The creator of that video added this comment:
"Demo of 'how analog the Prophet 12 can be'."
You see, this is the argument that isn't supposed to be made, and yet, Prophet 12 owners make it all the time. They're inviting the discussion, and that discussion always ends up considering exactly how well the Prophet 12 does traditional analog sounds. Of course, the discussion makes perfect sense and is ultimately unavoidable, but we're all going to have different opinions about the end results.
Personally, I think the instrument does a fairly good job in that video. Fairly good. The problem is, that music is light years away from my own, so it doesn't give me a chance to make a meaningful judgment. I would prefer to hear long sustained notes and chords so as to be able to assess the character, and a large dose of stereo layered patches. Take, for example, this demonstration:
Now this video gives the ear plenty of time to listen carefully and make a judgment. Nothing against the creator, with whom I get along well, but this is precisely the sort of thin gritty quality that chases me away from the Prophet 12. Pardon by bluntness, but in this case, a Prophet '08 could blow the Prophet 12 out of the water. So, where there's common sonic ground between these two instruments - for me - the Prophet '08 wins every time.
I would add this video as well:
This is an excellent demo of the instrument, and there are many fine analog sounds in it. But my point is, the general character is quite average. To my ears, it sounds on the stale side, in part, because of the constant mono field that is used, even though there is some panning. But jumping from right to left is not a deep stereo field.
As much as I try, the best attempts of Prophet 12 users to prove the instrument is superb for standard analog sound creation only convince me of just the opposite. I've listened to hours and hours of demonstrations, all in an attempt to convince myself of their view. This is why I'm hoping for another flagship poly synth from DSI, if not this year, then then perhaps the next.
I think DSI should retain a bit more from their past. The first generation of DSI polyphonic synthesizers had a quality that I just don't hear in the second generation. Perhaps it entailed a certain roughness and imperfection, but the end result was personality and presence. The Poly Evolver, for example - in spite of all its flaws - possesses a living breathing character that makes it seem more like an ensemble of musicians, rather than an ice cold inanimate electronic gadget. DSI should revive the hardwired oscillator configuration. (Stereo chorus is no substitute for it.) Never mind that they've done it before and therefore don't want to repeat it. Yes, they did it before, and it was stupendous. Restore it, not as a configuration of modulation, but as a simple parameter with degrees, as on the Poly Evolver.
Just one man's opinion.