...
Extremely easy to create usable, compelling, and downright FUNKY sounds, in a matter of SECONDS..
The manual is well written..Too well written..(sounds like it was written by an electrical engineer at NASA)

5 NOTES POLYPHONY (No shit????)
My Midi kit is the latest Kenton kit, but it does NOT send pitch/mod wheel data..(But, WHO GIVES A SHIT!--I'M NOT USING IT AS A CONTROLLER ANYWAYZ)
GREAT features for an early 80's synthesizer.( That is the ONLY way to judge this instrument..you have to consider the era of technology from where it came)

The sounds are absolutely FANTASTIC!!!
You can get those awesome FUNK leads in seconds..Great Bass sounds too!!
Very fat and ballsy...Quite "COMPELLING" (right, Mr. Durham?)
I think this synth is usable in ALL genres of music..without a DOUBT!
It always cuts through the mix, every time!! The sounds draw attention to themselves...
I also own an OB-8 which is also fantastic, but doesn't cut thru quite the same!

Want to hear a Prophet-5 in action?? Then check out STARPOINT'S 1985 hit "OBJECT OF MY DESIRE"..This song could be called "Prophet 101"!

I've heard some HORROR STORIES, but I have not had any problems whatsover in the year that I've owned it!

Wine Country is very helpful, but also very expensive...!!
...but you get what you pay for!

What else can I or anyone else say about the Prophet-5???
It's GREAT SOUNDING, GREAT LOOKING, and will be forever..
It's my favorite synth, hands down (I'm no expert, but I know what my EARS tell me!!!)
Wanna hear MY Prophet-5 in action???
Just go to : WWW.SPAZZOID.COM

I have no prior expierience with these classy synths, But i was fortunate to find this particular one in the trash next to some fem douch products.With no manual and little smarts it's very difficult to figure out. I did however get it to make a bunch of wierd nioses.

The whole machine is a giant,strange and wierd effect.The things like 30 years old so no midi capabilities.

For holloween soundtrax maybe even a short plug in an ambient,jazz,classical and yanni song accompanied by john tesh.Keys are very white and black,with wierd wood background.The plug is spliced with a power strip cord because there was no cord when i found it. I dont't know why.

NO. It cuts out all the time maybe it needs to be serviced.And it's way to classy for gigs.

never heard of them, don't know where they are, and don't care.they don't call me i don't call them.

no opinion. Its cool to show friends when they come over to smoke up. It's very immpresive to the ladies.

as already stated, the poly mod is unusual but generally the synth is a hands on machine

i have a 'poor mans prophet 10' which is a p5 v3 on top of a p5 v2... its an interesting process playing them together...the v3 is packed with programs midi and instant editing but the v2 is much more 'primative' but what an incredible sound...brilliant to say the least.....

the sounds from the v3 are smooth elegant and rich, the v2 somehow gets a everything from a rough grind to a smooth sweep all with a lush warmth....it has to be heard to be believed

caveat emptor...a bump a surge ocean humidity or the wrong phase of the moon and you are down....also be very careful using the remote keyboard option....definately not a gigging piece....use a rol jd990 or nord lead for an substitute....the 5 is like a beautiful woman... you take your chances and probably will eventually get burned but what a way to go.......

jl at music tech in la is the prophet god call him to bless your box..

could this be the best poly analog of all????? very possibly

The software version is 3.2. You can create FAT, musical sounds in seconds. Understanding how the poly modulation section effects the sound takes a wee bit of time when you first delve into programming, but,other than that small consideration, this synth is a cakewalk to program. I've had my Prophet since 1979, so the presets are so loooong gone, I don't even remember what they sounded like. The manual for the unit is complete and easy to understand.

There are 5 voices of polyphony with two oscillators for each voice. The action is okay, I just purchased a Kenton Electronics MIDI kit from Wine Country Productions so I could use my semi-weighted action MIDI controller. The MIDI kit allows for control over the VCAs on the amplifier and filter stages using velocity and aftertouch info. Along with the MIDI kit, I am upgrading from 40 patch storage to 120 patch storage. There are NO effects on board, which is probably why most people think this synth sounds just okay. Hook up a Quadraverb 2 or better yet, an Eventide Harmonizer, and you've got the baddest sounding synth in the land!

The Prophet 5 is a SOUND SOURCE, a GREAT one. There are no frills to pretty up the sound. Program the heck out of it for great pads, great funk, and wild, screaming lead synth sounds. It doesn't sound like ANYTHING but a Prophet 5, one of the timeless instruments.

I've been playing it for TWENTY years. I lost a couple of VCAs and one VCF about five years ago. The keyboard, pots, and switches have held up fine. Parts are hard to come by and very expensive, excluding the VCAs which are still in production from Harris Semiconductor.

