The Official Sequential/Oberheim Forum

SEQUENTIAL/DSI => Prophet => Prophet 12 => Topic started by: yerimbetov on December 21, 2019, 02:22:03 AM

Title: P12 Keyboard vs P12 Desktop / Workflow
Post by: yerimbetov on December 21, 2019, 02:22:03 AM
Hi everyone! Probably this question had been asked here already, sorry for that!
I've been planning of upgrading from Mopho X4 and buying a Prophet Rev2 for two main reasons:
1) Polyphony
2) Easier user interface and overall friendlier design

I'm kinda tired of all the menu diving on the Mopho X4. But yesterday I did some research on Prophet 12 and fell in love with the instrument. It's pretty hard to find a used keyboard version in Russia and a new piece of gear is too expensive for me. But the desktop version is easier to find and a new one costs about as much as a new Prophet Rev2, so it's considerable. The question is: how does the design of the desktop version affect the user experience? Does it slow down your workflow? Does all the tweaking make your path from an idea to a result longer? And overall, how would you rate the UI on both of the versions of the P12? From what I saw on YouTube, the design is somewhat similar to that of the Tempest, which I am a happy owner of. It's workflow may not be perfect, but I became friends with it and got pretty fluent at programming the Tempest. So what are your thoughts?
Thanks a lot!
Title: Re: P12 Keyboard vs P12 Desktop / Workflow
Post by: mhult on December 22, 2019, 01:56:23 AM
Hi!

I own both the keyboard and module versions, and I think the module has a brilliant user interface and is almost as quick to use for sound design as the keyboard version.

The keyboard looks and feels really nice, but it is still not knob per function. There is only one set of oscillator controls for all oscillators, so you have to switch between them with the oscillator selection buttons. And even on the keyboard I like to see the current parameter value in the display before I turn a knob. So for example when I am adjusting the oscillator shapes for multiple oscillators, I have the "Osc shape" tab selected on the display, and when I want to adjust the oscillator levels, I switch to the "Osc level" tab on the display, even though I could just have turned the level knob and not worried about the display. Since the oscillator controls are shared for all oscillators, the indication on the knob itself is not relevant when you switch to a different oscillator. This is what makes me want to use the display to see which value I am coming from before I turn a knob. Sometimes when I switch to a certain tab on the display, I instinctively reach for the relevant soft knob above the display, rather than using the dedicated physical knob for that parameter.

I hope the above explanation makes sense, even if you are not familiar with P12 keyboard user interface.

So, in short, I use the keyboard UI almost like the module UI. Others might of course use the keyboard differently, taking more advantage of all the dedicated knobs, turning them without worrying about the display and just listening to the result, thus perhaps working quicker and more by ear in a way that is not quite possible on the module version UI.
Title: Re: P12 Keyboard vs P12 Desktop / Workflow
Post by: yerimbetov on December 22, 2019, 04:48:49 AM
I hope the above explanation makes sense, even if you are not familiar with P12 keyboard user interface.

So, in short, I use the keyboard UI almost like the module UI. Others might of course use the keyboard differently, taking more advantage of all the dedicated knobs, turning them without worrying about the display and just listening to the result, thus perhaps working quicker and more by ear in a way that is not quite possible on the module version UI.

Hey! Thank you for your detailed answer, it sure does make sense. The interface design indeed seems relative to the Tempest, which is a good thing after all. Okay, I'll do some thinking and comparing again :)
Title: Re: P12 Keyboard vs P12 Desktop / Workflow
Post by: jdt9517 on December 23, 2019, 07:59:53 PM
I really like the layout of the P-12M.  I was worried about menu diving and the potential of slow, difficult programming, but it is not the case.  It is well thought out.  I find programming on par with programming my P-08.  I don't think you will regret buying the module.