Prophet X Ships

June 6, 2018 | Go back to previous page | Categorie(s): Products

Sequential today began shipping the Sequential Prophet X, a new, bi-timbral, 8-voice-stereo (16-voice mono) synthesizer that combines samples and synthesis. At the heart of its sound is a newly developed engine that powers two simultaneous 16-bit, 48kHz sample-based instruments plus two high-resolution digital oscillators with waveshape modulation per voice — all processed through analog filters.

Dave Smith commented: “The Prophet X is a powerful evolution of the Prophet series.We’ve created a new sound engine that not only provides sample playback through stereo analog filters, but also gives you all of the synthesis capabilites and awesome sound you’d expect from a Prophet. It’s an amazing instrument.”

For sample content, Dave Smith turned to sound developers 8Dio, known for pioneering “deep sampling,” a detailed approach to sampling that aims to capture all of the nuances and idiosyncracies of a particular sound or instrument. 8Dio co-founder Troels Folmann put it this way: “We’re known for going anywhere and everywhere with sounds. We embrace all sounds as music and feel that if you can capture the musical soul of a sound, you can make it into an instrument. The Prophet X gives musicians a very immediate and responsive way to access this expressiveness.”

The 150 GB sample library in the Prophet X includes numerous acoustic and electronic instruments as well as an extensive collection of ambient and cinematic effects. Users can shape the samples through loop manipulation, sample stretching, and the synthesizer’s many sound-sculpting functions which include 4 envelope generators, 4 LFOs, a deep modulation matrix, and other tools. The Prophet X also provides 50 gigabytes of internal storage for importing additional samples. Several sample libraries will be available from 8Dio at launch. Support for user-created sample content is planned for December, 2018.

A dual-effects engine provides multiple reverbs, two delays (standard and BBD), a chorus, flanger, phase shifter, rotating speaker, high-pass filter, and distortion. In stacked or split voice mode, you can apply two different effects to each layer. Effects parameters can be modulated through the mod matrix as can the samples themselves. A polyphonic step sequencer allows up to 64 steps and up to 6 notes per step, per layer. The Prophet X features a premium-quality, five-octave, semi-weighted keyboard with velocity and channel aftertouch, an integrated power supply, USB support, and three OLED displays.

Dave Smith summed up the new instrument this way: “As a whole, the Prophet X covers more sonic territory than any Prophet we’ve ever created. The new analog filter design we’re using not only sounds fantastic for synth sounds, but also does something special for the samples. Composers will love it for soundtracks, synth geeks will love it for its sound mangling potential and live players will love it for its versatility. Added 8Dio co-founder Tawnia Knox: “The Prophet X has almost infinite posibilites. But more importantly, it has a soul. It’s alive. You can touch your sounds in a different way than you ever could.”

The Sequential Prophet X is available now with a US MAP of $3,999.

Read more about the Prophet X here.

See the official intro video for the Prophet X here.

Listen to the Prophet X here.

Read about 8Dio here.

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