Sequenctial is long gone, but Wine Country Productions in California offers great technical support.

If this synth is ever stolen or broken and unrepairable, I'd be crushed. I had a hard time deciding back in 1979 between the Prophet 5 and the Oberheim OBXa. One of my bandmates has an OBXa which I get to fiddle on occasionally; I still am incredibly happy with my choice. There aren't any modern synths that sound as good as the Prophet 5 with a decent outboard effects processor. If you are looking for a SYNTHESIZER and not some module trying desperately to sound like a REAL instrument and failing miserably (well, less miserably these days, but still failing), I highly recommend the Prophet 5. P.S., it helps to be a keyboard technician, these synths are old, VERY analog, and need to be "tuned up" every other year or so if you are using them regularly.

I have a Rev 2 Prophet 5, so the software is ancient. The knobs, buttons, and keys have a very good feel to them. The manual is useful -- it contains the knob/switch settings for all the original presets. I can't tell you how the presets sounded, though -- they were long gone when I bought it.

5 note polyphony, of course. Keyboard action feels much better than most synths. It's an eternally classy synth.

Great for bizarre and space sounds. Sounds are very rich. Not to sound too much like a hippy, but the sounds often take on an organic life of their own -- sometimes I can't even figure out how they're happening. Sometimes the sounds seem to play themselves. Some sounds sound just amazing floating by themselves in space/time without any other instruments around. It makes the kind of sounds that dreams dream of when they go to sleep... sometimes it sounds like it's been possessed by an alien spirit from the crab nebula...

The Rev 2 Prophet 5 seems to get a nastier rap than I think it really deserves. I had problems with it at first, but almost all of them stemmed from a failing power supply. Since that was fixed, the synth has been very happy. Not a glitch, yet. Fingers crossed. Knock on wood. Any other superstitious good luck things that come to mind.
I wouldn't use it on a gig -- it deserves much better than that sort of abuse.

Wine Country Sequential are genuinely helpful folks. Had problems with the power supply, see Reliability. Also, there was a dead and irreplacable chip. I guess it wasn't one of the SSM chips, because the service technician claimed to have fixed it with a homemade circuit he concocted from looking at the schematic. That was at Midwest Music Menders in Chicago. They are cool.

All in all, this is one of the coolest things I own -- period. With it's wooden case, it looks like a matching pair next to my Minimoog. I just love the sounds that come out of it -- they can be amazingly rich and textured. The translucent, smoky mod/pitch bend wheels are far and away the coolest wheels ever. It's been called "the Rolls Royce of synthesizers" and "the world's first sexy synthesizer". Despite how weird that sounds, I'm afraid I'd have to agree. And no, I'm not a latent appliance fetishist. And no, I'm not in denial either.
The few negatives about it are miniscule. On the Rev 2's, you have to click on PRESET or EDIT buttons before the knobs will affect the sound. No MIDI, although there are now mods available. It doesn't even bug me that much that there is no cassette interface for storing patches to tape, although I've been told there is a mod for that, too. If the battery dies and all the sounds are lost, it will be a whole lot of fun concocting entirely new ones -- hunched over, frantically turning knobs, cackling like a mad scientist...
Is there anything I wish it had? Maybe a mortal soul... or a Lambourghini.
Another cool thing -- if you open it up and take a look inside, the PC-board designer etched these cartoon faces on the PC boards. It adds even more character to the synth. Internal Art. Does anyone know if these cartoon faces have names?

The Prophet 5 that I own is a Rev 3.2 upgraded to 3.3. It has 120 programs and all can be edited. It is very simple to use.

It is probably called a Prophet 5 since it has 5 voices of polyphony. It offers two oscillators per voice, PWM, an LFO with sawtooth, triangle, and square waveforms, a Poly Mod section, two ADSR envelopes, and a 24dB filter. Some 3.3's have built in MIDI but those that don't can have MIDI installed.

The Prophet 5 sounds absolutely amazing. Great bass, brass, and srtings are no problem for the P5. However, I like its awesome pads the best. It can be used in all types of music but would definately be best used in electronic music.

Any Prophet 5 out there is around 17 years old so some problems can be expected. The most obviuos is tuning. I would only use it live if I had a good road case (which I need) to carry it in, and if it is tuned preety soon before playing.

Sequentila Circuits is no longer in business but many companies such as Wine Country Sequential still sell parts and manuals for Prophet 5's to keep one in good working order.

Many new synths try to immitate classics like the Prophet 5. They may be able to recreate some of the sounds but could never catch the full beauty of this great synth. I would definately buy another if it were lost or stolen because it offers sounds that are just totally amazing. So, if you're looking for a classic polysynth then the Prophet 5 is a good choice. Definatley a classic.